GDT: Game 1: Sharks vs. Blues 7:30pm ESPN+/Hulu. It begins!

[hotcabbagesoup]

This morning, as I drink my coffee, I’m thinking that had Logan played, we could’ve won that game. He thrives in those situations.

The old Logan absolutely. Sadly, I don't think we'll ever see the old Logan again with his injury. I just do hope we see him show up to practice. I think it was you who commented during the last game of the "value of having high hockey IQ at this level". I hope Logan can at least impart his IQ to these young guys some way in practice.

 

[Alaskanice]

The old Logan absolutely. Sadly, I don't think we'll ever see the old Logan again with his injury. I just do hope we see him show up to practice. I think it was you who commented during the last game of the "value of having high hockey IQ at this level". I hope Logan can at least impart his IQ to these young guys some way in practice.

Yes, it is sad. He would be the captain this team needs. I believe.

 

[Juxtaposer]

Btw, really want to shout out Jake Walman. He's just so clearly head and shoulders above any other defenseman we have. Legit second pairing guy. He was constantly noticeable not just for actually being able to handle the puck but also for making strong defensive plays and executing successful breakouts.

We desperately need another Walman-caliber defenseman, stat.

 

[sampler]

Smith made multiple great passes that his linemates weren't ready for and didn't have any WTF turnovers. He still needs to get stronger on the puck but that will develop over time.

Gushchin on the other hand was a complete non-factor apart from taking a penalty. It's almost like the preseason bears little resemblance to actual NHL hockey.

I remember one obvious one to granlund off the gift turnover. that was nice for sure and granny shoulda buried it.

Gush played so -so, but he is put in a position to fail. Very poor line creation and asset management there. Playing 10 mins with dyllandrea and sturm is not the right spot for a guy of his profile. he did look quick out there to me, but he needs to play with more skilled guys to maximize his value. I bet it would be very exciting if he were on the line with Zetts and Granny.

As for Warsofky, he screwed the pooch in the third, but I still love his interviews. I love that he stresses the details. I love that he mentioned that he made some poor choices in the third too. I love that his goal is work hard and keep getting better. That's the right message, and he addressed the "It's last year all over again" clearly. He just seems different than Quinn in his approach, knowledge of the game, and expectations and teaching.

In some ways, this was the perfect game 1. Great second period. Great debut for celly. Some great play. AND terrible third, and weak 1st too. lots to learn and work on. Thats what you want, lots of learning tools, but also some successes to enjoy.

My over 63.5 bet is looking good ! 82 pt pace! hahaha, just kiddin'...

Btw, really want to shout out Jake Walman. He's just so clearly head and shoulders above any other defenseman we have. Legit second pairing guy. He was constantly noticeable not just for actually being able to handle the puck but also for making strong defensive plays and executing successful breakouts.

We desperately need another Walman-caliber defenseman, stat.

Totally agreed. Walman was excellent. I was realllly impressed. Ceci was also solidly boring.

Benning, on the other hand, is not an NHLer. His turnovers in the preseason were impressive, and he continued being god awful in this game. I wonder if he finds the pine shortly when Mukh comes back or if Thompson steps up in the A. Benning feels like the real weakest link on the D to me.

 

[TheBeard]

Smith will be fine, but he’d definitely benefit from playing some wing for a little bit until he’s more comfortable with the speed.

 

[Hodge]

Gush played so -so, but he is put in a position to fail. Very poor line creation and asset management there. Playing 10 mins with dyllandrea and sturm is not the right spot for a guy of his profile. he did look quick out there to me, but he needs to play with more skilled guys to maximize his value. I bet it would be very exciting if he were on the line with Zetts and Granny.

It's not like Gushchin was playing with significantly better linemates than Sturm and Dellandrea in preseason. He needs to create chances to justify his spot in the lineup regardless of who he's playing with. I would rather have Grundstrom or Givani Smith in there who can at least contribute in other ways.

 

[Alaskanice]

Btw, really want to shout out Jake Walman. He's just so clearly head and shoulders above any other defenseman we have. Legit second pairing guy. He was constantly noticeable not just for actually being able to handle the puck but also for making strong defensive plays and executing successful breakouts.

We desperately need another Walman-caliber defenseman, stat.

Proper. I thought Ceci did a very admirable job as well.

 

[sampler]

Smith will be fine, but he’d definitely benefit from playing some wing for a little bit until he’s more comfortable with the speed.

he also needs to figure out the faceoff circle (celly too). Its an underrated skills, but the two of them were a combined 2-23 for a solid 8% win percentage. Those are also skills practiced well in the A.

and yes, he will be fine. Hes just not yet comfy with the speed as you said. The question is where is the best place to get comfy, the AHL playing top line minutes with little pressure in a developmental league which matches your current skill level, or the NHL where mistakes are amplified and you can cost your team a game with a goof, and the speed is above your level?

It's not like Gushchin was playing with significantly better linemates than Sturm and Dellandrea in preseason. He needs to create chances to justify his spot in the lineup regardless of who he's playing with. I would rather have Grundstrom or Givani Smith in there who can at least contribute in other ways.

Thats exactly right! In the preseason he was saddled with crap mates and still made things happen, but thats really hard to do consistently. You need quality around you for a guy like Gush. I actually thought he did a good job defensively, getting in shooting lanes and skating the puck out.

I agree with you though. While I think he is best fit with skilled mates, if you aren't gunna put him there, then having grundstrom playing 10 4th line mins may be better than Gush. just strange to me to put Gush in that position rather than giving him a real look in a scoring/creating role.

 

[Hodge]

Who the hell is tracking faceoffs at SAP Center? Celebrini alone definitely won more than 2 last night. You'd think there would be more quality control on this stuff now that we can bet on every f***ing thing that happens in a game.

 

[coooldude]

The faceoff stats are very wrong. They didn't crack 50% but they weren't 2/23, no way.

Smith made multiple great passes that his linemates weren't ready for and didn't have any WTF turnovers. He still needs to get stronger on the puck but that will develop over time.

Gushchin on the other hand was a complete non-factor apart from taking a penalty. It's almost like the preseason bears little resemblance to actual NHL hockey.

I thought Gush brought more than Dellandrea. I think he deserves another 4th line game or two and time on PP2. However I won't be surprised if he is pulled for Kostin. And he definitely didn't earn top 6 minutes.

Smith looked fine but not as good as you're describing. He created a few good chances but didn't look all that involved or dangerous except a pretty solid forecheck. I'm not upset - I expect him to have a slow start, was a neutral game for him, not awesome and not terrible. Definitely a lesson for him in "holy shit this is bigger, stronger, faster" as he got dumped by Parayko a few times and caught behind the play in transition a fair amount.

 

[Pinkfloyd]

Step 1. Dont protect leads
Step 2. Dont change what got you the lead
Step 3. Win Games

Step 1. You can't protect leads when you have a bad group of defensemen, average goaltending, and a group of forwards who aren't exactly stellar defensively themselves.
Step 2. You can't change what gets you the lead when half the reason they got the lead was pure luck. Two fluke goals and two legitimately great plays got them goals. That's not sustainable.
Step 3. No.

When it comes to Will Smith, he's a rookie in his first game and he's pretty clearly not Celebrini. He needs to engage more all over the ice but that's normal rookie stuff. He's playing too soft and he needs to work on that as he plays. Gushchin played with a lot more engagement than Smith.

 

[Hodge]

The faceoff stats are very wrong. They didn't crack 50% but they weren't 2/23, no way.

I thought Gush brought more than Dellandrea. I think he deserves another 4th line game or two and time on PP2. However I won't be surprised if he is pulled for Kostin. And he definitely didn't earn top 6 minutes.

Smith looked fine but not as good as you're describing. He created a few good chances but didn't look all that involved or dangerous except a pretty solid forecheck. I'm not upset - I expect him to have a slow start, was a neutral game for him, not awesome and not terrible. Definitely a lesson for him in "holy shit this is bigger, stronger, faster" as he got dumped by Parayko a few times and caught behind the play in transition a fair amount.

At least Dellandrea had that effective forechecking shift late in the third to keep the puck in the Blues end. If he plays like that more consistently he'll be a useful piece. Giving that 4th line more of a straightforward identity by replacing Gushchin with Grundstrom or Givani should help.

I think it was Smith's first time playing with Granlund and Zetterlund in game action including the preseason. I'm not expecting him to be super efficient until he figures out their tendencies. He needs to be given time to try things and figure out what works in the NHL. This is also why I'm against sending him to the Barracuda unless he just looks totally lost out there and based on Game 1 he doesn't.

 

[spintheblackcircle]

Step 1. Dont protect leads
Step 2. Dont change what got you the lead
Step 3. Win Games

As a fan of Tottenham, sticking to your offensive principles can cause many, many losses

 

[LadyStanley]

https://x.com/i/web/status/1844795101723201676

Paywall.


The Athletic still doesn't have dedicated Sharks writer. So hard to necessarily find all the articles. (I found this one as it was retweeted by someone I do follow.) This writer follows Ducks and Kings.

 

[TheBigDrunkPanda]

Yep. Straight up sat on a 4-1 lead and tried to play prevent Defense with one of the worst defenses in the NHL on paper. Hopefully he'll learn from this.

Yeah I understand the idea behind in that Warf is trying teach them how to play with a lead but sagging back when you clearly dominate the transition game was just a massive coaching blunder my understanding is he did acknowledge that in the post game presser

 

[TheBeard]

Yeah I understand the idea behind in that Warf is trying teach them how to play with a lead but sagging back when you clearly dominate the transition game was just a massive coaching blunder my understanding is he did acknowledge that in the post game presser

There’s a huge difference between learning to play with a lead and playing prevent hockey. One still means picking your spots and still taking chances. The other is basically prioritizing playing low risk dump hockey and relying on your goaltender to be perfect.

 

[LilLeeroy]

Celebrini vs Will Smith

Smith was actually second in Expected Goal % of the top 6 after Zetterlund, he didn't generate a lot but he also didn't give up any big chances. Which for a 19 year old playing 13 minutes in their first game is very good imo.

Celebrini had a lot of turnovers that resulted in a very good chances for the Blues and was second to last of the forwards after Kunin, but I don't see anybody suggesting sending him down to the AHL.

 

[hohosaregood]

I was actually surprised to see how quick Smith moved out there. There were some points where the puck was chipped behind the goal line and Smith raced to those in a way I rarely saw from him in college. Can still be a little lax off the puck but there were quite a few positives for him.

Also I thought his stick checking was interesting. I had seen him strip the puck off guys before that didn't really seem to make sense but I got a better view last night and he seems to really go for the stick up at the hands of the puck carrier and influence where the puck carrier goes. Was surprised there weren't any hooking calls on him

 

[timorous me]

https://x.com/i/web/status/1844795101723201676

Paywall.


The Athletic still doesn't have dedicated Sharks writer. So hard to necessarily find all the articles. (I found this one as it was retweeted by someone I do follow.) This writer follows Ducks and Kings.

You should be able to find them all if you go straight through the Athletic's Sharks page, though obviously the amount of content is lacking without a dedicated Sharks writer: https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/nhl/team/sharks/

 

[TheBigDrunkPanda]

There’s a huge difference between learning to play with a lead and playing prevent hockey. One still means picking your spots and still taking chances. The other is basically prioritizing playing low risk dump hockey and relying on your goaltender to be perfect.

We are saying the same thing dude

I was actually surprised to see how quick Smith moved out there. There were some points where the puck was chipped behind the goal line and Smith raced to those in a way I rarely saw from him in college. Can still be a little lax off the puck but there were quite a few positives for him.

Also I thought his stick checking was interesting. I had seen him strip the puck off guys before that didn't really seem to make sense but I got a better view last night and he seems to really go for the stick up at the hands of the puck carrier and influence where the puck carrier goes. Was surprised there weren't any hooking calls on him

He needs to get that one handed swing stick/reach out around check out of his game or he’s going to pick up a lot of bad penalties this year

 

[TheBeard]

He needs to get that one handed swing stick/reach out around check out of his game or he’s going to pick up a lot of bad penalties this year

somewhere, Kevin Labanc is smiling.

 

[Quid Pro Clowe]

I don’t mind losing this year as long as it’s fun to watch for the most part. Last night was a good start.

 

[Pinkfloyd]

I don’t mind losing this year as long as it’s fun to watch for the most part. Last night was a good start.

Very much agreed with this. It's fun watching the forwards play. The defense and goalies, not so much.

 

[Tkachuk4MVP]

Proper. I thought Ceci did a very admirable job as well.

Did you? I thought he looked pretty bad, especially late.

 

[Alaskanice]

Did you? I thought he looked pretty bad, especially late.

I guess I looked at it through the glass where many were extolling how bad he is.
As for late in the game, it was a team wide loss. No one person was going to stop the bleeding. This team doesn’t know how to close town a game yet. This will help them learn that. I hope.