Blight IS back !!
- Thread starter KaneDevils
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Thread starter
#22
Personally I think we have good fire power already signed, with more to come, I see no problems there.
For me the area now, with a very decent net minder signed, has to be D.
Milam last year was, well .... Marsh has his critics. Our clearing of the zone on times was poor
Osaer leaving mid season etc. Bad luck, circumstance, poor performances, instability, take your pick, but plenty there to improve on in one way or another.
For me the area now, with a very decent net minder signed, has to be D.
Milam last year was, well .... Marsh has his critics. Our clearing of the zone on times was poor
Osaer leaving mid season etc. Bad luck, circumstance, poor performances, instability, take your pick, but plenty there to improve on in one way or another.
I would have thought our defence will be:
Import - Richardson
M. Smith - Import
G
Only question is whether Batch/Quiney will play as a forward or on D.
If Batch does play as a forward I wonder whether they will try him alongside Faulks and Blight again and use him as battering-ram.
I would guess that our 2nd line would be Hill - Myers - Lord so that line has some toughness too.
If Maxi does re-sign then I'd love to see him alongside Ben and another physical winger/fighter.
Batch - Faulkner - Blight
Hill - Myers - Lord
Max - Davies - Import
Quiney - Piggott - Jones
Import - Richardson
M. Smith - Import
G
Only question is whether Batch/Quiney will play as a forward or on D.
If Batch does play as a forward I wonder whether they will try him alongside Faulks and Blight again and use him as battering-ram.
I would guess that our 2nd line would be Hill - Myers - Lord so that line has some toughness too.
If Maxi does re-sign then I'd love to see him alongside Ben and another physical winger/fighter.
Batch - Faulkner - Blight
Hill - Myers - Lord
Max - Davies - Import
Quiney - Piggott - Jones
Sorry I know it's all opinion but that forward line up would fill me with dread. There is not enough goals there to compete at the top of the league. Match that against the team that finished second with Max, Matzka, Pelle - Hill, Finnerty, Voth - Smith, McRae, Michel and there is a real gulf in offence. Batch is not a top line forward in this league. Romantic to think so but no where near. Devils need a sniper on that top line in the Pelle mould. A forty Goal scorer and that isn't Batch. Max Myers and Lord I could like and then a Hill Davies Tough guy enforcer( Voth replacement) on third. That could produce enough perhaps. I just think Batch will be far better utilised for the team in D. If you are honestly talking about a team taking a run at a league title does Batch Honestly fall in your top nine forwards. With six import forwards and Myers, Hill. And Ben. The spot just isn't there. Run five forwards and five D then you might compete but Devils for years rated well on goals against and still only landed mid table. It was when the forwards were stacked across three lines the real success came.
Nope, I'm not talking about a run at the league title.... Maybe first season in the new arena yes, but this season in the tent? I want to see a team to be proud of, a team that entertains and wins their home games. The league title isn't a priority for me.
To compare with that team of 2nd place, are our forwards in that projected line up all that far behind???
- Our top line 40 goal scorer should effectively be Faulkner, with Blight dishing them (a la Matzka), so Batch is obviously a downgrade on Max (although Batch was point a game as a forward).
- Hill Myers and Lord I would envisage scoring a similar number of goals as Hill Finnerty Voth.... About the same.
- We got very lucky with our 3rd line that season, Macrae should never have been a 3rd line player and arguably neither should Michel. Although we would have 2 imports and a Brit combination again, with Ben being a better player than Sam Smith, and with Max dropping down then that line would remain strong.
To add to that.... There was also the Craig Weller factor in that season, which for me, makes it a one-off year that we can't quite replicate.
I think a better comparison would be the team that finished 2nd/3rd? in 05/06 - Mark Smith's first stint.
Birbraer - Smith - Sample (we can quite easily match up to that I feel)
Iannazzo - M Richardson - Voth (again, i'd expect our ''2nd line'' to score the same number of goals)
Rempel - L Richarsdson - Cowley (we'd match that with a 3rd line of Davies, Max and import)
In defense we are already on route to matching the defense of that season (Darling, Adams, Garrow, Komarek, Stone, Symonds)
That was an entertaining year, and were it not for the training in Bristol and the 'home games' at Basingstoke we may well have won the league (we lost out by 8 points ish).
Add in your 11th import and you could even get versatile player that can play forward or d, could even make him your go-to tough guy.
Like you say, all about opinion,
To compare with that team of 2nd place, are our forwards in that projected line up all that far behind???
- Our top line 40 goal scorer should effectively be Faulkner, with Blight dishing them (a la Matzka), so Batch is obviously a downgrade on Max (although Batch was point a game as a forward).
- Hill Myers and Lord I would envisage scoring a similar number of goals as Hill Finnerty Voth.... About the same.
- We got very lucky with our 3rd line that season, Macrae should never have been a 3rd line player and arguably neither should Michel. Although we would have 2 imports and a Brit combination again, with Ben being a better player than Sam Smith, and with Max dropping down then that line would remain strong.
To add to that.... There was also the Craig Weller factor in that season, which for me, makes it a one-off year that we can't quite replicate.
I think a better comparison would be the team that finished 2nd/3rd? in 05/06 - Mark Smith's first stint.
Birbraer - Smith - Sample (we can quite easily match up to that I feel)
Iannazzo - M Richardson - Voth (again, i'd expect our ''2nd line'' to score the same number of goals)
Rempel - L Richarsdson - Cowley (we'd match that with a 3rd line of Davies, Max and import)
In defense we are already on route to matching the defense of that season (Darling, Adams, Garrow, Komarek, Stone, Symonds)
That was an entertaining year, and were it not for the training in Bristol and the 'home games' at Basingstoke we may well have won the league (we lost out by 8 points ish).
Add in your 11th import and you could even get versatile player that can play forward or d, could even make him your go-to tough guy.
Like you say, all about opinion,
Finny said:
Finny said:
It is 11 yes. I didn't list our import netminder though. 
Import D x2
G
M. Smith
Max
Blight
Faulkner
Lord
Import F
Import D
Thread starter
#33
:roll: + ;:| = WD
WD
I certainly hope G decides to go with 3 D pairings with Josh at the back. Huge potential with this young player to become a leading British defenceman in near future.
In saying that, last year's Panthers treble-winning team played with 5 defencemen - 3 imports and 2 Brits. However, they had the option of the fantastic Jordan Fox dropping back to defence and still having plenty of fire power on all 3 attacking lines.
Given the defensive weaknesses of the Devils last season, if the team goes with 5 dmen, those other two import players are going to have to be the right top notch guys. Panthers had the toughness of Lepine, the solidity of Beckett and the offensive brilliance of Werner.
In saying that, last year's Panthers treble-winning team played with 5 defencemen - 3 imports and 2 Brits. However, they had the option of the fantastic Jordan Fox dropping back to defence and still having plenty of fire power on all 3 attacking lines.
Given the defensive weaknesses of the Devils last season, if the team goes with 5 dmen, those other two import players are going to have to be the right top notch guys. Panthers had the toughness of Lepine, the solidity of Beckett and the offensive brilliance of Werner.
