Confirmed with Link: Celebrate!! Celebrini signed ELC 3 years x $975k ($4.475m AAV with bonuses)

[Star Platinum]

Based on my extremely early sample, I agree.

We all know that Bedard had a great rookie year, but is playing a bit too much on the outside. He'll be great and all, no doubt, but I think he has to decide if he wants to be a pure shooter or a more complete player.

Celebrini doesn't seem to have the same uncertainty. He seems extremely smart, has elite skills, but more of an inside game where I think he will notably penetrate places that CB tended to avoid, at least in his first year. What stands out mostly to me is MC's competitiveness, which seems to be on the level of Crosby.

I'm a returning fan after ignoring the Sharks for years as they wandered the NHL wastelands with no plan on how they were going to get out. The day the Sharks won the lottery was the day I rekindled my interest in the team. So I've been a bit MIA on hockey for a while and didn't see Bedard's rookie year, so I won't comment on him.

When you get the unquestioned #1 pick in the draft, you start to have unreasonable expectations of how good that player will be. So far watching Celebrini, the #1 thing that has stood out to me is that it's very appropriate he's on the Sharks because he's like a shark himself on the ice. Always in motion, always coming after you, never stopping. It also looks to me like he thinks the game at a high level too on offense, but I don't think he'll have gaudy first year numbers offensively partly because of the level of help he'll have and partly because of where his offensive game is at the present time.

But for the first time in a long time, I'm looking forward to the start of a Sharks season.

 

[PrimumHockeyist]

So far watching Celebrini, the #1 thing that has stood out to me is that it's very appropriate he's on the Sharks because he's like a shark himself on the ice. Always in motion, always coming after you, never stopping. It also looks to me like he thinks the game at a high level too on offense, but I don't think he'll have gaudy first year numbers offensively partly because of the level of help he'll have and partly because of where is offensive game is at the present time.

But for the first time in a long time, I'm looking forward to the start of a Sharks season.

Sounds like we're on the same page. His relentlessness is exceptional, then there's what one reads about his focus and training ethos.

The way these two may, I repeat may compare reminds me of Crosby a lot, in that hard stats like goals and assists won't tell the whole story in Celebrini's case.

 

[sampler]

I'm a returning fan after ignoring the Sharks for years as they wandered the NHL wastelands with no plan on how they were going to get out. The day the Sharks won the lottery was the day I rekindled my interest in the team. So I've been a bit MIA on hockey for a while and didn't see Bedard's rookie year, so I won't comment on him.

When you get the unquestioned #1 pick in the draft, you start to have unreasonable expectations of how good that player will be. So far watching Celebrini, the #1 thing that has stood out to me is that it's very appropriate he's on the Sharks because he's like a shark himself on the ice. Always in motion, always coming after you, never stopping. It also looks to me like he thinks the game at a high level too on offense, but I don't think he'll have gaudy first year numbers offensively partly because of the level of help he'll have and partly because of where his offensive game is at the present time.

But for the first time in a long time, I'm looking forward to the start of a Sharks season.

Welcome back! It is indeed exciting and you are spot on with your assessment. I would be surprised to see him eclipse 60 pts as very few rookies do. That said, Its the two-way play that will determine his readiness for the NHL. There's been a lot of press and a lot of chatter, but the proof is in the pudding. Bedard was supposed to be the next coming of jesus, and while he got his points, his -42 is more telling to me. In the game I watched with him in SJ, he had at least a half dozen terrible turnovers. NHL skills perhaps, but not an NHLer yet.

What makes Crosby so great is his defensive play, and its also what McDavid and McKinnon have learned in their careers too that has led their teams to the next level. Defense first, especially for a center.

So, I'll be watching for Smith and Celly in their own zones as much as the O zone. Its also why Musty may have go back to the O. Does he play a good enough defensive wing (win point battles against opposition D to get pucks out, Block point shots, win board battles near the blueline, etc). We know he is already likely NHL level offense, but the D is the key. (this is also why Bordy has little NHL future if you ask me. Not good enough defensively).

BTW, its the D first mentality that is also the reason the sharks were so terrible last year. They had no defensive system at all, just chaos and prayer. Their PK had some systems so it was OK, but their normal team D was atrocious. Lebanc, Hoffman, Zadina were horrific defensive forwards, who have been benched for years for poor Dzone play. Replace them with good defensive forwards and an actual system, and it should be far more interesting.

 

[TheBeard]

I'm a returning fan after ignoring the Sharks for years as they wandered the NHL wastelands with no plan on how they were going to get out. The day the Sharks won the lottery was the day I rekindled my interest in the team. So I've been a bit MIA on hockey for a while and didn't see Bedard's rookie year, so I won't comment on him.

When you get the unquestioned #1 pick in the draft, you start to have unreasonable expectations of how good that player will be. So far watching Celebrini, the #1 thing that has stood out to me is that it's very appropriate he's on the Sharks because he's like a shark himself on the ice. Always in motion, always coming after you, never stopping. It also looks to me like he thinks the game at a high level too on offense, but I don't think he'll have gaudy first year numbers offensively partly because of the level of help he'll have and partly because of where his offensive game is at the present time.

But for the first time in a long time, I'm looking forward to the start of a Sharks season.

You gonna disappear again if Celebrini doesn't pan out?

 

[Star Platinum]

You gonna disappear again if Celebrini doesn't pan out?

I think they've got a plan going forward and I think even in the unlikely event that Celebrini doesn't pan out (the only way I could really see that happening is if injuries became an issue), they are replenishing the dearth of talent issue in their talent pool that was killing them in the late Doug Wilson era.

The thing that makes me put down really following a team for a while is when I feel they're not really trying and they're just going through the motions of competing to fool a fanbase into buying tickets. That's the attitude I have with the Giants right now which is why I don't follow them at all and can't wait for Zaidi to get the boot. Even when they had that one lucky year and won the division, my attitude was "Well this is nice, but it's only gonna matter if there's young guys coming up behind to replace all these overachieving short-term vets."

Life's just too short to put a lot of time into a team that's going nowhere. I want to enjoy myself when I watch sports, not feel like it's a chore where I'm just toughing it out to win some imaginary "Real Fan" trophy that nobody cares about.

 

[PrimumHockeyist]

Welcome back! It is indeed exciting and you are spot on with your assessment. I would be surprised to see him eclipse 60 pts as very few rookies do. That said, Its the two-way play that will determine his readiness for the NHL. There's been a lot of press and a lot of chatter, but the proof is in the pudding. Bedard was supposed to be the next coming of jesus, and while he got his points, his -42 is more telling to me. In the game I watched with him in SJ, he had at least a half dozen terrible turnovers. NHL skills perhaps, but not an NHLer yet.

One thing in Bedard's defense on this. I think we would have a different view if he had a 1a, like Matthews had Marner with the Leafs. At least ten more goals imo, which would have made his relative lack of completeness easier to look past.

What makes Crosby so great is his defensive play, and its also what McDavid and McKinnon have learned in their careers too that has led their teams to the next level. Defense first, especially for a center.

100pct

 

[TheBeard]

I think they've got a plan going forward and I think even in the unlikely event that Celebrini doesn't pan out (the only way I could really see that happening is if injuries became an issue), they are replenishing the dearth of talent issue in their talent pool that was killing them in the late Doug Wilson era.

The thing that makes me put down really following a team for a while is when I feel they're not really trying and they're just going through the motions of competing to fool a fanbase into buying tickets. That's the attitude I have with the Giants right now which is why I don't follow them at all and can't wait for Zaidi to get the boot. Even when they had that one lucky year and won the division, my attitude was "Well this is nice, but it's only gonna matter if there's young guys coming up behind to replace all these overachieving short-term vets."

Life's just too short to put a lot of time into a team that's going nowhere. I want to enjoy myself when I watch sports, not feel like it's a chore where I'm just toughing it out to win some imaginary "Real Fan" trophy that nobody cares about.

I hope you don't deal with relationships the same way.

To each their own. I don't believe in the concept of "real vs fake" fan.

 

[Juxtaposer]

I think they've got a plan going forward and I think even in the unlikely event that Celebrini doesn't pan out (the only way I could really see that happening is if injuries became an issue), they are replenishing the dearth of talent issue in their talent pool that was killing them in the late Doug Wilson era.

The thing that makes me put down really following a team for a while is when I feel they're not really trying and they're just going through the motions of competing to fool a fanbase into buying tickets. That's the attitude I have with the Giants right now which is why I don't follow them at all and can't wait for Zaidi to get the boot. Even when they had that one lucky year and won the division, my attitude was "Well this is nice, but it's only gonna matter if there's young guys coming up behind to replace all these overachieving short-term vets."

Life's just too short to put a lot of time into a team that's going nowhere. I want to enjoy myself when I watch sports, not feel like it's a chore where I'm just toughing it out to win some imaginary "Real Fan" trophy that nobody cares about.

I think the term you're looking for is "fair-weather fan".

 

[mogambomoroo]

To give my 2 cents about the on going fan conversation, I myself love following the whole journey. I like to follow each step so that I can learn something about it as a fan interested in this activity. Even though it's only about a sports team, I've learned a lot about patience, balance, big picture thinking and having realistic expectations in my own life too through just following this process.

Team goal is to win the Stanley Cup, my goal is to win in life (without harming others) and the journey towards it is totally worth it.

 

[sampler]

One thing in Bedard's defense on this. I think we would have a different view if he had a 1a, like Matthews had Marner with the Leafs. At least ten more goals imo, which would have made his relative lack of completeness easier to look past.

100pct

Agreed that Bedard is definitely on an island in chicago. Not a ton to work with there....

That said, he sucked in his own zone. I mean sucked. He was a turnover machine trying to do too much, and he was not careful with the puck. One on one, he was amazing. His speed is off the charts. his shot is supreme. He has all the NHL gifts, but unless he gets his nose dirty and wins board battles, gets proper defensive stick positioning, and makes the small smart plays with teh puck, he will be a 100 pt player on a dead last team with his -30.

Great coaches know that Defense wins championships. You need forward leaders who block shots, win corner board battles, and backcheck as if their life depended on it. Wingers that consistently beat opposition D to clear pucks at the point. Centers that support the puck effectively all over the Dzone. And of course, systems so players know where each other is even without looking to allow for tic tac toe passing and zone exits to come thru the neutral zone with numbers and speed.

From all I've read, it sounds like Celly has that skill set. I'll take 60 pts and a +30 over 100 pts and -30 all day long.

 

[PrimumHockeyist]

Agreed that Bedard is definitely on an island in chicago. Not a ton to work with there....

That said, he sucked in his own zone. I mean sucked. He was a turnover machine trying to do too much, and he was not careful with the puck. One on one, he was amazing. His speed is off the charts. his shot is supreme. He has all the NHL gifts, but unless he gets his nose dirty and wins board battles, gets proper defensive stick positioning, and makes the small smart plays with teh puck, he will be a 100 pt player on a dead last team with his -30.

I totally agree. CB's defense was the elephant in the room that few wanted to talk about. That's my concern, that he becomes too much of an offensive talent. To what someone said earlier, when a kid wins the H Baker award as a seventeen year old freshman, discussiosn of his potential going into the NHL is more than warranted. Bedard proved that last year.

To give my 2 cents about the on going fan conversation, I myself love following the whole journey. I like to follow each step so that I can learn something about it as a fan interested in this activity. Even though it's only about a sports team, I've learned a lot about patience, balance, big picture thinking and having realistic expectations in my own life too through just following this process.

Team goal is to win the Stanley Cup, my goal is to win in life (without harming others) and the journey towards it is totally worth it.

Awesome life philosophy.

 

[coooldude]

I think the term you're looking for is "fair-weather fan".

I think this is incredibly unfair to what @Star Platinum shared. You can't fault someone for not being passionately engaged when a franchise has zero direction and hope.

A fair weather fan is one who jumps back on board when the team is winning/a contender and not interested when they're losing / not a contender. No way someone like Star Platinum is a fair weather fan when they're jumping back in after a historically bad season and before another pretty bad season. He and many are along for a painful ride, but at least there's hope.

Would you call me a fair weather fan for basically only watching select game highlights from 2020-2022, my post rate went way down, etc, because there was no hope and no direction? If you would, that's super insulting, very gatekeepy, and not very Sharks Brat Summer of you.

 

[Juxtaposer]

I think this is incredibly unfair to what @Star Platinum shared. You can't fault someone for not being passionately engaged when a franchise has zero direction and hope.

A fair weather fan is one who jumps back on board when the team is winning/a contender and not interested when they're losing / not a contender. No way someone like Star Platinum is a fair weather fan when they're jumping back in after a historically bad season and before another pretty bad season. He and many are along for a painful ride, but at least there's hope.

Would you call me a fair weather fan for basically only watching select game highlights from 2020-2022, my post rate went way down, etc, because there was no hope and no direction? If you would, that's super insulting, very gatekeepy, and not very Sharks Brat Summer of you.

I have no problem with fair weather fans. I can't blame people for not watching the Sharks when they aren't fun to watch. I myself took a hiatus from the Sharks in 2020.

I'm just calling a spade a spade. It's not pejorative.

 

[weastern bias]

not very Sharks Brat Summer of you

Sucker was better

 

[coooldude]

I have no problem with fair weather fans. I can't blame people for not watching the Sharks when they aren't fun to watch. I myself took a hiatus from the Sharks in 2020.

I'm just calling a spade a spade. It's not pejorative.

"Fair weather fan" is typically pejorative, and our AI overlords at Google and OpenAI agree.

And anyway, nobody could possibly argue that we're in fair weather right now whether it's an insult or not, so I continue to disagree that anyone currently posting on these boards is a fair weather Sharks fan. doesn't matter your post count or how many games you watch live - if you care enough to be reading and writing in this insane corner of the Internet in our current rebuild, you're not fair weather.

 

[TheBeard]

"Fair weather fan" is typically pejorative, and our AI overlords at Google and OpenAI agree.

View attachment 907574
View attachment 907575

And anyway, nobody could possibly argue that we're in fair weather right now whether it's an insult or not, so I continue to disagree that anyone currently posting on these boards is a fair weather Sharks fan. doesn't matter your post count or how many games you watch live - if you care enough to be reading and writing in this insane corner of the Internet in our current rebuild, you're not fair weather.

I personally have no issue with fair-weather fan as everyone is allowed to root and cheer the way they want to.

For me personally though, I'd rather celebrate the high times with the people who I commiserated the low times with. Otherwise I'd just be a hypocrite the way I continually call out the Vegas fanbase.

 

[one2gamble]

the sharks have been incredibly difficult to watch for at least 6 years now........

 

[Munnyro]

Settle down gate keepers.

 

[TheBeard]

Settle down gate keepers.

I don't see it as gatekeeping at all. I don't see anyone here defining anyone as being a better or worse fan. I just see it as the experience does change. For example (and it's a dumb analogy), if two people come from nothing and make something of. themselves I think they'll have a different perspective, a different appreciation for what they went through to get to where they are than two people who were born already in a good situation. There's absolutely nothing wrong with that upbringing (for lack of better word) either. It'll be nice when we're good to be able to sit around and laugh at how awful we were in those two back to back ten goal games rather than being "oh shit, that happened? Yeah we must have sucked back then".

 

[hohosaregood]

eh we've lost a lot of people after the reverse sweep. the 3 years of crap was waaay harder to get through and i don't really fault people for falling off. just glad to have more people on the boards again.

 

[TheBeard]

eh we've lost a lot of people after the reverse sweep. the 3 years of crap was waaay harder to get through and i don't really fault people for falling off. just glad to have more people on the boards again.

100%. More people is usually a sign of a better on-ice product.

But I'm always gonna remember the ones who stuck around during the low times.

 

[coooldude]

I don't see it as gatekeeping at all. I don't see anyone here defining anyone as being a better or worse fan. I just see it as the experience does change. For example (and it's a dumb analogy), if two people come from nothing and make something of. themselves I think they'll have a different perspective, a different appreciation for what they went through to get to where they are than two people who were born already in a good situation. There's absolutely nothing wrong with that upbringing (for lack of better word) either. It'll be nice when we're good to be able to sit around and laugh at how awful we were in those two back to back ten goal games rather than being "oh shit, that happened? Yeah we must have sucked back then".

This is all fine, but the conversation started when you responded to Star's post by saying "I hope you don't deal with relationships the same way."

That's hard to interpret as anything other than an insult, as is calling someone "fair weather fan."

It may not have been meant as an insult, but most people will take it as one. I think the best move here is for everyone to agree that calling someone fair weather is unnecessary, and judging them for avoiding the hopeless times is unnecessary, and move on from there trying not to do those two things to each other.

 

[Juxtaposer]

"Fair weather fan" is typically pejorative, and our AI overlords at Google and OpenAI agree.

View attachment 907574
View attachment 907575

And anyway, nobody could possibly argue that we're in fair weather right now whether it's an insult or not, so I continue to disagree that anyone currently posting on these boards is a fair weather Sharks fan. doesn't matter your post count or how many games you watch live - if you care enough to be reading and writing in this insane corner of the Internet in our current rebuild, you're not fair weather.

Well, if AI says it, it must be true.

But seriously, this is absolutely a fair weather era for the Sharks. Just because we won't be winning a ton of games doesn't mean that isn't the case; this is the most exciting and fun time to be a Sharks fan since... maybe 2010? I'm dead serious.

Again, because it doesn't seem like I'm being clear enough, I have zero problem with people who only follow the team in good times. I have no problem with people taking a break from the team if it's not bringing them joy. I welcome them back into the fold warmly and I don't think that makes them fake fans or anything like that. We need both new and returning fans in addition to the die-hards if we're to return Sharks hockey to greatness.

But the folks who suffered through the last three seasons of nonsense? Yeah, I think that there is a separator between us and the ones that didn't. Not a superior/inferior split or anything stupid like that, but the feeling of being 'rewarded' for sticking it through makes it all that much sweeter.

 

[coooldude]

But I'm always gonna remember the ones who stuck around during the low times.

You do you, but you're still judging people for their post count. How do you know who was still engaged, or a better/worse fan, just because you couldn't see them posting on HFB? Seems unnecessary and a smidge insulting to me.

 

[TheBeard]

This is all fine, but the conversation started when you responded to Star's post by saying "I hope you don't deal with relationships the same way."

That's hard to interpret as anything other than an insult, as is calling someone "fair weather fan."

It may not have been meant as an insult, but most people will take it as one. I think the best move here is for everyone to agree that calling someone fair weather is unnecessary, and judging them for avoiding the hopeless times is unnecessary, and move on from there trying not to do those two things to each other.

It was more a tongue in cheek response to "Life's just too short to put a lot of time into a team that's going nowhere" in particular.

Also, at no point did I say the word "fair weather" at any time.