GDT: @ MSG/Rangers 4pm

[Shut Yer Five Hole]

Sharks again mocking the importance of the "shots on goal" statistic

 

[NWSharkie]

So we're down a goal, Kane sits while Sorenson shows ineptitude of epic proportions, great job Bobby...

The first two Rangers goals came off soft plays from Kane (not clearing the puck, then not protecting it behind his own goal line). I have no problem with benching a guy who's not buying in at the same level as the 40-year-old who scored two or the AHL call-ups giving their all.

 

[Nth Turtle Reborn]

If there was ever a season to bench a player to send a message, this is it.

What message was being sent? His lackadaisical play leading to NYR's 2nd? When he had bailed out the D before Panarin poked it loose, don't get me wrong I yelled on 1st look when i thought he passed it infront, on 2nd look sure he was careless but we're sitting one of our only legit scoring threats while letting Sore-nson continue to fudge play after play after play?

So the message to Kane is you have to be better, but Sorenson can play like a hump all he likes & we don't care about that?

 

[KarlssonsGroin]

Sharks again mocking the importance of the "shots on goal" statistic

its almost like its not THAT important.

Time of possession and high danger scoring chances/against are much better indicators of strength of team

 

[OrrNumber4]

What do the WAR numbers look like for Evander Kane?

 

[NWSharkie]

I was starting to lean toward keeping Boughner, but not after this game. I understand wanting to send a message to Kane. Fine, whatever. He's only one of the few guys who scores on a team that cannot. Rip him in the video room.

How do you justify sitting Kane when you watch Sorenson and Schellman (no shots!) kill the offense and turn the puck over. LaBanc puts in another game where he proves the argument that he's no more than a 3rd liner. Middleton and Heed did an excellent job ceding the zone all night long. Accountability is great if everyone is held accountable. I'd be pissed if I was Kane.

He seems like the kind of coach that loves grinders. The fancy stats look good; the counting stats do not.

Sorensen I'll give you. He was horrible tonight, couldn't catch a pass or get a shot away to save his life. But Kellman arguably did more to create offense than Kane did, and wasn't directly responsible for two goals against. If you have a guy who's supposed to be a tough, physical 30-goal scorer, and he's getting outworked, outscored, and guys like Stefan Noesen and Alex True are doing more for possession, I have no problem with sticking him on the bench.

 

[Nth Turtle Reborn]

The first two Rangers goals came off soft plays from Kane (not clearing the puck, then not protecting it behind his own goal line). I have no problem with benching a guy who's not buying in at the same level as the 40-year-old who scored two or the AHL call-ups giving their all.

I get that, forgetting his inability to clear led to their 1st as well, but hell bench sorenson too, it's like Melker's out so Sorenson upped his suck to a whole new level to compensate?

Different paycheck, different expectations, but Kane's been out 3 games, what's Sorenson's excuse?

Just infuriating watching every possession die on his stick, if he's not failing in coverage, battles & passing, he's taking pointless weak shots straight at the D, he's forgotten how to freakin play the game.

 

[NWSharkie]

What message was being sent? His lackadaisical play leading to NYR's 2nd? When he had bailed out the D before Panarin poked it loose, don't get me wrong I yelled on 1st look when i thought he passed it infront, on 2nd look sure he was careless but we're sitting one of our only legit scoring threats while letting Sore-nson continue to fudge play after play after play?

So the message to Kane is you have to be better, but Sorenson can play like a hump all he likes & we don't care about that?

I get what you're saying, and I agree to a point. But Sorensen and Kane have different roles and different expectations. Sorensen was garbage and makes me miss Melker, but Kane didn't play like a "legit scoring threat." Noah Gregor and Alex True had more and better opportunities tonight than he did, and you can't suck at the marquee part of your job while also slacking off at the "work" part. Boughner's been consistent at that all season (scratched Sorensen a game, benched Meier for the third earlier in the year), and I think it's one of the few positives about this season. At least we know he's holding guys accountable

 

[boredatwork]

Sorensen I'll give you. He was horrible tonight, couldn't catch a pass or get a shot away to save his life. But Kellman arguably did more to create offense than Kane did, and wasn't directly responsible for two goals against. If you have a guy who's supposed to be a tough, physical 30-goal scorer, and he's getting outworked, outscored, and guys like Stefan Noesen and Alex True are doing more for possession, I have no problem with sticking him on the bench.

I will agree with you on Schellman, he did have a better game than I originally thought. However, for whatever the numbers are worth, Kane was behind only True and Gregor in xGF% and FF%. I would counter by saying Kane was not outworked.

Also, I am a totally biased True fan. Just love watching the guy in the AHL. There is no reason he should have the least amount of ice time.

 

[NWSharkie]

I get that, forgetting his inability to clear led to their 1st as well, but hell bench sorenson too, it's like Melker's out so Sorenson upped his suck to a whole new level to compensate?

Different paycheck, different expectations, but Kane's been out 3 games, what's Sorenson's excuse?

Just infuriating watching every possession die on his stick, if he's not failing in coverage, battles & passing, he's taking pointless weak shots straight at the D, he's forgotten how to freakin play the game.

Given what I was already typing in reply, we're 100% on the same page

I agree with you, Sorensen just hasn't been good enough in any facet of his game this season. Bad decisionmaking, bad hands, bad passes, no scoring. I'd rather have seen Blichfeld or Suomela in his place, and maybe we will tomorrow. But not being the worst forward on the team is in no way an excuse for a guy who's paid to be one of the best, and I'd argue that Sorensen played closer to his "ceiling" than Kane did tonight. It's just that Sorensen sucks when he's good, too.

 

[WSS11]

I was starting to lean toward keeping Boughner, but not after this game. I understand wanting to send a message to Kane. Fine, whatever. He's only one of the few guys who scores on a team that cannot. Rip him in the video room.

How do you justify sitting Kane when you watch Sorenson and Schellman (no shots!) kill the offense and turn the puck over. LaBanc puts in another game where he proves the argument that he's no more than a 3rd liner. Middleton and Heed did an excellent job ceding the zone all night long. Accountability is great if everyone is held accountable. I'd be pissed if I was Kane.

He seems like the kind of coach that loves grinders. The fancy stats look good; the counting stats do not.

Because Kane was directly responsible for the Rags first two goals with his lazy lackadaisical play. I love that BB benched him. Bust your ass and play hard every shift or sit; No superstar treatment. This team needs more of that and hasn’t gotten it in the past. It’s great to see.

 

[Nth Turtle Reborn]

Given what I was already typing in reply, we're 100% on the same page

Feels good to vent with likeminded, frustrated friends. 3am here, g/f is like "shouldn't we be going to bed now the game's over?" I explain we're just getting some post-game feelings out. She asks "Sorenson?"

I agree with you, Sorensen just hasn't been good enough in any facet of his game this season. Bad decisionmaking, bad hands, bad passes, no scoring. I'd rather have seen Blichfeld or Suomela in his place, and maybe we will tomorrow. But not being the worst forward on the team is in no way an excuse for a guy who's paid to be one of the best, and I'd argue that Sorensen played closer to his "ceiling" than Kane did tonight. It's just that Sorensen sucks when he's good, too.

I'd rather have Haley at this point, including his current injury...

 

[Tkachuk4MVP]

Sorensen I'll give you. He was horrible tonight, couldn't catch a pass or get a shot away to save his life. But Kellman arguably did more to create offense than Kane did, and wasn't directly responsible for two goals against. If you have a guy who's supposed to be a tough, physical 30-goal scorer, and he's getting outworked, outscored, and guys like Stefan Noesen and Alex True are doing more for possession, I have no problem with sticking him on the bench.

Not to make excuses for Kane’s play, but a large portion of this team has made a ton of boneheaded/lazy plays all season with no repercussions.

Feels good to vent with likeminded, frustrated friends. 3am here, g/f is like "shouldn't we be going to bed now the game's over?" I explain we're just getting some post-game feelings out. She asks "Sorenson?"



I'd rather have Haley at this point, including his current injury...

 

[boredatwork]

Because Kane was directly responsible for the Rags first two goals with his lazy lackadaisical play. I love that BB benched him. Bust your ass and play hard every shift or sit; No superstar treatment. This team needs more of that and hasn’t gotten it in the past. It’s great to see.

I'm with you in that it creates the right kind of team environment. I just think if you're benching Kane for lazy play, then other guys also needed to be benched. Sorenson kicking the puck around is lazy fundamentals as well. LaBanc's poor decision making also needs to be addressed. And, if the standard is to bench lazy plays that result in goals, then this should happen much more frequently and to all the players involved.

 

[SJSharksfan39]

I'm with you in that it creates the right kind of team environment. I just think if you're benching Kane for lazy play, then other guys also needed to be benched. Sorenson kicking the puck around is lazy fundamentals as well. LaBanc's poor decision making also needs to be addressed. And, if the standard is to bench lazy plays that result in goals, then this should happen much more frequently and to all the players involved.

Sorenson should either be healthy scratched or traded. He's been atrocious this year and it's hard to really see him in the Sharks future plans, even though it's hard to know what those future plans are at this point.

 

[NWSharkie]

I'm with you in that it creates the right kind of team environment. I just think if you're benching Kane for lazy play, then other guys also needed to be benched. Sorenson kicking the puck around is lazy fundamentals as well. LaBanc's poor decision making also needs to be addressed. And, if the standard is to bench lazy plays that result in goals, then this should happen much more frequently and to all the players involved.

I feel like Boughner's been pretty consistent about that stuff all along. He pulled Timo and someone else (Labanc?) from the third period of a game right after he took over, scratched Sorensen the next week, and it seems like he's been pretty clear with the players as far as expectations go. Labanc and Meier are both making better decisions since he took over, and one thing I've particularly noticed is that both guys are taking the puck to the middle of the ice more. I'm guessing that Kane didn't do himself any favors with the Twitter rant at DOPS and things like appearing at the NYSE on a day where he was suspended.

 

[Coily]

Watched the Leafs chaos unfold instead of this game

Kane was benched? Can we trade him?

 

[Crazy Joe Divola]

Missed the game, what’s Kane do to get benched?

 

[Crazy Joe Divola]

What do the WAR numbers look like for Evander Kane?

What is it good for?

 

[hohosaregood]

Missed the game, what’s Kane do to get benched?

An extremely soft clearing attempt that directly lead to the first goal and some pretty lackadaisical puckhandling right around the net that directly lead to the 2nd goal. In his defense, the pokecheck from Panarin on the 2nd goal magicked the puck to Zibanejad somehow. You usually don't expect a pokecheck like that to cleanly go to the other guy with a clean look at the backdoor

 

[Nth Turtle Reborn]

To my Haley facetiousness:

I wasn't serious, thought Haley was a plug, lol, but in context:

Sorenson this season:
57gp 6-6-12 minus-11
Haley in 16/17:
58gp 2-10-12 plus+6

Edited to add:
Melker this season:
56gp 5-5-10 minus-8

I have no real desire to look at linemates & delve any further into a comparison, suffice to say Sorenson should be on the Cuda bus, Suomela, Blichfeld, ANY of the eligible Cuda Kids should be getting that ice time.

Not even on merit, but because this lost season is the opportunity to see what we have down there, a chance to let them test the waters, get acclimated to the NHL for those occasional call ups brought on by injuries.

Sorenson, and I liked what we saw from him when we 1st brought him over, the speed & tenacity, has outstayed his welcome, his game has deteriorated like a bath bomb.

 

[JeremyTB]

Looking at the standings there is a really good chance the Sens could win the lottery with our pick. Only the wings and Kings might finish with a worst record than us and still a chance for the Kings to pass us. With all our injuries and trading off guys by the deadline I can't see us winning many more games this season. Though I would rather the Sens win the lottery than the Kings or Ducks. If only we had our #1 pick I would be so excited right now.

 

[Fistfullofbeer]

Looking at the standings there is a really good chance the Sens could win the lottery with our pick. Only the wings and Kings might finish with a worst record than us and still a chance for the Kings to pass us. With all our injuries and trading off guys by the deadline I can't see us winning many more games this season. Though I would rather the Sens win the lottery than the Kings or Ducks. If only we had our #1 pick I would be so excited right now.

If our pick was to be the #1 pick, wouldn't that have been a franchise first? Anyway, does not really matter since we can't turn back the past. All we can do is look forward and hope that DW can make us more competitive next year.

I missed the game yesterday but am curious about the Kane benching. Was he really that bad? I mean we have players make bad choices pretty much every game with Burns, Labanc, Karlsson, Sorensen, etc. turning the puck over with regularity. Did Kane do something so egregious that he needed to be benched for the 3rd period in a game we were losing?

 

[TomasHertlsRooster]

What do the WAR numbers look like for Evander Kane?

Not good.

Here's the whole team:

His overall GAR is 2, which is worth less than half of a win above replacement. His GAR is being heavily propped up by PP offense, which is IMO not sustainable going forward.

GAR is one stat where a player's terrible penalty differential actually comes into play, and the value of it is quantified. Kane's GAR from taking penalties is not only worst on the team, it's comfortably the worst in the league.

 

[Nth Turtle Reborn]

Did Kane do something so egregious that he needed to be benched for the 3rd period in a game we were losing?

Short answer, no.

Long answer, see Boughner's post game full of 'not buying in' & 'all players held accountable' while watching Sorenson do his best impression of a popcorn vendor who got lost & somehow ended up on the ice, Labanc trying too hard with friends & fam in the stands & Timo doing little of note. If players are indeed being held accountable, Burns should've been sat at least a 3rd of the season, EK65 a few times, Melker's ass welded to the bench with Sorenson put on plexiglass cleaning duties around SAP, but i digress...

BB felt Kane's lack of focus/decisiveness in our own end cost us the game...
I (& a few others) felt BB's benching of one of our only scoring threats in this Shark/Cuda illegitimate child squad cost us any chance at clawing it back...

How Kane, famous for being if not victimised, then feeling victimised, reacts to this (maturely? probably not) will be interesting to see. We've got all the problems in the world through injuries, coaching & goaltending, why not throw dissent onto the bonfire.