Devils Vs steelers - Pre-Season - 17th Sept 23 - FO 18:00
- Thread starter James
- Start date
Same here. I'm getting similar vibes to last season. Struggling to deal with big body players muscling players out to the boards. Though I think we visibly ran out of gas in P3, sat back for most of the period & with obvious quality Sheffield had it was always going to be a big ask to hold out to the end.
Absolutely spot on. There is a glaring weakness in the roster and this needs to be rectified as soon as possible. It may be old fashioned, but we are sorely lacking any sort of physical presence or deterrent. Brandt is game and kudos to him for sticking up for his team mates but nobody in any opposition roster is going to fear Brandt coming after them. Batch, well forget it, not in his make up. You saw what happened last year when we signed Fournier, the little guys started playing 6 inches taller. Hits like we saw tonight need to be punished and not just on a power play, or it’s going to happen to us every week. The purse strings need to be loosened right now and a big, tough guy brought in. It’s a must have for me, and immediately.
Well we never tonight, and when we have 3/4 out with concussion etc, we can always say well we will punish you some day, we are desperate for a deterrent, Belfast, Glasgow, Dundee, and Steelers to mention a few are tougher than us, and that’s no dig at Brandt. We are in a situation where our skilled players have next to no protection, and tonight was a pure example of that, we have 5ft odd players trying to fight 6ft 3/4in players, and 6ft 3/4 inch players performing like one of the 7 dwarfs. Cardiff ain’t about being run over by whoever they are playing, Cardiff are about you want to take liberties at our gaff, think again brother. Yes it’s pre season we all know that but teams are thinking we raise our physical game and that lot in Cardiff won’t answer the bell, we lost more than a game tonight, for me and for many others, and that’s a great shame. We have a tremendous club, with the best owners ever, a G M that’s 2nd to none, fans that only want the best for the club, and a coach every other team wold love to have, but things ain’t right at the moment we are 3-1 up at home and give away 3 unanswerable goals and that’s unforgivable sorry to say. Sorry for the rant some times it’s easier if you don’t give a toss, because it ain’t easy when you care.
we haven't got the strength in depth like some other teams have unfortunately.how many players are we missing already?starting the season men down is not good ahead of a long season.i know this is only a friendly but giving up a 2 goal lead at home is concerning.i was quite suprised to see the youtube predictions had us to finish fourth or fifith but after this weekend he may well be right.i actually think the panthers have a better team than the steelers and we all know how we struggle in nottingham.hopefully barrow is ok and not out for long.
Batch is made of glass. He had one of those games we saw so frequently last season.
No hits, no physicality, no presence. I love Brandts heart but a 5ft something guy is not an enforcer. He doesn’t send any message. He does his message sending through his hits. Batch has to do the enforcing otherwise what is his role on the team?
The Crandall line looked lost. Crandall just isn’t a Devils player any more and Ully looked exhausted.
We resorted to last seasons playing style..,, poor zone exits, dump and chase to get a change but the puck came straight back down the ice.
Duggan just isn’t contributing. Davies had an incredible shift holding the puck in the zone for 30 seconds but they scored straight away. I don’t expect anyone to go coast to coast in our own rink. EVER. Batch again at fault for that one and then there’s Crawford in OT deciding not to man mark and let his guy skate freely around our zone to create the scoring opportunity and what a goal it was too. Brilliantly taken.
Just a friendly but a marker is down. We struggled at times tonight, more than we looked comfortable. Plenty of work to be done. We need a big D man. Big time.
No hits, no physicality, no presence. I love Brandts heart but a 5ft something guy is not an enforcer. He doesn’t send any message. He does his message sending through his hits. Batch has to do the enforcing otherwise what is his role on the team?
The Crandall line looked lost. Crandall just isn’t a Devils player any more and Ully looked exhausted.
We resorted to last seasons playing style..,, poor zone exits, dump and chase to get a change but the puck came straight back down the ice.
Duggan just isn’t contributing. Davies had an incredible shift holding the puck in the zone for 30 seconds but they scored straight away. I don’t expect anyone to go coast to coast in our own rink. EVER. Batch again at fault for that one and then there’s Crawford in OT deciding not to man mark and let his guy skate freely around our zone to create the scoring opportunity and what a goal it was too. Brilliantly taken.
Just a friendly but a marker is down. We struggled at times tonight, more than we looked comfortable. Plenty of work to be done. We need a big D man. Big time.
I think some of you saw a different game than I did. I thought we showed a lot of promise across all lines given that we are missing 3 good players to injury.
For those criticising Batch. I agree to a point about his playing style, but what would you have had him do in terms of enforcing tonight? He wasn’t on the ice for the Barrow incident, Brandt was. He can’t come off the bench and fight and he wasn’t going to mess up a 5 minute power play for us by taking an instigator penalty. Genuinely intrigued as to what you think he should have done in relation to the Barrow incident? I’m not his biggest fan and criticised some of his defensive play tonight but we don’t have or need an out and out enforcer.
I do think we need more support on the defence when more size in front of the net so hope we are open to another signing at some point, but they need to be a skilled big player, not an enforcer.
For those criticising Batch. I agree to a point about his playing style, but what would you have had him do in terms of enforcing tonight? He wasn’t on the ice for the Barrow incident, Brandt was. He can’t come off the bench and fight and he wasn’t going to mess up a 5 minute power play for us by taking an instigator penalty. Genuinely intrigued as to what you think he should have done in relation to the Barrow incident? I’m not his biggest fan and criticised some of his defensive play tonight but we don’t have or need an out and out enforcer.
I do think we need more support on the defence when more size in front of the net so hope we are open to another signing at some point, but they need to be a skilled big player, not an enforcer.
That Steelers team has plenty of skill but some big guys too in Simpson, Allen and Tansey. They’re going to be tough for us to handle this year if that game is anything to go by. We have a relatively small team and I think they need some more help! It’s beginning to make the decision not to sign Louis look utterly ridiculous.
Batch had plenty of opportunities tonight to hit and make a statement but he opted for gentle pushes or wrapping the guy up. The guy either contribute through solid defence or he is a presence. Tonight he did neither.
Still can’t fathom how he lets a coast to coast skater enter our zone unchallenged and allows him to move to his shooting side for a relatively easy shot, whisky creating a screen for Booth. Just an average player who needs to decide what he is and what he’s going to contribute and work towards it.
Still can’t fathom how he lets a coast to coast skater enter our zone unchallenged and allows him to move to his shooting side for a relatively easy shot, whisky creating a screen for Booth. Just an average player who needs to decide what he is and what he’s going to contribute and work towards it.
I get the sentiment, I really do but Fournier couldn’t skate. Someone like him with skating ability and who can contribute more than a mouth piece and standing in front of the goalie would be ideal.
Busch did well. His line looks effective. He’s a decent size but we did struggle when Barrow went off.
Busch did well. His line looks effective. He’s a decent size but we did struggle when Barrow went off.