Blaze Vs Devils - CC - 31st Oct 2021
- Thread starter James
- Start date
Final score Blaze 2-5 Devils
Good win and a pleasing reaction after last night.
My opinion on Dupont is I’m happy to give him more time to prove himself. Not only because he’s injured but I did see signs of improvement before his injury. Not big signs but there were certainly signs of improvement. I know people will disagree with me and fair enough.
Bottom line though he simply has to have more of an impact if we are to challenge for honours. He was brought in as a first line Centre and the fact he was playing on our third line before his injury speaks volumes.
Good win and a pleasing reaction after last night.
My opinion on Dupont is I’m happy to give him more time to prove himself. Not only because he’s injured but I did see signs of improvement before his injury. Not big signs but there were certainly signs of improvement. I know people will disagree with me and fair enough.
Bottom line though he simply has to have more of an impact if we are to challenge for honours. He was brought in as a first line Centre and the fact he was playing on our third line before his injury speaks volumes.
Much better performance. Relentless forechecking took away Blazes offense for most of the game. Good back checking stopped numerous secondary opportunities, great PK, crisp passing and some nice goals.
It shows we don't need to be sacking players. Every team needs a kick up the arse from the coach occasionally. It seems we are not the only team that have the odd off day with Guildford losing 7-0 to Dundee.
It shows we don't need to be sacking players. Every team needs a kick up the arse from the coach occasionally. It seems we are not the only team that have the odd off day with Guildford losing 7-0 to Dundee.
To be honest Moggy I’ll be shocked if Dupont doesn’t last the season. Not only because we don’t tend to gas players but he’s also player assistant coach. I mentioned yesterday if we were to get rid of a player I think there are one or two candidates ahead of him. That’s just my opinion though.
What I would say about Dupont (and this is just my opinion) is i do think he let himself down a bit with the shape he turned up in. I know he was a late signing and maybe there’s more to it but he looked really unfit. That’s another reason i think it’s worth giving him more time. Hopefully when he’s fully fit we see a different player.
I know some people will say ‘does a player that turns up out of shape deserve more time to find his fitness’ and fair enough, that’s their opinion.
What I would say about Dupont (and this is just my opinion) is i do think he let himself down a bit with the shape he turned up in. I know he was a late signing and maybe there’s more to it but he looked really unfit. That’s another reason i think it’s worth giving him more time. Hopefully when he’s fully fit we see a different player.
I know some people will say ‘does a player that turns up out of shape deserve more time to find his fitness’ and fair enough, that’s their opinion.
Why is it gutless on a ‘young Brit’? He’s 22, his nationality is irrelevant. If he a clear U18 wearing a face cage, I’d agree. I don’t think any player expects to be treated differently by opposition because they are a young Brit.
I don’t think the hit is high. Slow it down, he hits his chest, that part is fine. If it’s late then the Louis one is worse as that was definitely later than the hit on Waller.
The difficult thing is the interpretation of when the player is committed to the hit. Waller lost the puck because he seen the player making the hit coming. The defending player will be watching the players chest - that’s what players are coached in basic D, he seen Waller get the puck and not make a pass so he commits to the hit. When Waller sees the player he leaves the puck without passing it. It’s a difficult one for the Coventry player. My gut feeling is that it’s a good hit. If that was one of our I think I’d be disappointed if they had a ban.
I don’t think the hit is high. Slow it down, he hits his chest, that part is fine. If it’s late then the Louis one is worse as that was definitely later than the hit on Waller.
The difficult thing is the interpretation of when the player is committed to the hit. Waller lost the puck because he seen the player making the hit coming. The defending player will be watching the players chest - that’s what players are coached in basic D, he seen Waller get the puck and not make a pass so he commits to the hit. When Waller sees the player he leaves the puck without passing it. It’s a difficult one for the Coventry player. My gut feeling is that it’s a good hit. If that was one of our I think I’d be disappointed if they had a ban.
To be fair gutless was a bit OTT. I thought putting in a huge hit on Waller was slightly cowardly tho. Hamonic is the blaze captain and he was clearly looking for a momentum shifter. Why not go after one of our bigger boys? He knows what he’s doing, that wasn’t a hit out of the blue. Hamonic can look after himself. There were 5 minutes between the Devils 4th goal and that hit. If it was the next shift after going 4-0 down and he thought I’m just going to smash anyone then fair enough. He had time to think about that though and I think Waller was an easy option
Do you have another view Ocko? If there's any head contact, he’s in trouble. From the video that the Blaze posted, it’s very difficult to see where the impact was and I’ve seen stills showing chest contact and also seemingly showing head contact….you could just as easily argue that the pic below shows a shoulder to the head/neck area, as well as shoulder to shoulder.
Hopefully there’s another angle to prove one way or the other. But my gut feel and certainly going on player reactions, it’s a naughty hit.
Hopefully there’s another angle to prove one way or the other. But my gut feel and certainly going on player reactions, it’s a naughty hit.
Last edited:
I agree that he won't be let go. I certainly think that the time has passed for people to hold their tongues though.
I know that a lot of players have had their fitness suffer due to the pandemic, but there's a big difference between general fitness and game fitness. If the former was the problem, then that to me is a red flag.
I know that a lot of players have had their fitness suffer due to the pandemic, but there's a big difference between general fitness and game fitness. If the former was the problem, then that to me is a red flag.