Devils v Panthers - Weds 7:30pm - Chat/Updates
- Thread starter Chris
- Start date
For me tonight the game was a bit of a smash and grab raid as far as the Panties were concerned, they started the better as we got into penalty trouble early again (Miller the victim twice) which we contained, and then we scored two against the run of play and then i think we conceded late in the 2nd period to make it 2-1.
The 3rd period started and we let in two goals inside i think about two minutes from the start, then the Panthers shut up shop to take the win - which i thought they did to great effect.
Now to pick the bones out of our display :- First line, Smith at the races doing what he does best but line mates unable to keep up, Birbraer is starting to score the odd goal but is he worried to bust a gut and get stuck in because of the old knee injuries? Miller is way behind the pace and for me is not a first line import in this League all he does is take silly penalties and if I were "G" i would try the first line with somebody else (don't rate him!!!).
Second line can't really tell until the Voth is back.
Third line, best line of all Ben Davies has been a revelation this guy is gonna be a star in this League for a long time i just hope we can keep hold of him, he caused the Panties problems all night long, IMHO Davies and Mark Richardson are our best players thus far.
Cheers Eugene.
The 3rd period started and we let in two goals inside i think about two minutes from the start, then the Panthers shut up shop to take the win - which i thought they did to great effect.
Now to pick the bones out of our display :- First line, Smith at the races doing what he does best but line mates unable to keep up, Birbraer is starting to score the odd goal but is he worried to bust a gut and get stuck in because of the old knee injuries? Miller is way behind the pace and for me is not a first line import in this League all he does is take silly penalties and if I were "G" i would try the first line with somebody else (don't rate him!!!).
Second line can't really tell until the Voth is back.
Third line, best line of all Ben Davies has been a revelation this guy is gonna be a star in this League for a long time i just hope we can keep hold of him, he caused the Panties problems all night long, IMHO Davies and Mark Richardson are our best players thus far.
Cheers Eugene.
Devils IMO were unlucky to not get something out of the game, but falling asleep for 1 min and 8 seconds against a team like panthers, you will be punnished.
1st period - Hicks call 2 or 3 penalties on Devils in a row, one was VERY weak, (Miller's second) Miller has arm/stick around Richardson(9)?s waist, he leans and falls over, Miller gets called. First period overall was pretty even (other than the PK's). Devils look better going forward IMO. Panthers get a 3 on 0 break, initial shot saved, rebound falls to Panthers player, save and one more save. Miller looks to want to kiss Lyle....
2nd period was mostly all devils and were 100% the better team. Panthers first goal was a bit weak. Panthers player goes for the wraparound shoots 5 hole, devils d man not staying with player.
3rd period, well as above, Panthers came out playing hockey and devils were still in dressing room. 2 goals (number 2 and 3) were 1 minute 8 seconds apart. After this panthers sat back and defended the 1 goal lead. Hartwick was called very harshly for roughing. Puck deflects high up, panthers player raises hand to get it, Hartwick hits him just as puck is dropping, Hicks arm goes up....
Panthers annoy the HELL out of me, when they ice the puck and change. Neilson being the worst culprit. IMO it should be penalised to stop the delay of game.
St Pierre should have been harshly punnished for hitting (Latulippe)? with his blocker, when he was lying on the ground. IMO he's not a great goalie, his rebounds are terrible, BUT the nottingham defense work very well with him, and IMO this is the difference in Devils and Panthers D. Panthers going forward weren't very impressive but their D id very good.
Devils, well I didn't like the way our lines were changed, Davies on second and Michel on third line. Devils first line for me just aren't good enough at the moment.
We deserved something from the game, but as I said above, it's what happens when you fall asleep against the panthers.
1st period - Hicks call 2 or 3 penalties on Devils in a row, one was VERY weak, (Miller's second) Miller has arm/stick around Richardson(9)?s waist, he leans and falls over, Miller gets called. First period overall was pretty even (other than the PK's). Devils look better going forward IMO. Panthers get a 3 on 0 break, initial shot saved, rebound falls to Panthers player, save and one more save. Miller looks to want to kiss Lyle....
2nd period was mostly all devils and were 100% the better team. Panthers first goal was a bit weak. Panthers player goes for the wraparound shoots 5 hole, devils d man not staying with player.
3rd period, well as above, Panthers came out playing hockey and devils were still in dressing room. 2 goals (number 2 and 3) were 1 minute 8 seconds apart. After this panthers sat back and defended the 1 goal lead. Hartwick was called very harshly for roughing. Puck deflects high up, panthers player raises hand to get it, Hartwick hits him just as puck is dropping, Hicks arm goes up....
Panthers annoy the HELL out of me, when they ice the puck and change. Neilson being the worst culprit. IMO it should be penalised to stop the delay of game.
St Pierre should have been harshly punnished for hitting (Latulippe)? with his blocker, when he was lying on the ground. IMO he's not a great goalie, his rebounds are terrible, BUT the nottingham defense work very well with him, and IMO this is the difference in Devils and Panthers D. Panthers going forward weren't very impressive but their D id very good.
Devils, well I didn't like the way our lines were changed, Davies on second and Michel on third line. Devils first line for me just aren't good enough at the moment.
We deserved something from the game, but as I said above, it's what happens when you fall asleep against the panthers.
As far as i know it was Michel that St.Pierre did that to..
The roughing call on Hartwick was uncalled for. I can't make out what I think of the Devils at the moment. We play some amazing games where i think we're gonna do really well this year then others it's like watching another team. I dont think all in all we played that bad tonight, just the 3rd period was a let down. I agree with others who say it though, i'm not sure Miller should be on the 1st line. Our 3rd line seems to be the best, Ben is such a good player, Toweys picked up a lot this season and Michel is doing really well.. Even G has done fairly good so far..So what's up with our first line at the moment.
Anyway.. I saw Michel go off injured tonight, play for a bit in the second and then not return or appear on the bench for the 3rd, same for Smithy as i saw him leave for the dressing room early..Just hope it's nothing serious.
The roughing call on Hartwick was uncalled for. I can't make out what I think of the Devils at the moment. We play some amazing games where i think we're gonna do really well this year then others it's like watching another team. I dont think all in all we played that bad tonight, just the 3rd period was a let down. I agree with others who say it though, i'm not sure Miller should be on the 1st line. Our 3rd line seems to be the best, Ben is such a good player, Toweys picked up a lot this season and Michel is doing really well.. Even G has done fairly good so far..So what's up with our first line at the moment.
Anyway.. I saw Michel go off injured tonight, play for a bit in the second and then not return or appear on the bench for the 3rd, same for Smithy as i saw him leave for the dressing room early..Just hope it's nothing serious.
Michel came back on in the 3rd. Smith went off with about a minute to go, he limped into the dressing room but to be honest I got the impression he'd just given up. Could be wrong like maybe he is actually injured but it didn't look too bad, just looked liked he'd sulked off as we'd lost. Although he was limping so ...
Would have given man of the match to Ben Davies, him and Towe (and the rest of the Brits to be fair) give everything every shift and our 'imports' could do alot to learn from these two.
First line isn't working at the moment so change it. I'd like to see Davies on a line with Smith. Davies and Elich were great together as they were both fast and Elich would always find Davies with a pass, I'm sure Smith could do the same as he's a good passer. Worth a go, if it doesn't work, change it back.
Would have given man of the match to Ben Davies, him and Towe (and the rest of the Brits to be fair) give everything every shift and our 'imports' could do alot to learn from these two.
First line isn't working at the moment so change it. I'd like to see Davies on a line with Smith. Davies and Elich were great together as they were both fast and Elich would always find Davies with a pass, I'm sure Smith could do the same as he's a good passer. Worth a go, if it doesn't work, change it back.
I actually thought that Nottingham were a really good team and we cannot castigate ourselves too much for this loss. Both our goals came against the run of play and when panthers were on the puck, they kept it very well. They do have some very good players and played very well as a team (benefit of a good pre-season?) so I'm not too downbeat today. We naturally missed Vother and surprisingly Michel (surprisingly only because of his brevity of time on the team and his 3rd line status) but he got injured doing what he does best which was attacking the powerplay shooters.
Wasn't at all impressed with Cameron Mann, but Sean McAslan did for us last night and to think we had him all but signed in the summer, well that was one that got away. I suppose the panthers team reflects the underlying wealth of that particular outfit. Maybe one day we'll have a shiny arena like theirs and fill it too, just hope I live long enough to see it!
Wasn't at all impressed with Cameron Mann, but Sean McAslan did for us last night and to think we had him all but signed in the summer, well that was one that got away. I suppose the panthers team reflects the underlying wealth of that particular outfit. Maybe one day we'll have a shiny arena like theirs and fill it too, just hope I live long enough to see it!
Not a great game of hockey all round to be fair. I thought the Devils were lucky to be 2-0 in all honesty because I didn’t think we were playing that well. Nottingham were far from brilliant although I thought they held up their blue line really well. They did look solid around the ice but nothing special based on that performance.
Not quite sure why but our first line is taking a long time to click. Max is leading the way at the moment. Smithy’s effort is their but doesn’t look as sharp as he has before. It’s that last play from our first line that is letting them down.
I thought our best players were Towe and Davies again. Gerad and Hill were forcing the puck well and Richardson and Jarvis were the reliable selves but it’s the same players this early season who are performing. Others, not necessarily for the want of trying, just don’t seem to have that killer edge at the moment. I am confident it will come though.
The disappointing thing is taking a 2-0 lead and home and blowing it with some sloppy goals. Lyle made some very good saves but the first and third goals are ones he should be saving. Smithy, I think it was, had a defensive laps on the second goal. Nottingham didn’t look that threatening up front despite their impressive offense on paper so makes is more frustrating that we gave them 3 goals.
On the plus side, it was a challenge cup game and we have 4 points from 3 games. We’re still second in the table and probably 3 points away (from 6 available) from qualifying. Other than against Sheffield, we’ve not played top gear hockey all year yet we’ve come away with points. Some say this is a worrying thing but for me this is a sign of a good team. We will start to click and when we do we’ll be a match for any team in this league.
Not quite sure why but our first line is taking a long time to click. Max is leading the way at the moment. Smithy’s effort is their but doesn’t look as sharp as he has before. It’s that last play from our first line that is letting them down.
I thought our best players were Towe and Davies again. Gerad and Hill were forcing the puck well and Richardson and Jarvis were the reliable selves but it’s the same players this early season who are performing. Others, not necessarily for the want of trying, just don’t seem to have that killer edge at the moment. I am confident it will come though.
The disappointing thing is taking a 2-0 lead and home and blowing it with some sloppy goals. Lyle made some very good saves but the first and third goals are ones he should be saving. Smithy, I think it was, had a defensive laps on the second goal. Nottingham didn’t look that threatening up front despite their impressive offense on paper so makes is more frustrating that we gave them 3 goals.
On the plus side, it was a challenge cup game and we have 4 points from 3 games. We’re still second in the table and probably 3 points away (from 6 available) from qualifying. Other than against Sheffield, we’ve not played top gear hockey all year yet we’ve come away with points. Some say this is a worrying thing but for me this is a sign of a good team. We will start to click and when we do we’ll be a match for any team in this league.
First game I've managed to see last night. As usual. very impressed with Ben Davies. This kid really could go places and once he puts on a few more pounds, and with the right coaching I'm sure he could go on to a much higher grade of hockey. Would hate to lose him, but I feel at his age now, he needs to get into a system ( Canada or US ) where he will be progressed correctly and be given a chance to go forward from there.
I can't lay the blame on Hicks, yes he was not up to the mark, but didn't anyone notice he gave strange penalties against the Panthers as well, especially when Max dived and Hicks fell for it and put Clarke in the box ! Wasn't too impressed with the Panthers to be honest, but was even less impressed with our own performance last night. Liked the intensity shown by the Panthers whenat - 2 nil down they came back into the game. Lyle will want 2 of those goals back I'm sure, but he did make a great double save they was heguely important at that time.
I've heard so much about how fast our team is, well, not on last nights showing. Where I feel speed will beat many teams will be on larger rinks, our own rink negates the advantage of speed and that's why the bigger D men like last night aren't often caught out. So I can see us winning quite a few away games if the guys click and get the passing game up to a decent level ( it was very poor at times last night ) Also, without Voth, we looked as if we were being bullied. Mann didn't show any NHL qualities last night, but it's early days, and despite the loss, I certainly believe we are capable of playing a lot better than we did last night and think we can do ok this season.
I can't lay the blame on Hicks, yes he was not up to the mark, but didn't anyone notice he gave strange penalties against the Panthers as well, especially when Max dived and Hicks fell for it and put Clarke in the box ! Wasn't too impressed with the Panthers to be honest, but was even less impressed with our own performance last night. Liked the intensity shown by the Panthers whenat - 2 nil down they came back into the game. Lyle will want 2 of those goals back I'm sure, but he did make a great double save they was heguely important at that time.
I've heard so much about how fast our team is, well, not on last nights showing. Where I feel speed will beat many teams will be on larger rinks, our own rink negates the advantage of speed and that's why the bigger D men like last night aren't often caught out. So I can see us winning quite a few away games if the guys click and get the passing game up to a decent level ( it was very poor at times last night ) Also, without Voth, we looked as if we were being bullied. Mann didn't show any NHL qualities last night, but it's early days, and despite the loss, I certainly believe we are capable of playing a lot better than we did last night and think we can do ok this season.
Sounds like Terry follows the prevailing view
http://www.walesonline.co.uk/sports/ice ... -24824061/
http://www.walesonline.co.uk/sports/ice ... -24824061/
Sorry guys, but who else can you ' castigate ' for such a performance. Come on, Panthers wern't a ' really good team ' as you say, they didn't have to be. They played a good D ( as you rightly say, our goals were against the run of play ) It would appear that all other posters - like myself - were not impressed last night !
My thoughts straight after the game, followed by those this morning:
Well that was dull - but then all the games Sky choose seem to be.
Still not quite sure how the Devils threw that away. 2-0 up and looking comfortable with only a couple of minutes left of the 2nd - and we blew it.
Shame I don't have Sky as I would like to rewatch the game to see if Hicks looks on film as woefully inconsistent as he did in person. Can't argue with the penalties he called - but he seems to close his eyes for 5 minutes and call nothing. Devils could easily have spent the final 2 minutes with a 5-on-3 PP had another referee been in charge.
And I could have sworn in the past a netminder throwing punches with his blocker automatically gets a game? Did I imagine that or have the EIHL changed the rule on it?
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Ok, now it's the morning after the night before and I've had time to sleep on it, these are my extended thoughts.
Nottingham aren't as good going forward as I thought they might be. I expected them to be like Belfast last season, where they would pass it around the zone and we would be chasing shadows.
Other than on PP's though I can't remember them having an concerted pressure in our zone - and we were usually able to clear the puck pretty quickly. Most of their chances came from a quick counter attack.
St Pierre looks as shakey as I expected. If you stick a big player infront of him he is going to get rattled, and if you have a referee who isn't afraid to call it - he is going to take a lot of penalties this year. One of the Devils was checked into the crease and he went berserk - including punching with his blocker as already mentioned.
For 5-10 minutes he was then shocking and I think that was when we scored our second. He came flying out of his goal and when the loose puck fell to Birbraer he had an empty net to score into.
We really should have sealed the game in that spell, and we had 2 or 3 very good chances to do so. Phil Hill had an almost empty net and yet somehow got his stick tangled up in his skates. IIRC the chance came about after St Pierre seemed to poke check his own defencemen, then skated out of the net before finally getting back in position.
However, Panthers D is very very good. They are big and strong and nasty - and last night they were allowed to get away with a lot. They almost seem to be built for a small ice pad as at times they looked a bit slow. D'armour is probably still having nightmares about Ben Davies turning him in and out time after time. Lee looked pretty solid and for me Meyers had his best game I've seen in a long long time.
Upfront, McAslan looked as awesome as ever. His goal was right in the top corner and worthy of winning any game. Perhaps I was expecting too much from Mann, but he didn't really shine compared to McAslan. Infact, the most notable thing that Mann did was widely swing his stick at the Devils bench during the linechange. If Voth had done that we would be on page 20 already.
For the Devils, the 1st line just isn't clicking at the moment. Smithy is starting to look like the Smith of old but he is almost running the line on his own. Birbraer is still drifting in and out of games at times, every now and again he looks unstoppable, then two minutes later he makes a silly mistake.
Miller looked awesome in those early games but seems to have lost his 'zing' lately. He is not hitting like he was and seems to have lost a bit of pace - is he injured perhaps?
Like Gazza said - it might be worth trying Voth on that 1st line for a couple of games so he can cannonball the opposition D, allowing Smith and Birbraer some space.
For 30 minutes our D looked as solid as it has for a very long time. Nottingham didn't look like breaking us down - and yet as soon as they did they suddenly believed in themselves.
After taking the lead they really did shut us down well and played pretty much with a 4 man defence for that last period. Devils had a couple of chances to equalise (including a beautiful back-handed rear-flick midair from Smith which completely beat St Pierre but just whistled past the post) and Nottingham should have had a couple of penalties called against them for cross-checking from behind as we tried to screen the netminder. Hicks though decided that a quiet word in their ear would do the trick.
When Sheffield beat us last year I was disappointed but always felt they were too good for us.
Today I'm more frustrated as I do feel that Nottingham were there to be beaten in that second period - but I feel a couple of Devils players never really believed in themselves. Hopefully, when they look back on it they will realise that there is very little difference in the two sides.
Last year Lehman won Sheffield several games by pulling off saves he had no right to make. I can't see St Pierre doing that - and if Nottingham do win the title it will be down to a supreme defensive unit infront of him.
Well that was dull - but then all the games Sky choose seem to be.
Still not quite sure how the Devils threw that away. 2-0 up and looking comfortable with only a couple of minutes left of the 2nd - and we blew it.
Shame I don't have Sky as I would like to rewatch the game to see if Hicks looks on film as woefully inconsistent as he did in person. Can't argue with the penalties he called - but he seems to close his eyes for 5 minutes and call nothing. Devils could easily have spent the final 2 minutes with a 5-on-3 PP had another referee been in charge.
And I could have sworn in the past a netminder throwing punches with his blocker automatically gets a game? Did I imagine that or have the EIHL changed the rule on it?
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Ok, now it's the morning after the night before and I've had time to sleep on it, these are my extended thoughts.
Nottingham aren't as good going forward as I thought they might be. I expected them to be like Belfast last season, where they would pass it around the zone and we would be chasing shadows.
Other than on PP's though I can't remember them having an concerted pressure in our zone - and we were usually able to clear the puck pretty quickly. Most of their chances came from a quick counter attack.
St Pierre looks as shakey as I expected. If you stick a big player infront of him he is going to get rattled, and if you have a referee who isn't afraid to call it - he is going to take a lot of penalties this year. One of the Devils was checked into the crease and he went berserk - including punching with his blocker as already mentioned.
For 5-10 minutes he was then shocking and I think that was when we scored our second. He came flying out of his goal and when the loose puck fell to Birbraer he had an empty net to score into.
We really should have sealed the game in that spell, and we had 2 or 3 very good chances to do so. Phil Hill had an almost empty net and yet somehow got his stick tangled up in his skates. IIRC the chance came about after St Pierre seemed to poke check his own defencemen, then skated out of the net before finally getting back in position.
However, Panthers D is very very good. They are big and strong and nasty - and last night they were allowed to get away with a lot. They almost seem to be built for a small ice pad as at times they looked a bit slow. D'armour is probably still having nightmares about Ben Davies turning him in and out time after time. Lee looked pretty solid and for me Meyers had his best game I've seen in a long long time.
Upfront, McAslan looked as awesome as ever. His goal was right in the top corner and worthy of winning any game. Perhaps I was expecting too much from Mann, but he didn't really shine compared to McAslan. Infact, the most notable thing that Mann did was widely swing his stick at the Devils bench during the linechange. If Voth had done that we would be on page 20 already.
For the Devils, the 1st line just isn't clicking at the moment. Smithy is starting to look like the Smith of old but he is almost running the line on his own. Birbraer is still drifting in and out of games at times, every now and again he looks unstoppable, then two minutes later he makes a silly mistake.
Miller looked awesome in those early games but seems to have lost his 'zing' lately. He is not hitting like he was and seems to have lost a bit of pace - is he injured perhaps?
Like Gazza said - it might be worth trying Voth on that 1st line for a couple of games so he can cannonball the opposition D, allowing Smith and Birbraer some space.
For 30 minutes our D looked as solid as it has for a very long time. Nottingham didn't look like breaking us down - and yet as soon as they did they suddenly believed in themselves.
After taking the lead they really did shut us down well and played pretty much with a 4 man defence for that last period. Devils had a couple of chances to equalise (including a beautiful back-handed rear-flick midair from Smith which completely beat St Pierre but just whistled past the post) and Nottingham should have had a couple of penalties called against them for cross-checking from behind as we tried to screen the netminder. Hicks though decided that a quiet word in their ear would do the trick.
When Sheffield beat us last year I was disappointed but always felt they were too good for us.
Today I'm more frustrated as I do feel that Nottingham were there to be beaten in that second period - but I feel a couple of Devils players never really believed in themselves. Hopefully, when they look back on it they will realise that there is very little difference in the two sides.
Last year Lehman won Sheffield several games by pulling off saves he had no right to make. I can't see St Pierre doing that - and if Nottingham do win the title it will be down to a supreme defensive unit infront of him.
It is a work in progress, given how hard it is to get players to do stuff and also Devils TV is a totally new and unique design put together by a company in Cardiff so there is bound to be teething problems, it will in the coming months i'm sure operate more smoothly.
You have to admit it though, it is wayyy ahead of the simple (albeit effective) youtube channels other teams use as their 'TV channels' the design of the video, and the way its all laid out is top notch, and no other sports team in britain seems to have anything like it.
When the content is there then its going to be a real heavy and effective marketting and entertainment tool for the club.
Way ahead in what way? I'm not being funny but it just seems like a youtube screen with the big picture in the middle and the other options down the right hand side. OK a bit more fancy but hardly the greatest thing since sliced bread.
And having just watched the Blaze vs Vipers on Vipers TV, posted a few days after the game with commentary and post match interviews, I know I'd rather have that than a few adverts for Devils sponsors :roll:
And having just watched the Blaze vs Vipers on Vipers TV, posted a few days after the game with commentary and post match interviews, I know I'd rather have that than a few adverts for Devils sponsors :roll: