Next years team.

[jodysstillagirlsname]

I have to say I am absolutely gobsmacked that some people are calling for Lord to step down as coach or be replaced completely.

When he was announced as being our new player-coach in 2014 I'll admit to being a bit underwhelmed. But accepted it because of the cost-cutting being put in place to ensure we didn't go bust like under Ragan.

What we ended up with though was some of the most entertaining attacking, physical hockey I've seen in the history of the club. It far exceeded my expectation. I was a bit surprised that Kelman and the co gave him a 3 year extension after only a couple of months - but we didn't drop. In fact we actually got better and went on a fantastic run that saw us win the CC and just miss out on the league title. At the end of the season people were disappointed at our Playoff exit but there seemed to be unanimous agreement that it had been a fantastic, entertaining season.

If there was one criticism, it was that we were too open. Too attacking. The main criticisms I can remember in the summer were that we went for the same D instead of signing more defensive Dmen.

Those criticisms surfaced again when we got stuffed 8-1 in Sheffield. And as a result we became more cautious away from home. But our results did get better. Two wins in Belfast. Two in Nottingham. One in Sheffield. I'll have to check the last time we did so well in those arenas.

But we still get the cliche'd comments of "Lord was out-coached" "We need someone with more experience".
And yet we finished the season with a winning record against Sheffield.
And a winning record against Nottingham.
And a winning record against Belfast.
And a winning record against Coventry.

In fact the only team who finished with a winning record against us was Braehead. But I'm guessing nobody wants us to replace Lord with Finnerty?

We finished the season with the best PK stats in the league. And despite it's criticism at certain stage of the season, we also finished with the best PP stats in the league (we were actually better away than at home).
Not bad for a coach who some are claiming isn't experienced enough.

Nobody wants to finish 2nd. I want to be 1st but there are another 4 or 5 teams pushing to be 1st too. You can't guarantee success. All you can deman is to be competitive.

When was the last time we finished in the top 3 for two seasons in a row and made a cup final in both?
Answer: 1995.

That was over 20 years ago. And suddenly people think we've not been competitive enough in the last two seasons? I really despair at the unrealistic expectations of some of our fans.

If we had finished mid-table both seasons and not made any finals I could understand the criticism of Lord. But not after two cup finals and two league title challenges.

There is a lot going for the club these days. We've always had a great city, and now we have the new arena to match it. And a fantastic ownership group and management team.
And Lord has to be included in that list too.

I wonder how many people suggesting Lord should be replaced were also saying whilst he was here that Adams wasn't a good enough coach to win trophies.....

Well thought out post and and completely correct, missed nothing out but some posters still attack because of the completeness of it. Yes everyone knows we have fantastic owners, and yes it has been mentioned before but if that is the only criticism of this post then I must presume everyone thinks this is a pretty accurate description of where we are.

When did we all become like Sheffield fans, yes the end of the season was pretty disappointing, we were in a good position six weeks ago to win everything but failed. There are 10 teams in this league and not one of them has the divine right to win the league even though the orange team believe that.

 

[DevilDom]

I have to say I am absolutely gobsmacked that some people are calling for Lord to step down as coach or be replaced completely.

When he was announced as being our new player-coach in 2014 I'll admit to being a bit underwhelmed. But accepted it because of the cost-cutting being put in place to ensure we didn't go bust like under Ragan.

What we ended up with though was some of the most entertaining attacking, physical hockey I've seen in the history of the club. It far exceeded my expectation. I was a bit surprised that Kelman and the co gave him a 3 year extension after only a couple of months - but we didn't drop. In fact we actually got better and went on a fantastic run that saw us win the CC and just miss out on the league title. At the end of the season people were disappointed at our Playoff exit but there seemed to be unanimous agreement that it had been a fantastic, entertaining season.

If there was one criticism, it was that we were too open. Too attacking. The main criticisms I can remember in the summer were that we went for the same D instead of signing more defensive Dmen.

Those criticisms surfaced again when we got stuffed 8-1 in Sheffield. And as a result we became more cautious away from home. But our results did get better. Two wins in Belfast. Two in Nottingham. One in Sheffield. I'll have to check the last time we did so well in those arenas.

But we still get the cliche'd comments of "Lord was out-coached" "We need someone with more experience".
And yet we finished the season with a winning record against Sheffield.
And a winning record against Nottingham.
And a winning record against Belfast.
And a winning record against Coventry.

In fact the only team who finished with a winning record against us was Braehead. But I'm guessing nobody wants us to replace Lord with Finnerty?

We finished the season with the best PK stats in the league. And despite it's criticism at certain stage of the season, we also finished with the best PP stats in the league (we were actually better away than at home).
Not bad for a coach who some are claiming isn't experienced enough.

Nobody wants to finish 2nd. I want to be 1st but there are another 4 or 5 teams pushing to be 1st too. You can't guarantee success. All you can deman is to be competitive.

When was the last time we finished in the top 3 for two seasons in a row and made a cup final in both?
Answer: 1995.

That was over 20 years ago. And suddenly people think we've not been competitive enough in the last two seasons? I really despair at the unrealistic expectations of some of our fans.

If we had finished mid-table both seasons and not made any finals I could understand the criticism of Lord. But not after two cup finals and two league title challenges.

There is a lot going for the club these days. We've always had a great city, and now we have the new arena to match it. And a fantastic ownership group and management team.
And Lord has to be included in that list too.

I wonder how many people suggesting Lord should be replaced were also saying whilst he was here that Adams wasn't a good enough coach to win trophies.....

Hear, hear.

Thise figures really do show things in the cold light of day. Again I'm disappointed we didn't finish with more from the season but some of our fans are starting to sound like arrogant Steeler fans with the expectation we should win everything every year. I'll take a trophy a year from a coach in his 1st two years.

 

[noodlesboy]

I have to say I am absolutely gobsmacked that some people are calling for Lord to step down as coach or be replaced completely.

When he was announced as being our new player-coach in 2014 I'll admit to being a bit underwhelmed. But accepted it because of the cost-cutting being put in place to ensure we didn't go bust like under Ragan.

What we ended up with though was some of the most entertaining attacking, physical hockey I've seen in the history of the club. It far exceeded my expectation. I was a bit surprised that Kelman and the co gave him a 3 year extension after only a couple of months - but we didn't drop. In fact we actually got better and went on a fantastic run that saw us win the CC and just miss out on the league title. At the end of the season people were disappointed at our Playoff exit but there seemed to be unanimous agreement that it had been a fantastic, entertaining season.

If there was one criticism, it was that we were too open. Too attacking. The main criticisms I can remember in the summer were that we went for the same D instead of signing more defensive Dmen.

Those criticisms surfaced again when we got stuffed 8-1 in Sheffield. And as a result we became more cautious away from home. But our results did get better. Two wins in Belfast. Two in Nottingham. One in Sheffield. I'll have to check the last time we did so well in those arenas.

But we still get the cliche'd comments of "Lord was out-coached" "We need someone with more experience".
And yet we finished the season with a winning record against Sheffield.
And a winning record against Nottingham.
And a winning record against Belfast.
And a winning record against Coventry.

In fact the only team who finished with a winning record against us was Braehead. But I'm guessing nobody wants us to replace Lord with Finnerty?

We finished the season with the best PK stats in the league. And despite it's criticism at certain stage of the season, we also finished with the best PP stats in the league (we were actually better away than at home).
Not bad for a coach who some are claiming isn't experienced enough.

Nobody wants to finish 2nd. I want to be 1st but there are another 4 or 5 teams pushing to be 1st too. You can't guarantee success. All you can deman is to be competitive.

When was the last time we finished in the top 3 for two seasons in a row and made a cup final in both?
Answer: 1995.

That was over 20 years ago. And suddenly people think we've not been competitive enough in the last two seasons? I really despair at the unrealistic expectations of some of our fans.

If we had finished mid-table both seasons and not made any finals I could understand the criticism of Lord. But not after two cup finals and two league title challenges.

There is a lot going for the club these days. We've always had a great city, and now we have the new arena to match it. And a fantastic ownership group and management team.
And Lord has to be included in that list too.

I wonder how many people suggesting Lord should be replaced were also saying whilst he was here that Adams wasn't a good enough coach to win trophies.....

Hear, hear.

Thise figures really do show things in the cold light of day. Again I'm disappointed we didn't finish with more from the season but some of our fans are starting to sound like arrogant Steeler fans with the expectation we should win everything every year. I'll take a trophy a year from a coach in his 1st two years.

Lord has done pretty darn well I for a coach just finishing his 2nd year of his coaching career.
Adams did do pretty well with what he had, but if say give Lord another two years and I feel confident everyone's tone will change. He loves this team and will assess, evaluate, plan for the future and progress!

 

[jimmy snels]

Its a great post to be fair i dont disagree with a large portion of it. I will say statistics cant explain whats happened to the team the back end of last two seasons, this one in particular. And they also don't reflect the on ice product "entertainment" value. People actually were discussing this when we were top of the league so its not just fans having a go for not winning. We all see things differently but the world record year weller was with us a similar thing happened in our final positions, but i felt id been entertained to such a high level. Injuries, refs, bans all thrown at us but passion was 100% there. We didn't win anything but by god it was good value! Am i wrong? Maybe, but its my take on it. We got the same outcome but the way we did it was pure edge of your seat stuff.


The "ownership are great" thing is getting cringey for me, and to be fair kanedevils did mention it in a humorous way.

 

[Finny]

After the ragen era and Adams, (a coach who was all huff and puff, and before you say anything, he won with Sheffield because with their budget it was practically impossible not to), it was exciting. Obviously you have not seen, or refuse to see how teams or should I say coaches in suits have worked us out! Play two high and forecheck hard our D who have a liking to hold onto the puck and fiddle around with it in our own zone!!

Where was our plan B there?? I respect Lordo immensely and would like home here just concentrating on his game, but his tactics have been questionable...

Can I add "no plan B" to the list of sport cliches that I want sent to room 101?

If what you said is true, then we'd have lost every game from the midpoint of the season. But we didn't. We had a mid-season dip (worse than the one at the end) but changes were made and we went on a fantastic run that nearly got us a league title.
We were 2-0 down to Belfast at home, Lord changed it around and we won in OT. That suggests we had a plan B.
Coaches in suits. I'm guessing Neilson is one you're referring to. We beat them comfortably in the last home game of the season didn't we?
Or maybe Lefebvre? Beat us at home but then we beat them away. Maybe another case of Lord using a plan B?
Weber is another coach in a suit but as I pointed out previously we beat them 9 times out of 13 over the season.
Thommo? Probably the most experienced coach in the league. I remember when he was first at Coventry in the BNL though his team had a reputation for bottling it at the end of the season. I also remember when we won in Sheffield their fans complaining he had been out coached and they had no plan b.......

 

[Devil May Care]

You can drag out all the stats you like,they don't tell the whole story. And the story that matters is the business end of a season where a coach really has to show up.

There are plenty of fans I know who agree with me. If you don't agree, hey that's fine with me we will never agree. I'm no happy clapper!! However there are people on this forum who believe it is theirs to perpetrate their personal opinions, and shoot down any descenting voice, well your wrong. I WILL voice my opinion

And to the child who said get back to playing on NHL16. Well, he needs to get out more!!

 

[mweller]

I have to say I am absolutely gobsmacked that some people are calling for Lord to step down as coach or be replaced completely.

Agree completely. Sack Lord, fast forward three years and the same people now calling for his head would be saying "This club used to have ambition. The management should have had courage and persevered with Lord. We may not have won anything one season, but we were challenging. That's better than this mid-table obscurity..."

You don't know what you got till it's gone.

 

[jenks33]

Its a great post to be fair i dont disagree with a large portion of it. I will say statistics cant explain whats happened to the team the back end of last two seasons, this one in particular. And they also don't reflect the on ice product "entertainment" value. People actually were discussing this when we were top of the league so its not just fans having a go for not winning. We all see things differently but the world record year weller was with us a similar thing happened in our final positions, but i felt id been entertained to such a high level. Injuries, refs, bans all thrown at us but passion was 100% there. We didn't win anything but by god it was good value! Am i wrong? Maybe, but its my take on it. We got the same outcome but the way we did it was pure edge of your seat stuff.


The "ownership are great" thing is getting cringey for me, and to be fair kanedevils did mention it in a humorous way.

Agree with this. I didn't find our style of play entertaining at all when you consider the talent we had on our roster. Some fans do expect too much at times but I think we had a right to do so this season. In my opinion we had the best roster and came away with nothing. And weren't that entertaining in the process. What really frustrated me last season was our approach to away games. I don't mind sitting back in away games and restricting the home team to shots on goal, but the amount of times we were heavily outshot was ridiculous. At times it looked like we were just relying on Bownsy to keep us in it and hopefully nick a couple of goals with the 15 shots on goal we had in a whole game!

Having said all that Lordo definitely deserves another season in my opinion. I'm just hoping he will learn from this seasons mistakes

 

[Earnie]

Lord is here to stay - and that's official from Todd last night.

 

[jimmy snels]

Its a great post to be fair i dont disagree with a large portion of it. I will say statistics cant explain whats happened to the team the back end of last two seasons, this one in particular. And they also don't reflect the on ice product "entertainment" value. People actually were discussing this when we were top of the league so its not just fans having a go for not winning. We all see things differently but the world record year weller was with us a similar thing happened in our final positions, but i felt id been entertained to such a high level. Injuries, refs, bans all thrown at us but passion was 100% there. We didn't win anything but by god it was good value! Am i wrong? Maybe, but its my take on it. We got the same outcome but the way we did it was pure edge of your seat stuff.


The "ownership are great" thing is getting cringey for me, and to be fair kanedevils did mention it in a humorous way.

Agree with this. I didn't find our style of play entertaining at all when you consider the talent we had on our roster. Some fans do expect too much at times but I think we had a right to do so this season. In my opinion we had the best roster and came away with nothing. And weren't that entertaining in the process. What really frustrated me last season was our approach to away games. I don't mind sitting back in away games and restricting the home team to shots on goal, but the amount of times we were heavily outshot was ridiculous. At times it looked like we were just relying on Bownsy to keep us in it and hopefully nick a couple of goals with the 15 shots on goal we had in a whole game!

Having said all that Lordo definitely deserves another season in my opinion. I'm just hoping he will learn from this seasons mistakes

Agree with you. Im not calling for lord to go just hope we don't get a repeat of the stuff being discussed. He's obviously passionate about the team. Perhaps he needs some characters as passionate as himself? He also needs to put himself on a lower line imo as going on stats alone and not to mention watching the games, the amount of pp/top line ice time he has id say goal scoring has reduced. I want the raging bull lord back! Put joey and douc and the like out there for the skills, id like to see him on a checking line with hervarto and a big power forward.

 

[Koop11]

If I’m honest I wasn’t a fan of how we played this year. We have a huge amount of talent which showed in large spells but when teams shut that down we lacked much else. I feel we lacked any kind of aggression and rarely put the fear in defences. The fore check for me was none existent. We never got in goaltenders faces. We scored the pretty goals but sometimes you need to dirty rebound or deflection. When there is no screen or driving to the net then your chances are limited. And yes, I can honestly say I felt this way when we were riding high at the top of the league.

For all the mobility we have on the blueline, we lacked some old school defensive prowess. This makes the decisions to bench Hendrix even more baffling. I think if it wasn’t for Bowns we would finished mid table.
The negatives aside, Lord put a very talented group of individuals together. Statistically we had the best players in the league. The Elite League awards reflect this also. We challenged in all competitions. We have progressed massively in the short time we have had the new management and coaching structure in place.

There is no way I would swap Lord for any other coach right now. He is the man to drive us forward. Sure he and the team have to be accountable for the implosion in the final stretch of the season and there will a lot of lessons learnt. However, with the distraction of IAW finally out of the way and prospect of the full off season to recruit a team built for big ice, I think the potential is there to be very successful.

Next season I hope Lord can install the style of hockey that Nottingham showed in the playoffs and what Belfast have done in recent years - High tempo, fore checking hockey. Waves of pressure on opposition blue lines. With that comes pace and power. Not a cheap combination I appreciate but Lord has brought some real gems to Cardiff and I have every faith he’ll do it again.

 

[Milky]

You can drag out all the stats you like,they don't tell the whole story. And the story that matters is the business end of a season where a coach really has to show up.

There are plenty of fans I know who agree with me. If you don't agree, hey that's fine with me we will never agree. I'm no happy clapper!! However there are people on this forum who believe it is theirs to perpetrate their personal opinions, and shoot down any descenting voice, well your wrong. I WILL voice my opinion

And to the child who said get back to playing on NHL16. Well, he needs to get out more!!

:lol: oh dear, somebody is a little precious! Voice away, that is your privilege just as it is mine. I'm just a fan that disagrees with you. It's not about perpetuating my opinion, it's about having one and being able to deliver it.

I'm no happy clapper either but the point I made is still valid.

In case you missed the NHL16 comparison, let me put it another way. I get the implication from a number of peoples posts they don't think Lordo is up to the task because (choose any number or all of the below);

1) We don't play entertaining hockey every game
2) We haven't won every game
3) We haven't played everyone off the ice every game
4) We haven't checked every opposition player all game every game
5) Players haven't had their best game ever every game
6) We didn't win every trophy
7) We should never get injured
8) The coach should get 100% of his calls right..... all the time
9) The coach hasn't personally explained to you his choices on selection and tactics and asked for your feedback because as an armchair 'I've been a Devils supporter for x years' fan you are eminently are more qualified than him or the GM to make those decisions
10) We haven't played at 110 mph every shift, every minute of every game.

Well tough luck, this is the real world. If thats what you're after I suggest you play a console game. (incidentally for your benefit, I've read that its a more accurate version on the PS4, though you should do your own research).

Am I happy we came away with nothing this season? Of course not.
Do I think we made mistakes? Of course we did.
Is everything perfect? Of course not.

I've never felt so deflated in my life as I did in Nottingham after that semi final defeat on Saturday. But one game does not define a season. Yes our form from Feb onwards was a lot worse than it was up to then and we need to assess why that was the case. You reflect, review and improve in every aspect of life.

I've heard people say Lordo is too friendly with the players? Why? You know that how? Is it because he doesn't come out on TV and rip his players apart. Thommo did that after a loss at the BBT on IceTime TV and we all flamed him for it and called him unprofessional. I've heard from staff that Lordo has covered both ends of the spectrum this year; arm around shoulder approach and smashing things up in the dressing room, hairdryer approach. Go speak to the guy, don't think I've met many more intense people. Greatest football manager ever Sir Alex Ferguson (hated him and his team) kept everything behind closed doors. It's called being professional.

I love armchair fans with their 'expert knowledge because I've been a fan for years' and 'I've heard this or that rumour so it must be true'. I appreciate we don't know all of the facts (and neither should we), but I genuinely cannot relate to the reasoning behind the criticisms levelled at the coach and players without all of these facts. How many of them have played sport at an elite level and understand the intricacies of man management, tactics, motivation, managing injuries, team dynamics etc?

That I guess is what annoys me so much on this forum. It's great having a debate among fellow fans and I appreciate peoples opinions but a lot of the time I'm scratching my head trying to figure out where people get their views from.

According to some of the players I spoke to last night, Hotham has been playing with a screwed wrist for the last three months and Marty has had a really bad ankle for a while as well. I guess as an organisation we don't stand in front of the TV and make excuses enough then WD

Let's not forget, this isn't the NHL so it is naive to think our Coach and players should be perfect and get everything right all of the time. I think maybe well all need to manage our expectations a bit.

 

[Milky]

If I’m honest I wasn’t a fan of how we played this year. We have a huge amount of talent which showed in large spells but when teams shut that down we lacked much else. I feel we lacked any kind of aggression and rarely put the fear in defences. The fore check for me was none existent. We never got in goaltenders faces. We scored the pretty goals but sometimes you need to dirty rebound or deflection. When there is no screen or driving to the net then your chances are limited. And yes, I can honestly say I felt this way when we were riding high at the top of the league.

For all the mobility we have on the blueline, we lacked some old school defensive prowess. This makes the decisions to bench Hendrix even more baffling. I think if it wasn’t for Bowns we would finished mid table.
The negatives aside, Lord put a very talented group of individuals together. Statistically we had the best players in the league. The Elite League awards reflect this also. We challenged in all competitions. We have progressed massively in the short time we have had the new management and coaching structure in place.

There is no way I would swap Lord for any other coach right now. He is the man to drive us forward. Sure he and the team have to be accountable for the implosion in the final stretch of the season and there will a lot of lessons learnt. However, with the distraction of IAW finally out of the way and prospect of the full off season to recruit a team built for big ice, I think the potential is there to be very successful.

Next season I hope Lord can install the style of hockey that Nottingham showed in the playoffs and what Belfast have done in recent years - High tempo, fore checking hockey. Waves of pressure on opposition blue lines. With that comes pace and power. Not a cheap combination I appreciate but Lord has brought some real gems to Cardiff and I have every faith he’ll do it again.

+1

Great post.

 

[Temme]

Here's my one by one take of each player, just my opinion though.

I've kind rated them out of 10 on importance just because I like numbers.

Bowns - keep. 10/10.

Will - very rarely called upon this year, however when he was called upon, in my opinion he was poor. impartial, but would be looking for a replacement (personally). 5/10

Hotham - leave - far too irresponsible defensively. Him winning D of the year is a travesty to the actual defensemen. Yes on paper his 60+ points is phenomenal, but if that means he costs us double that then he is a liability. 3/10

Richie - Keep. 10/10.

Batch - Keep. 10/10.

Fournier - Keep. A very good, mobile defenseman, responsible for the most part in his own zone. - 8/10.

Hudson - Impartial - Hasn't been as good as he was last year by any means, very mobile, few too many turnovers. Big shot. Big PP weapon. 5/10

Hendrikx - Leave, We can get better if we are looking to win championships. Great outlet pass, but far too many irresponsible plays. 3/10.

Forwards:

Lord - Keep. Logs big minutes, good PK work, and very hard working. 8/10

Hervato - impartial/keep - very difficult to judge, the hardest working player out there every night and as feisty as they come, point production - not great, but many other brilliant elements to his game. 7/10.

Haddad - impartial/keep, again, logs big minutes, with decent numbers, a great agitator this year. Does a lot of the work that goes unnoticed and never shys away from any battle. 7/10.

Martin - goes without saying, keep. 10/10.

Morissette/Russell - keep one, lose one. - These are very similar as players, Mo's attitude to the game is perfect though and he will probably pick up the C next year.

Culligan - leave - undoubtedly underused this year, but to then win coaches player of the year when being scratched every other game is a bit of a joke. Can see him ending up in Scotland. Was never given a chance to get going, but a great spare man as a utility player. 2/10.

Salters - leave, Not the player we thought we were signing for sure, decent numbers, and carrying an injury, but only looked interested for 10% of all games this year which simply isn't good enough. We need a big power forward and Salters isn't the answer in my opinion - (healthy or not). - 2/10

Kurka - leave, wouldn't want him back personally, to the people that watch the hockey out of fascination rather than in-depth understanding - it doesn't take a genius player to skate quickly through the massive gaps in open play, then misplace a pass to a team mate every single shift after encountering a D man on the other team. Yes his numbers have been decent enough, but not a player I want back. 4/10

Doucet - 7/10 - a strong player for his size, and one that will always find the open space and pick out a top corner. as purebred of a goal scorer as they come & someone that there is space for in this roster, paired with the right people.

Piggott/CJ - CJ I can see being offered a contract elsewhere, difficult to see either of these getting much ice time with the import limit rising, kinda impartial as to whether or not they return as they are sadly not key players.

Coaching:

Lord - LEAVE. He needs to step down as coach, or step up and not ice. We are too big of a club for a player coach.

Franny - leave - let's get a real top-end coach in this year from elsewhere.

Elson - As D coach, I'd say he's done his job this year - we conceded the least goals - right?

 

[august04]

If I’m honest I wasn’t a fan of how we played this year. We have a huge amount of talent which showed in large spells but when teams shut that down we lacked much else. I feel we lacked any kind of aggression and rarely put the fear in defences. The fore check for me was none existent. We never got in goaltenders faces. We scored the pretty goals but sometimes you need to dirty rebound or deflection. When there is no screen or driving to the net then your chances are limited. And yes, I can honestly say I felt this way when we were riding high at the top of the league.

For all the mobility we have on the blueline, we lacked some old school defensive prowess. This makes the decisions to bench Hendrix even more baffling. I think if it wasn’t for Bowns we would finished mid table.
The negatives aside, Lord put a very talented group of individuals together. Statistically we had the best players in the league. The Elite League awards reflect this also. We challenged in all competitions. We have progressed massively in the short time we have had the new management and coaching structure in place.

There is no way I would swap Lord for any other coach right now. He is the man to drive us forward. Sure he and the team have to be accountable for the implosion in the final stretch of the season and there will a lot of lessons learnt. However, with the distraction of IAW finally out of the way and prospect of the full off season to recruit a team built for big ice, I think the potential is there to be very successful.

Next season I hope Lord can install the style of hockey that Nottingham showed in the playoffs and what Belfast have done in recent years - High tempo, fore checking hockey. Waves of pressure on opposition blue lines. With that comes pace and power. Not a cheap combination I appreciate but Lord has brought some real gems to Cardiff and I have every faith he’ll do it again.

Spot on.....

 

[backrow]

Temme, everyone is entitled to their opinion but you were particularly harsh about Culli. He was not scratched for every other game as you stated but didn't dress for 4 games and one of those was the day after his collision with Fournier. I would agree that he was underused in terms of having regular line mates and power play time but you didn't even mention his contribution on D which is somewhat hard to understand. Perhaps, the coaches really appreciated his versatility in the role that he was given this year. Not many players in the EIHL could have done it as well with a "team first" attitude?

 

[DevilDom]

Temme, everyone is entitled to their opinion but you were particularly harsh about Culli. He was not scratched for every other game as you stated but didn't dress for 4 games and one of those was the day after his collision with Fournier. I would agree that he was underused in terms of having regular line mates and power play time but you didn't even mention his contribution on D which is somewhat hard to understand. Perhaps, the coaches really appreciated his versatility in the role that he was given this year. Not many players in the EIHL could have done it as well with a "team first" attitude?

Agreed. Culligan is a very underated player and his versatility may be one of the reasons he has suffered more than most with the chopping and changing of players and lines. I'd like to see him given a full year playing forward with settled line mates.

 

[KaneDevils]

You can drag out all the stats you like,they don't tell the whole story. And the story that matters is the business end of a season where a coach really has to show up.

There are plenty of fans I know who agree with me. If you don't agree, hey that's fine with me we will never agree. I'm no happy clapper!! However there are people on this forum who believe it is theirs to perpetrate their personal opinions, and shoot down any descenting voice, well your wrong. I WILL voice my opinion

And to the child who said get back to playing on NHL16. Well, he needs to get out more!!

:RAWK

 

[Have Hope#35]

Also surprised that people are continuing to discuss the Lord as Coach like it's an option! TK has put the rumors to bed by confirming that Lord is Coach for as long as he wants it... They clearly must be aware that his heart is truly in it and that he's more than capable of doing the Job, even if he's still learning at the moment! I for one will be glad to see him return in the Coaching role.

 

[KaneDevils]

Lord has done very well in his two years. No argument there. If doing both roles was an issue then we wouldn't of come within a cats whisker of winning the league both terms. Maybe he showed a bit of inexperience, hardly surprising. This season would of carried expectancy after last year and more pressure as a result. If he learns from these two past seasons, which I'm sure he will, I see another good season next time around.

I'd love to know why we blew it this year, and why we played so bad in the CC final and in the PO SF, maybe there isn't an actual reason. But there's little to suggest it was Lords fault. Several players let him down. Hotham, Hudson, kurka and salters to name but a few.