GDT: Sharks @ Kings 7:00pm Leonard returns

[tealzamboni]

Na, Melnichuk will get sent down to the taxi squad. Looked like a rookie, scared Boughner too much.

I think Gregor might get benched. I saw him try to do a Balcers-style spin shot-pass. Either that or Balcers just gets stuck in the Donskoi house for a lot longer.

 

[tealzamboni]

Jones deserves 5 minutes of bashing, but Karlsson deserves 20.

Hertl will probably get a talking to about his 2nd goal. His body or stick should have been in Couture's shooting lane. Sharks don't do rebounds like that. He derailed the whole offense after that. Got everyone thinking they could think outside the box.

 

[Pinkfloyd]

Jones deserves 5 minutes of bashing, but Karlsson deserves 20.

Karlsson was having a pretty solid game until that 4th goal honestly.

 

[Lebanezer]

Jones deserves 5 minutes of bashing, but Karlsson deserves 20.

Jones deserves so much more than Karlsson. Regardless of how much Karlsson is falling apart, Jones has been crippling the team for 3+ years. Karlsson isn’t there, yet.

 

[hohosaregood]

Jones deserves so much more than Karlsson. Regardless of how much Karlsson is falling apart, Jones has been crippling the team for 3+ years. Karlsson isn’t there, yet.

I feel like you can actually see the lack of trust the team has in jones. They look like they're saying "here we go again" after some of these goals. I also don't think jones trusts the guys in front of him.the guys just deflate so much on some of these goals against. It's a pretty bad feedback loop but I agree with you that jones deserves the brunt of the criticism.

 

[Levie]

I feel like you can actually see the lack of trust the team has in jones. They look like they're saying "here we go again" after some of these goals. I also don't think jones trusts the guys in front of him.the guys just deflate so much on some of these goals against. It's a pretty bad feedback loop but I agree with you that jones deserves the brunt of the criticism.

Yeah, they definitely play like certain players don't like one another. There's no rallying everyone is just doing their own thing half assing waiting for the game to be over.

 

[Pinkfloyd]

I feel like you can actually see the lack of trust the team has in jones. They look like they're saying "here we go again" after some of these goals. I also don't think jones trusts the guys in front of him.the guys just deflate so much on some of these goals against. It's a pretty bad feedback loop but I agree with you that jones deserves the brunt of the criticism.

I'm certain this is happening but the response needs to be more than just getting rid of Jones. Championship teams win despite poor goaltending performances. They need to learn to separate their game from what their goalie does for them. It's difficult but necessary for the team to learn.

 

[Pavelski2112]

I'm certain this is happening but the response needs to be more than just getting rid of Jones. Championship teams win despite poor goaltending performances. They need to learn to separate their game from what their goalie does for them. It's difficult but necessary for the team to learn.

All good goalies have bad games, sure, but championships aren't usually won with goalies that consistently suck.

 

[Pinkfloyd]

All good goalies have bad games, sure, but championships aren't usually won with goalies that consistently suck.

Consistently suck? No. Wildly inconsistent? Yeah.

 

[Pavelski2112]

Consistently suck? No. Wildly inconsistent? Yeah.

Fair enough, but the biggest problem right now doesn't seem to be dealing with inconsistency. Jones is consistently bad. It's basically a guarantee that Jones will give bad performances, and the team has to work twice as hard to make up for that. In 2019 they could do that because they had the depth and skill. Now? Not so much.

 

[hohosaregood]

Consistently suck? No. Wildly inconsistent? Yeah.

Based on the game log, it looks more like he consistently sucks. Only 2 games above .900 and 6 games under .900 with 3 of those games under .800. he's maybe wildly inconsistent in that you don't know if he's gonna be bad or if he's gonna be terrible.

Anyways, I think the system has proven to be terrible with arguably the worst forecheck in the league. I also think that Jones isn't a pro caliber goalie anymore either. He's an active detriment to the structure of the team when you can't consistently get routine saves from him. I really dislike what he's doing but I'll readily admit the rest of the team sucks too

 

[Pinkfloyd]

Fair enough, but the biggest problem right now doesn't seem to be dealing with inconsistency. Jones is consistently bad. It's basically a guarantee that Jones will give bad performances, and the team has to work twice as hard to make up for that. In 2019 they could do that because they had the depth and skill. Now? Not so much.

Yeah but they weren’t winning with Dubnyk either who was providing adequate goaltending.

 

[Pavelski2112]

Yeah but they weren’t winning with Dubnyk either who was providing adequate goaltending.

To be fair, Dubnyk had one fantastic game, with a few others that haven't been great, just better than Jones. They're still not getting really good goaltending most of the time either way.

 

[Pinkfloyd]

To be fair, Dubnyk had one fantastic game, with a few others that haven't been great, just better than Jones. They're still not getting really good goaltending most of the time either way.

I disagree. Dubnyk's first start was bad but the three after have been better than adequate.

 

[sharkbyte]

Pretty crazy to think now that Jones was .918/.912/.915 in three straight seasons followed up by .923/.935/.928 in the playoffs. I mean, those playoff numbers are stellar.

I'm really curious what makes someone just suddenly decline like that. Defensive system? Confidence? Who knows

 

[Negatively Positive]

Yeah, they definitely play like certain players don't like one another. There's no rallying everyone is just doing their own thing half assing waiting for the game to be over.

A bunch of co-workers led by Captain Co-worker.

 

[Pavelski2112]

Pretty crazy to think now that Jones was .918/.912/.915 in three straight seasons followed up by .923/.935/.928 in the playoffs. I mean, those playoff numbers are stellar.

I'm really curious what makes someone just suddenly decline like that. Defensive system? Confidence? Who knows

Injuries, better scouting on him, and he was never a very athletic goalie to begin with. Defensive system to some degree.

 

[tealzamboni]

A bunch of co-workers led by Captain Co-worker.

Coached and managed by other former co-workers

 

[one2gamble]

Pretty crazy to think now that Jones was .918/.912/.915 in three straight seasons followed up by .923/.935/.928 in the playoffs. I mean, those playoff numbers are stellar.

I'm really curious what makes someone just suddenly decline like that. Defensive system? Confidence? Who knows

goalies are bat shit crazy. expecting anything other than that is an anomaly

 

[The Nemesis]

Pretty crazy to think now that Jones was .918/.912/.915 in three straight seasons followed up by .923/.935/.928 in the playoffs. I mean, those playoff numbers are stellar.

I'm really curious what makes someone just suddenly decline like that. Defensive system? Confidence? Who knows

It's a little of everything, likely. A combo of the system in place defensively, the personnel supporting him, a hot run, there not being a complete "book" on him yet because he was new as a starter, wear-and-tear/injury potential, snowballing confidence, and overall team performance.

and also, like one2gamble said, goalies are voodoo. The moment you think you've got one figured out things will go sideways.

 

[FunkyPhin]

I hope this Jones/Vlasic fiasco gives DW PTSD about signing long term, high caphit contracts for goalies and 1-dimensional defencemen.

It's actually hilarious how quickly these contracts blew up in his face, couldn't even make it halfway through.

 

[The Nemesis]

I hope this Jones/Vlasic fiasco gives DW PTSD about signing long term, high caphit contracts for goalies and 1-dimensional defencemen.

It's actually hilarious how quickly these contracts blew up in his face, couldn't even make it halfway through.

Jones, sure. Because goalies are voodoo.

But the Vlasic one is puzzling because by all rights Vlasic shouldn't have imploded like this. He played a smart, skill-based game that relied on positioning, stick skills, and manipulating the opponent. He's not out there relying on elite skating or physical intimidation or degradable offensive skills. And his physical skill package overall hasn't really fallen apart. Instead it's like he just shut his brain off and no longer cares. And how often do you ever see that happen?

Is Vlasic overpaid relative to the full-rink value he provides? Yeah probably. But if we went back in time 5 years and you asked me which Sharks would be the safest bets to live up to whatever contract they might sign (in relative terms), Vlasic would've probably been at the top of the list. The fact that he's just fallen off the face of the earth is baffling.

 

[hohosaregood]

Jones, sure. Because goalies are voodoo.

But the Vlasic one is puzzling because by all rights Vlasic shouldn't have imploded like this. He played a smart, skill-based game that relied on positioning, stick skills, and manipulating the opponent. He's not out there relying on elite skating or physical intimidation or degradable offensive skills. And his physical skill package overall hasn't really fallen apart. Instead it's like he just shut his brain off and no longer cares. And how often do you ever see that happen?

Is Vlasic overpaid relative to the full-rink value he provides? Yeah probably. But if we went back in time 5 years and you asked me which Sharks would be the safest bets to live up to whatever contract they might sign (in relative terms), Vlasic would've probably been at the top of the list. The fact that he's just fallen off the face of the earth is baffling.

Yea seriously. I definitely agree with you that it's mostly mental but I do think a good part of it is him losing a step. I remember years ago when he was the fastest skater on defense during their mini skill competition and I was like "oh neat, i never notice" and now Ive started to hear and see plenty of things about how his skating has deteriorated. I heard from my skating instructor that he was really disappointed by where Vlasic's skating is at.

I'm definitely surprised that it even matters. I thought he'd be able to age well but maybe he was more dependent on his physical abilities than we thought.

 

[one2gamble]

Vlasic is in pure I got mine mode. If he needed another contract I promise you we would not be seeing the vlasic we see today

 

[The Nemesis]

Yea seriously. I definitely agree with you that it's mostly mental but I do think a good part of it is him losing a step. I remember years ago when he was the fastest skater on defense during their mini skill competition and I was like "oh neat, i never notice" and now Ive started to hear and see plenty of things about how his skating has deteriorated. I heard from my skating instructor that he was really disappointed by where Vlasic's skating is at.

I'm definitely surprised that it even matters. I thought he'd be able to age well but maybe he was more dependent on his physical abilities than we thought.

The question becomes though, is he a worse skater because he's physically declined, or is he a worse skater because he's checked out and no longer feels beholden to giving sufficient effort to be as good as he can be?