Steelers v Devils - 20/12 - 6pm - Chat/Updates
- Thread starter Chris
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The club is not on its last knees, what load of rubbish, we just bought in FINNERTY!
The big ice surface is no excuse, although most people seem to be putting it as though the players cant play on big ice, i would say the problem would be more with the tactics/plays in place than the individual players, but still no excuse.
If the players did look disinterested as said then they should be getting a real bollockin' of the G, saying that they should anyway, each game is crucial.
At this stage winning the league is not the biggie for me, just top 3 and i'd be happy, as was the aim at the beginning of the season. If things don't start to pick up then we will be lucky to even get that, which with the current squad just isn't good enough. It'll also be question time for G i would have thought but hopefully things will improve.
Franny said at the giants game last week that they were trying to alternate the lines to remove the predictability but by the seems of things its not really working too well. Seems silly how people are mentioning romfo after 1 loss :roll:.
The big ice surface is no excuse, although most people seem to be putting it as though the players cant play on big ice, i would say the problem would be more with the tactics/plays in place than the individual players, but still no excuse.
If the players did look disinterested as said then they should be getting a real bollockin' of the G, saying that they should anyway, each game is crucial.
At this stage winning the league is not the biggie for me, just top 3 and i'd be happy, as was the aim at the beginning of the season. If things don't start to pick up then we will be lucky to even get that, which with the current squad just isn't good enough. It'll also be question time for G i would have thought but hopefully things will improve.
Franny said at the giants game last week that they were trying to alternate the lines to remove the predictability but by the seems of things its not really working too well. Seems silly how people are mentioning romfo after 1 loss :roll:.
I saw the same things as Steve unfortunately. I don't have a problem with losing, but key players playing with what appeared to be a total lack of care is totally unacceptable. It does seem to be a case of 'out of sight...out of mind' for some.
Players didn't appear to be able to control a pass so eventually gave up and we became a group of individuals. The powerplay was also dreadful. These are two areas which should improve on the big ice. G has clearly coached a good powerplay as evidenced at home, so why are our skill players struggling with all that space. I'm not talking about scoring, we barely set it up all night.
Birbraer barely controlled a pass all night and began trying to skate through the entire Sheff team.
Smith had the worst game I've seen from him and cost us the game winning goal which pretty much summed up his night. His injury is clearly affecting him. I'm not sure why he's playing with Miller as that hasn't worked all season, but we need our key players to show up away from home and find a way to win ugly if we're going to win anything.
Credit to G for bringing Finnerty in, because he put in the kind of performance Smith and Birbraer should be. I can't believe Finnerty has double the fitness levels of these blokes, but that's what it looked like. He certainly looked like our go to centre last night and if everyone played with his intensity we'd have probably won. He never gave up and sparked our comeback and without him it would have stayed 3-0. Easily the Devils MOM.
As for Smith and Birbraer, their contribution away from home is unacceptable for go-to guys and when Davies and Hayes are back hopefully they will get some of their shifts to give them a kick up the rear.
Apart from a mad five minutes where Sheffield played very well in the third period we were defensively pretty good and tbh Sheffield were playing so well in that period I don't think any team would have faired differently. The good news was that we managed to scramble and not concede a goal in that period so like I said defended well.
Likewise the last five minutes we totally dominated. (You could see the lack of confidence Shef sill has in defending a lead) There was a noticeable change in tempo from the Devils (led by Finnerty who was easily our best forward) We hardly looked like a team that can't play on big ice so for mine this excuse is no longer a valid excuse.
One more note: We clearly had Sheff rattled when we stepped up the physical play in the first (as seen by the penalty's against them which were the corrrect calls from Darnell), but then came out for a game of shinty in the second.
Players didn't appear to be able to control a pass so eventually gave up and we became a group of individuals. The powerplay was also dreadful. These are two areas which should improve on the big ice. G has clearly coached a good powerplay as evidenced at home, so why are our skill players struggling with all that space. I'm not talking about scoring, we barely set it up all night.
Birbraer barely controlled a pass all night and began trying to skate through the entire Sheff team.
Smith had the worst game I've seen from him and cost us the game winning goal which pretty much summed up his night. His injury is clearly affecting him. I'm not sure why he's playing with Miller as that hasn't worked all season, but we need our key players to show up away from home and find a way to win ugly if we're going to win anything.
Credit to G for bringing Finnerty in, because he put in the kind of performance Smith and Birbraer should be. I can't believe Finnerty has double the fitness levels of these blokes, but that's what it looked like. He certainly looked like our go to centre last night and if everyone played with his intensity we'd have probably won. He never gave up and sparked our comeback and without him it would have stayed 3-0. Easily the Devils MOM.
As for Smith and Birbraer, their contribution away from home is unacceptable for go-to guys and when Davies and Hayes are back hopefully they will get some of their shifts to give them a kick up the rear.
Apart from a mad five minutes where Sheffield played very well in the third period we were defensively pretty good and tbh Sheffield were playing so well in that period I don't think any team would have faired differently. The good news was that we managed to scramble and not concede a goal in that period so like I said defended well.
Likewise the last five minutes we totally dominated. (You could see the lack of confidence Shef sill has in defending a lead) There was a noticeable change in tempo from the Devils (led by Finnerty who was easily our best forward) We hardly looked like a team that can't play on big ice so for mine this excuse is no longer a valid excuse.
One more note: We clearly had Sheff rattled when we stepped up the physical play in the first (as seen by the penalty's against them which were the corrrect calls from Darnell), but then came out for a game of shinty in the second.
Can't believe I travelled all the way up there in the snow for that...
We looked like a bunch of headless chickens, with no real gameplan. I know it's hard to win away from home in this league, but how many times have we been 3-0 down away this year before we start a comeback? Most of the time it's too little to late. PP was pathetic, must've got one shot off each time.
Finnerty was our ONLY good player, for our first goal he went straight at the goalie. Hill picked up a scrappy rebound goal. After that, the players suddenly realize that they can do it... but its too late by then!
I know it's tough playing on big ice after 5 home games, but it was the lack of effort which annoyed me. They could of at least pretended they care! I think G needs to take some responsibility and sort this out, with the players we've got, right now we're not playing to our potential.
Respect to Steelers woman who gaves us free tix. You're not all a bad bunch. And in return the Devils made you look much better than you probably were.
We looked like a bunch of headless chickens, with no real gameplan. I know it's hard to win away from home in this league, but how many times have we been 3-0 down away this year before we start a comeback? Most of the time it's too little to late. PP was pathetic, must've got one shot off each time.
Finnerty was our ONLY good player, for our first goal he went straight at the goalie. Hill picked up a scrappy rebound goal. After that, the players suddenly realize that they can do it... but its too late by then!
I know it's tough playing on big ice after 5 home games, but it was the lack of effort which annoyed me. They could of at least pretended they care! I think G needs to take some responsibility and sort this out, with the players we've got, right now we're not playing to our potential.
Respect to Steelers woman who gaves us free tix. You're not all a bad bunch. And in return the Devils made you look much better than you probably were.
I was at the game and will not add too much as most seemed to have covered the performance already. It wasnt just our star players that were woeful, Stoney and Towe looked lost. Stoney was even benched in the 3rd he was that bad and Symonds replaced him (who I thought did ok).
The problem I have with the Devils is our inability to change gear, inother words to change the course of the game. It took a bit of a lucky goal that the excellent Finnerty set up to put any life into us - too little too late though. IMO this lies with the coaches whether it be Franny or G someone has to make some decisions during the game. The only change we made was to bench Stoney and put Symmonds on - thats going to really make a difference! Whatever happened to sending someone out to throw some big hits, fight, agitate, get in their faces - anything!! All G and Franny seem to do is draw some pretty pictures on his clipboard that the players can never seem to get right.
We need to stop over complicating things and stick to the basics. I.e if things arent going right why not send Vother, Finnerty or Miller out to throw some hits or have a fight? If we're lacking a spark, a set play isnt going to help!
I think last night was probably the worst performance I've seen this year. On the plus side Darnell called the game ok-ish and Jay getting about 5 punches clean on Judas, I mean Jona's big beak!
The problem I have with the Devils is our inability to change gear, inother words to change the course of the game. It took a bit of a lucky goal that the excellent Finnerty set up to put any life into us - too little too late though. IMO this lies with the coaches whether it be Franny or G someone has to make some decisions during the game. The only change we made was to bench Stoney and put Symmonds on - thats going to really make a difference! Whatever happened to sending someone out to throw some big hits, fight, agitate, get in their faces - anything!! All G and Franny seem to do is draw some pretty pictures on his clipboard that the players can never seem to get right.
We need to stop over complicating things and stick to the basics. I.e if things arent going right why not send Vother, Finnerty or Miller out to throw some hits or have a fight? If we're lacking a spark, a set play isnt going to help!
I think last night was probably the worst performance I've seen this year. On the plus side Darnell called the game ok-ish and Jay getting about 5 punches clean on Judas, I mean Jona's big beak!
To add to the growing band of disappointed posters on here, I believe this demonstrates a key issue the Devils are struggling with at away games - and that is the size of the rink. The guys have the best home record in the EIHL right now, they pretty much rule the Blue Tent........but somehow something goes wrong when they go on the road. :? A few folks on here who saw last night's game talk of players looking 'lost' - G and Franny themselves have often said how easy it can be to be caught out of position on a big ice pad, whereas on a smaller one, it's easier to keep tight control.
Don't know to what extent those line changes in the Hull game were used last night and what effect that had. Sounds like sometimes our D was poor. :x Trouble is, a team can't always bank on scoring more goals than they concede, especially if the team are getting used to different lines again, or some of their forwards are having an off week.
Alright, Belfast lost both games against Coventry this weekend, but top3/league winning teams are those that can pick up crucial wins on the road. Noticable that most of the teams lost their away matches this weekend (shows how tight things are) - but winning is the only thing that gets those valuable points on the board. Look at our schedule in the next month.....and look at the teams that Nottingham are playing. :shock:
Don't know to what extent those line changes in the Hull game were used last night and what effect that had. Sounds like sometimes our D was poor. :x Trouble is, a team can't always bank on scoring more goals than they concede, especially if the team are getting used to different lines again, or some of their forwards are having an off week.
Alright, Belfast lost both games against Coventry this weekend, but top3/league winning teams are those that can pick up crucial wins on the road. Noticable that most of the teams lost their away matches this weekend (shows how tight things are) - but winning is the only thing that gets those valuable points on the board. Look at our schedule in the next month.....and look at the teams that Nottingham are playing. :shock:
I would have agreed with before last night but now i think its something the organisation is using as an excuse.
When we finally realised we could hurt the steelers by driving the net and attacking their wings there was only 3 minutes left, we could have won that game last night on that ice pad.
Teams who play on arena ice play their own game on our ice surface but we limit ourselves by playing to our small ice pad and trying the same things on Arena ice, we have some great skaters and still handlers in our team and we need to start playing a game that suits them.
Sadly after viewing the game at the house of steel last night the big ice is no longer an excuse imo.
I'm fed up of the excuses of the big ice pad. Who's fault is it that we cant play on big ice - coaches.
Who are the people who need to make a tactical change so we can play on big ice - coaches.
Who need to make decisions during the game if things arent working - coaches.
The buck stops at two people - Franny and G. Are we just accepting the fact we cant play on big ice? Because thats the way it seems; our performance last nice was empty. We had accepted defeat before Steelers had even scored a goal.
Who are the people who need to make a tactical change so we can play on big ice - coaches.
Who need to make decisions during the game if things arent working - coaches.
The buck stops at two people - Franny and G. Are we just accepting the fact we cant play on big ice? Because thats the way it seems; our performance last nice was empty. We had accepted defeat before Steelers had even scored a goal.
Firstly, what a great weekend for the Steelers. 6 points out of 6 and 9 wins in the last 12 games.
Verner was outstanding and made some quality saves, not least the poke check on Finnerty in the second. Credit to the Steelers defence who kept everything to the outside.
It's a good job Voth missed Dowd on the boards otherwise he'd have been lucky to still be in the game on a charging major. Although Darnell probably would have missed that, like when Michel just took his gloves off and dropped his stick because he wanted a rest...a little consistency would be nice.
To say that was Steelers third game in three days they were the ones with the jump and the legs. Maybe the fact you haven't played on big ice since the 29th November affected your fitness levels, but there was only Finnerty with any intensity. I knew he'd get a great reception and we didn't disappoint there!
Quite amusing how he only tried things on with Wood and Hubbauer - clearly still has a lot of respect for his previous team mates. What a guy.
Last night was a replica of the match at the tent the other week where you could have won 5-0. If it finished 5-0 last night, it wouldn't have been a fluke either.
Verner was outstanding and made some quality saves, not least the poke check on Finnerty in the second. Credit to the Steelers defence who kept everything to the outside.
It's a good job Voth missed Dowd on the boards otherwise he'd have been lucky to still be in the game on a charging major. Although Darnell probably would have missed that, like when Michel just took his gloves off and dropped his stick because he wanted a rest...a little consistency would be nice.
To say that was Steelers third game in three days they were the ones with the jump and the legs. Maybe the fact you haven't played on big ice since the 29th November affected your fitness levels, but there was only Finnerty with any intensity. I knew he'd get a great reception and we didn't disappoint there!
Quite amusing how he only tried things on with Wood and Hubbauer - clearly still has a lot of respect for his previous team mates. What a guy.Last night was a replica of the match at the tent the other week where you could have won 5-0. If it finished 5-0 last night, it wouldn't have been a fluke either.
Gazza and Ocko, I'm in total agreement with you on this. The point I'm making is that they know that so many times the size of the ice pad had been acknowledged as a weakness in away games but, as you rightly say, WHY hasn't anything been done by now to adapt the type of play to combat that or allow our forwards to opt for a free-flowing style? And it seems getting caught out of position is a problem for the d unit in these situations. How feasible is it for the guys go and train on a bigger surface once in a while? :?
You've got to be joking? Did Voth jump into Dowd? No. Did Voth take 3 or more strides immediately leading upto Dowd? No, he had stopped skating. Did you think it was charging because it was a hard hit?
I hate that in the UK if a hit is hard it is automatically a penalty especially if its a tough guy. Voths hit was no worse than Finnertys hit on Dowd.
Even though Hewitt offered him out but then changed his mind? Darnell obviously realised Hewitt was being a pussy and trying to get the cheapshot of the fake glove drop. There is no rule about dropping the gloves anymore Holl, that went a few seasons ago.
I hate that in the UK if a hit is hard it is automatically a penalty especially if its a tough guy. Voths hit was no worse than Finnertys hit on Dowd.
Even though Hewitt offered him out but then changed his mind? Darnell obviously realised Hewitt was being a pussy and trying to get the cheapshot of the fake glove drop. There is no rule about dropping the gloves anymore Holl, that went a few seasons ago.
I'm not buying the big ice pad theory, especially after last night.
Our problems seemed to be skill related...poor puck control, bad passing, and an inability to carry it in the zone when on the powerplay, leading to dump and chase. All of these should be tougher on small ice.
We were also very good in the last 3-4 mins so can clearly play well on the big ice.
We couldn't win a 50/50 for toffee and were second to most pucks and were even being outmuscled in the third which should never happen against a small team like sheff. This suggets a lack of grit and will. As said before, most of the players don't look bothered away from home.
Defensively we were ok...we certainly didn't give up noticeably more chances than at home and even if we gave up a few more that's natural away from home. I don't think the positioning is the main problem.
More like a lack of commitment and desire last night.
Our problems seemed to be skill related...poor puck control, bad passing, and an inability to carry it in the zone when on the powerplay, leading to dump and chase. All of these should be tougher on small ice.
We were also very good in the last 3-4 mins so can clearly play well on the big ice.
We couldn't win a 50/50 for toffee and were second to most pucks and were even being outmuscled in the third which should never happen against a small team like sheff. This suggets a lack of grit and will. As said before, most of the players don't look bothered away from home.
Defensively we were ok...we certainly didn't give up noticeably more chances than at home and even if we gave up a few more that's natural away from home. I don't think the positioning is the main problem.
More like a lack of commitment and desire last night.