Pre-season 2022: Belfast Games
- Thread starter Devils86
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Impressed with pitbulls Kelly, good replacement on D if needed as injury cover, one for the future, harewood lots icetime, didnt notice much of waller as i wouldve liked, new boys will settle soon ready for lge action , thought Penny played well as never noticed him for the Blaze last season, full house as well for a friendly cant be bad..
All three goals we conceded were from very poor mistakes that hopefully were just down to rustiness. Lots of positives throughout the team who just need a bit more time to gel.
Worth remembering too that Belfast were able to play all their imports tonight so with Coughler injured they had three more than us. Despite that we had some good spells of possession and their 2nd goal was probably against the run of play.
We do need though to work on getting more shots on goal.
Worth remembering too that Belfast were able to play all their imports tonight so with Coughler injured they had three more than us. Despite that we had some good spells of possession and their 2nd goal was probably against the run of play.
We do need though to work on getting more shots on goal.
I was quite impressed with harewood. It's been a while since I've seen him play, but he seems to have bulked up quite a bit and his edge work has improved a lot. He looks like he's going to need some eihl ice time to push on with his career.
The other two way players were visibly slow with their decision making. Hopefully the preseason will help them and the next season at Bristol will do them good.
The other two way players were visibly slow with their decision making. Hopefully the preseason will help them and the next season at Bristol will do them good.
Impossible to say out of the new guys how good they are and who's just rusty.
But Thompson I was most impressed with. Skates better than I thought he would. He's in the Richie mould, will just do the basics right and make the right decision every time.
Crawford running the first PP unit, nearly set one up for Reid in his office in the 3rd, but only a matter of time before that clicks again.
Penny & Brittain didn't stand out too much. I think Brittain will be much more effective as a 3rd line winger instead of the 2nd center like last night. He looked rusty and made a few mistakes but to be expected.
As far as 2 ways, Reece Kelly the stand out for me. There was a few occasions where the Giants just bounced off him, and he skates very well.
But Thompson I was most impressed with. Skates better than I thought he would. He's in the Richie mould, will just do the basics right and make the right decision every time.
Crawford running the first PP unit, nearly set one up for Reid in his office in the 3rd, but only a matter of time before that clicks again.
Penny & Brittain didn't stand out too much. I think Brittain will be much more effective as a 3rd line winger instead of the 2nd center like last night. He looked rusty and made a few mistakes but to be expected.
As far as 2 ways, Reece Kelly the stand out for me. There was a few occasions where the Giants just bounced off him, and he skates very well.
Well I set my expectations low for that match, given that it's pre-season, but I was a bit underwhelmed. I try to make it to the first games each year just to get familiar with the new names, so I'm at least comparing apples, so to speak.
I was sat at the end where Belfast warmed up, so I was watching Jones in their net a bit. My immediate thought was that this guy is beatable because he seems to drop early on every shot, but of course then we didn't exactly pepper him with quality shots (the shot totals were awful). Interestingly he seems to move very well laterality for a big guy. Meanwhile I still have concerns about bowns. He gave up a couple of horrible rebounds and at times seemed to lose the puck completely. Hopefully it's just a case of shaking the rust off.
Without coughler, Cox and Sanford seemed to struggle. I wonder what's happened with him. It seems odd to be injured for the first match. Hopefully he'll be back next week.
The new defencemen seemed to look solid. Jardine seemed quiet in the first, but logged lots of ice time, then seemed to grow into the game. I'm expecting big things from him.
I've commented on the two way players elsewhere, so I won't rehash that. Suffice to say there's a lot of potential there.
Up front of two big problems were still puck retention and getting position in the slot. Belfast know all about Reid getting set up, so we're going to need to vary that a bit. It's good to see the face off percentages being better (with the exception of Davies), but we have to turn it into something useful. I think there's going to have to be some tinkering with the lines to get the right balance.
Brittain impressed me. With the right line mates he could do a lot of damage.
I imagine that over the next week a lot off work will be done on things like break outs, and the pp. I'm confident things will improve for manchester, but will have to be an awful lot better against Nottingham.
I was sat at the end where Belfast warmed up, so I was watching Jones in their net a bit. My immediate thought was that this guy is beatable because he seems to drop early on every shot, but of course then we didn't exactly pepper him with quality shots (the shot totals were awful). Interestingly he seems to move very well laterality for a big guy. Meanwhile I still have concerns about bowns. He gave up a couple of horrible rebounds and at times seemed to lose the puck completely. Hopefully it's just a case of shaking the rust off.
Without coughler, Cox and Sanford seemed to struggle. I wonder what's happened with him. It seems odd to be injured for the first match. Hopefully he'll be back next week.
The new defencemen seemed to look solid. Jardine seemed quiet in the first, but logged lots of ice time, then seemed to grow into the game. I'm expecting big things from him.
I've commented on the two way players elsewhere, so I won't rehash that. Suffice to say there's a lot of potential there.
Up front of two big problems were still puck retention and getting position in the slot. Belfast know all about Reid getting set up, so we're going to need to vary that a bit. It's good to see the face off percentages being better (with the exception of Davies), but we have to turn it into something useful. I think there's going to have to be some tinkering with the lines to get the right balance.
Brittain impressed me. With the right line mates he could do a lot of damage.
I imagine that over the next week a lot off work will be done on things like break outs, and the pp. I'm confident things will improve for manchester, but will have to be an awful lot better against Nottingham.
To be fair the game was what most people expected, a friendly, but i think there is plenty to improve on.
What really worried me the most was the speed of line change as they were dire and line changes being made at the wrong time, and players falling over coming onto the ice.
Seemed to me that to many players were either central or right sided and exposed our left side dramatically which were exploited well by Belfast.
Overall a 7 out of 10 for me.
What really worried me the most was the speed of line change as they were dire and line changes being made at the wrong time, and players falling over coming onto the ice.
Seemed to me that to many players were either central or right sided and exposed our left side dramatically which were exploited well by Belfast.
Overall a 7 out of 10 for me.
My initial thoughts again which was similar to last season is some of these guys need to be prepared to play in high traffic areas and not avoid them. I get that often you are looking for open ice to be able to make plays but as concerns the basics then the second man into the zone needs to be going direct to net to force the D back and open the zone. Too many rims around the boards and stop up plays at the blue last night. Devils need to play more between the opposition face off dot and goal line. It was a criticism last year and it still remains. These guys are good at generating shots on the rush but my query is where are the forwards who put in the rebounds and garbage goals. Can’t score those if they are all floating in from the half wall to the slot and back out again. Really want to see Dupes challenge the guys to get their noses dirty and not just look for champagne hockey. Realise its pre season so not cause for concern but would like to see identifiable issues get addressed quickly as like we know starting the season quick is a priority before the Devils traditional November slump kicks in.
I also liked the look of Thompson. Looked like a very complete defence man. Did all the basics very well but also looked like he enjoys making life hard for forwards and was quite pro active physically engaging which is good.
I also liked the look of Thompson. Looked like a very complete defence man. Did all the basics very well but also looked like he enjoys making life hard for forwards and was quite pro active physically engaging which is good.
Not really much to say on the game. Belfast looked a bit more warmed up than us which I’d expect with CHL around the corner. They’ve recruited well again.
Can’t really judge our players at this stage. As always I reserve judgment until Christmas but… I am expecting to see more from Waller this year. It’s his time to Step up which I’m looking forward to. Thompson looked very assured at the back which I liked, Crandall will always be the best player on the ice (although understandably a bit rusty last night) and good to see Joey back. Surprised by the lack of physicality (although there were some decent hits. Waller got creamed). Pre-seasons of old always had scraps as players tried to establish themselves.
Got to add…. Lovely touch by the game night folks putting the stats up during the period break. Penny in the face off dot was off the charts. Good face off stats will help us hugely and I look forward to seeing this puck retention and bigger body play at some point. Plenty to look forward to.
As Todd mentioned… it’s preseason for the off ice crew too and they were cracking.
Can’t really judge our players at this stage. As always I reserve judgment until Christmas but… I am expecting to see more from Waller this year. It’s his time to Step up which I’m looking forward to. Thompson looked very assured at the back which I liked, Crandall will always be the best player on the ice (although understandably a bit rusty last night) and good to see Joey back. Surprised by the lack of physicality (although there were some decent hits. Waller got creamed). Pre-seasons of old always had scraps as players tried to establish themselves.
Got to add…. Lovely touch by the game night folks putting the stats up during the period break. Penny in the face off dot was off the charts. Good face off stats will help us hugely and I look forward to seeing this puck retention and bigger body play at some point. Plenty to look forward to.
As Todd mentioned… it’s preseason for the off ice crew too and they were cracking.