GDT: Game 33. UHC 7pm

[Patty Ice]

Going back and just watching over and over that Stenlund's hit from behind boarding that SHOULD have been called. The official had a perfect view of it, how he managed to quickly swallow his whistle is incredible.

 

[weastern bias]

What were you watching? He pulled Stenlund back in twice to go at him. Stenlund just ran off like a little bitch.

With the way the refs were calling the game, they would have easily given Ceci an instigator if he kept going.

Who cares?

Take the instigator, f***, slam the guy's head into the ice for all I care, if a nothing player is taking liberties with your meal ticket you make him eat through a straw, repercussions be damned

 

[LadyStanley]

Check out this Podcast: Learning Moment + Look Ahead Learning Moment + Look Ahead

Morning Tide. Start of captaincy for Mack?

 

[Patty Ice]

Who cares?

Take the instigator, f***, slam the guy's head into the ice for all I care, if a nothing player is taking liberties with your meal ticket you make him eat through a straw, repercussions be damned

I'm with you there. However, it conceivable that Warf was preaching not to take unnecessary penalties at that point.

 

[coooldude]

One thing to note is that many were very upset with the lines at the beginning of the game, but pretty quickly the top 6 turned into the Lund line, Kovalenko-macklin-toff and seemed to stabilize. Smith is the odd man out in this one, but hard to argue the top 6 didn't make sense. If Toffoli is sick, maybe he and Smith should switch.

I just think Warso's lines aren't bad, he's mostly sending short term messages to his young studs to keep bringing it, and when they do, he quickly rewards them. Generally have faith in the staff to give the team the best chance of success.

Kovalenko is, so far, everything that Cardwell could hope to one day be. Loving his game.

 

[CHALUPA]

Kovalenko is, so far, everything that Cardwell could hope to one day be. Loving his game.

Getting Kovalenko gave the same vibes as when we got Zetterlund.

They play different games, but they feel perfect for this phase of the franchise. With some luck, they continue to fit into our medium term plans and let us build a strong middle 6 foundation to build off of

 

[Alaskanice]

Getting Kovalenko gave the same vibes as when we got Zetterlund.

They play different games, but they feel perfect for this phase of the franchise. With some luck, they continue to fit into our medium term plans and let us build a strong middle 6 foundation to build off of

Good stuff.

 

[Jargon]

One thing to note is that many were very upset with the lines at the beginning of the game, but pretty quickly the top 6 turned into the Lund line, Kovalenko-macklin-toff and seemed to stabilize. Smith is the odd man out in this one, but hard to argue the top 6 didn't make sense. If Toffoli is sick, maybe he and Smith should switch.

I just think Warso's lines aren't bad, he's mostly sending short term messages to his young studs to keep bringing it, and when they do, he quickly rewards them. Generally have faith in the staff to give the team the best chance of success.

Kovalenko is, so far, everything that Cardwell could hope to one day be. Loving his game.

Agreed on all points. Hard to say that his mini lessons don’t work when Zetterlund looked far better this game. He knows these guys well, he knows what motivates them after a couple of years, I see nothing egregious.

Smith is tricky particularly because with Kostin out, Wennberg is really the only higher end skill guy for him to play with, though they don’t really mesh particularly well.

I think I’d, yeah, go back to what we had:

Eklund - Celebrini - Kovalenko
Kostin/Zetterlund (when he’s back) - Granlund - Smith
Zetterlund/Kostin - Wennberg - Toffoli

Etc

 

[Quid Pro Clowe]

When did the Granlund hit to the head happen? About to watch the replay of the game.

About 30 seconds before that ‘vicious’ high stick on Keller that nearly killed him and led to the gwg.

 

[SJSharksfan39]

Is Mack ok this morning? The most concerning thing about the game last night (other than the Refs) was how much Mack was getting abused. Hopefully there are no concussion symptoms. When he went into the boards he did get the gloves up to protect himself some.

 

[one2gamble]

There is still a lack of team toughness to some extent. Grier will get what he wants eventually.

 

[sampler]

Kovalenko has been a great sunprise to me. He does remind me of a slightly smaller zetterlund. The motor is running, the forecheck ferocious, and 4 apples in two games includes the beauty last night and the 2-1 w Walman… it’s impressive he appears poised to be that top 6/9 guy that Grier liked in the deal. Obviously not just a throw in…

I am reforming my opinion of Blackwood trade. ‘26 2nd is fine but whatever. Kovy could be the big steal.

Celebrini, smith, kovalenko, zetterlund, eklund, Toffoli, wennberg… the top 9 is rounding into form and if they can keep granlund, they’ll only need one or two more top 9 guys to add this summer. The forward lineup is getting close to nhl respectable, and Askarov should solidify the net.

The D still needs some help, but these repeated very close games are showing that they are only maybe 2-3 players and a continued cultural improvement from a playoff team.

 

[Timo Time]

My takeaways from being at the game last night:

- Glad my eyes didn't deceive me and half those penalties and missed calls were actually bullshit
- Celebrini has that dog in him
- Smith was fine, a little rusty but you can see that being paired with Goodrow absolutely does nothing to help him
- Was impressed by Muk's composure and holy shit the kid is huge

And finally, the Tank (the arena not the draft position). The energy in the arena is palpable and starting to feel like it did 8 years ago and we're still shit, just a little less shit. A learning game for sure, that ice tilt was large in part to a parade to the penalty box for the entirety of that 3rd period.

 

[nabbyfan]

That was the most frustrated I've been watching a Sharks game in a while.

Really, really poorly managed game by the officials. They're lucky they didn't lose control of that game, and as a Sharks fan I'm actually disappointed they didnt. At some point, if its going to be Open season on Mack, its gotta be open season on Keller, Crowse, and Guenther. God knows Keller is gonna whip his head back the second he feels contact, might as well give him something to actually feel.

We didn't deserve to win, but they deserved to make it to OT at least. The amount of turnovers trying to get out of zone is maddening, they HAVE to clean that up or its going to be an absolute bloodbath against the Jets. Just too many times this team has an easy out that they blow, and then spend another minute or so hemmed in the zone chasing the puck.

 

[Alaskanice]

I’ve been watching sports for over 40 years. Upsets and beatdowns have been the norm.
To use the term, “Any given Sunday,” I find it hard to say a team deserves to lose or win. This is why they play the game. That’s professional sports.

 

[karltonian]

This felt like a learning game tonight, a game for growth for this group. I loved watching as Macklin was seeing red multiple times--you see that fire coming to another level, and while it's unfortunate how it came about, you still love to see that in him as a soon-to-be leader and future captain of this team. But others on the team hopefully also learned something--and ultimately you hope this game helps bring them together as a group.

Kind of tough to assess things in this game. Did the Sharks get outplayed? Yeah, though that was primarily in the 3rd. But if the officiating had been balanced, the ice is likely tilted less in Utah's direction overall. Who knows what kind of impact that might've had--but overall, especially in the first two periods, a pretty solid effort plus some bad penalties from Kunin that also threw it off.

Okay, enough of the level-headed bullshit. I had to pour myself a couple fingers of my small batch Teeling whiskey near the end of this one, so...

What the f*** was that? Just some of the most incompetent--nay, dangerously bad--officiating I've seen in years? Is Utah the new Vegas? Some of those guys, Stenlund in particular, can f*** off. But the big problem is their shitty, dirty play was enabled by Rooney and the other stooge.

I hope Grier writes the league a strongly worded letter and Warsofsky delivers Rooney and that other clown (maybe the linesman while he's at it) some dried up turds disguised as coal in their stockings on Christmas Eve this year.

Dear assfaces ..

 

[timorous me]

That was the most frustrated I've been watching a Sharks game in a while.

Really, really poorly managed game by the officials. They're lucky they didn't lose control of that game, and as a Sharks fan I'm actually disappointed they didnt. At some point, if its going to be Open season on Mack, its gotta be open season on Keller, Crowse, and Guenther. God knows Keller is gonna whip his head back the second he feels contact, might as well give him something to actually feel.

We didn't deserve to win, but they deserved to make it to OT at least. The amount of turnovers trying to get out of zone is maddening, they HAVE to clean that up or its going to be an absolute bloodbath against the Jets. Just too many times this team has an easy out that they blow, and then spend another minute or so hemmed in the zone chasing the puck.

As frustrated as I was, I have to say, it feels good to actually have that sense of emotion. It's not like I want to be pissed off by a dirty opponent and incompetent refs, but it's certainly better than those years of apathy. It feels like things matter again, at least in a way.

And at least to me, one of the biggest reasons to care about pro sports is simply that they're one of the things in life that can make you feel things. Especially as we get older, there isn't a ton of stuff like that to elicit such emotion (with the added bonus that we can also compartmentalize and realize that sports are just for fun--they don't really matter in our lives). So it's great to have the Sharks back to bring those feelings for us.

 

[Hangemhigh]

Sharks lack team toughness. Lots of room for improvement there. Thornton will probably show Macklin video of his cousin Scott handling Fischer.

 

[LadyStanley]

Game mentioned on podcast with fan's displeasure over missed calls

 

[SJSharksfan39]

Game mentioned on podcast with fan's displeasure over missed calls

Yeah, with an emphasis on the President calling out the Refs and trying to protect the rookie head coach. That was actually nice to see.

 

[gaucholoco3]

Agreed on all points. Hard to say that his mini lessons don’t work when Zetterlund looked far better this game. He knows these guys well, he knows what motivates them after a couple of years, I see nothing egregious.

Smith is tricky particularly because with Kostin out, Wennberg is really the only higher end skill guy for him to play with, though they don’t really mesh particularly well.

I think I’d, yeah, go back to what we had:

Eklund - Celebrini - Kovalenko
Kostin/Zetterlund (when he’s back) - Granlund - Smith
Zetterlund/Kostin - Wennberg - Toffoli

Etc

I like these lines. I think they should think of it in terms of pairing the skill guys and then mixing and matching the F1’s.

Eklund - Celebrini - Kovalenko/Zetterlund
Smith - Granlund - Kovalenko/Zetterlund
Toffoli - Wenberg - Every other FW

 

[TheBigDrunkPanda]

Looks like Vitek is playing well enough to get traded so that’s a bonus