GDT: Game 52: Sharks vs. Panthers 7:00pm NBCSCA

[Bizz]

The Sharks is missing a voice in the locker room. That's their captain! every NHL team has a captain except for the Sharks. Where are you captain?

If Couture isn't 100% healthy by the start of next season the Sharks should just give the C to somebody else.

 

[TheBeard]

If Couture isn't 100% healthy by the start of next season the Sharks should just give the C to somebody else.

Goodrow?

 

[Anomie2029]

Goodrow?

 

[TheBeard]

We should start having 8 assistant captains (instead of alternate) so we can start putting ASS on all their jerseys.

 

[DG93]

Ok you win, Luke Kunin gets it fresh off signing a new 25Mx5yr deal.

 

[Anomie2029]

We should start having 8 assistant captains (instead of alternate) so we can start putting ASS on all their jerseys.

I think that’s a bit on the nose - their play already has ASS all over it.

Ok you win, Luke Kunin gets it fresh off signing a new 25Mx5yr deal.

Don’t put that bad juju into the universe! I’m not even opposed to keeping Kunin on. He has been much better this season, as long as he stays 4th line majority of the time.

 

[timorous me]

I only recently found out about Tara Slone's past as a rock star.

This is probably the most worthwhile thing from the whole night to come back to now. I remember watching the reality show Rock Star: INXS all the way back in 2005 and thinking she was one of the best performers on there. (The show would probably look incredibly cheesy now, but it was a lot of fun and, unlike pretty much all other reality music competitions, featured a real rock band and lots of good music.)

It was quite a surprise, then, to see her show up on Sportsnet alongside Ron MacLean nearly a decade later, and even weirder for her to show up on Sharks games, though her being in a relationship with Dan Boyle along the way is like the least surprising thing ever.

 

[timorous me]

Smith now ahead of Michkov in 5-on-5 rookie scoring, behind only Hutson and Celebrini.

If you look at just 5-on-5 primary points, Macklin leads with 17, and Smith is 2nd with 14. Next is Jackson Blake with 12.

I'm not saying Smith is having a good year - he's not - but at 5-on-5, by every measure, he is performing offensively at the level of a top-6 forward.

He needs to work on his defensive game and needs to start clicking on the power play but there is a lot to be positive about. And people are out to lunch if they think he hasn't improved as the year has gone on.

I'd like to see Smith get PP1 time now; I can't really blame him for not producing on the second unit with the sporadic opportunities (and iffy personnel) there, but now with his confidence on the rise, it feels like a good chance to get him experience there. He seems like a player who could be a PP demon, but there are things he needs to learn and adapt to for success there, so why not try it out now alongside the better skill guys on the team?

 

[Anomie2029]

23/24 Sharks record from 1 Dec - 26 Jan: 8-15-2, -32, 15.4% PP, 70.3% PK.

24/25 Sharks record from 1 Dec - 26 Jan: 5-19-1, -40, 18.2% PP, 69.7% PK.

This team is currently worse than last seasons team.

 

[matt trick]

Was spared by only having to watch the highlights, but based on that I thought Smith looked dangerous. I'm sure he got crushed in several of his minutes, but that's a run of 5 games now (all losses) where he's popped a bit. He still has a long way to go, but he's come rather far. Kudos to Smith (and Warso) for the effort and development. He may not ready to center the second line next year, but I think he'll be close, and should be ready by year 3.

I have to admit, it's been disheartening watching these past 25 games. Way, way more losses than I'd have expected. Lots of blown leads as well. From Dec on, they have four wins (-41). They've been blow out 3 times (4-0 or worse), which honestly, I'd have guessed it was worse. I feel for the players, the team just isn't very good.

Adding Granny and Walman struggles to an already bad team has made them from bad to near-'horribad' (still quite a bit better than last year). Granny's falloff also allows Celebrini to be checked even more closely.

Just about everywhere you look in the lineup there are improvements over last year, but Grier has his work cut off for him to turn this into a 75 point team next year. Probably two top 4 d-men, two top 6 forwards, a strong season from Askarov, and a quality 1B goalie. This team will likely be bottom 7 next year as well.

 

[matt trick]

I'd like to see Smith get PP1 time now; I can't really blame him for not producing on the second unit with the sporadic opportunities (and iffy personnel) there, but now with his confidence on the rise, it feels like a good chance to get him experience there. He seems like a player who could be a PP demon, but there are things he needs to learn and adapt to for success there, so why not try it out now alongside the better skill guys on the team?

He'll get it once Granny is moved on. At least I think he will. Warso may opt for Wennberg (making Smith's PP2 even worse), but I hope Smith is the guy. I expected Smith to be a PP merchant this year, his even strength scoring makes me quite optimistic. His brain and hands are near-PPG level, but his strength and skating are AHL level. Luckily those two things will come with hitting the gym; I wonder how Patty is as a skating coach?

 

[gaucholoco3]

Watching that game I was so frustrated with Toffoli on the line with Eklund and Celebrini. There were numerous plays that died on his stick because he doesn’t have the skating or hands in tight to keep up with those two. He works as a trigger when those two have more time but against Barkov they won’t have that time and they could have used Kovalenko or hell even Dueher has better skating to keep up with those 2.

 

[Shark Finn]

Goodrow?

They said to somebody, not a nobody.

 

[Timo Time]

Some quick notes from Section 223 last night.

- Defense sucks
- Georgiev is regressing (didn't think that was a possibility)
- Smith was good. He still needs to add strength (obviously) and work on his foot speed. However, you can really see him process quicker and I still think he has an incredibly lethal shot.
- Mack wasn't as invisible as some here may think. He was matched up against Barkov but he was still impacting the game on both ends.
- I don't know what the f*** happened to our PK but it's almost a sure goal at this point.

There is about 80% of this roster that I can not wait to not see in the next 2-3 years when this team starts to turn around. Also, the crowd last night was great, until the 2nd period happened.

 

[Wedontneedroads]

That Florida team is GOOD. If I’m placing bets on a Cup winner they are it right now.

Silver lining is they could have been tied coming out of the first period if Georgiev could track a puck.

Smith also looked really good on both those goals. His forecheck created the first one and his nose for the net got him the second. Just have to hurry up and wait to see if he can physically develop.

That game makes it very clear just how far away this roster is from seriously competing. Grier has his work cut out for him over the next few years.

 

[Star Platinum]

I'd like to see Smith get PP1 time now; I can't really blame him for not producing on the second unit with the sporadic opportunities (and iffy personnel) there, but now with his confidence on the rise, it feels like a good chance to get him experience there. He seems like a player who could be a PP demon, but there are things he needs to learn and adapt to for success there, so why not try it out now alongside the better skill guys on the team?

Who would you take off of last night's PP1 to fit him in?

Toffoli
Granlund
Eklund
Celebrini
Walman

 

[Star Platinum]

Some quick notes from Section 223 last night.

- Defense sucks
- Georgiev is regressing (didn't think that was a possibility)
- Smith was good. He still needs to add strength (obviously) and work on his foot speed. However, you can really see him process quicker and I still think he has an incredibly lethal shot.
- Mack wasn't as invisible as some here may think. He was matched up against Barkov but he was still impacting the game on both ends.
- I don't know what the f*** happened to our PK but it's almost a sure goal at this point.

There is about 80% of this roster that I can not wait to not see in the next 2-3 years when this team starts to turn around. Also, the crowd last night was great, until the 2nd period happened.

I heard boos at the end of the game and frankly, they were deserved

 

[Lebanezer]

a healthy couture would indeed make a huge difference to this team.

The record last year with Couture in the lineup, 4-1-1.

 

[timorous me]

Who would you take off of last night's PP1 to fit him in?

Toffoli
Granlund
Eklund
Celebrini
Walman

I'd say Granny or Toffoli at this point. You could wait, as was suggested above, until Granny gets dealt at the deadline--but I don't think it would be a big loss to move Toffoli to the second unit instead. (You could also go with five forwards but I don't love that, usually, especially with a few young guys out there for you.)

 

[BaileyMacTavish]

I heard boos at the end of the game and frankly, they were deserved

I booed for sure ad I was stumbling down those stairs. Honestly I understand that we're going to get killed out there but the team stopped paying after it went 3-2 and it was like... why.

 

[karltonian]

I mean they are only about what 30 spots higher in the rankings?


I mean sweet jesus can we catch a break with the teams we are playing? it's been like 90% elite teams then the other 10% comes in on heaters.

Narrator: They will not catch a break.
(Source: NHL Remaining Schedule Strength | Tankathon via reddit)

 

[DG93]

Was spared by only having to watch the highlights, but based on that I thought Smith looked dangerous. I'm sure he got crushed in several of his minutes, but that's a run of 5 games now (all losses) where he's popped a bit. He still has a long way to go, but he's come rather far. Kudos to Smith (and Warso) for the effort and development. He may not ready to center the second line next year, but I think he'll be close, and should be ready by year 3.

I have to admit, it's been disheartening watching these past 25 games. Way, way more losses than I'd have expected. Lots of blown leads as well. From Dec on, they have four wins (-41). They've been blow out 3 times (4-0 or worse), which honestly, I'd have guessed it was worse. I feel for the players, the team just isn't very good.

Adding Granny and Walman struggles to an already bad team has made them from bad to near-'horribad' (still quite a bit better than last year). Granny's falloff also allows Celebrini to be checked even more closely.

Just about everywhere you look in the lineup there are improvements over last year, but Grier has his work cut off for him to turn this into a 75 point team next year. Probably two top 4 d-men, two top 6 forwards, a strong season from Askarov, and a quality 1B goalie. This team will likely be bottom 7 next year as well.

I mean I think finishing 7th-10th from the bottom next year would be solid progress with the hope that they push for a wildcard in 2026-2027.

 

[The Nemesis]

I only recently found out about Tara Slone's past as a rock star.

Her band got some play on Canadian radio. I don't think they ever had a top hit but I'm pretty sure they charted with at least once.

After first hearing her on the radio I saw her pop up a few times as a panelist on a TSN discussion show called Off The Record. So she was a sports fan from well before her media/hnic turn.

Edit: can't get chart info because wikipedia won't connect on my potato phone for some reason but the two songs I remember: