GDT: Game #24 Penguins @ Sharks Dec 1st, 2015 7:30 PM | NBCSN, ROOT

[Pinkfloyd]

At this point, all we can really do is wait and see if he recovers or if he doesn't

Pretty much. It's pretty similar to Boyle's injury where he came back too quickly and his play suffered for it.

 

[DarrylshutzSydor]

I don't know if it's just me, but Thornton has not been playing well at all. He's been looking slower than ever, and making more and more dumb passes.

Thornton's stats from last night were 3 takeaway's and 1 giveaway. Just saying....

 

[Led Zappa]

Thornton's stats from last night were 3 takeaway's and 1 giveaway. Just saying....

Are picked off passes giveaways, because what I notice most is that his passes aren't getting through or their picked for a rush the other way. The good news is he usually gets back.

 

[DarrylshutzSydor]

People here need to get perspective when it comes to players. My goodness.

Tierney is a 21 year old sophomore playing with AHL players on the 4th line far more often than not. If you don't expect struggles in that situation, you're not being realistic. In this NHL, you have to deal with the growing pains of a young player if you ever expect that player to learn and get better. A reason why Mueller's spot should be determined and not wavered from regardless of whether it's the AHL or that 3rd pairing NHL spot...and then play him and let him make mistakes.b

But if they are playing in the nhl then they are nhl'ers right?

I actually agree with you on the second part though, at some point you have to play the young players and give them a chance to grow and learn at the nhl level (they should play Mueller and Tennyson).

 

[nabbyfan]

I was so excited for Thornton this season after the first period of Game 1 in LA, where he skated in on a 2 on 1 and rifled one past Quick. It seems since his injury he has been very reluctant to shoot, and there were multiple times yesterday where the Pens were basically conceding a path to the net for him, and instead of taking it, he tried to force a difficult pass across the ice and it didn't quite get through.

I love the guy, but god damn its frustrating watching him pretty much refuse to shoot the puck.

 

[magic school bus]

I've said it a million times, but players like Tierney are why I sometimes give Doug Wilson a pass.

Here you have a player who has passed every single test, who up till now has shown every indication that he can be a future 2nd-line center, and is ready for bottom-6 NHL duty...and then the season starts, and Tierney plays like that.

If I'm DW, I have to be thinking...what can I count on? How can I invest any confidence in a young/inexperienced player when even this sure-thing screwed it up?

Of course, the flip side is that DW has to plan for every contingency, even the less likely ones. But Tierney playing like this...there was what, a 10% chance of that happening? As a GM, you can't be stressed about 10%....if you start preparing for every eventuality, you'll get nowhere.

He played well for like 30 games. He wisely didn't go into the season with him as his 2nd or even 3rd center like some people here wanted him to.

 

[do0glas]

Tierney is fine. He needs to be stronger on the boards and improve his skating but I'm still excited about him.

 

[Mattb124]

Thornton's stats from last night were 3 takeaway's and 1 giveaway. Just saying....

Just saying that stats don't begin to tell the whole story? Thorton was pretty bad last night, questionable decisions and many passes off the mark. He did get into Angry Joe mode about 1/2 way through the game, which is always fun to watch.

 

[OrrNumber4]

The other one is Marleau who is not doing much on defense. I don't want to say Marleau's a two-way player because he's never been one. He gives up defense support to enhance his offense and breakaway attempts. You can see this in his stats... 9 out 18 seasons he has been in the minus side of the +/- including this season.

Nonsense. Modern Marleau has always been a rock-solid defensive player. If anything, he has the tendency to be too conservative when he needs to take more chances. Sometimes he is the classic case of a player who is good defensively because he is so attentive defensively.

I will agree that his +/- numbers do him no justice, but I think much of that is from the inability to score than the inability to defense. That, and Marleau's relatively poor decision-making.

Bottom line is Marleau has never been that elite of a forward that fans give him credit for. He's been overrated and over-paid to a degree.

This, I can agree with. I remember when the Sharks first got Thornton, and all of us (me included) were comparing the duo to Yzerman-Fedorov, Sakic-Forsberg, etc. That just isn't a fair standard for Marleau, who is an excellent forward, but has never been one of the top guys in the league.

Zu who is a aging 37 year-old skater that so far shows he can do neither. Now, some of you guys here will say give him time to adjust, but at his age, those odds are slim to none, and slim is standing in the doorway about ready to leave.

Zubrus is making 600K. You don't sign forwards like that to be elite scorers or elite shutdown players.

He has looked poor to me, but he does deserve to get time to sort things out. His speed will always be a concern, but if he can be a good PKer, that alone should be worth it.

Relax man, your betting has absolutely zero impact on the outcome of Sharks games.

Superstition amongst fans in sports isn't a new thing.

The tank, this year, has not been the fearful place for visitors to come and play. It's docile, and the visiting fans are noticeable more vocal now. Of course the goal song, being disjointed with the fans chanting hurst as well. Learn from the Stars who had a over 200-game sellout streak go down in flames when they started to ice poor performance. Even now, they don't have a sellout streak. It's hard to get back fan support, but much easier to lose it.

I do remember a lot of opposition to the goal-change song the last time. Plattner seems like someone who is going to stick to his guns. Tangentially, fans can't be too happy with the other organizational changes (specifically, Drew Remenda).

Your last statement I somewhat disagree with. Times have changed, but the Sharks gained back fans very quickly after the 2003 debacle and the 2005 lockout. Winning helps.