Physical poll

jimmy snels

jimmy snels

Well-Known Member
#61
#61
QUOTE="Gazza272, post: 221460, member: 107"]Agreed on Jardine,

I think he is very much like Reddick was when he first came over, he is trying to do too much at the moment which is leaving him a bit out of position at times. Once he settles down and plays a more simplified game I think he will come good.[/QUOTE]

im still not convinced on reddick let alone the other two!

personally i think richie and louis like defending. im not convinced the rest really love doing that or have the physical stature in some cases to do so efficiently, so to have such a high number worries me terribly
 
JT666

JT666

Active Member
#62
#62
Mazzoak said:
The physical side or lack of, isn’t from what I’ve heard, coming from the coach but higher up the chain of command. It’s a brand of family entertainment that prefers not to have grown men screaming aggressively at players who are acting aggressively.
lt is highly unlikely to change anytime soon.......
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When I was in primary school me and my mates couldn't wait for birthday parties at the WNIR to watch the hockey. The main draw for us as kids? Fights, big hits and a raucous atmosphere.

I'm not entirely sure we'd be quite as excited by the brand of ice hockey we see now.

Maybe we were just rough...
 
G

Gazza272

Well-Known Member
#63
#63
jimmy snels said:
QUOTE="Gazza272, post: 221460, member: 107"]

im still not convinced on reddick let alone the other two!

personally i think richie and louis like defending. im not convinced the rest really love doing that or have the physical stature in some cases to do so efficiently, so to have such a high number worries me terribly
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I can't think of many bad games Reddick has had the last few seasons. Hard to find such consistency in a Defenceman at this level.
 
august04

august04

Well-Known Member
#64
#64
Gazza272 said:
I can't think of many bad games Reddick has had the last few seasons. Hard to find such consistency in a Defenceman at this level.
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It’s no so easy for you Gazza as you’re commentating, but if you get chance, just concentrating for a game or two on particular players/player can be very illuminating. I admire his work rate and effort, can’t fault that and that’s to his great credit and he has an offensive upside to his game - but the amount of times he’s out of position, or opposing forwards overpower him on the boards/around the net, or simply skate around/through him - I find quite alarming. It wasn’t so noticeable when Strachan was compensating for this but I see it most games this season. I also realise that we can’t have all stars in every position and re-signing a Reddick type player probably allows us to pay more to the likes of Martin/Riley etc. Others have different opinions and I respect that and while he remains a Devil, I hope he performs to the best of his ability. I guess it boils down to balance and my feeling is that we’ve gone too offensive at the back end this year. I’d like at least one more player who priority is to defend first and foremost.

I’m also very surprised at the suggestion that somehow Kelman is dictating how we play. I don’t believe it and I can’t see Lord standing for it either to be honest.
 
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Mazzoak

Mazzoak

Well-Known Member
#65
#65
jimmy snels said:
are you suggesting Todd has told the team not the play aggressively? seriously? That just doesn't ring true.
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Are you suggesting Lord has told the team not to play aggressively. Steve and Todd’s comments to fans suggest their fans of hard hitting entertaining hockey, Lord is then ignoring his bosses by doing the complete opposite.

Someones public face is being contradicted by their actions, that’s pretty obvious.
 
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O

osh

Well-Known Member
#66
#66
I think this topic has reached the stage where certain comments that are being made seem to be doing they’re best to alienate the coach and management structure of the Devils from fan base that are members of this forum. A lot of what is being posted is pure speculation, conjecture and guesswork I’d say and I for one would hope that the topic gets locked sap.
maybe just stick with the poll Wannabe2 is asking for eh.
 
Mazzoak

Mazzoak

Well-Known Member
#67
#67
Most replies have contained questions asking why we are not physical. Whilst l agree the thread point is to collate how popular/unpopular our lack of physicality is within the Inferno, I’d add as a discussion, which doesn’t have a poll linked to it, questioning why there is lack of physicality is relevant & merits a disscusion.

I’m not trying to alienate management & coach to the Devils fan base, the very fact several pages, the starting of this thread and previous discussions going back several seasons suggests there are issues.
 
S

SteveKing

Well-Known Member
#68
#68
A little late to the thread but I appreciate the topic. I don't think there are too many fans of this sport that don't love the physical aspect of it. I love physicality in all forms. I can't stand when a team I love doesn't respond with more physicality when they are down or when someone has been harmed. We purposely went out this off season to increase our physicality - particularly with Riley and Marjamaki and also with Jardine to add to what we had in Dixon, Duggan, Louis and Batch. For the most part I actually do believe that we are more physical than last year's team. Sometimes it does feel differently just because we do tend to remember the big plays from the past and don't remember the long periods of play that didn't give us much.

So moving forward, it is something that I want to keep addressing. Myself, the other owners, Todd and Lordo are all on the exact same page on this...and with you. But I can also tell you that just the sheer pace of the game makes it more and more difficult every year to play the game that we all long for. I watch hundreds of hockey games at various levels every season and sadly every league has gone more and more away from "old school" physicality. Players are just so fast now that it has become more and more difficult to execute. Doesn't mean it can't happen but it's far more difficult.

What I really want as a fan which is always possible is passion. That leads to pace, it leads to more physicality, it usually leads to winning and it lets us as fans know that it means as much to them as it does to us. I believe that with this group and with our coach, we will deliver that more than other teams.

Appreciate the feedback and it is something that we'll work to improve.
 
Wannabe2

Wannabe2

Well-Known Member
#69
Thread starter #69
What a great response, exactly what we wanted to hear, as said it’s that passion that leads to good vibes and togetherness. We have the personnel from top to bottom to give us the best they can, and how cool is it when the powers to be come back with exactly the answers you hoped to hear.
Happy Hockey Days
 
JT666

JT666

Active Member
#71
#71
SteveKing said:
A little late to the thread but I appreciate the topic. I don't think there are too many fans of this sport that don't love the physical aspect of it. I love physicality in all forms. I can't stand when a team I love doesn't respond with more physicality when they are down or when someone has been harmed. We purposely went out this off season to increase our physicality - particularly with Riley and Marjamaki and also with Jardine to add to what we had in Dixon, Duggan, Louis and Batch. For the most part I actually do believe that we are more physical than last year's team. Sometimes it does feel differently just because we do tend to remember the big plays from the past and don't remember the long periods of play that didn't give us much.

So moving forward, it is something that I want to keep addressing. Myself, the other owners, Todd and Lordo are all on the exact same page on this...and with you. But I can also tell you that just the sheer pace of the game makes it more and more difficult every year to play the game that we all long for. I watch hundreds of hockey games at various levels every season and sadly every league has gone more and more away from "old school" physicality. Players are just so fast now that it has become more and more difficult to execute. Doesn't mean it can't happen but it's far more difficult.

What I really want as a fan which is always possible is passion. That leads to pace, it leads to more physicality, it usually leads to winning and it lets us as fans know that it means as much to them as it does to us. I believe that with this group and with our coach, we will deliver that more than other teams.

Appreciate the feedback and it is something that we'll work to improve.
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Thanks for your comments, @SteveKing.

I guess the huge Olympic sized ice pad doesn't help things. It's made us a lot better on 'big ice', and probably a much fitter, faster and more successful team, but at the cost of the close, hard hitting action we used to see at the smaller rinks.

I'm still not convinced by the whole match night experience at the Viola. Personally a night at the hockey is about much more than just the game, and I wonder if the arena had much more of Devils identity, it would make the evening much more exciting regardless of the on ice action (or lack of!). Appreciate your hands are tied as you don't own the arena, but ice rink aside, the place still has the air of a conference centre, rather than an Ice Hockey arena.

I will say it appears Block 13 has pushed things in the right direction though...
 
K

kingmo19.1

Well-Known Member
#72
#72
JT666 said:
Thanks for your comments, @SteveKing.

I guess the huge Olympic sized ice pad doesn't help things. It's made us a lot better on 'big ice', and probably a much fitter, faster and more successful team, but at the cost of the close, hard hitting action we used to see at the smaller rinks.

I'm still not convinced by the whole match night experience at the Viola. Personally a night at the hockey is about much more than just the game, and I wonder if the arena had much more of Devils identity, it would make the evening much more exciting regardless of the on ice action (or lack of!). Appreciate your hands are tied as you don't own the arena, but ice rink aside, the place still has the air of a conference centre, rather than an Ice Hockey arena.

I will say it appears Block 13 has pushed things in the right direction though...
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Agree with your points there regarding the rink lacking the Devils identify. The wall art in the bar is great, but the bowl itself is the problem. Would be great to see similar artwork on the walls of the bowl. The vast white washed wall areas don’t help the venue one bit - painting them red would be a nice touch and I presume relatively cheap (would also help hide all the unsightly scuff marks).
 
Mazzoak

Mazzoak

Well-Known Member
#74
#74
I kind of agree, yet disagree.

Having also watched different levels around the world it’s fair to say, it still varies widely.
Do fans want characters, mixing it up every weekend, at the risk of winning or do fans want a skilled professional team with a trophy full of silver. That’s a tough call either way as some fans will find fault.
Is it possible to have a mix, skill with character. I think a few fans believe it is, reading Steve’s comments its a goal their working towards, that’s great, if true.

The problem at the moment is a lack of either, if the recruitment is as Steve states, then it’s gone very wrong so far this season.

Time will tell.
 
M

mjh

Well-Known Member
#76
#76
Bordy could hit like a steam train. Apart from that he couldn't do anything. I'm more worried about our lack of consistency rather than the physicity. I would like both but at the moment I'd like a few weeks in a row of putting a run of wins together.
 
Mazzoak

Mazzoak

Well-Known Member
#77
#77
Bordy Gate.

Has been done to death, has its own conspiracy theories. Certainly built fan anticipation. Massive let down. How much interference was there between business management & game strategy ?

Forward a few yrs and the same questions are being asked.
 
Mazzoak

Mazzoak

Well-Known Member
#79
#79
Wannabe2 said:
Watching Giants v Stars and Pellech of Belfast has 56 hits so far this season, 56 that’s probably 30 odd more than our team.
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There is no shortage of knowledge across our fan base and the U.K. fan base. What is or isn’t possible is pretty obvious. As has been said, Belfast manage it most years, as do other clubs.
 
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