Devils Vs Lukko Rauma - CHL - 12th Oct 2021

august04 2.0

Well-Known Member
#41
I thought we played well for large parts and 3-6 is a harsh Scoreline. As others have said Dupont seems to have turned a corner and I thought Ben Davies did well tonight after a quiet start. Register and Mikkelson very good on D. Biggest compliment I can pay Waller is he looks like a good import player rather than a young brit.

Pretty sure O’Connor was benched for the remainder of the game after their 5th goal and rightly so. My concern so far this season has been our depth up front but I’m more worried about our D at the moment. O’Connor is an experienced, well paid Dman and we simply need better performances from him. His decision making is school boy stuff.
O'Connor was sat at the back corner of the bench for the entire third period, didn’t ice at all. I’d have thought if he was injured, he would had headed for the dressing room, so assume he was benched - which wasn’t a surprise.
 

jenks33

Well-Known Member
#42
O'Connor was sat at the back corner of the bench for the entire third period, didn’t ice at all. I’d have thought if he was injured, he would had headed for the dressing room, so assume he was benched - which wasn’t a surprise.
As I said earlier he just looks like the same player that struggled in Sheffield for the last year or two. Interesting to see how this goes because it’s not in our nature to gas a player but if O’Connor’s performances don’t improve we will need to strengthen at the back if we want to challenge. Skalde benching him tonight wasn’t just down to those two goals, this has been coming.
 

moggy#9

Well-Known Member
#43
Matt Register deserved the Man of the Match tonight, what a game he had.
DuPont looked a lot better tonight and Waller is always a joy to watch!

Shame Ben O’Connor had a shocker of a game, hopefully it’s a little blip.
With regard to O'Connor he seems to have been playing like this in each of the matches I've watched. It seems to bear it what the Sheffield fans were saying.
 
#44
A bit disappointing defensively in these CHL games where Cardiff have really been caught out defensively especially from goals scored in 2 on 1s, but then I guess we aren't going to compete physically at this level with ECHL/2nd tier European players when we're up against AHL/top European standard and above. The EIHL is getting stronger and more attractive for foreign players for sure, but we need more games with this intensity if the league is going to improve, otherwise its like having Newport County play Southampton each week
 
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moggy#9

Well-Known Member
#46
We certainly looked a lot stronger defensively in the third. I said before the season I'd take Myers over O'Connor any day and believe it moreso now. Calll up Harewood more and look elsewhere.
Harewood seems far too good to be playing for the bees. That said, maybe there's benefit from the confidence of dominating at a level before moving up - as happened with David longstaff back in the day.
 

jenks33

Well-Known Member
#47
We certainly looked a lot stronger defensively in the third. I said before the season I'd take Myers over O'Connor any day and believe it moreso now. Calll up Harewood more and look elsewhere.
I thought Mikkelson looked a lot more confident playing alongside Register. I know we were chasing the game but he had an extra spring in his step and looked like a Dman that trusted his partner.
 
#48
I really thought our penalties killed us on the night. I’m all aware that higher skilled teams can draw penalties from opposition, but register picked up a few penalties for cross checking which are useless and will get called all day long in the CHL. I thought Dixon had an absolute blinder of a game, and his boarding penalty, whilst hampering, at least got people fired up. Those silly tripping calls and cross checking do neither. I think our lack of ability to adjust to CHL rules made things difficult for us tonight.
Don’t forget these guys are Finnish champions. They are just miles better in skating, transitioning and finishing. Quality side and not a bad score line
 

moggy#9

Well-Known Member
#49
I really thought our penalties killed us on the night. I’m all aware that higher skilled teams can draw penalties from opposition, but register picked up a few penalties for cross checking which are useless and will get called all day long in the CHL. I thought Dixon had an absolute blinder of a game, and his boarding penalty, whilst hampering, at least got people fired up. Those silly tripping calls and cross checking do neither. I think our lack of ability to adjust to CHL rules made things difficult for us tonight.
Don’t forget these guys are Finnish champions. They are just miles better in skating, transitioning and finishing. Quality side and not a bad score line
I think this is a symptom of our rebuild. A lot of institutional knowledge of how to play in the CHL has been lost and we're on a learning curve. That said, there's no getting away from how good the opposition were. The grouping of some weaker teams in their own group meant the other groups were harder.

The devils now face the task of earning the chance to try again next time.
 

E.D.S.

Well-Known Member
#50
I really thought our penalties killed us on the night. I’m all aware that higher skilled teams can draw penalties from opposition, but register picked up a few penalties for cross checking which are useless and will get called all day long in the CHL. I thought Dixon had an absolute blinder of a game, and his boarding penalty, whilst hampering, at least got people fired up. Those silly tripping calls and cross checking do neither. I think our lack of ability to adjust to CHL rules made things difficult for us tonight.
Don’t forget these guys are Finnish champions. They are just miles better in skating, transitioning and finishing. Quality side and not a bad score line
I thought that boarding penalty was harsh. I understand why he called it but the player slammed on the breaks a foot or two from the boards to try and counter-hit Dixon. Dixon's momentum them took him through the player. Probably why it was a 2+2 and not a ten or game.

Fair play, Dixons had a good few weeks. He played well in Coventry too.
 
#51
Completely agree with the points above.
In summary though, that game gave me nothing to worry about for us. Without those penalties we could have taken the Finnish champs to OT. Roll on Saturday.
A note in Dixon, quality player on and off the ice. I have fond memories of me and him, arm and arm, singing ABBA after the Nottingham playoff win.
 

SteveKing

Well-Known Member
#52
I'm generally happy with the CHL experience this year. As some have duly noted, this was always going to be a tough year for us with essentially a brand new group of players and coaches and with less preparation time than normal. Lots to like in our play and while Mannheim gave us fits, I felt we were competitive in every other game. Off the ice, the CHL has been a good benefit to the club and as I've mentioned before, it's a huge recruiting tool for us with top end players. Let's get to work and get back in it!!
 

moggy#9

Well-Known Member
#53
I'm generally happy with the CHL experience this year. As some have duly noted, this was always going to be a tough year for us with essentially a brand new group of players and coaches and with less preparation time than normal. Lots to like in our play and while Mannheim gave us fits, I felt we were competitive in every other game. Off the ice, the CHL has been a good benefit to the club and as I've mentioned before, it's a huge recruiting tool for us with top end players. Let's get to work and get back in it!!
All fair comments and, let's be honest, just being able to fulfill our fixtures feels like a victory.
 

ASHIPP

Well-Known Member
#54
We certainly looked a lot stronger defensively in the third. I said before the season I'd take Myers over O'Connor any day and believe it moreso now. Calll up Harewood more and look elsewhere.
I don't get what's going on the O'connor. 2/3 seasons ago, the best British offensive defenceman without question. A linchpin of Team GB.
Now playing for the Devils, he is not an offensive defenceman at all.... and not a defensive defenceman either. It's as if he is being asked to play a style totally unnatural to him. He doesn't look comfortable.
Would have much preferred to see a 4th import defenceman signed to our defence corps.
Must admit I was surprised he was signed and that our very popular, gritty, face off/pk expert Matthew Myers was a casualty in the Eihl rule changes.
 
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