Keep or Can

[Devils86]

So looking at last season's rosta and who we have brought in. Have we upgraded?
Louis
Brittain ️
Jardien ️
Reid ️
Kozun
Thompson
Coughler
Penny ️

So starting from the back.

Kozun -> Booth
Should be an upgrade. I'm happy with it

Louis, Jardine, Thompson -> Mosey, Donaghey, and Rymsha
Overall our D should be better but losing Lou is a major mistake in my book

Brittain -> Barrow - great business, potential and speed, hopefully will be a big upgrade

Penny -> Busch - will have to see. Sounds like Busch is more of a net front center rather than a two-way like Penny

Reid -> Ully - hopefully will be a major improvement, can skate

Coughler -> Arniel - should be a slight trade up, both decent level

 

[lloyd_jeff]

Bit early, maybe wait till Christmas.

 

[moggy#9]

I think we should have an idea by the end of preseason as too how effective this group could potentially be. That said, for players new to the UK, it might take a little time for them to settle into the style of game - though hopefully the effort will be there.

 

[lloyd_jeff]

If memory serves me correctly, most seasons we start well for 5 to 6 weeks, drop form around October, the Inferno debates why we’ve gone backwards, question starting around the coaching methods, blame January on Christmas. We get a 2nd wind, the smug tinted fans start chirping up and everyone is usually optimistic going into the playoffs.

 

[osh]

Bit early, maybe wait till Christmas.

Christmas ? Give them 16 game which include the settling in period of the pre season friendlies, if any of our players aren’t up to it by then - irrespective of newcomers or any of our established players - then we need to look to bring in one or two newbies to improve the team. You cant win the league in Oct / Nov but you surely can lose it by not having the nuts to get rid of dead weights as in previous seasons no matter how loyal we wish to appear.

 

[Mooney#16]

So starting from the back.

Kozun -> Booth
Should be an upgrade. I'm happy with it

Louis, Jardine, Thompson -> Mosey, Donaghey, and Rymsha
Overall our D should be better but losing Lou is a major mistake in my book

Brittain -> Barrow - great business, potential and speed, hopefully will be a big upgrade

Penny -> Busch - will have to see. Sounds like Busch is more of a net front center rather than a two-way like Penny

Reid -> Ully - hopefully will be a major improvement, can skate

Coughler -> Arniel - should be a slight trade up, both decent level

Just out of interest to say not keeping Louis is a mistake. Who of the imports signed would you swap him out for. My only one potentially would be Pietroniro but with a team built to play fast relentless hockey I think he fits that style better. I imagine it was one of the toughest off season decisions. I think you are better being happy you don’t endure watching Lou play his one season to far and a legacy eroded.

 

[Gavevs88]

I think we've upgraded on them all certainly. The only two players I'm a bit surprised we got rid of were Kozun and Coughler, but still feel like we've upgraded. The others had to go!!

 

[Wannabe2]

Coughler, Coughler, Coughler, what a player this man was, I hoped he would be with us for ever, he was old school and had it all. Best signing for a long time, and a player you could relate to as a pure devil, so sad to see him go, huge loss as far as I am concerned.

 

[jenks33]

But it’s never been an ability issue with Coughler has it. We couldn’t trust his health/fitness and in my opinion the club have made the correct decision in replacing him. If it was purely down to ability I think Coughler would still be a devil

 

[Devils86]

Just out of interest to say not keeping Louis is a mistake. Who of the imports signed would you swap him out for. My only one potentially would be Pietroniro but with a team built to play fast relentless hockey I think he fits that style better. I imagine it was one of the toughest off season decisions. I think you are better being happy you don’t endure watching Lou play his one season to far and a legacy eroded.

Personally I wouldn't have signed Mosey. He's going to have to be immense to go beyond being a mercenary for me now. That Orange stain will stick around for a while.

And whilst Lou was getting older I still think he could have done a job - he kept working at his fitness and game, and he wasn't injured for big chunks of last season if what I hear is true and it was a case of being mis-managed. Admittedly I wouldn't have him anywhere near Batch - who would only be around if I couldn't get him off the roster due to his two-year deal.

And I don't think PR considered it a tough decision at all, again on the rumour mill, he was sure he didn't want Lou from day 1.

Without Lou we have no physical deterrent- look how teams took advantage last season when he wasn't icing.

Overall great recruitment and I'm looking forward to seeing how the new guys do, but the Lou decision will come back to bite us I think.

 

[moggy#9]

But it’s never been an ability issue with Coughler has it. We couldn’t trust his health/fitness and in my opinion the club have made the correct decision in replacing him. If it was purely down to ability I think Coughler would still be a devil

Agreed. As well jardine, there must have been a concern after the injuries he suffered last season. It doesn't matter how great the player if there's a very real risk of them not being fit for a substantial number of games.

 

[moggy#9]

Personally I wouldn't have signed Mosey. He's going to have to be immense to go beyond being a mercenary for me now. That Orange stain will stick around for a while.

And whilst Lou was getting older I still think he could have done a job - he kept working at his fitness and game, and he wasn't injured for big chunks of last season if what I hear is true and it was a case of being mis-managed. Admittedly I wouldn't have him anywhere near Batch - who would only be around if I couldn't get him off the roster due to his two-year deal.

And I don't think PR considered it a tough decision at all, again on the rumour mill, he was sure he didn't want Lou from day 1.

Without Lou we have no physical deterrent- look how teams took advantage last season when he wasn't icing.

Overall great recruitment and I'm looking forward to seeing how the new guys do, but the Lou decision will come back to bite us I think.

I feel that Lou had both his age and lack of speed go against him. Given that we've been trying to get younger and faster, I can see where the decision comes from. I agree though that I'm very concerned about the lack of protection for our skill guys and I simply don't agree with this idea of team toughness.

I'm also confused by our defence. Obviously we'll see how things work out in the preseason, but is really wanted to see us sign a solid defensive defenseman. Maybe I've misunderstood the capabilities of the new guys.

 

[Finny]

From what PR has said and how he gets GB to play, I don’t think there is any place for a defensive defenceman in that style.
I get the feeling he wants all his Dmen to be mobile, to actively attack the forwards with the puck and to be able to jump into the attack consistently.

I think that’s also why Louis wasn’t re-signed. 5 years ago yes, but even his biggest fan must admit he was getting older and slower.

 

[moggy#9]

From what PR has said and how he gets GB to play, I don’t think there is any place for a defensive defenceman in that style.
I get the feeling he wants all his Dmen to be mobile, to actively attack the forwards with the puck and to be able to jump into the attack consistently.

I think that’s also why Louis wasn’t re-signed. 5 years ago yes, but even his biggest fan must admit he was getting older and slower.

Yeah, I get that. This is more about my personal preference in the approach to the game, as I'm more comfortable with a more conservative, defensive game where we control our zone strongly. I hate seeing defencemen overcommitting and giving up breakaways as happened so many times last season.

This is more about my old fashioned attitudes. I know the game has changed, and one can't argue with PR's success.

 

[Swarley]

I'd of kept Kozun and Lou on.

Kozun I firmly believe has the potential to be one of the best goalies in the league given an actual fair chance at being between the pipes.

Lou I still think he had some gas left in the tank and I think he will be massively missed this season unless one of the new guys is able to step up and defend his team when needed, but it's not just about dropping the gloves Lou's speed wasn't as bad as some make out, during his time in Slovakia he was alot faster and when he came back he showed that he had gained some more speed with Skalde in charge. If anyone's to blame for Lou or others not returning who we hoped would it's Dupont.

PR had he come in last season and got told to get this team in sync would of had them sorted within 5 games easily because he's a coach who knows his shit, Dupont got handed the keys to success and shit the bed.

 

[Gavevs88]

I'm really struggling to see the fascination with Lou. He's been off the pace for the last two seasons now and his last decent season was the Skalde year. Yes he's been a fantastic asset to the club and yes he's one of the toughest guys we've ever had but I think the game has moved on now, especially in the EIHL.

 

[Diablo3]

I think Lou had made up his mind to go long before the end of the season, and then when they had the team shirt signings, he stayed back from the rest of the team. So I think it was his decision rather than us not wanting him back. But ultimately I think it fitted with what PR wanted anyway.

 

[Swarley]

I'm really struggling to see the fascination with Lou. He's been off the pace for the last two seasons now and his last decent season was the Skalde year. Yes he's been a fantastic asset to the club and yes he's one of the toughest guys we've ever had but I think the game has moved on now, especially in the EIHL.

When you look back over the last 5 seasons of who came and went and who ran through walls for the club with no questions asked and did what ever was asked of him that list is very short, he was the definition of the blueprint of what being a Devil is, not just my opinion but the opinion of a lot of fans as well our most successful coach to date.

The last 2 seasons I'd say all of the team was off pace yes we won a playoff title but that was more luck than tactics because dupont had no tactics he just borrowed Skaldes playbook and got lucky with the fact Carruth stood on his head.

Outside of the hockey I got to know Lou during lock down and spent alot of time chatting with him as well as passing him his pre game buenos so I will always have a bit of a biased opinion because he's someone who I consider a friend and have huge respect for.

You're right though the league has changed, maybe for the good or maybe for the bad we won't know until the season gets under way and see what sort of hockey we have.

Out of all the changes that's happened this coming season my one question now is..

How crap are the officals gonna be now lol

 

[moggy#9]

When you look back over the last 5 seasons of who came and went and who ran through walls for the club with no questions asked and did what ever was asked of him that list is very short, he was the definition of the blueprint of what being a Devil is, not just my opinion but the opinion of a lot of fans as well our most successful coach to date.

The last 2 seasons I'd say all of the team was off pace yes we won a playoff title but that was more luck than tactics because dupont had no tactics he just borrowed Skaldes playbook and got lucky with the fact Carruth stood on his head.

Outside of the hockey I got to know Lou during lock down and spent alot of time chatting with him as well as passing him his pre game buenos so I will always have a bit of a biased opinion because he's someone who I consider a friend and have huge respect for.

You're right though the league has changed, maybe for the good or maybe for the bad we won't know until the season gets under way and see what sort of hockey we have.

Out of all the changes that's happened this coming season my one question now is..

How crap are the officals gonna be now lol

Ah, the question of the officials is a tricky one. I'm always a bit cautious about criticising the stripes for calls they make. It's not easy, though you'd think video review would help. What can't be defended is a lack of knowledge of the rules, or inconsistent application. There's certainly been instances of the later between officials.

Another question however is that of the off ice officials. While those in Cardiff are hugely experienced and behave imprecably, can the same be said of all clubs? The laptop-gate incident made me question that.

 

[Swarley]

Ah, the question of the officials is a tricky one. I'm always a bit cautious about criticising the stripes for calls they make. It's not easy, though you'd think video review would help. What can't be defended is a lack of knowledge of the rules, or inconsistent application. There's certainly been instances of the later between officials.

Another question however is that of the off ice officials. While those in Cardiff are hugely experienced and behave imprecably, can the same be said of all clubs? The laptop-gate incident made me question that.

The level of incompetence from the last two seasons really needs to be the last time any club has to deal with that sort of officiating, the league as a whole should be leaning hard on the refs to up make sure games are not held at the discretion of the refs feelings towards a team or where that team is from.

I really do hope that this season the refs have stepped up and admitted they fell short before and want to make this season a decent season of hockey.