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MCDevils
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Hey all,
I was at tonight's game and I wanted to share some of my thoughts about the rookies specifically.
First, I made it my priority to watch the rookies every time they were on the ice. I spent most of the game watching them not the puck, so this should be pretty in depth.
Note: The ice surface was god awful tonight. You could have covered that entire indoor ski slope at Xanadu with the amount of snow the ice crews were removing.
Josefson: I thought that he played a positionally sound game. There was one specific instance where he, Urbom, Taormina, and Langenbrunner were on the penalty kill together. At one point I saw him take about two steps out of position to chase a player on the point, but he immediately stopped and re centered himself. I was impressed with that because he obviously saw the ice very well.
He is such a good skater. He had deceptive speed, but he just glides across the ice.
Tedenby: He was not good early in the game, but dramatically improved. He's obviously still shaking off some of the jitters. In the first period he looked like he was trying to skate through the Flyers' dmen, and it obviously didn't work.
He started to move laterally to open up ice for himself and it worked tremendously.
==============================
Urbom: He can skate so well. His acceleration was good, and so was his top end speed. The ice was awful so there wasn't too much end to end rushing from either team. When he did carry the puck he obviously knew what he was doing and created lanes for himself to pass through while moving the puck up the ice. Remember, Devils Dmen couldn't do that last year against Philly in the playoffs.
I also liked how he started to use his body effectively later in the game. He's definitely not a hitter, but based off the European league stereotypes I thought the physical game might be his biggest problem. Watching him play in person it definitely wasn't. He was able to use his body on multiple occasions to not only stop offensive rushes immediately, but he did it in a manner that let the Devils center easily carry the puck out of the zone by moving to the wall. This happened with Zajac at least twice that I remember.
The other thing that really stood out was how he challenges shooters. I'll talk about Fraser's game later, but Urbom was really good at not allowing the opposing dmen to cross the line and push him back towards marty. Fraser did this all night and it almost hurt the Devils on numerous occasions. Urbom was able to use his stick actively to challenge the Flyers' forwards and also use his speed to play the body if they tried to go around him, which they didn't have any success with.
If he can play at the level I saw tonight, he can play on this team. At a minimum, he could be a very good #5 this year, and could definitely rise to the second pair. The real question is do the Devils want him to go back to juniors. He's good, but one must wonder if going to juniors could make him even better in the long run. If the level I saw tonight was how he played in juniors he must be dominant, and I don't think juniors would really help him in the long run. He also can't go to the AHL because of his age.
Taormina: He also played a good game, and skated well. He was ok on the PP, but again, the ice made it tough for everyone. He's another good skater, and made some very mature moves in the Devils end. He didn't really get caught chasing when he was at my end of the rink, so I thought he did a good job. You can definitely tell that he's older than the typical prospect, and I think playing in college against older competition and against older players last year helped his game.
Fraser: I thought that he had a pretty bad game tonight. He didn't do anything along the lines of his playoff turnover, but he didn't look good. I was hoping that he would step up with Salvador our of the game, but he just looked like he was off in most situations tonight.
I touched on it earlier, but he would let the Flyers' push him back so far into the Devils end. Then Philly would spread the rush the entire width of the ice allowing the puck carrier to shoot from the top of the circles or closer or try a cross ice pass. The main problem was Fraser wasn't in a position to stop either of those things. There were times when he was moving back at the same speed as the Flyers players and there had to be 10-15 feet between them. It was not pleasant to watch.
=========================
Arnott: I didn't spend too much time watching the vets but it's obvious he still has a lot to contribute. I loved him on the powerplay. He just had a no nonsense approach of playing the point where he would just be in good spots to bomb shots. I forgot how hard his slap shot was over the past 8 years. I was sitting near the Flyers end in the 1st and 3rd and one of Arnott's shots in the 3rd hit the glass with such force that I thought it was going to break. You could really hear it impact and considering the response from the crowd, they all appreciated it. He just needs to be a little more accurate.
Rolston: He worked really hard in this game, but looked hesitant to shoot on the PP at times. He can't do that.
Mair: TG said that the 4th line was the Devils best for the first 50 minutes. That's 100% true. They busted their butts up and down the ice all game and the goal was a nice one. It also came with Richards' line on the ice, so good for them to take it to the Flyers' top line, especially with a player like Richards on the ice who is praised for his defensive ability.
Zajac: He played great. He should be a selke finalist every season, he back checks like his life depends on it, and he skated really well.
===============================
Overall Team Effort: I told the people I was with that we weren't going to win the game if we didn't pick it up at about the 10min remaining mark. At about 7 the Devils just completely exploded. Keep in mind that the Flyers didn't have Timonen or Pronger, but the Devils also didn't have Parise and Elias. Despite all that, the Devils completely took over the last 6-7 minutes. The absolutely dominated the Flyers, and victimized some of their defensemen.
This team playing at full speed is going to be so deadly. They are erupting with skill on the top 3. JJ, Clarkson, and Zubrus could easily be the most productive 3rd line we've had in a decade.
The Devils didn't get a shot with the net empty, but they did a great job making sure that the Flyers never got a truly dangerous chance to tie the game. Kovy also had a nice clearing effort, that didn't get the puck too far down the ice, but forced all the Flyers to clear the zone and let the Devils change. The only real chance came with time running out on a last second point shot, but Marty was able to see it the entire way. BTW, A-train looks like a boulder, fortunately, he doesn't move like one.
===================
The Final 2 Goals:
It just occurred to me that most people won't be able to see highlights because there wasn't any TV coverage.
Zajac's goal came at the end of the PP, I think that it was still going on and it came from a nice center pass by arnott who was on the left side facing the net, and Travis buried it with a tap in.
Kovy's goal was awesome. TG said that Boucher should have stopped it, and he would probably want it back, but there was a huge amount of skill involved with the play. Kovy dished the puck to Tedenby, who fired a return pass to Kovy, who used the moment he didn't have the puck gain some speed. He went up the left wing side and skated right around the dman, using his arm to shield the puck, he then completely roofed the puck into the near corner over Boucher. Crowd goes wild.
I was at tonight's game and I wanted to share some of my thoughts about the rookies specifically.
First, I made it my priority to watch the rookies every time they were on the ice. I spent most of the game watching them not the puck, so this should be pretty in depth.
Note: The ice surface was god awful tonight. You could have covered that entire indoor ski slope at Xanadu with the amount of snow the ice crews were removing.
Josefson: I thought that he played a positionally sound game. There was one specific instance where he, Urbom, Taormina, and Langenbrunner were on the penalty kill together. At one point I saw him take about two steps out of position to chase a player on the point, but he immediately stopped and re centered himself. I was impressed with that because he obviously saw the ice very well.
He is such a good skater. He had deceptive speed, but he just glides across the ice.
Tedenby: He was not good early in the game, but dramatically improved. He's obviously still shaking off some of the jitters. In the first period he looked like he was trying to skate through the Flyers' dmen, and it obviously didn't work.
He started to move laterally to open up ice for himself and it worked tremendously.
==============================
Urbom: He can skate so well. His acceleration was good, and so was his top end speed. The ice was awful so there wasn't too much end to end rushing from either team. When he did carry the puck he obviously knew what he was doing and created lanes for himself to pass through while moving the puck up the ice. Remember, Devils Dmen couldn't do that last year against Philly in the playoffs.
I also liked how he started to use his body effectively later in the game. He's definitely not a hitter, but based off the European league stereotypes I thought the physical game might be his biggest problem. Watching him play in person it definitely wasn't. He was able to use his body on multiple occasions to not only stop offensive rushes immediately, but he did it in a manner that let the Devils center easily carry the puck out of the zone by moving to the wall. This happened with Zajac at least twice that I remember.
The other thing that really stood out was how he challenges shooters. I'll talk about Fraser's game later, but Urbom was really good at not allowing the opposing dmen to cross the line and push him back towards marty. Fraser did this all night and it almost hurt the Devils on numerous occasions. Urbom was able to use his stick actively to challenge the Flyers' forwards and also use his speed to play the body if they tried to go around him, which they didn't have any success with.
If he can play at the level I saw tonight, he can play on this team. At a minimum, he could be a very good #5 this year, and could definitely rise to the second pair. The real question is do the Devils want him to go back to juniors. He's good, but one must wonder if going to juniors could make him even better in the long run. If the level I saw tonight was how he played in juniors he must be dominant, and I don't think juniors would really help him in the long run. He also can't go to the AHL because of his age.
Taormina: He also played a good game, and skated well. He was ok on the PP, but again, the ice made it tough for everyone. He's another good skater, and made some very mature moves in the Devils end. He didn't really get caught chasing when he was at my end of the rink, so I thought he did a good job. You can definitely tell that he's older than the typical prospect, and I think playing in college against older competition and against older players last year helped his game.
Fraser: I thought that he had a pretty bad game tonight. He didn't do anything along the lines of his playoff turnover, but he didn't look good. I was hoping that he would step up with Salvador our of the game, but he just looked like he was off in most situations tonight.
I touched on it earlier, but he would let the Flyers' push him back so far into the Devils end. Then Philly would spread the rush the entire width of the ice allowing the puck carrier to shoot from the top of the circles or closer or try a cross ice pass. The main problem was Fraser wasn't in a position to stop either of those things. There were times when he was moving back at the same speed as the Flyers players and there had to be 10-15 feet between them. It was not pleasant to watch.
=========================
Arnott: I didn't spend too much time watching the vets but it's obvious he still has a lot to contribute. I loved him on the powerplay. He just had a no nonsense approach of playing the point where he would just be in good spots to bomb shots. I forgot how hard his slap shot was over the past 8 years. I was sitting near the Flyers end in the 1st and 3rd and one of Arnott's shots in the 3rd hit the glass with such force that I thought it was going to break. You could really hear it impact and considering the response from the crowd, they all appreciated it. He just needs to be a little more accurate.
Rolston: He worked really hard in this game, but looked hesitant to shoot on the PP at times. He can't do that.
Mair: TG said that the 4th line was the Devils best for the first 50 minutes. That's 100% true. They busted their butts up and down the ice all game and the goal was a nice one. It also came with Richards' line on the ice, so good for them to take it to the Flyers' top line, especially with a player like Richards on the ice who is praised for his defensive ability.
Zajac: He played great. He should be a selke finalist every season, he back checks like his life depends on it, and he skated really well.
===============================
Overall Team Effort: I told the people I was with that we weren't going to win the game if we didn't pick it up at about the 10min remaining mark. At about 7 the Devils just completely exploded. Keep in mind that the Flyers didn't have Timonen or Pronger, but the Devils also didn't have Parise and Elias. Despite all that, the Devils completely took over the last 6-7 minutes. The absolutely dominated the Flyers, and victimized some of their defensemen.
This team playing at full speed is going to be so deadly. They are erupting with skill on the top 3. JJ, Clarkson, and Zubrus could easily be the most productive 3rd line we've had in a decade.
The Devils didn't get a shot with the net empty, but they did a great job making sure that the Flyers never got a truly dangerous chance to tie the game. Kovy also had a nice clearing effort, that didn't get the puck too far down the ice, but forced all the Flyers to clear the zone and let the Devils change. The only real chance came with time running out on a last second point shot, but Marty was able to see it the entire way. BTW, A-train looks like a boulder, fortunately, he doesn't move like one.
===================
The Final 2 Goals:
It just occurred to me that most people won't be able to see highlights because there wasn't any TV coverage.
Zajac's goal came at the end of the PP, I think that it was still going on and it came from a nice center pass by arnott who was on the left side facing the net, and Travis buried it with a tap in.
Kovy's goal was awesome. TG said that Boucher should have stopped it, and he would probably want it back, but there was a huge amount of skill involved with the play. Kovy dished the puck to Tedenby, who fired a return pass to Kovy, who used the moment he didn't have the puck gain some speed. He went up the left wing side and skated right around the dman, using his arm to shield the puck, he then completely roofed the puck into the near corner over Boucher. Crowd goes wild.
