Great to hear from you guys so soon. Always enjoy your podcast. It’s the only one I listen to. You are so cheerful I will cloudy your day – I think the Sharks finish 2nd or 3rd and lose to Vegas in round 1. You’re welcome.
Doug was right that the Coyotes were a trap game. Man that was ugly. I really have a hunch Dell is finished in SJ. They need someone who can step in to lighten Jones’ minutes yet make basic saves.
There’s a long way to go in the season. But right now, I’d also pick Vegas in such a matchup. Doug said what someone on here already said not too long ago – winning the Pacific is a huge boost versus finishing second. The way the Flames are playing, I just don’t see it happening barring some key Calgary players getting injured. James Neal seems to have some sort of magic mojo going. He’s always on a contender.
Yes the D has been bad recently, but the goaltending has been absolutely appalling. This team is so loaded – for goodness sake Wilson, just get us a friggin’ average goalie at least. When the D get healthy, they’ll be fine if there someone even league average between the pipes.
It’s such a bummer that the Sharks have one of the best rosters in franchise history, but their path to a cup looks to be one of the hardest in Stanley Cup history. Consider that they’d have to beat Vegas, then Calgary, then Nashville/Winnipeg, and then probably the Lighting. Dear Lord. Of course, if the goaltending doesn’t shore up, no need to even ponder about a deep run. I don’t see how they even get out of the Pacific. Both Vegas and Calgary present big time matchup problems for SJ.
SJ needs to win the division and it’s possible. The only difference between Calgary vs SJ and Vegas is the Flames are a good road team. If the Sharks can start winning on the road, they can win the division.
The weak goaltending has become so obvious, Wilson will at long last make some kind of move. If he doesn’t, and the Sharks are eliminated in the first round due to a .900 save percentage, he’ll never hear the end of it. The “we like our goaltending” line was a howler. Teams have the book on Jones – starts poorly, and terrible glove hand. The question is, what will Wilson give up for a decent backup. It’s not like you want to trade Ryan for a rental second string goalie.
Jones was incredible in ’15-16. He was probably even the most underrated reason the Sharks went to the cup final. But he has been bad most of this season, even going back to the Vegas series last year. A few stretches of good play is the deviation, not the norm, with him. I would hope if he has another bad postseason series, he’s gone.
I like these comments a lot. I’ve learned from them. But here’s the thing about trades – who out there is available that’s better than Jones? No, he’s not among the best goalies in the league, but who would you actually replace him with? I mean, who is actually available who’s better? It’s so lazy to say, “We need a better goalie.” Ok, then who, for that price, without giving up key players or prospects? This is reality, not a video game. The guy has struggled, but he’s not going anywhere.
Now that the dudes are back on their monthly recording schedule, the comments are piling up. I think getting a solid veteran backup is a good idea. Would not want Dell to have to start throughout the playoffs if something happened to Jones. Jones and Vlasic are both really playing better. I’m not worried about either. Other than the goalie, no need for the Sharks to be active at the deadline – they’re going to get EK back soon which I’ll be like a pickup. Agree with everyone saying winning the Pacific is essential. Go Sharks!
I am not disagreeing with your assessment, but Dell signed a very team-friendly extension last off season when everyone expected him to get a bigger contract elsewhere. I’m not saying I would want him starting 20+ playoff games, but other than the Reimer example from a few years ago (which was fine because it’s only money) I am not sure who you get to be a demonstrably better backup either, using your own logic. It would also sour the milk with Dell to push him down to goalie-C. I think you stand pat and hope for a hot run, otherwise our big package very much should be to pry a top-10 goalie from a non playoff team (does this exist?) as our major acquisition which would require at least one of our goalies, player(s) plus a pick(s) which we may not even have.
To be fair, I am not trying to argue with you, just thinking out loud.
Those are all really good points. My response would be, the Sharks have a shot at winning it all this year. Should Jones get injured, how confident would you be that Dell could take over as the starter and win the cup? Not only has he struggled this year, he’s only played 47 minutes of playoff hockey in his career.
Good points all around. Worst case goalie scenario is we lose our #1 netminder. I think Dell can fill in nicely, not because he is that good, but because of the high quality defense we possess. Behind our stingy defense (limiting high powered offenses to 2 or less goals on many occasions, especially lately) and balanced scoring (including the defense), that any goalie we put in nets doesn’t have to stand on their heads and steal every game. The Sharks can play with a lead or with full confidence that they are always in the game, and not to abandon their team defense style. The Sharks are beating the elite teams with sub-par goaltending now. Our goalie only needs to play slightly above average.
My main concern is grit. As playoffs = whistles in pockets, teams play way more physically than they are allowed to during the regular season. Less power play opportunities. If we play a timid game, we will be tested by an opponent that notices the weak link in the chain armor. We have 2 “tough guys”, Kane and Dilly, other than that, we are soft. When teams take liberties, lay out Hertl or either of the EKs for the series, and that, IMO, is a much bigger hole than our #1 goalie going down.
DOH 400 – Flying High
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Great to hear from you guys so soon. Always enjoy your podcast. It’s the only one I listen to. You are so cheerful I will cloudy your day – I think the Sharks finish 2nd or 3rd and lose to Vegas in round 1. You’re welcome.
Doug was right that the Coyotes were a trap game. Man that was ugly. I really have a hunch Dell is finished in SJ. They need someone who can step in to lighten Jones’ minutes yet make basic saves.
There’s a long way to go in the season. But right now, I’d also pick Vegas in such a matchup. Doug said what someone on here already said not too long ago – winning the Pacific is a huge boost versus finishing second. The way the Flames are playing, I just don’t see it happening barring some key Calgary players getting injured. James Neal seems to have some sort of magic mojo going. He’s always on a contender.
Yes the D has been bad recently, but the goaltending has been absolutely appalling. This team is so loaded – for goodness sake Wilson, just get us a friggin’ average goalie at least. When the D get healthy, they’ll be fine if there someone even league average between the pipes.
It’s such a bummer that the Sharks have one of the best rosters in franchise history, but their path to a cup looks to be one of the hardest in Stanley Cup history. Consider that they’d have to beat Vegas, then Calgary, then Nashville/Winnipeg, and then probably the Lighting. Dear Lord. Of course, if the goaltending doesn’t shore up, no need to even ponder about a deep run. I don’t see how they even get out of the Pacific. Both Vegas and Calgary present big time matchup problems for SJ.
SJ needs to win the division and it’s possible. The only difference between Calgary vs SJ and Vegas is the Flames are a good road team. If the Sharks can start winning on the road, they can win the division.
Hector was right. SJ started winning on the road and now they’re only a point back from the Flames.
The weak goaltending has become so obvious, Wilson will at long last make some kind of move. If he doesn’t, and the Sharks are eliminated in the first round due to a .900 save percentage, he’ll never hear the end of it. The “we like our goaltending” line was a howler. Teams have the book on Jones – starts poorly, and terrible glove hand. The question is, what will Wilson give up for a decent backup. It’s not like you want to trade Ryan for a rental second string goalie.
Jones was incredible in ’15-16. He was probably even the most underrated reason the Sharks went to the cup final. But he has been bad most of this season, even going back to the Vegas series last year. A few stretches of good play is the deviation, not the norm, with him. I would hope if he has another bad postseason series, he’s gone.
I like these comments a lot. I’ve learned from them. But here’s the thing about trades – who out there is available that’s better than Jones? No, he’s not among the best goalies in the league, but who would you actually replace him with? I mean, who is actually available who’s better? It’s so lazy to say, “We need a better goalie.” Ok, then who, for that price, without giving up key players or prospects? This is reality, not a video game. The guy has struggled, but he’s not going anywhere.
Now that the dudes are back on their monthly recording schedule, the comments are piling up. I think getting a solid veteran backup is a good idea. Would not want Dell to have to start throughout the playoffs if something happened to Jones. Jones and Vlasic are both really playing better. I’m not worried about either. Other than the goalie, no need for the Sharks to be active at the deadline – they’re going to get EK back soon which I’ll be like a pickup. Agree with everyone saying winning the Pacific is essential. Go Sharks!
I am not disagreeing with your assessment, but Dell signed a very team-friendly extension last off season when everyone expected him to get a bigger contract elsewhere. I’m not saying I would want him starting 20+ playoff games, but other than the Reimer example from a few years ago (which was fine because it’s only money) I am not sure who you get to be a demonstrably better backup either, using your own logic. It would also sour the milk with Dell to push him down to goalie-C. I think you stand pat and hope for a hot run, otherwise our big package very much should be to pry a top-10 goalie from a non playoff team (does this exist?) as our major acquisition which would require at least one of our goalies, player(s) plus a pick(s) which we may not even have.
To be fair, I am not trying to argue with you, just thinking out loud.
Those are all really good points. My response would be, the Sharks have a shot at winning it all this year. Should Jones get injured, how confident would you be that Dell could take over as the starter and win the cup? Not only has he struggled this year, he’s only played 47 minutes of playoff hockey in his career.
Good points all around. Worst case goalie scenario is we lose our #1 netminder. I think Dell can fill in nicely, not because he is that good, but because of the high quality defense we possess. Behind our stingy defense (limiting high powered offenses to 2 or less goals on many occasions, especially lately) and balanced scoring (including the defense), that any goalie we put in nets doesn’t have to stand on their heads and steal every game. The Sharks can play with a lead or with full confidence that they are always in the game, and not to abandon their team defense style. The Sharks are beating the elite teams with sub-par goaltending now. Our goalie only needs to play slightly above average.
My main concern is grit. As playoffs = whistles in pockets, teams play way more physically than they are allowed to during the regular season. Less power play opportunities. If we play a timid game, we will be tested by an opponent that notices the weak link in the chain armor. We have 2 “tough guys”, Kane and Dilly, other than that, we are soft. When teams take liberties, lay out Hertl or either of the EKs for the series, and that, IMO, is a much bigger hole than our #1 goalie going down.