Fire Deboer

[Gecklund]

I keep PDB and get rid of Spott

 

[PattyLafontaine]

PDB is definitely not without his warts and I was on the fire him and hire Quenelle bandwagon back in December... but now after he turned the team around and the playoffs he just coached with a broken squad. He took the worst defensive team in the league to the conference final while missing the teams leading goal scorer for almost the entire 2nd round. Also had EK Liability on the back end and who knows what else injury wise. Tell me you can guarantee your replacement can do a better job and I'm there with you. I'm not up for trying some unknown coach who's on his first NHL HC job like TMac was. Given some talent, depth and health at least part of the way PDB took the team to the SCF and the CF in 4 years. Ask that coach in Tampa how his allstar team is doing on the golf course after 4 games... Sorry but you all are crazy if you think change for the sake of change is the way to go.

It’s not change for the sake of change. It’s change that should have occurred in November to get coach Q because the defensive structure was a disaster. The Sharks were constantly giving up the most or near the most high danger chances in the league.

While Jones was poor this year DeBoer’s system hung him and Dell out to dry.

The Power Play was worse than the Power Play the Sharks used to have when they had mediocre talent.

You cannot construct a roster like San Jose’s and have such poor fundamentals on the power play.

The worse thing you can do is have slow zone entries and allow teams time to set up their defense around the blue line.

 

[Fistfullofbeer]

I keep PDB and get rid of Spott

Do you really feel that the only coaching issue with the team is the PP? I think this issue runs deeper than just that.

 

[Bleedred]

I keep PDB and get rid of Spott

I'm not a DeBoer supporter, I don't like the guy at all. Never have, never will.

But I'm not super quick to pull the trigger on him yet, even though I think his expiration date here is drawing near. I wouldn't cry for him if he was fired either.

Spott really needs to GTFO as soon as humanly possible. I'd also consider blasting Hedberg to outer space.

 

[Fistfullofbeer]

I'm not a DeBoer supporter, I don't like the guy at all. Never have, never will.

But I'm not super quick to pull the trigger on him yet, even though I think his expiration date here is drawing near. I wouldn't cry for him if he was fired either.

Spott really needs to GTFO as soon as humanly possible. I'd also consider blasting Hedberg to outer space.

I am pretty sure if Sharks fans in this board had to pool resources to buy a plane ticket for Spott anywhere on earth, we would.

 

[Gecklund]

Do you really feel that the only coaching issue with the team is the PP? I think this issue runs deeper than just that.

I agree that it runs deeper than that. I feel like with this season though if the Sharks PP was clicking and at least giving them some momentum and not complete shit pretty much every game, it covers up a majority of the problems (poor clearances, poor zone entries, defensive lapses, etc.). Now this isn’t what we want or anything but it’s VERY easy to blame this on injuries. We lost Pavelski for pretty much all of round 2 and an elimination game. Kane and EK were both likely injured. Jumbo is old and honestly probably injured. Timo might be injured. That’s a huge list of our top guys. I didn’t even mention Hertl. We got some favorable calls from the refs and that’s why we progressed. We shouldn’t have made it out of round 1. Now obviously it’s not the Sharks fault and obviously Vegas shouldn’t have let in all those PP goals but aside from that one PP, our PP sucked. Absolutely sucked all year long. It rarely brought momentum to us and teams were willing to take penalties against us because we don’t punish them. Now whether or not this lead to more injuries or less opportunities at goal is up in the air and there’s no way to quantify that but I would assume it did. I mean it seems obvious right? The other thing is who do we replace PDB with? There’s really not much outside of Quennville, who seems destined to go to FLA (or did he already? I’m pretty sure he did now that I’m typing it out). Yes you can go for a brand new coach that doesn’t have any NHL pedigree, but do you really do that with a Stanley Cup contender? You can also go with one of the many old boy club coaches and hope that one fits your team but again wouldn’t that be more of the same? Also I don’t count PDB’s favoritism towards certain players against him. Yes I’d prefer other players to Haley/Melker/whoever but EVERY coach does this. There is not a single coach in history that hasn’t done this. There are multiple problems with this team but I don’t fully believe that a new coach will fix all of them. I think first you get rid of assistants and try that. If that doesn’t work, then you get rid of PDB. You don’t get rid of a guy that in 4 years has made the playoffs every year and only lost in the first round once (it’s actually weird cause he’s lost in every round in those 4 years). One more thing is that I think his current job rests on the resigning of UFAs. If they can’t resign EK, Pav, Nyquist, etc. PDB doesn’t come back and they have a new start with a brand new coach. I personally don’t see this happening.

 

[Fistfullofbeer]

I agree that it runs deeper than that. I feel like with this season though if the Sharks PP was clicking and at least giving them some momentum and not complete **** pretty much every game, it covers up a majority of the problems (poor clearances, poor zone entries, defensive lapses, etc.). Now this isn’t what we want or anything but it’s VERY easy to blame this on injuries. We lost Pavelski for pretty much all of round 2 and an elimination game. Kane and EK were both likely injured. Jumbo is old and honestly probably injured. Timo might be injured. That’s a huge list of our top guys. I didn’t even mention Hertl. We got some favorable calls from the refs and that’s why we progressed. We shouldn’t have made it out of round 1. Now obviously it’s not the Sharks fault and obviously Vegas shouldn’t have let in all those PP goals but aside from that one PP, our PP sucked. Absolutely sucked all year long. It rarely brought momentum to us and teams were willing to take penalties against us because we don’t punish them. Now whether or not this lead to more injuries or less opportunities at goal is up in the air and there’s no way to quantify that but I would assume it did. I mean it seems obvious right? The other thing is who do we replace PDB with? There’s really not much outside of Quennville, who seems destined to go to FLA (or did he already? I’m pretty sure he did now that I’m typing it out). Yes you can go for a brand new coach that doesn’t have any NHL pedigree, but do you really do that with a Stanley Cup contender? You can also go with one of the many old boy club coaches and hope that one fits your team but again wouldn’t that be more of the same? Also I don’t count PDB’s favoritism towards certain players against him. Yes I’d prefer other players to Haley/Melker/whoever but EVERY coach does this. There is not a single coach in history that hasn’t done this. There are multiple problems with this team but I don’t fully believe that a new coach will fix all of them. I think first you get rid of assistants and try that. If that doesn’t work, then you get rid of PDB. You don’t get rid of a guy that in 4 years has made the playoffs every year and only lost in the first round once (it’s actually weird cause he’s lost in every round in those 4 years). One more thing is that I think his current job rests on the resigning of UFAs. If they can’t resign EK, Pav, Nyquist, etc. PDB doesn’t come back and they have a new start with a brand new coach. I personally don’t see this happening.

I think you have to take risks to get rewards. Going the conservative approach has not really helped us so far.

I would like to sign a young coach. Someone who is not set in his ways and is open to adapt his system based on the skill/talent of the players. Or the limitations of the players. PDB is exactly the opposite. He is set in his ways and does not give players a real chance. As someone on our board had said earlier, he tries to find square pegs into round holes. I know Labanc bounced back this year but I think PDB stunted his development last year by constantly benching him. Same with Ryan to a point and it may be reason why his confidence is so shot this year. Benching Donskoi was another. Sure he was not scoring, but even so he is better than the likes of Haley or Goodrow. He also treated Heed like a leper for majority of his time with us. We all know that PDB is obsessed with size and physicality but even so the bigger players on his team are averse to that physicality. It's his job to change that.

Another thing I don't get is how can you let Spott continue to coach a PP that has been ineffective. Why don't you switch things around or have a different assistant coach handle it.

I can go on and on. I am just not a fan of PDB's system and the fact that he got us to the SC cup finals once is only a small consolation. Considering the talent on the team, I would argue that we have underachieved since our SC cup run. So yeah, I want him gone.

 

[Bleedred]

I think you gotta look to get rid of Hedberg also, but there's also a good chance that Dell just isn't good (which I've already been over in the Jones thread) and Jones might have just had a one-off crappy season, and will return to his career averages (which aren't good, but will suffice) next season.

But a lot of the struggles Jones had seemed to be coachable, unless the coach just wasn't getting through to him. And that's why I think Hedberg could be very suspect. He had to have known the guy kept getting beaten on the same plays and that his screen management was absolutely brutal, with how many times he just stays behind a guy (it was Braun too many times) and doesn't even cover the short side, which is what goalie coaches will tell you to play if you're screened.

 

[Gecklund]

I think you have to take risks to get rewards. Going the conservative approach has not really helped us so far.

I would like to sign a young coach. Someone who is not set in his ways and is open to adapt his system based on the skill/talent of the players. Or the limitations of the players. PDB is exactly the opposite. He is set in his ways and does not give players a real chance. As someone on our board had said earlier, he tries to find square pegs into round holes. I know Labanc bounced back this year but I think PDB stunted his development last year by constantly benching him. Same with Ryan to a point and it may be reason why his confidence is so shot this year. Benching Donskoi was another. Sure he was not scoring, but even so he is better than the likes of Haley or Goodrow. He also treated Heed like a leper for majority of his time with us. We all know that PDB is obsessed with size and physicality but even so the bigger players on his team are averse to that physicality. It's his job to change that.

Another thing I don't get is how can you let Spott continue to coach a PP that has been ineffective. Why don't you switch things around or have a different assistant coach handle it.

I can go on and on. I am just not a fan of PDB's system and the fact that he got us to the SC cup finals once is only a small consolation. Considering the talent on the team, I would argue that we have underachieved since our SC cup run. So yeah, I want him gone.

I probably should have clarified. I agree going for a new younger coach is a good idea. What I was trying to get at was that I think keeping PDB is the best option that the Sharks might do.

I would honestly get rid of all assistant coaches. I don’t really know how Zettler or Barr are doing but I get rid of both.

 

[Munnyro]

Outside of their dumbass zone entry, I don't understand the PP choice. It's almost entirely based on tips, screens, and rebounds. Burns and Pavs have nailed home so many weak side one timers.

 

[Pinkfloyd]

The Sharks PK was also a problem. As the season wore on, the PK got worse and worse and nothing changed on that front. DeBoer made no adjustments to what St. Louis was doing either which is normally something he's at least decent at. I have no delusions that he's going to be gone but you can tell he and his staff are a big part of the problem and their expiration date is drawing near.

 

[Groo]

Can a team trade a GM?

 

[Fistfullofbeer]

Can a team trade a GM?

I honestly think DW would easily return a 1st round pick + if we could trade him ..

 

[Groo]

I honestly think DW would easily return a 1st round pick + if we could trade him ..

Not sure of what the return would be but, is it allowed?

 

[Painful Quandary]

Do you really feel that the only coaching issue with the team is the PP? I think this issue runs deeper than just that.

I agree that the team has deeper issues than just the PP and want Pete gone (I think the team has gone as far as they can under him), but I know that it is unrealistic given how far the team went. However, firing an assistant (or three) is a good way to send a signal to the coach that he is on thin ice.

 

[hohosaregood]

Fire Mike Potenza?

 

[PattyLafontaine]

I agree that it runs deeper than that. I feel like with this season though if the Sharks PP was clicking and at least giving them some momentum and not complete **** pretty much every game, it covers up a majority of the problems (poor clearances, poor zone entries, defensive lapses, etc.). Now this isn’t what we want or anything but it’s VERY easy to blame this on injuries. We lost Pavelski for pretty much all of round 2 and an elimination game. Kane and EK were both likely injured. Jumbo is old and honestly probably injured. Timo might be injured. That’s a huge list of our top guys. I didn’t even mention Hertl. We got some favorable calls from the refs and that’s why we progressed. We shouldn’t have made it out of round 1. Now obviously it’s not the Sharks fault and obviously Vegas shouldn’t have let in all those PP goals but aside from that one PP, our PP sucked. Absolutely sucked all year long. It rarely brought momentum to us and teams were willing to take penalties against us because we don’t punish them. Now whether or not this lead to more injuries or less opportunities at goal is up in the air and there’s no way to quantify that but I would assume it did. I mean it seems obvious right? The other thing is who do we replace PDB with? There’s really not much outside of Quennville, who seems destined to go to FLA (or did he already? I’m pretty sure he did now that I’m typing it out). Yes you can go for a brand new coach that doesn’t have any NHL pedigree, but do you really do that with a Stanley Cup contender? You can also go with one of the many old boy club coaches and hope that one fits your team but again wouldn’t that be more of the same? Also I don’t count PDB’s favoritism towards certain players against him. Yes I’d prefer other players to Haley/Melker/whoever but EVERY coach does this. There is not a single coach in history that hasn’t done this. There are multiple problems with this team but I don’t fully believe that a new coach will fix all of them. I think first you get rid of assistants and try that. If that doesn’t work, then you get rid of PDB. You don’t get rid of a guy that in 4 years has made the playoffs every year and only lost in the first round once (it’s actually weird cause he’s lost in every round in those 4 years). One more thing is that I think his current job rests on the resigning of UFAs. If they can’t resign EK, Pav, Nyquist, etc. PDB doesn’t come back and they have a new start with a brand new coach. I personally don’t see this happening.

It’s difficult for some to stomach a new coach with little to no NHL experience. Hell most GMs will not do it because they’d rather go the safe route.

The problem is that what is going to be any different with PDB next year? His system will be same and Sharks will do the same things that they did this year: hemorrhage high danger chances, leave players untouched in front of the net, sit back on leads, field players who have little to no upside like Haley, bench players like Donskoi, overuse the defense, etc.

Sure, maybe the injury luck is better but that only allows for the talent to achieve in spite of all the issues it still doesn’t fix them.

A new coach could be worse but at least you get out of the insanity of doing the same thing over and over again expecting different results.

The formula to win the cup hasn’t changed. Great netminding, strong D, strong special teams, and balanced scoring.

The Sharks have maybe 1 -1 1/2 of the key ingredients out of 4.

 

[bdave]

I think DW better get rid of PDB or else he,s going to face harsh reality when things cave again next season. Ticket sales will plummet when sh*t hits the fan the same way it did this season. We need a coach that has won a cup plain and simple.

 

[hockeyball]

The formula to win the cup hasn’t changed. Great netminding, strong D, strong special teams, and balanced scoring.

The Sharks have maybe 1 -1 1/2 of the key ingredients out of 4.

There is absolutely no reason this roster shouldn't have Strong D, Strong special team, and balanced scoring. The netminding is questionable, but in the end we got very good netminding for the most part (it should have been good enough).

So, why did our D suck and our powerplay suck? Coaching. They took a supercar and put a 5 year old at the wheel.

 

[Fistfullofbeer]

There is absolutely no reason this roster shouldn't have Strong D, Strong special team, and balanced scoring. The netminding is questionable, but in the end we got very good netminding for the most part (it should have been good enough).

So, why did our D suck and our powerplay suck? Coaching. They took a supercar and put a 5 year old at the wheel.

This is why I think coaching was an issue too. Even minus EK65 we have enough firepower on the team to have a potent PP. I was very serious earlier this year when I said PDB's coaching style is to tell the players, "Go out and do your thing!".

 

[Groo]

Bring in a new GM and let him decide on the teams direction and then turn to the coaching staff.

 

[RickyHP]

what would this team look like with sutter as head coach?

 

[hohosaregood]

This is why I think coaching was an issue too. Even minus EK65 we have enough firepower on the team to have a potent PP. I was very serious earlier this year when I said PDB's coaching style is to tell the players, "Go out and do your thing!".

Sometimes it's hard for me to tell if the PP is actually bad or if it's just something every fanbase complains about it. When you think about it statistically, 2/8 on a PP is a great power play but you still failed 6 times. You could be shitty 6 times
and strike gold twice and you technically have one of the best PPs in the league. I do think Spott sucks but it's kinda one of those things where how it looks and how the numbers shake out don't line up.

 

[Fistfullofbeer]

Sometimes it's hard for me to tell if the PP is actually bad or if it's just something every fanbase complains about it. When you think about it statistically, 2/8 on a PP is a great power play but you still failed 6 times. You could be ****ty 6 times
and strike gold twice and you technically have one of the best PPs in the league. I do think Spott sucks but it's kinda one of those things where how it looks and how the numbers shake out don't line up.

Its not the conversion rate that bothered me. It was more to do with the fact that we struggled to enter the zone and even get SOG's.

 

[Kegsey]

Bring in a new GM and let him decide on the teams direction and then turn to the coaching staff.

Why? Has DW not iced the best team every season? I think he has. Has PDB gotten the most out of his team every season? No f***ing way.