Devils Vs Stars - League - 4th March 23 - 19:00 FO

[Ejercito Rojas]

Agreed. A tandem of Bowns and Preece is simply not good enough if you want to be challenging for EIHL championships. One or the other as back up, but we need a stud starter next year. Bowns isn’t going anywhere either. Let Preece continue his development, see where he is in a couple of years time, as Bowns approaches the end of his career. I like Kozun but I think we'll see Bowns partnering with a better goalie next season. That isn’t Preece at this stage In his career.

Totally agree.
You put your best players on the ice for as long as possible and your NM spends the whole 60 mins on the ice compared to an average say, 22 mins for your top D man (in a 6 man rotation) and a little less for you top forwards.
So it makes sense that you get the best NM that your money can buy (Carruth, Beskorawany) as he’ll probably win you 5 games on his own!

Give me a Carruth or Beskorawany over an extra forward every day of the week. And twice on Sundays!

 

[Finny]

Interesting that several posters have suggested you need a Carruth-level netminder to challenge for the lead and that a Bowns isn’t good enough.

Yet last year we had Carruth and by this point in the season we were out of the title race.
This year we have Bowns (and Kozun) yet we are second in the league three points behind the leaders. And all this despite having ‘worst Devils team ever’ according to some posters.

 

[Hedd Wyn John]

Interesting that several posters have suggested you need a Carruth-level netminder to challenge for the lead and that a Bowns isn’t good enough.

Yet last year we had Carruth and by this point in the season we were out of the title race.
This year we have Bowns (and Kozun) yet we are second in the league three points behind the leaders. And all this despite having ‘worst Devils team ever’ according to some posters.

You're comparing apples and oranges, last season Guildford wasn't in the running like it is now. So that alone completely changes the dynamics of the league this season. The more strong teams competing for the title the more you have top teams taking points of each other which can give a misleading impression.

 

[august04 2.0]

I quite like our goaltending this year but it won't be strong enough to win us the league. That honour will go to Belfast, and key to their improvement was them signing the best keeper around the league in recent times, in Besko. I expect the standard to improve next year, so we must improve in all areas. Bowns has regained his form but I don’t think he’s consistent enough anymore, certainly not alongside someone like Preece, a pairing that you advocated for next year, Finny. To win this league, we need to sign a top netminder (and I wouldn’t be at all surprised if we attempt to sign the Ducs goalie in the off season). Paired with Bowns, that combo would take some beating but would also win us games that perhaps we don’t deserve to if we keep the likes of Crawford and Thompson next year.

 

[august04 2.0]

Interesting that several posters have suggested you need a Carruth-level netminder to challenge for the lead and that a Bowns isn’t good enough.

Yet last year we had Carruth and by this point in the season we were out of the title race.
This year we have Bowns (and Kozun) yet we are second in the league three points behind the leaders. And all this despite having ‘worst Devils team ever’ according to some posters.

Well we're far from being the worst Devils team ever - but when you look at the line up, particularly the forwards, we're stacked with good players. It’s when you see these good players playing like they have at times this year, that you wonder what on earth is going on. Is it the players? Is it the coaching staff? I don’t know what it is, but something seems to be lacking in both attitude and application. But it’s a 4 point weekend to enjoy now and that’s the most important outcome at this time of the season. We have some tough challenges ahead though and somehow will need to take 3 points in Belfast I think. Owners in town next week, so onwards and upwards hopefully!

 

[moggy#9]

I think that the key problems with bowns are his level of puck handling and the fact that he's a reaction goalie rather than one who is technically strong. The former trends to decline as their reactions slow, the latter tend to provide a solid base for much longer.

 

[Finny]

You're comparing apples and oranges, last season Guildford wasn't in the running like it is now. So that alone completely changes the dynamics of the league this season. The more strong teams competing for the title the more you have top teams taking points of each other which can give a misleading impression.

Huh?
I‘m struggling to work out what you mean?
Are you saying that we’re only second because Guildford are beating Belfast and Sheffield?
We've taken 4 points from 8 from Belfast
We‘ve taken 7 points from 12 from Guildford
We’ve taken 6 points from 8 from Sheffield

 

[august04 2.0]

You can’t compare different EIHL years with that level of simplicity though - particularly with standards changing so quickly year on year post Covid. Last year, my perception anyway was that the goaltending across the league was better than it has been this year. Carruth, Besko (back of late obviously), Motte, Carr, Starrett, Morrison all better for me than their replacements this year). Out of the top clubs, probably only Sheffield have better goaltending this year, maybe Guildford too with MacAdam (close to Lindskoug, not much in it for me). This year, goaltending generally not so strong for me, but perhaps there is more depth with teams signing better back ups and perhaps not quite so good starting netminders. There was a lack of forward depth last year too with smaller roster sizes and teams not signing spares and injury replacements like they have this year (well, some teams anyway). Too many variables to make such a simple comparison.