GDT: Game 7: Sharks @ Ducks 7:15 NBCSCA

[knu]

Remember when we won hockey games?

No.

 

[Tw1ster]

Man guys, I really like Will Smith and so badly want to see him succeed, but the kid is just getting worked out there game after game. He just seems totally unprepared for NHL speed & physicality, as that empty netter shows. I think it's time to send him to the A. Anyone else?

He isn’t going down. Grier said so today and to be honest I’m good with it. If you compare his first game to today’s you can already see the huge strides he’s made. He’s a work in progress but he’s looking better each game

 

[coooldude]

Man guys, I really like Will Smith and so badly want to see him succeed, but the kid is just getting worked out there game after game. He just seems totally unprepared for NHL speed & physicality, as that empty netter shows. I think it's time to send him to the A. Anyone else?

It's not going to happen. Grier said he's staying up. And I think he should. Despite the two penalties, this was his best offensive game. He was 2cm from his first assist, he was a great save from his first goal, he probably generated almost as much offense as Eklund (best player tonight imho).

Smith is going through it right now, but if he can come out of the 10-40 games it takes him to figure out how to play in the league, he's going to be a better player for it.

 

[weastern bias]

Lol, didn't watch, lol

0-12 is in our sights!

 

[CHALUPA]

he kinda deserves it at this point.

He definitely earned it in this game. Speaks to the quality of our D-corps

 

[drunksage]

SNOG announcement​

For the first time in Utah Hockey Club history, we have a SNOG not by weastern bias.

SNOG
Ducks 3-1
Carlsson, Vatrano, Terry
Eklund

Congrats @Timo Time on your first SNOG of the year (and first in many seasons, if the logs serve)!

#	Date / Opponent​	SNOG Winner(s)​	Result​
1	Oct. 10 vs Blues	none	Blues 5-4 OT
2	Oct. 12 vs Ducks	none	Ducks 2-0
3	Oct. 15 at Stars	weastern bias	Stars 3-2 SO
4	Oct. 17 at Blackhawks	weastern bias	Blackhawks 4-2
5	Oct. 18 at Jets	none	Jets 8-3
6	Oct. 20 vs Avalanche	none	Avalanche 4-1
7	Oct. 22 at Ducks	Timo Time	Ducks 3-1

Rank	2024-25 SNOG standings​	# of SNOGs
1.	weastern bias	2
2.	Timo Time	1

 

[Star Platinum]

Lol, didn't watch, lol

0-12 is in our sights!

Yeah, don't watch it on replay. It was frustrating.

 

[nabbyfan]

What was that by Zetterlund raising his arms like that at the end lol

I think he was making sure Dostal didn’t shoot it, lol.

Can we just win one game plz

 

[Lebanezer]

Smith needs about 2 months to adjust to the speed. Benching him doesn't make the Sharks more competitive, and certainly doesn't help his development. He's just a beat behind. He's gradually improving, but everything he did in college doesn't work in the NHL yet, because it's too slow. He's not like Celebrini, who was already playing at NHL speed before the season started. Smith has to think faster and move faster, and he'll get there. Fans don't normally get a microscopic view of a player's growing pains, but that's what we're gonna get with Smith until he sorts it out.

 

[Sharksfan66]

It's not going to happen. Grier said he's staying up. And I think he should. Despite the two penalties, this was his best offensive game. He was 2cm from his first assist, he was a great save from his first goal, he probably generated almost as much offense as Eklund (best player tonight imho).

Smith is going through it right now, but if he can come out of the 10-40 games it takes him to figure out how to play in the league, he's going to be a better player for it.

Did you see the play where he thought he could get by the Anaheim player but was not in fact able to do it and it ended the game? I saw at least 2-3 other plays like that throughout the game (though none were the death knell the last one was).

Again, I'm really high on Smith. This doesn't make me doubt his potential future. But he just isn't as NHL ready as I had hoped. It seems crazy to me to not send him down to the A for a bit to dominate. You have to imagine his confidence is shot. Especially watching his buddy that he well outscored last year put up 2 points tonight.

 

[CanadienShark]

As much as I'd like a good pick, I do want to see us win a game here and there.

 

[Pinkfloyd]

Smith being a big reason they lost this game is good adversity for him to go through now while he’s adjusting. It’s a lesson he’ll need to go through for a while during his development.

He had more opportunities to make plays and got closer than before to scoring. There’s light at the end of that tunnel. Just need to stick it out. I think they should do the same with Gushchin.

Put Benning in for Rutta and run a blue line with Walman-Ceci, Ferraro-Thompson, and Thrun-Benning. When Muk is ready, put him in Thrun’s spot and hope it works.

 

[coooldude]

Smith needs about 2 months to adjust to the speed. Benching him doesn't make the Sharks more competitive, and certainly doesn't help his development. He's just a beat behind. He's gradually improving, but everything he did in college doesn't work in the NHL yet, because it's too slow. He's not like Celebrini, who was already playing at NHL speed before the season started. Smith has to think faster and move faster, and he'll get there. Fans don't normally get a microscopic view of a player's growing pains, but that's what we're gonna get with Smith until he sorts it out.

I thought today he was actually much closer to game speed. His near goal came from seeing the play on time and hustling HARD to catch up to that play and present an option for Goodrow, as just one example. Lots of other good offensive chances generated. Unfortunate that he had a couple turnovers in the third (one for the EN) due to not enough strength, but all in all it was actually a great step forward game for him in my eyes.

Other positives since this season isn't about wins but about development:

• Eklund looked fantastic.
• Thompson got better as the game went on - feels like looking into Cagnoni's future
• Walman isn't going to be a core piece, but he looked very solid, especially on the endless PK

It feels like we'll get our first win soon, but we're certainly only slightly better than last year. It's more watchable but it's also more frustrating versus just completely demoralizing.

 

[vortexy]

Really liking Thompson's game, very happy to see the coaches are rewarding him with first line D pairing with Walman and he got PP1 QB in the third period. The analytics also loved his game tonight

https://x.com/i/web/status/1848954325059444965

 

[Sharksfan66]

He isn’t going down. Grier said so today and to be honest I’m good with it. If you compare his first game to today’s you can already see the huge strides he’s made. He’s a work in progress but he’s looking better each game

I think he's shown flashes of brilliance from game 1 onward. I think that's always been there.

But aren't you a little worried watching him concisely get beat when he tries to make a move? These are moves he should be able to pull off long term, but I don't think leaving him in a league that's too big a jump in terms of the speed/size is a good way to help him adapt.

 

[karltonian]

I thought today he was actually much closer to game speed. His near goal came from seeing the play on time and hustling HARD to catch up to that play and present an option for Goodrow, as just one example. Lots of other good offensive chances generated. Unfortunate that he had a couple turnovers in the third (one for the EN) due to not enough strength, but all in all it was actually a great step forward game for him in my eyes.

Other positives since this season isn't about wins but about development:

• Eklund looked fantastic.
• Thompson got better as the game went on - feels like looking into Cagnoni's future
• Walman isn't going to be a core piece, but he looked very solid, especially on the endless PK

It feels like we'll get our first win soon, but we're certainly only slightly better than last year. It's more watchable but it's also more frustrating versus just completely demoralizing.

It cannot be understated how badly not having Celebrini is f***ing us up, also.

I have to say Wennberg has been super disappointing. We are not getting even half his contract value out of him.

 

[Shark Finn]

Woofsofsky

Now that's a nickname I can get behind

 

[Tw1ster]

I think he's shown flashes of brilliance from game 1 onward. I think that's always been there.

But aren't you a little worried watching him concisely get beat when he tries to make a move? These are moves he should be able to pull off long term, but I don't think leaving him in a league that's too big a jump in terms of the speed/size is a good way to help him adapt.

I’m not worried at all that a 19 year old making the jump from College to the best league in the world is getting beat by men in his first 10 games. This season, growing pains were expected and that’s what we are getting. He needs to learn from his mistakes while also being encouraged to stick with it even if something fails. He’s actually reminding me quite a bit of Jack Hughes in his rookie campaign

 

[Pinkfloyd]

I think he's shown flashes of brilliance from game 1 onward. I think that's always been there.

But aren't you a little worried watching him concisely get beat when he tries to make a move? These are moves he should be able to pull off long term, but I don't think leaving him in a league that's too big a jump in terms of the speed/size is a good way to help him adapt.

Yeah he should pull off those moves when he understands the physical demands to doing so at the NHL level and gets his body like how Eklund has gotten his body after a couple years of pro hockey. I would keep him in the AHL but Grier isn’t doing that because he sees more development happening over the course of a season. It’s a fair thing to believe and invest into I think.

 

[TheBigDrunkPanda]

Smith really needs to get that roller hockey, stop skating and use your stick for defense completely out of his game it’s just lazy that’s not a rookie mistake. Hes also got to learn to stop over skating and chasing the puck in the offensive zone, when he wasn’t doing that he was getting puck possession and making things happen

 

[coooldude]

Did you see the play where he thought he could get by the Anaheim player but was not in fact able to do it and it ended the game?

Yes, I even posted about it being his season in a nutshell (needs to get stronger, be more decisive) -- but he also needed puck support there, and he had a lot of other pretty dangerous plays. He could have had 2-3 points tonight but for posts or great saves.

I saw at least 2-3 other plays like that throughout the game (though none were the death knell the last one was).

At least! He tried a stupid chip-move in the high slot that led to a rush the other way. He screwed up one or two other OZ passes. But he also had some good forechecks, puck support as F2, turnovers, high danger passes, and a near goal. It was as I said, offensively, his best game, and without even one of the penalties, definitely his best game overall.

Again, I'm really high on Smith. This doesn't make me doubt his potential future. But he just isn't as NHL ready as I had hoped. It seems crazy to me to not send him down to the A for a bit to dominate. You have to imagine his confidence is shot. Especially watching his buddy that he well outscored last year put up 2 points tonight.

Cutter didn't look all that great and he's a year older and he has been a man-child for 2 years already. He's cave man hockey. Me shoot puck. Had an awful PP-killing pass to the point when nobody was there, didn't do much at 5v5.

Look, we can debate this for another hour, but he's staying up. Grier said so yesterday. And anyway this is the gauntlet - it's probably the single hardest month of his hockey-playing life, maybe his entire charmed life - and he's going to have to learn from it and if he does, he will grow immensely from it as a person and a player.

 

[Shark Finn]

Really liking Thompson's game, very happy to see the coaches are rewarding him with first line D pairing with Walman and he got PP1 QB in the third period. The analytics also loved his game tonight

https://x.com/i/web/status/1848954325059444965

As a side note to the color choices on these graphs - could they be just a tad more easier to distinguish from each other or am I just getting old?

 

[Anomie2029]

Everyone out here worrying about Smith - when he is a young player learning to play in the NHL.

Meanwhile, I'm here wondering how Sturm is not really contributing anything to this team at all. I'd argue based on interviews, he comes across as someone who would be super negative and down in the room.

 

[Sharksfan66]

I’m not worried at all that a 19 year old making the jump from College to the best league in the world is getting beat by men in his first 10 games. This season, growing pains were expected and that’s what we are getting. He needs to learn from his mistakes while also being encouraged to stick with it even if something fails. He’s actually reminding me quite a bit of Jack Hughes in his rookie campaign

I haven't watched much Jack Hughes but I remember watching rookie Patty. And Couture. And Pavelski. The latter 2 seasoned in the A and it showed. Even Patty showed more than this at this point.

I agree with you about it being a huge jump from college to the NHL but that's why I want to send him to the A at this point. There are some players who can make the jump straight away (see Eichel, Hutson, and hopefully, Celebrini) but most can't. And there's no shame in that. It's a pretty normal development curve IMO.

 

[Shark Finn]

Meanwhile, I'm here wondering how Sturm is not really contributing anything to this team at all. I'd argue based on interviews, he comes across as someone who would be super negative and down in the room.

Maybe it just means he's negative and down on the ice too nowadays.