Devils Vs Flyers - 05 Jan 20 - League

ASHIPP

Well-Known Member
#21
Thought the effort was there just not the finishing..... And several defensive mistakes gifting Flyers 3 of their goals. The schedule is packed, the guys need a rest..... but its the same for every team in this league during December.

With GOAT out (for how long?) they need offensive support. Its been discussed to death but it's true, injury cover is required to rejuvenate the forwards. Cut out positioning and communication mistakes that are creeping back in. Still in the mix but they have to keep going with a will to get the job done. Devils used to be defined by the Never Say Die attitude..... let's see it now, every game.
 

Slartibartfast

Well-Known Member
#22
Not the best defensive performance but a lot better offensively. 6 goals and lots of near misses. I said to the guy next to me that I didn't like the Pope Reddick Marjamaki line. That will never work. They scored 4 of the goals. Shows how much I know.
I thought Linglet played better. He started to weave his magic walking through the defence. He didn't score but if he plays like that every match he should start scoring again.
Not a clinical performance by any means but a lot better than the last 2 games.
 

MMcC

New Member
#23
They really made too much hard work out of picking up those two points tonight!
Considering the Devils vastly superior skating and skills it really was a shame to be let down by some poor positioning and lackadaisical puckhandling on really innocuous defensive plays.

I sympathise with Reddick playing on RW but he looked way out of his depth. You could visibly see him thinking over the role at times and he was too often pulling out of boardplays and puck battles.
It's really a shame because Morissonn also looked completely out of place playing the RD position as a leftie. He's clearly lacking the pace he once had to make little corrections that are needed to cover up for that. The stand out moment for me was when he missed the puck at the blue line after Haddad's offensive zone face off win, giving up an easy offensive zone cycle opportunity.

McNamee was a solid MOTM playing smart hockey at both ends of the ice as usual and bringing a much needed level of structure and composure. His minor penalty was a fairly ridiculous equalising call in my books. He's the only centreman who seems to play the defensive centre role that seems to be a real problem for the other to fill in to when they're hemmed behind their own blue line

There were still some decent performances otherwise which deserve a mention.
Masi Marjamaeki worked really hard on the PK and his first goal was beautifully executed after a sweet dish from Pope. He certainly wasn't lacking for energy like some of his teammates, even if he does lack some pace at times and he didn't take any 'stupid' penalties.
I'd still like to see him maintain better possession after offensive zone entries however, as he's an intelligent player along the boards and could frustrate a lot of teams more on the forecheck.

Some particular credit should go to Sam Duggan however. He had some really good shifts, with some hard tenacious forechecking. Two shifts resulted in the goals even if he didn't get a primary assist. He even took a hard hit on one of them and bounced straight back up to ignite the play that eventually led to a goal. That possession wouldn't have ensued without Duggan.
He deserved a few more shifts up the lineup in my opinion as he was definitely 'going' tonight and hard work should be recognised.

There's enough still to be hopeful for anyway.
I agree with those of you who pointed out just how tired the guys are. I couldn't help but watch the second period and think how much they'd all benefit from 3-4 days in the sunny med or something similar. The same could be said for some of us regular Joes of course!!!
 

OJLloyd

Well-Known Member
#25
We definitely made hard work of that last night.

Defensively we seem to go to sleep way too often. Why anyone would slam a pass straight at someone’s skates (as happened in their first goal) I’m not sure. But worse than that was the immediate turn around and going to sleep, as if they were expecting a whistle, with a lovely pass back in front of goal leading to a tap in.

There are a few players who just aren’t picking up their share of the weight, and unfortunately they are on our top lines at the moment. However, I’d back them to come good, and I’m not a fan of deciding to chop and change because of temporary bad form. It’s different if it’s just not working, but where they are quality players who are having a bad patch, I’d prefer to stick with them.

With Goat injured, I wonder what Sointu is up to...
 

Devilsatw

Well-Known Member
#26
I understand why people want to stick with players to become good but we are 2 and a bit months away from the end of the season and they haven't come good yet. 30 plus games into the season and they haven't performed yet we still got to back them? We are basically saying see the season out do what you want your job is safe.
 

kettdevil1

Well-Known Member
#27
I understand why people want to stick with players to become good but we are 2 and a bit months away from the end of the season and they haven't come good yet. 30 plus games into the season and they haven't performed yet we still got to back them? We are basically saying see the season out do what you want your job is safe.
OK, I will bite.... what do you think should happen?

The last 2/3 games have not been great (yesterday was a ’ho hum’ performance, the previous two were poor) but overall this season:
- when the league is adjusted we are top
- we are in the semi-final of the cup
- we won our first away CHL game
- we have also had some bad luck with injuries with not only Martin but also a few other night profile players clearly carrying injuries which they haven’t in previous years.

i am not sure what the expectation is (other than the given one of competing in each game)?

Changing a player at this stage impacts not only on the player released but also the whole chemistry of the dressing room. Some teams have this sort of culture and hence, it is likely not to be as dramatic as it would be with us, but .... opting for this strategy is a big risk. A quick trawl through EP does not throw up any gems and whilst an addition is always welcome, I would not like to make a change just for the sake of it.

This season has been a strange one in the league, if we think we are inconsistent, it might be instructive to look at Belfast’s results.

Not sure if I have the answer, my guess is that teams are so evenly matched that dominance is not possible and also .... whilst we would like them to be perfect every game, we are talking about humans rather than machines and also.... frankly they are in the EIHL rather than the NHL for a reason....
 

pjj365

Well-Known Member
#28
This is a team sport.

Maybe some players aren't performing as we want/expect but for the team - look at the leauge tables. We're not badly placed.

There maybe less than half a season of games to go so who knows. Let's not dwell on some individual performances but let's hope the team performance - particularly that of the Brits - continues. Keeping us there or thereabouts till the end of the season

Sorry I know of no other way to support a team other than to hope. If I took my cue from some on here I would stay at home!
 
#29
Steelersatw - you’ve made your point. Please stop making it again and again and again. We won, you’re still not happy and won’t be until someone gets fired. Please try to see the bigger picture. Enjoy the emotional roller coaster that is following a sports team. This is an organisation that strives for excellence. Maybe they won’t always get it right but it’s obvious to most that those involved work very hard to fix things that aren’t going to plan.

Imagine working that hard and then reading the drivel that some fans write on here and on social media. You’d start questioning if it was worth the effort...and maybe buy a different team or roll out a lesser product like the Nottingham fans believe is happening year after year.

We’ve seen what this team is capable of and we have the right structure in place to get them back to that form. Have faith.
 

tim78

Well-Known Member
#30
Steelersatw - you’ve made your point. Please stop making it again and again and again. We won, you’re still not happy and won’t be until someone gets fired. Please try to see the bigger picture. Enjoy the emotional roller coaster that is following a sports team. This is an organisation that strives for excellence. Maybe they won’t always get it right but it’s obvious to most that those involved work very hard to fix things that aren’t going to plan.

Imagine working that hard and then reading the drivel that some fans write on here and on social media. You’d start questioning if it was worth the effort...and maybe buy a different team or roll out a lesser product like the Nottingham fans believe is happening year after year.

We’ve seen what this team is capable of and we have the right structure in place to get them back to that form. Have faith.

+ What No74 said
 

Mazzoak

Well-Known Member
#31
Talk about going round in circles..........

Its pretty obvious what fans want, it’s called effort, passion, pride. It’s just some would like to see all three or even just one for the 60 minutes a week they’ve spent money to watch & not in reaction to fans moaning, Kelmans fury or ownership visiting.

I’m a paying customer, I demand the most value possible for my £’s. Nobody will accept a rubbish restaurant meal on the reasoning being it’ll be better in 3 weeks time when the staff have rested or we previously won awards, so live with it, it’ll get better. Sport has the luxury to use excuses when performance drops, other Service industries can’t hide behind that, customers tend to stop giving their cash away, not sports fans, the majority are willing to return week in week out & see nothing wrong in that. Maybe loyalty is becoming less important, maybe we are more more demanding or maybe we just like venting frustration on a forum
 

jenks33

Well-Known Member
#32
I think the big frustration at the moment is we seemed to have turned a corner in December after a poor October + November. I expected us to be pretty consistent for the remainder of the season but the last 3 games have been as poor as anything we witnessed in November. I’m still hoping it’s fatigue after a tough schedule and after a week off we will be a lot better next weekend.
As far as releasing players I’m slightly on the fence, I can certainly see both points of view. I like Lordo’s loyalty as I think it helps with future recruitment but he probably is a bit too loyal at times. If you look at say Linglet for example I think he’s a lucky boy that he’s playing for Andrew Lord at the moment. I think 8 out of 10 coaches might have released him by now.
 

tim78

Well-Known Member
#33
@Mazzoak at £17 it is bang for buck for me. We're sat between 100's for NHL tickets and whatever little it was in Mountfield.

This is still good value hockey it's just the game is now different and when it comes to performance all fans around every sport don't see it day in day out....

2nd in the league with a ton of games left and fans are already conceding we won't make the cut.... if we make the play off weekend and challenge cup final and don't win we are still a great team.
 
#34
I'm glad some of you are happy enough with the way things are, personally I'm not we are definitely carrying too many players. I've loved the way for the last few years we've stood by every single player lord has signed, who of you wouldn't have kept sointu over a couple of our highly paid underperforming players? This is the moment to threaten certain players with being released, all the clubs around us have made a few changes and seem to be better off for it. Loyalty is a two way street and a couple of our players are taking plenty, and giving back very little in return. Some have lost form at an unbelievable rate, others look to old and too slow, certainly passed their best. If we win nothing this year and lose the league by one point deep down in our hearts we'll all feel certain players didn't do enough. I do have faith in lord but how long will he wait before realising a few aren't up to it, as in all fairness happened with salters a couple of years ago.
 

august04

Well-Known Member
#35
I don’t think we’ll see any more changes this year. It’s a pity we couldn’t extend the deal with Sointu again, especially as it appears he hasn‘t got a club yet. Haddad has picked up on the goal scoring front from where Sointu left off, but the scoring from some of our highest profile players (and I’m sure highest paid), has been abysmal. Our secondary scoring from the 3rd/4th lines is one of the keys to us being still in the hunt. I do think we will see a high turnover of players in the summer though (as Lord does seem very frustrated at times in his post game interviews as he often appears to be behind the bench too (not always with refs either!)), with some hungrier, younger and faster forwards coming in to freshen things up. We were told that was the plan this last off season, but for me anyway, I don’t think we look particularly faster, hungrier or more physical than last year. Occasionally yes, but not consistently throughout the season so far. At times, it’s been awful this season and not much fun to watch either. I also believe we’ll get an import goalie next year to ease the burden on Bowns, who simply plays far too much (which was always going to catch up with him at some point), and which now seems to be effecting his form this year.
I wonder if Steve King might do an interview when he’s over on how he feels the year has gone and plans for the future? I realise he‘s not going to rock the boat mid season but I always find such interviews a good listen and we don’t hear much from Kelman anymore like we used to.
 
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Mazzoak

Well-Known Member
#36
@Mazzoak at £17 it is bang for buck for me. We're sat between 100's for NHL tickets and whatever little it was in Mountfield.

This is still good value hockey it's just the game is now different and when it comes to performance all fans around every sport don't see it day in day out....

2nd in the league with a ton of games left and fans are already conceding we won't make the cut.... if we make the play off weekend and challenge cup final and don't win we are still a great team.
Is it, is it really........

l will repeat for the hard of hearing, it’s the lack of effort, pride & passion in the team. That’s causing fans to question paying out, especially those paying more than £17 a weekend.
 

Sliput

Active Member
#37
Is it, is it really........

l will repeat for the hard of hearing, it’s the lack of effort, pride & passion in the team. That’s causing fans to question paying out, especially those paying more than £17 a weekend.
Why are you repeating for the hard of hearing ?

Just asking :)
 

Wagstaff

Well-Known Member
#38
@Mazzoak at £17 it is bang for buck for me. We're sat between 100's for NHL tickets and whatever little it was in Mountfield.

This is still good value hockey it's just the game is now different and when it comes to performance all fans around every sport don't see it day in day out....

2nd in the league with a ton of games left and fans are already conceding we won't make the cut.... if we make the play off weekend and challenge cup final and don't win we are still a great team.
Putting it in bold text?
Is that the written equivalent of shouting?
 

voth26

Well-Known Member
#39
Is it, is it really........

l will repeat for the hard of hearing, it’s the lack of effort, pride & passion in the team. That’s causing fans to question paying out, especially those paying more than £17 a weekend.
Each to their own I guess, some will accept it whole heartedly no questions asked others won't and will voice their concerns
 

tim78

Well-Known Member
#40
Sorry wags it came out that way after copying the quote...

As for effort it's easy to judge, but i reckon a small measure against the fire team would show a world of a gap and the product today is far superior to years ago with no a massive increase in price.

Should we all go to the supermarket, petrol stations and start shouting at the cashiers to put more effort in.. Scan quicker and moan about the price.

Each player turns up to training and games, from there its hit n miss. Players not performing to our expectation are just trying to adjust to wide variety of things but each have still adding something to the game. Yet we critise 3_4 poor passes out of tons.
 
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