JR Wants to Keep It Together
May 7th, 2008, 7:46 am
Great story in the Merc today and on TSN that has a confident Jeremy Roenick all but confirming he will return in Teal next season for another run at Lord Stanley. He stood firmly behind Ron Wilson and expressed his desire for Doug Wilson to tweak the roster, not make whole-sale changes.
An interesting stance from a player who wears his emotions on his sleeve. If anyone might speak out against Ron Wilson, it could have been J.R., if not publicly but during his one on one meeting with DW. So it would appear that early signs point to maybe no coaching changes and DW rolling the dice one more time with these boys – who might have finally learned their lesson from their post season hard knocks.
I have two early predictions for the coming weeks.
1. Brian Campbell will resign with the Sharks before the UFA market opens and Doug Wilson will have to deal with how to clear the salary cap room afterwards. I think six years/36M will do the trick. He apparently loves it here and wants to play with Joe.
2. Brian Boucher will also be retained early, so the Sharks don’t have to go through those goaltending questions marks in camp. Sharks will need to act fast because Boucher’s value went up with his strong, yet limited performances during the season. He can still goaltend on the NHL level, with a good team in front of him.
I’m not sure how I feel/what to think about some of the other roster and coaching decisions that are ahead. I still need a few days.
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I was also surprised to read about JR’s support for RW. IMHO, only idiots are questioning RW’s ability as a hockey coach. The real question is, is he the right coach for the Sharks? With Paul Maurice just fired, the answer just became murkier. As to your points
1. Dinner at the Burro says Campbell is unsigned by anyone come July 1. I’m not saying he won’t come back to Teal, but he will test the market.
2. Agree 100%. Boucher is a must-sign, along with JR, Clowe, Shelley, and Pavs.
Deal. Dinner at the Burro says Campbell is a Shark before July 1st.
Despite his offensive skills, Campbell’s defensive deficiencies make him a bad signing for the Sharks if the price tag is $36 mil for 6 years. That money would be better spent elsewhere. Like on a defenseman who can actually play defense.
However, I don’t understand why the Sharks would need to clear space on the salary cap to sign Campbell or anyone else. According to Mark Purdy of the Mercury News, their payroll resides in the bottom third of the league and they’ve never spent up to the cap limit. He also said that Dallas’ payroll is about $8 million larger than the Sharks’ estimated $41.7 million.
As for Ron Wilson, if Al Strachan’s description of Ron is accurate, then he should be fired.
http://msn.foxsports.com/nhl/story/8107286/Sharks'-exit-probably-the-end-for-Wilson-in-San-Jose
I don’t think Campbell has any loyalty to the Sharks, and will, plain and simple, go to the highest bidder (as long as the team has any hope of a SC run.) DW needs to pull out the stops to get him back and then he needs to be paired with a defensive defenseman.
I like the Waterboy, but I think his play was good only because he didn’t want to go back down. Now that teams are going to take notice, he may not have that desparation. I say sign him, but keep Griess at the ready.
I was convinced that the players wanted RW out, but after JR’s comments I’m not so sure. I don’t expect him back, and I don’t think the team will be any worse regardless of who’s behind the bench.
Clowe, Pavs, and JR are deals that must be done if we’re going to continue to contend. I don’t think we can replace their output or grit on the open market or in our farm.
#1 thing that needs to happen this off-season: SVSE needs to spend to the cap!
BS, no waiting necessary! Fire coach Wilson. He can’t get his team beyond the second round. We need a coach who has fire and who can motivate the troops. Wilson has shown he can do neither. Sharks defense on power plays sucks. They play sag or collapse type defense. Sorry, but it does not work. How many PP goals must the opposition score on the Sharks before the light bulb goes off? Pressure, pressure and more pressure is the ticket. For me this is a coaching choice and it does not work.
Fire the Coach now!
Brian,
I hope you’re wrong. I don’t think DW would have brought Campbell here if he didn’t think he had a shot.
Jerry,
The reason a guy gets that kind of scratch is because he has skills that no one else has. Decent defensive defenseman aren’t a dime-a-dozen, but they are a hell of a lot more common than a guy who can run the PP like Campbell. Wasn’t that our biggest beef last year, no PP QB? Looking at the free agent list, we got Brookbank, Carney, Commodore, Cullimore, Eaton, Finger, Hainsey, and I’m not even halfway through the alphabet.
Boom Boom,
Preach it.
Mike – I get why someone will want to pay Campbell. I just don’t think he’s worth the big money. Alas, the Sharks are so desperate for that PP QB, I guess they’ll have no choice. That’s unfortunate cuz Campbell is a friggin pansy who can’t play defense worth a lick. I think everyone on the Flames and Stars made Campbell their bitch.
Boom Boom – You’re spot on about Ron Wilson. But who do we bring in to take over? Pat Burns? Bob Hartley?
Jerry
The replacement for Ron Wilson must have the following besides all the other hockey coaching credentials:
-Aggressive style of play.
-Expect and demand players play full out for all 3 periods.
-Support and fire up the players in a group and criticize privately.
-Ability to communicate with the players as a team and individually.
If Burns or Hartley fits the bill, let’s go!
Finally, somebody said it. Good work, Boom Boom.
A new coach will be a breath of fresh air and invigorate this underachieving bunch. But to win the Cup, Doug Wilson needs to also makes some significant changes to the roster.
DW’s top priority is to remake the defense. We need to find defensemen with a mean edge who crave that physical style of play and can set a dominating tone for our team. Outside of Rivet and Murray, we’ve got a bunch of softies. And, unfortunately, McLaren looks to be on his last leg. If Phoenix is building for the future rather than winning now, perhaps San Jose can entice them to part with Ed Jovanovski and Derek Morris for a package that includes Jonathan Cheechoo, Matt Carle and Marc Eduoard-Vlasic.