A few days ago, Elliotte Friedman told his audience to “not be surprised” about a potential Mackenzie Blackwood sighting for game four. Obviously, that didn’t happen but given how poorly both Vitek Vanecek and Akira Schmid have been in this round, a lot of people are pushing for Lindy Ruff to reconsider the idea of starting Blackwood for game five. Speaking of which, Ruff spoke with the media during a recent New Jersey Devils practice. He shared his thoughts and plans heading into game five.
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24 Comments
No
How can you possibly consider Blackwood?
1..Whether right or wrong he got shafted by putting in Schmid.
2.He hasn’t played for a while.
3.Devils are clearly not resigning him.
So with all that said, how can you even consider him?
Nope
Got to ride or die with Schmid! 1 game at a time , 1 period at a time 1 shift at at time.
Akria has two shutouts, and it shows the team is capable of playing well in front of him, My choice is Akria all the way he deserves the start.
NO. At this point live and die by Akira
The problem is that even in the game New Jersey won, the Hurricanes scored 4 goals.
I personally think it would be mistake- too many soft goals early.
I don’t even want to think about this. 😂
Start Blackwood if you want to lose by 10
It’s not the goalie. It’s the 5 in front of him. Hurricanes play like their coach did. All young teams need to lose like this to know how to win next time.
As much as I like Big Mac, I don't think he should play. He has not played in over a month so is VERY cold. Akira should play IMHO
I don't even know why this is a question. Blackwood never plays another game for NJ, he is a gonner. Has to be Akira.
We probably have the worst goaltending of any team left in the playoffs, which is painful considering this franchise's history, but no on Blackwood. AS has been pretty terrible this series but he's a better option than the Vitek.
On one hand I’d say it wouldn’t hurt to play Blackwood bc he can’t play any worse than VV and Akira have this series but at the same time Akira was amazing against the Rags so I’d go with him. He’s only a rookie and might be the goalie of the future for them. This is a learning experience for all of them. They’re playing a better team that’s in their cup window. We are early to the party. I was happy with beating the Rags and just getting a win against Carolina. Hoping it’s at least close if they lose
NJ is outclassed.
I think we should
Schmid is best under pressure. Mac black isn't good anymkre, and vitek is broken.
This is really embarrassing. Why would they healthy scratch their two goalies to start their third-string goaltender in the playoffs? That's a sign of real desperation and STILL not addressing the real problem. The real problems are a lack of adjustments either from the team or the goaltender or both. Obviously, the Canes have figured out a weakness that the Devils have NOT been able to plug. This falls on coaches as much as it does on the players.
no, absolutely not
Don’t do it
As I said last post, we need to find a way to stop the Canes stretch passes along with the quick tips into the middle of the ice that they use to advance into the neutral zone without having to out-skate us, this also prevents us from getting turnovers on the rush because the puck spends such a little amount of time in the neutral zone. SECONDLY we have to find a way to counter act there 1, 2, 2 fore-check, it suffocates us in our own end and causes mayhem and is preventing us from getting the puck out of our own end. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k-S6icn-5H4&t=1s
"Success is … knowing your purpose in life, growing to reach your maximum potential, and sowing seeds that benefit others." _John C. Maxwell
VTK never had the makings of a varsity goaltender