Flames Vs Devils - League - 5th Dec 21
- Thread starter James
- Start date
Why are we talking about Andrew Lord when the issues are with this incarnation of the Cardiff Devils, here and now?
I don't know what the GM or Ownership could say that would be any different to previous reactions to slumps this season... the new team was a gamble, the team is in re-build, we want to compete but may not win anything etc
It's actions, not words that will turn things around.. a change in tactics, systems, even attitudes.
Mac Carruth is an outstanding net minder (our best for a very, very long time) who is carrying this team on his back right now.... just about every night. Any wonder the guy is frustrated? He gives the team a chance to win and expects support in front of him (offensively and defensively) Is he getting that support? No he isn't and he is right to be angry. He is the last person any 'blame' should be attributed to.
There are much bigger issues to resolve here than mulling over Lordo's departure.. like why they can't score 5vs 5, defensive lapses, no physicality for starters.
I don't know what the GM or Ownership could say that would be any different to previous reactions to slumps this season... the new team was a gamble, the team is in re-build, we want to compete but may not win anything etc
It's actions, not words that will turn things around.. a change in tactics, systems, even attitudes.
Mac Carruth is an outstanding net minder (our best for a very, very long time) who is carrying this team on his back right now.... just about every night. Any wonder the guy is frustrated? He gives the team a chance to win and expects support in front of him (offensively and defensively) Is he getting that support? No he isn't and he is right to be angry. He is the last person any 'blame' should be attributed to.
There are much bigger issues to resolve here than mulling over Lordo's departure.. like why they can't score 5vs 5, defensive lapses, no physicality for starters.
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To be honest it’s got to the stage where I’d rather have an exciting team first and foremost. If somebody said you’re going to finish 3rd/4th this season but at times it’s going to be really entertaining. 5-4 wins one night and 5-4 defeats the next I genuinely wouldn’t mind that after not having any hockey for 18 months. At the moment I’m just finding it a bit boring whether we win or lose. I’m sorry but at the end of the day we are one of the “big 4” in this league and it isn’t just about winning, It’s about entertaining as well and I bet you Kelman and King are saying the same as well as Belfast, Sheffield and Nottingham. I think we’ve played about a dozen domestic home games now and about 9 or 10 of those games have not been entertaining.
It’s not necessarily the losses, it’s the manner. I can sort of take a win with a boring performance but a loss with the current performance and entertainment level has me questioning how often I’ll come to games. I’m not half as interested as I used to be and it’s because of the on ice product. There just doesn’t seem to be the buy in of leaving it all out there that there used to be. Aside from a couple, Batch, Louis, Richie and Duggan in particular, I’m not sure the club holds a lot of value to players. The pre-covid era of Devils you genuinely believed the players cared, the fight was there night in night out even if performances weren’t. Forget the ability of Martin, Hotham, Haddad etc, it was their will to win, pride in the jersey and togetherness that was key. This team isn’t willing to go to war and it shows, we’re soft and won’t go to the dirty areas to get the win.
I’ve been a fan for 28 years and this is one of the most boring seasons I can remember (take away the last Regan season and the season that never was). 5 on 5 we are dreadful and have been all season. Without Reid and Carruth we’d be in a terrible state in the table too.
There is very little character in this team and unfortunately it isn’t an easy fix without wholesale changes that won’t happen.
I’ve been a fan for 28 years and this is one of the most boring seasons I can remember (take away the last Regan season and the season that never was). 5 on 5 we are dreadful and have been all season. Without Reid and Carruth we’d be in a terrible state in the table too.
There is very little character in this team and unfortunately it isn’t an easy fix without wholesale changes that won’t happen.
Skalde can only do so much with the players.
I've said it before & I'll say it again.
The team just isn't as good as previous Devils teams.
In terms of Carruth, Reid, Waller we've recruited well.
Other new signings have not gone so well.
We think back to Martin, Haddad, Fournier, Linglet to name a few & compare the quality of their team to our current roster, Goalkeeping aside our team is a noticeable downgrade.
Was it the Fife or Dundee commentators that vocally noticed the difference in quality between how our current team plays from years gone by?
We don't have the physical forwards that can tie down a defense and score. We don't have a reliable D which is often caught out of position & throws out loose passes with regularity. Take Carruth & Reid out of the equation and we'd be close to the bottom of the table.
I've said it before & I'll say it again.
The team just isn't as good as previous Devils teams.
In terms of Carruth, Reid, Waller we've recruited well.
Other new signings have not gone so well.
We think back to Martin, Haddad, Fournier, Linglet to name a few & compare the quality of their team to our current roster, Goalkeeping aside our team is a noticeable downgrade.
Was it the Fife or Dundee commentators that vocally noticed the difference in quality between how our current team plays from years gone by?
We don't have the physical forwards that can tie down a defense and score. We don't have a reliable D which is often caught out of position & throws out loose passes with regularity. Take Carruth & Reid out of the equation and we'd be close to the bottom of the table.
Personally I think we are fine with the forwards we have , they’ve scored and will continue to score. But it seems to me that our defence is the problem look at how many odd man rushes they give up a game between 3 to 6 maybe , it doesn’t matter how many goals you score if your defence is leaving gaping holes it’s hard to keep scoring. Louis and batch are our best d so far but I’d partner either one of them with O’Connor at least you have one stay at home d man on either d pairings
Bang on he did, & rebuilding a team in a league he's never coached in before was always going to be a challenge. I'd like to think he was helped by Franny & Todd when it comes to signings. He's brought a number of players with strong CVs from playing North America & europe but unfortunately several haven't played as well as their previous form suggests they would. That could be down to their age, their motivation or that this league is stronger than where they've come from & so previous form was misleading.
Take Reid out of the equation, how many goals have we scored? Take the PP out and just look at 5 on 5 etc?
Our forwards are small and get easily muscled out to the boards where they struggle to make decent shots on goal.
Our D is poor for sure, I've pointed out plenty of issues with it but that's partly down to our D getting too high up the ice to help out struggling forwards.
In previous teams with Lordo we have some issue with the D but we never had trouble with scoring.
Now we have weaknesses in attack and defense and the results show it.
Our forwards are small and get easily muscled out to the boards where they struggle to make decent shots on goal.
Our D is poor for sure, I've pointed out plenty of issues with it but that's partly down to our D getting too high up the ice to help out struggling forwards.
In previous teams with Lordo we have some issue with the D but we never had trouble with scoring.
Now we have weaknesses in attack and defense and the results show it.