X75 Productions

Author: Scott Fairchild

  • Game Recap: New Jersey Devils vs Detroit Red Wings 11/23/19

    Game Recap: New Jersey Devils vs Detroit Red Wings 11/23/19

    New Jersey Devils (7-10-4 18pts) vs Detroit Red Wings (7-14-3 17pts)

     

    Game Recap:

    The New Jersey Devils return to the Garden State to host the Detroit Red Wings on their second game of a back to back set. Last night the Devils fell at the hands of the Pittsburgh Penguins 4-1. Tonight is also the Devils turn to host “Hockey Fights Cancer” which is a league wide initiative to honor those who battle or have battled this terrible disease. New Jersey wore their “Hockey Fights Cancer” jerseys before their matchup between the Red Wings in warmups.

    Speaking of the game, it was a scoreless first period between the two teams. It wasn’t without a lack of effort as the Devils would outshoot the Wings 15-5. The game would start off scoreless going into the second period.

    It would be the Red Wings who would get on the board first as Taro Hirose would deflect in a shot from defenseman Madison Bowey to give the Red Wings as 1-0 lead. However, that would be the only goal the Wings would score for the rest of the game. Kyle Palmieri for the Devils would get his team going as his second period goal kickstarted his team scoring five unanswered goals.

    New Jersey would also get goals in the third period from Will Butcher, Blake Coleman twice, and an empty net goal by Taylor Hall. Final score of tonight’s game was 5-1 in favor of the Devils. New Jersey is off until Tuesday as they welcome in the Minnesota Wild.

     

    Lineups:

    New Jersey Devils

     

    Detroit Red Wings

     

    First Period Highlights

    https://twitter.com/njdevils/status/1198395450275049472?s=21

    https://twitter.com/detroitredwings/status/1198405267655925760?s=21

     

    Second Period Highlights

    https://twitter.com/detroitredwings/status/1198411695980498944?s=21

    https://twitter.com/njdevils/status/1198412635059949569?s=21

     

    Third Period Highlights

    https://twitter.com/njdevils/status/1198425768151470080?s=21

    https://twitter.com/njdevils/status/1198427078951100416?s=21

    https://twitter.com/njdevils/status/1198427078951100416?s=21

     

    Final Stats

     

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  • Game Recap: New Jersey Devils @ Pittsburgh Penguins 11/22/19

    Game Recap: New Jersey Devils @ Pittsburgh Penguins 11/22/19

     New Jersey Devils (7-10-4 18pts) vs Pittsburgh Penguins (12-7-4 28pts)

     

    Game Recap:

    The New Jersey Devils travel to the Keystone State for a quick road stop to take on Metropolitan divisional rivals in the Pittsburgh Penguins. Unfortunately for the Devils, The trend of poor defense has been playing this team all season so far continues tonight. Pittsburgh would score first as Dominik Kahun would score his sixth goal on the season. That would be the only goal of the period as the Pittsburgh Penguin would lead by a 1-0 score.

    In the second period, Taylor Hall would get the Devils on the board as he would score his third goal of the season on the power play. However, Jake Guentzel would score his 11th goal of the season to give the Penguins back their one goal lead. Pittsburgh going into the final period would take a 2-1 lead.

    Pittsburgh would strike twice in the third period,as they would get goals from Jared McCann & John Marino. The New Jersey Devils would lose by a final score of 4-1. Tomorrow night the Devils are back in action as they return back home to host the Detroit Red Wings.

     

    Lineups:

    New Jersey Devils

     

    Pittsburgh Penguins

     

    First Period Highlights

    https://twitter.com/penguins/status/1198035605407621121?s=21

     

    Second Period Highlights

    https://twitter.com/njdevils/status/1198047253937688579?s=21

    https://twitter.com/penguins/status/1198053232817377280?s=21

     

    Third Period Highlights

    https://twitter.com/penguins/status/1198062878240202752?s=21

     

    Final Stats     NJ-1      PIT-4

    Shots:             37           41

    Hits:               32           32

    PP:                1/4           0/3

    Faceoffs:      54%        46%

     

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  • New Jersey Devils 20 Game Report Card: How they doin’?

    New Jersey Devils 20 Game Report Card: How they doin’?

    As they say in New Jersey, “How you doin”? Well, in the case of the New Jersey Devils they are not doin’ very well this season to say the least. The Devils have a lot of high expectations of making it back to the Stanley Cup playoffs after all of the additions they made in the off-season to improve their lineup. Unfortunately for this team, they haven’t really worked out for different reasons. I’m going to play teacher here and hand out my grades in different areas of the New Jersey Devils as a team as well as an overall grade.

     

    Coaching: F

    In my opinion, coaching has played a huge factor in why this team is not doing so well. I’ve been pretty clear in a opinion piece I wrote not too long ago, but I am not a big fan of John Hynes as the coach of this team. His systems in my opinion aren’t very effective and he’s not playing to his team’s strengths. Also, I don’t care for how he handles certain game situational tactics. What I mean by that is, he doesn’t play the correct players at certain points within the game and instead puts players out that don’t belong in certain situations. When they’ve had leads, especially in a close game the players he’s deployed are players that aren’t as defensively responsible to close out a game. With all the offensive talent he has, his offense has been very inconsistent as well. Specialty Teams are ranked towards the bottom of the league as well. The fact that he supposedly “asked” for assistant GM Tom Fitzgerald to come in and help behind the bench is very telling as well.

     

    Forwards: B-

    I’m giving the Devils a grade of a B- here on forwards for a few reasons. Firstly, they haven’t had a complete lineup at times with players in and out due to injury and especially Nico Hischier. Recently that has started to settle down and the Devils have had more of their regulars in the lineup. Secondly, the forwards haven’t been taking advantage of their opportunities and putting their scoring chances in the back of the net. This has resulted in multiple one goal games this season. Lastly, Back checking has been an issue as the forwards haven’t been playing well when coming back on defense to help their defensemen. The Devils have struggled closing out games and back checking is part of why they haven’t been able to hold leads.

     

    Defensemen: D-

    The defensive group as a whole has been completely and utterly disappointing this season to say the least. The off-season acquisition of PK Subban hasn’t worked out like how everybody had thought it would. Subban hasn’t been playing the kind of hockey that fans have been accustomed to where he plays a solid two way game. Subban is capable of much more and has shown he can impact the game both offensively and defensively. Closing out close and tight knit games has been a big problem for the defense as they have blown multiple leads dating back to opening night against the Winnipeg Jets. The defense hasn’t been playing very smart and positionally sound defense compared to the great defense of New Jersey Devils teams of the past.

     

    Goaltending: C

    I’m giving the Devils goalies a C for a couple reasons. I know Cory Schneider’s stats look like he’s playing horrible however, in this case the stats are very misleading. The stats aren’t showing that his defense hasn’t been playing very well in front of him and have helped blown leads. His stats are also a very small sample size as he’s only played in six games. Schneider recently was placed on and cleared waivers to go to the minor leagues to regain his confidence and work on certain aspects of his game. MacKenzie Blackwood has been a saving grace on this Devils team as he currently leads the team in wins, goals against average, and save percentage. His stats clearly are better than Schneider’s and the team seems to play better in front of Blackwood. Time will tell how good their young netminder is.

     

    Special Teams: F

    I’m just gonna be blunt honest, the Devils specialty teams on both sides stink! The penalty kill is ranked 25th in the league with a 75% success rate. On the power play, the Devils rank 27th with a 13.9% success rate. Both of these rankings are absolutely pathetic and are also another part of why the Devils season hasn’t been successful so far like they had hoped. Coach Hynes & his staff have been unsuccessful at fixing the problem with the Penalty Kill & Power play units.

     

    Overall Grade: D

    Clearly this team is not the team we all thought they’d be after all the offseason moves that were made. They’re not performing to the capabilities that they can. Personally, I think a lot of this stems from not having the correct coach to lead this team to greatness. John Hynes does not scream head coach material in my opinion and his systems aren’t getting the most out of his players. I think it’s time that the Devils get a new voice behind the bench and in the locker room. They need a veteran coach who knows how to win and is a leader of men. Otherwise, I don’t see this team getting this ship back on track anytime soon.

    

     

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  • Game Recap: New Jersey Devils vs Boston Bruins 11/19/19

    Game Recap: New Jersey Devils vs Boston Bruins 11/19/19

    New Jersey Devils (7-9-4 18pts) vs Boston Bruins (13-3-5 31pts)

     

    Game Recap:

    Tonight the New Jersey Devils come back home briefly to host the Boston Bruins. Unfortunately for the Devils they ran into arguably the best team in the Eastern Conference and were ultimately outmatched. Boston would strike twice within 14 seconds in the first period as they got goals from Matt Grzelcyk and David Pastrnak. New Jersey was unable to score and would fall behind 2-0 going into the second period.

    New Jersey would get their only goal of the game in the second period as Blake Coleman would get his fifth goal on the season at the 18:11 mark. However, Coleman’s goal wouldn’t matter as the Bruins went onto score 3 more times. Bruins goals came from David Pastrnak and (league leading 19th, Matt Grzelcyz each with their second of the game, and native New Jerseyan Connor Clifton. Boston took this game by a final score of 5-1.

     

    Lineups:

    New Jersey Devils

     

    Boston Bruins

     

    First Period Highlights

     

    Second Period Highlights

    https://twitter.com/njdevils/status/1196965730840911872?s=21

     

    Third Period Highlights

     

    Final Stats:

     

     

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  • TXHT Opinion – Cory Schneider Sent to the AHL by the Devils

    TXHT Opinion – Cory Schneider Sent to the AHL by the Devils

    Yesterday the New Jersey Devils placed goaltender Cory Schneider on waivers as they are planning to send him to their AHL affiliate the Binghamton Devils. Cory Schneider’s play in net has taken a significant drop over the last few years in the National Hockey League. Last season was especially difficult for Schneider as he battled injuries and his overall record was 6-13-4 with a 3.06 goals against average. It took Cory Schneider until February 3rd of 2019 to get his first win of the season. Schneider’s production was at his best during the 2015-2016 season for the Devils as he compiled a 27-25-6 record with a 2.15 GAA and .924 save percentage. The numbers of games started by Cory Schenider has gone down from 60, 40, 26, & to only 6 starts so far this season. The Devils are hopping by Schneider going down to the minors, that he will be able to practice things he might not have time to focus on and hope to regain his form that made him a sought after trade commodity when they acquired him back at the 2013 NHL draft from the Vancouver Canucks for the 9th overall draft pick which became eventual Canucks captain Bo Horvat.

    Reaction:

    I think this is good for both the Devils and Schneider so he can get a “re-set” and attempt to get his game back together. Cory Schneider still has some talent left in the tank even at age 33 and has certainly faced some adversity the last two years of his career as he’s battled some injuries. Also, MacKenzie Blackwood has been very steller in net so far for the Devils this season and they want to give him the opportunity to keep growing and see what they have in the young netminder.

     

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  • TXHT Opinion: Ron MacLean Announces End of “Coach’s Corner”

    TXHT Opinion: Ron MacLean Announces End of “Coach’s Corner”

    As a follow-up to my previous article about the firing of Don Cherry from Hockey Night in Canada, his former cohost of the “Coach’s Corner” Ron MacLean, announced last night that going forward there will be no more “Coach’s Corner”. Last Saturday night on the now former segment, former commentator Don Cherry made disparaging remarks about immigrants in Canada who don’t wear the Canadian poppy as Canada’s Remembrance Day was quickly approaching. The holiday was celebrated this past Monday and Cherry was fired on the holiday for which his divisive comments were about. Besides announcing the end of Coach’s Corner, Ron MacLean lent us the audiences his thoughts on Cherry’s firing and his in the moment inaction of the displeasing comments that were being made. You can see and hear Ron MacLean’s comments on the situation below:

     

    My Reaction:

    First of all, I will commend Ron MacLean for being willing to sit there on live television (with no teleprompter and just his raw emotions) and face the music to discuss what happened a week ago. At the same time, the segment seemed very awkward and the apology appeared to be very scattered. I will say he did seem very remorseful and sad about what had happened and his inaction within the moment while Don Cherry was making his very crude remarks. The reality is, Ron MacLean should have disavowed Cherry’s comments while it was happening but unfortunately he didn’t. However, there is one part of the segment I wish MacLean would’ve taken things a step further to disavow Cherry’s comments.

    MacLean should have explained why he decided to “go one way” and discuss why Don Cherry’s comments were completely and utterly unacceptable. You have to be able to put your friendships aside at times and call your friends out when they are wrong. It doesn’t help the person to change or see what they did wrong when you don’t hold them accountable. 

  • Game Recap: New Jersey Devils @ Montreal Canadiens 11/16/19

    Game Recap: New Jersey Devils @ Montreal Canadiens 11/16/19

    New Jersey Devils (6-8-4 16pts) vs Montreal Canadiens (11-5-3 25pts)

     

    Game Recap:

    After a very solid win last night against the Pittsburgh Penguins at home, the New Jersey Devils cross the Canadian border tonight to take on the Montréal Canadiens. It would be the Canadians who will get on the board first as Brenden Gallagher would tip in a Jeff Petry shot from the point to give the Canadiens an early 1-0 lead. However, Devils winger Nikita Gusev would tie the game up 1-1 as Blake Coleman would feed the puck across to him across the goalie crease and into the back of the net. After the first period, the score would be tied at 1-1.

    Period two saw Montreal Canadiens rookies Nick Suzuki and Cale Fleury each score to give the Canadiens a 3-1 lead. Fleury’s goal would be his first goal in the National Hockey League. With about two seconds left in the second period, Nico Hischier would score short handed to get the Devils within one goal. Going into period three, the Devils trailed the Canadiens 3-2.

    The Devils were able to tie the game at the 15:12 mark as Wayne Simmonds would score his fourth goal of the year. However, the Devils barely were able to force overtime. Montreal thought Phillip Danault had scored the game winner with close to a minute left until it was determined via video review the Canadiens had kicked the puck in the back of the net. The reversal would be considered controversial but overtime came nonetheless where Kyle Palmieri would score the game winner in 3 on 3 overtime. New Jersey would walk away with extra point and back to back victories. MacKenzie Blackwood was spectacular as he made 31 saves.

     

    Lineups

    New Jersey Devils

    https://twitter.com/njdevils/status/1195852331188969478?s=21

     

    Montreal Canadiens

     

    First Period Highlights

    https://twitter.com/njdevils/status/1195869296607584257?s=21

    https://twitter.com/njdevils/status/1195871591965626368?s=21

     

    Second Period Highlights

    https://twitter.com/heresyourreplay/status/1195877195799023616?s=21

    https://twitter.com/njdevils/status/1195887425886789632?s=21

     

    Third Period Highlights

    https://twitter.com/njdevils/status/1195898589643448320?s=21

    https://twitter.com/scottmatla/status/1195898909257801730?s=21

     

    Overtime Highlights

    https://twitter.com/njdevils/status/1195909364374212608?s=21

     

    Final Stats    NJ-4      MTL-3

    Shots:            43           34

    Hits:              22           31

    PP:                2/6          1/5

    Faceoffs:   45.9%      54.1%

     

    Next Up:

    New Jersey Devils @ Boston Bruins 11/19/19 @ 7pm EST

  • Game Recap: New Jersey Devils vs Pittsburgh Penguins 11/15/19

    Game Recap: New Jersey Devils vs Pittsburgh Penguins 11/15/19

    New Jersey Devils (6-8-4 16pts) vs Pittsburgh Penguins (10-7-2 22pts)

     

    Game Recap:

    After a crushing defeat on Wednesday night against the Ottawa Senators, the New Jersey Devils look to rebound tonight against the Pittsburgh Penguins at “The Rock”. Devils center Travis Zajac would give his team a 1-0 lead. Jesper Bratt would make a pass towards the front of the net behind the goal line to give Zajac the opportunity to burry the shot behind Penguins goalie Matt Murray. After the first period, The Devils would take a 1-0 lead.

    In the second period, Blake Coleman would pick off a pass in his own defensive zone and take it down the other way and fire a shot at Penguins goalie Matt Murray. Coleman would follow the initial shot which Murray misplayed and put the puck in the back of the net. Coleman’s goal would be the only goal of the period for both teams. After two periods, the New Jersey Devils would take a 2-0 lead heading into the third and final period.

    New Jersey in the third period had to hold on against the Penguins as they threw everything they had at the Devils. Pittsburgh did pull within one goal as Penguins defenseman Jack Johnson would beat MacKenzie Blackwood upstairs with a wrist shot from the left faceoff circle. Fortunately for the Devils, they were able to hang on and get the 2-1 victory! Tomorrow night, the Devils go back on the road to take on the Montreal Canadiens.

     

    Lineups:

    New Jersey Devils

    https://twitter.com/njdevils/status/1195487312886616064?s=21

     

    Pittsburgh Penguins

     

    First Period Highlights

    https://twitter.com/njdevils/status/1195506862566912000?s=21

     

    Second Period Highlights

    https://twitter.com/njdevils/status/1195524629550575616?s=21

     

    Third Period Highlights

     

    Final        NJ-2       PIT-1

    Shots:      21           39

    Hits:        33           23

    PP:         0/2           0/3

    Faceoffs: 51.6%  48.4%

     

    Next Up: New Jersey Devils @ Montreal Canadiens 11/16/19 @ 7pm EST

  • Game Recap: New Jersey Devils vs Ottawa Senators

    Game Recap: New Jersey Devils vs Ottawa Senators

    New Jersey Devils (5-8-4 14pts) vs Ottawa Senators (7-10-1 15pts)

     

    Game Recap:

    After a five game road trip across Canada mainly, the New Jersey Devils return home to host the Ottawa Senators. Tonight features a battle between the two teams who are at the bottom of the eastern conference standings. New Jersey would take a 1-0 lead at the 4:54 mark as winger Wayne Simmonds would score on a breakaway. About ten minutes later, Senators Center Jean-Gabriel Pageau would tie the game at 1-1. However, Devils defenseman Will Butcher would give the Devils the lead back 2-1 after the first period.

    Unfortunately for the Devils, the second goal at the end of the first period would be their last goal on the evening. The recurring theme of not being able to hold onto a lead continued this evening. In the third period, The Ottawa Senators would go on to score 3 unanswered goals to complete the comeback as they would win by the final score of 4-2. Jean-Gabriel Pageau struck twice and would complete the hat trick and Mark Borowiecki would snap in his second goal of the season from the point. The Devils hope to redeem themselves yet again as they host the Pittsburgh Penguins on Friday night. 

     

    Lineups

    New Jersey Devils

    https://twitter.com/njdevils/status/1194762369211273216?s=21

     

    Ottawa Senators

     

    Game Highlights

    https://twitter.com/njdevils/status/1194774148532318211?s=21

    https://twitter.com/njdevils/status/1194781446663217154?s=21


    https://twitter.com/senators/status/1194815344495538176?s=21

     

    Final Stats      NJ-2       OTT-4

    Shots:                23             25

    Hits:                  08             19

    PP:                    0/3            0/1

    Faceoffs:         40%          60%

  • TXHT Opinion: Sportsnet fires Don Cherry from Hockey Night in Canada

    TXHT Opinion: Sportsnet fires Don Cherry from Hockey Night in Canada

    On Saturday night while on his usual “Coach’s Corner” on Hockey Night in Canada, commentator Don Cherry made some very displeasing & uncomfortable comments about immigrants in Canada. Cherry used his “Coach’s Corner” segment to publicly criticize immigrants who didn’t wear poppy pins while leading up to Canada’s Remembrance Day. These poppy pins are sold by military veterans groups and are they are worn in honor of those who served in the Canadian military.

    Don Cherry used the following language Saturday night during his “Coach’s Corner” segment about immigrants below as well as a video to better hear and see the context of what was said:

    “I live in Mississauga [Ontario]. Very few people wear the poppy. Downtown Toronto, forget it. Nobody wears the poppy…. Now you go to the small cities. You people … that come here, whatever it is — you love our way of life. You love our milk and honey. At least you can pay a couple bucks for a poppy or something like that. These guys paid for your way of life that you enjoy in Canada. These guys paid the biggest price for that,” Cherry said.

     

     

    His words caused a big uprising around social media with many people calling for Don Cherry to be fired. Coach’s Corner” co-host Ron MacLean noticeably during the segment remained silent to these uncomfortable words and was even seen giving his thumbs up approval of what Cherry was saying. Since then, MacLean has released a statement through Sportnet as well as publicly apologizing live on Sportsnet’s “Hometown Hockey” last night for his behavior during the segment below:

     

    Sportsnet has since released a statement about the firing of Don Cherry also seen below:

     

    My take on the firing/Ron MacLean:

    To be 100% honest, Don Cherry should have been fired a long time ago. This is not the first time Cherry has used vulgar, displeasing, and/or uncomfortable words about immigrants and especially European NHL players. Unfortunately, the language which he’s been using for years has been given a blind eye to and it should not be a surprise that it was done on Saturday night. In particular, he has been very well known and critical of NHL players from Russia specifically calling out players such as Alexander Ovechkin and Evgeny Kuznetsov, amongst others as well. His views and mindset on today’s modern NHL are very outdated as well, and it was time for him to move on.

    The main point here is that Don Cherry was let go for using inappropriate language about immigrants and he needed to finally be held accountable for his actions. It took too long unfortunately to do so. The language that was used by him was very divisive when it shouldn’t be. Hockey and sports in general are meant to be the best of us all and bring fans of the game and human beings together and not divide us. It’s very sad that he made comments like these and he still has these kinds of viewpoints. He even doubled down on his comments as he briefly spoke to the Toronto Sun by stating “I have had my say”. The simple fact that he didn’t want to look at what he said was inappropriate and take responsibility for his actions shows that it was the correct decision to fire him and finally move on.

    As for cohost Ron MacLean, it was very disappointing that he stood there silent while Cherry was making the remarks and even gave his thumbs up. However, I am happy that he came out rather quickly to apologize and seemed very humble and genuine about his apology and about what transpired on Saturday night. Hopefully, he learned from this and he’s never a part of something like this again. Otherwise, like Don Cherry he’ll need to be held accountable too.