Steelers v Devils - 22/10 - 6:00pm - CC - Chat/Updates
- Thread starter Chris
- Start date
He wont change now, he has been like that since he was born, unlucky for the Devils but when you play 2 imports short away to a team like Steelers, and then lose another in the 3rd theres only really going to be one result. Its the old story if we were a Belfast or a Panthers we would buy our way out of this problem by carrying replacements. Getting a bit cheesed off with this cockeyed league to be honest with you, and never ever thought i would say this but i am going off this haves and have not league, and teams not competing on a level playing field. There is a huge difference in losing to a better team and losing to a 12 import team, obviously i am not talking about Sheffield, but the clubs that will destroy the game in this country.
Good game that could have gone either way, in the end it was King for the Steelers that was the difference, we struggled with him all night and he was a deserved MOM.
This was my first look at the Devils for a few weeks and to be honest we still look to have the same strengths, and weaknesses as we had on the first weekend of the season. There are some superb individuals in the team but the team is still less than the sum of the parts. Too often a piece of brilliant individual skill was followed by losing the puck by going a man too far. We are also (collectively) one of the least physical Devils teams I have seen for some time.
The positives? G's block was one of the bravest plays I've seen for years. A horrible bounce meant Stevie (who was very good tonight) was totally out of position. A Steeler had an open net to shoot at and G just threw his body in front of the puck. He didn't ice afterwards.
Ritchie was MOM and was a fair choice although Chris Frank played well (the 2+10 was the right call but he was a shade unlucky as the opposing player turned at the last minute), Ben Davies worked his socks off and Pierce still has skill to burn, although the line he was on patently does not seem to work as a line....
Negatives? The passing was poor throughout and frankly we were beaten by a very average team. We looked like a midtable team, one that is in no way a "bad" team but one that just isn't quite working as a team. I would suggest that G has some thinking to do over the next week or so, the systems are not working so either they must change or the personnel must change.
This was my first look at the Devils for a few weeks and to be honest we still look to have the same strengths, and weaknesses as we had on the first weekend of the season. There are some superb individuals in the team but the team is still less than the sum of the parts. Too often a piece of brilliant individual skill was followed by losing the puck by going a man too far. We are also (collectively) one of the least physical Devils teams I have seen for some time.
The positives? G's block was one of the bravest plays I've seen for years. A horrible bounce meant Stevie (who was very good tonight) was totally out of position. A Steeler had an open net to shoot at and G just threw his body in front of the puck. He didn't ice afterwards.
Ritchie was MOM and was a fair choice although Chris Frank played well (the 2+10 was the right call but he was a shade unlucky as the opposing player turned at the last minute), Ben Davies worked his socks off and Pierce still has skill to burn, although the line he was on patently does not seem to work as a line....
Negatives? The passing was poor throughout and frankly we were beaten by a very average team. We looked like a midtable team, one that is in no way a "bad" team but one that just isn't quite working as a team. I would suggest that G has some thinking to do over the next week or so, the systems are not working so either they must change or the personnel must change.
Not a vast amount, at a rough guess around 4 or 5 shifts each. We were either on the powerplay or the penalty kill for a fair proportion of the time so that line (with Dobben as centre) had fairly minimal ice time.
Forgot to mention two things - our Powerplay was actually pretty good tonight and Darnell called everything all night - no bias, no favouritism, just the same calls all match
Forgot to mention two things - our Powerplay was actually pretty good tonight and Darnell called everything all night - no bias, no favouritism, just the same calls all match
First of all, let's hope that Gerad is ok and recovering after his nasty game injury - can't imagine anything more painful. :shock:
From the reports and transcripts of the match, it looked like it could have gone either way earlier on. To lose G and also have key players like Stu and Mark absent with injury is always going to hurt - especially when the team has vital cup games to win and is still trying to find consistency in their road performance.
Unfortunately for us this year, some of the other teams have shown that even with injuries and absences that they have not covered with replacement players, they still have sufficient skill, chemistry and good systems in place to win key games. Panthers, Blaze and Steelers have all shown this and that is why they are performing with more consistency.
After last night's CC loss, the Devils are now in the position where they HAVE to win 2 out of their remaining 3 group games to stand any chance of qualifying. Let's hope they can take full advantage of the fact that 2 of those games are at the BBT...to Steelers :shock: and to Blaze :shock:
From the reports and transcripts of the match, it looked like it could have gone either way earlier on. To lose G and also have key players like Stu and Mark absent with injury is always going to hurt - especially when the team has vital cup games to win and is still trying to find consistency in their road performance.
Unfortunately for us this year, some of the other teams have shown that even with injuries and absences that they have not covered with replacement players, they still have sufficient skill, chemistry and good systems in place to win key games. Panthers, Blaze and Steelers have all shown this and that is why they are performing with more consistency.
After last night's CC loss, the Devils are now in the position where they HAVE to win 2 out of their remaining 3 group games to stand any chance of qualifying. Let's hope they can take full advantage of the fact that 2 of those games are at the BBT...to Steelers :shock: and to Blaze :shock: