we suck

[li0lsh]

:/

 

[sjrules99]

just got home:

simply put, the road trip and the start were clearly a fluke. This team will not only miss the PO's be in the bottom. Jones looked good, but the 1st round pick will be a top 10 pick unfortunately.

Its unraveling, and I literally cannot remember the last game the sharks played consistently well, and really dominated. virtually every player is underperforming. The Burns D experiment is over. he could be -50 by years end.

This is a clear example of needing to cut your losses:

1. trade the big two. Jumbo looks bored out there. Marleau stinks too. they need value of the future and its time to move on.

2. fire deboer. he inherited a team that is better than last year's and yet has them playing much worse (which is hard to do). I know its only 30 or so games, but when you buy a stock and the stock goes down, you dont just hold because its down. you have to make a call about the future and deboer is not it. he has a horrific track record and is killing the development of every young player on the team.

3. Deal every vet they have over 30, except for pavelski, including ward and martin at the deadline. They are 5+ years from competing so no need to waste much needed money (for when no one shows up to games) and picks/prospects on them.

This is the biggest shit show sharks team since the selanne days. The epic collapse of the franchise is incredible and while I havent exactly disagreed with some of dougie's moves, and was actually quite optimistic in the preseason, they obviously havent worked and he hasnt gotten the right guy behind the bench to make it happen.

1000 empty seats on a saturday night. more to come. I was thinking they should hire some good bands/cool figure skaters or tricksters or something to spruce up the game experience between periods. Then there is something to look forward to. Simply put, it's fucking borrrriiiinnngggg, and the little relay race or inflatable musical chairs aint gunna help. Sharkie repelled down the rafters before the game and you could hear a fucking pin drop. its actually funny to watch him rile up the crowd, and get absolutely no sound. No one is gunna shell out big money to watch this product on the ice, so it's a real turning point.

personally, I am settling in for a dry decade. Watching hertl, nieto, wingels, karlsson, tierney and company basically suck every night sure doesnt make me think we are gunna see some rapid turnaround. I think we are 5 years+ from a real team.

 

[Cbrower91]

If your going off of Value you shit can Pavelski too because hes going to net your biggest returns. NO half ass rebuild either commit to it or not. crazy thing is they are playing this poorly and still in playoff contention

 

[sjrules99]

If your going off of Value you shit can Pavelski too because hes going to net your biggest returns. NO half ass rebuild either commit to it or not. crazy thing is they are playing this poorly and still in playoff contention

Only reason to keep pavs is as a training tool. here is a guy, drafted 205th overall with so-so skills, who has worked his tail off, developed beautifully, and always puts in the work. Hes a great role model, so I would have him as the poster boy vet so help the development of the youth. other than that, id agree with you.

 

[23sharks]

Yeah, I had tix for Sat and gave them to my daughter...she left early, said it was one of the most boring games she's ever seen.
I hardly even watch anymore...don't think I ever recovered from the LA choke.

 

[sjrules99]

Yeah, I had tix for Sat and gave them to my daughter...she left early, said it was one of the most boring games she's ever seen.
I hardly even watch anymore...don't think I ever recovered from the LA choke.

it was. it really was sooo fucking dull. its as bad as hockey gets...

The whole franchise hasnt recovered. That game 7 loss will forever go into the history books as the big franchise turning point. I could easily see an entire down decade as the team searches for a new identity. The big two were the faces of the franchise for a decade, but they are both done. Pavs and cooch are supposed to take over, but they arent to that level, and the supporting cast is shaky at best. its gunna be a looooooong spell in SJ...

 

[Likewall32]

i could be wrong, but didnt SJ start sucking horrible ass the minute they put Zubrus into the lineup?

 

[MrChangoT97]

We started to lose once Mueller, Tennyson, Demalo, etc became our bottom pairing D.

We need to make changes ASAP, its nice to see Pitts addressing their issue, but Doug cant.

 

[sjrules99]

i could be wrong, but didnt SJ start sucking horrible ass the minute they put Zubrus into the lineup?

Nah, they started sucking from game 4 (the NJ Win in OT). They have been pretty awful since the hot start. They had the 6 game roadie where they squeaked out 6 in a row, 2 in OT, only 1 by more than one goal (excl ENG). All 6 of those could easily have gone the other way. They were just lucky to win several of those. They have been whooped regularly both before and after the trip.

There are several big issues that they have:

1. Their coaching is highly suspect.

2. their D has 1 or 2 bona fide top 4 Dmen in Pickles and martin. Braun is a solid bottom pair. Dillon is only a berderline NHLer. Mueller, tennyson and demelo are average AHL defensemen, and really not much to speak of at that level either. Most importantly and devastatingly, Burns is not a defenseman. He's -15 for gods sake, which is dead last among all NHL defensemen, and just one minus below the worst in the entire league. He clearly is massively deficient at D. Really, its not unreasonable to say that the move of burns from forward to D marked the true beginning of the end. Hes fun to watch, yes, but a total disaster in his own end. Its time to put him back up front.

3. their star forwards have taken massive steps backward and are aging out. Jumbo is really struggling. patty is hanging on. Without them, the young guys arent able to replace them, so the forwards appear good on paper but are actually too thin, which is exacerbated by cooch out. Functionally, compared to 2 or 3 years ago, they are basically without jumbo, patty, and cooch, which pretty much fully guts the O-corps.

4. Their chemistry is off. Guys arent having fun. they arent loose. They arent well organized, and seem confused as to where to be and what to do regularly leading to weak forechecks, mediocre special teams, baffling defensive breakdowns, and sputtering offense. it looks more like a ragtag crew than a well oiled machine.

they have not much in the pipeline either, and lost their top asset, their #1 pick next year, which is shaping up to be in the top 10, or higher, as they currently sit 22nd in the league.

Simply put, all of the signs and arrows are pointing toward a prolonged struggle. There is no quick fix. No single guy or single area who is going to revolutionize this team. its a product of many many years of low or no 1st round picks, as a result of strong regular seasons. the farm has been thin for many years and it's finally catching up with them as the big two have been smacked down by grandfather time.

We are going the way or LA, Chicago, or Pittsburgh who sucked for 5-10 years before emerging golden on the other side. It will cost dougie his job, and Hasso lots of money in lost fans, but for the long term of the franchise, they would do better just biting the bullet, trading off all the valued pieces for picks and prospects, giving top minutes to all the kids, dropping payroll by 10-20 million/yr, and riding out the bad times. If they don't then the bad times will still come, but they will be longer, and we will die by a thousand piercings as we mire in mediocrity finishing 20th overall each year, just bad enough to miss the PO's, but not bad enough to get top 5 picks.

 

[23sharks]

it was. it really was sooo fucking dull. its as bad as hockey gets...

The whole franchise hasnt recovered. That game 7 loss will forever go into the history books as the big franchise turning point. I could easily see an entire down decade as the team searches for a new identity. The big two were the faces of the franchise for a decade, but they are both done. Pavs and cooch are supposed to take over, but they arent to that level, and the supporting cast is shaky at best. its gunna be a looooooong spell in SJ...

Yeah, it's depressing. I just never got over that loss. Especially when they then go have a shitty season and try to up the ticket prices...that was enough to push me out the door.