GDT: Sharks Vs. Predators 7:30PM PST

[Bleedred]

Vlasic is not really the problem anymore.

I would say he's a problem, but outside of him and the other crater on D in Braun (Haley won't be dressed for the playoffs) goaltending is the biggest problem with this team.

Out all the 16 teams in a playoff spot and the two teams in each conference that are in the first spot outside a playoff position, I would say the only teams that don't have a better goalie than Jones (at least when their starter is healthy) are Calgary, Carolina, Arizona and maybe St. Louis. Kuemper is on a hot streak, but he's been a (mostly) backup for the majority of his NHL career and Binnington is still too new to say if he's better than Jones or not. Allen absolutely is not. So I'm not basing this off of just this year, although him still not being consistently hot and getting his shit together heading into the playoffs is a bit alarming.

Can't say that I'd rank any other team that's in the playoffs or the two teams right outside of them (Montreal and Minnesota) below the Sharks in goaltending. I mean, Minnesota is close, only because Dubnyk doesn't look like he's all that good, despite having an above average save percentage and many goalie analytics agree with me in saying he isn't very good, so you can argue they'd be below the Sharks out of those 18 teams, along with Calgary, Carolina, Arizona and St. Louis, but that's it.

 

[Beethovens 10th]

Vlasic is not really the problem anymore.

 

[Coily]

Haley will play over Donskoi again on Monday because we need Haley to get his faced smashed in by Reaves.

If Haley knees Reaves I'll never complain about him ever again.

 

[Bleedred]

Lol.

I'm sorry I made you laugh. I know, it's never Jones fault. He's a top goalie in the NHL. Look at all the wins he gets behind this defense and team that isn't that good.

 

[WSS11]

I’m sitting here trying to figure out the advantage of a cross ice pass at the blue line when you have 11 players inside the opposing blue line excluding the goalie. The only thing the two predators up high have to do is shift over a little bit. The ice is terrible and you’re firing a bouncing puck across the blue line for God knows what reason? A low percentage point shot that isn’t even getting on net? This team is so infuriating sometimes

 

[Beethovens 10th]

I'm sorry I made you laugh. I know, it's never Jones fault. He's a top goalie in the NHL. Look at all the wins he gets behind this defense and team that isn't that good.

Here’s jones when he flies out of position on the third goal, forgetting to get back into his f***ing crease:

I hope he has early onset dementia, because otherwise he’s gotta stop huffing paint in the parking lot before games. f*** him. f***ing asshole.

 

[DeadGhost]

I liked Haley tonight. Kane had some step. Hertl was flying. Jumbo turned it on but had a few lapses. Wasn't really overly impressed with anyone else.

 

[Beethovens 10th]

I wonder if they’ll scratch Haley on Haley bobble head night?

Oh wait.

That’s right. They don’t make bobble heads of f***ing assholes who can’t play hockey. I forgot. That’s my bad guys.

f*** Deboer.

 

[WSS11]

I wonder if they’ll scratch Haley on Haley bobble head night?

Oh wait.

That’s right. They don’t make bobble heads of ****ing *******s who can’t play hockey. I forgot. That’s my bad guys.

**** Deboer.

 

[Bizz]

oh look another games Jones lost for us single handedly.

I don't care that his save percentage was over .900 in a game for the first time this century. Being 25 feet outside of his crease on the Game Losing goal was Niemi-like and inexcusable.

 

[Bleedred]

Here’s jones when he flies out of position on the third goal, forgetting to get back into his ****ing crease:

I hope he has early onset dementia, because otherwise he’s gotta stop huffing paint in the parking lot before games. **** him. ****ing *******.

I'm seriously tired of him.

Out of the top 18 teams in the standings in the NHL, I'd rank the Sharks as #2 behind only Tampa. That's also counting guys like Karlsson and the entire lineup when healthy.

Out of the top 18 teams in the standings, I wouldn't rank the Sharks any higher than #14, #13 at best in net.

And while I don't think Kuemper or Binnington are better than Jones (since I'm basing it off of not only this year, but this year and their careers), I do think that there's a case to be made that they're scarier right now, as they're on a hot streak (who knows for how long?) right now and Jones has been consistently sporting a low .900's% and upper .890's% for almost the entirety of the season and his hot streaks don't last too long this season. So while the Blues and Coyotes (Coyotes especially) don't scare me, their goalies scare me more than Jones right now. Kuemper and Binnington's teams aren't very scary, but they're at least hot right now.

And for that, I might actually rank the Sharks as the third best team in the league right now and not the second. Just due to the fact that Jones is a part of the team and having a goalie performing that poorly should take your team ranking down a bit. And the sad part is that one of the few teams that I'd put as having inferior goaltending to the Sharks might actually win the division over the Sharks in the end. That's the pathetic part.

 

[WSS11]

I don’t know what’s more annoying.. Haley’s hockey resume reading:
-punches faces
- hits people
- tells dad jokes on the bench

And playing over donskoi

Or

Braun handling the puck like a live grenade any time it touches his stick.

 

[Bizz]

I wonder if they’ll scratch Haley on Haley bobble head night?

Oh wait.

That’s right. They don’t make bobble heads of ****ing *******s who can’t play hockey. I forgot. That’s my bad guys.

**** Deboer.

Haley was one of the best players on the ice tonight...

 

[treefiddy]

Lol @ people actually blaming Jones for this loss...

 

[OrrNumber4]

Watching the highlights, I'm not really getting the Jones hate...I suppose a lot of it is pent up, but I see the Sharks's defense looking lost on all the goals.

Tim Heed has been really solid, but on that third goal, he needs to have a better angle on his stick. Small details like that are key. Jones does lunge out, but its after he makes the save and Forsberg has the puck on the doorstep...Forsberg has amazing hands and quickly works it around the net, but if Jones doesn't come out maybe Forsberg just snaps it into the gap (also should note that if not for Heed, Forsberg's rushed wraparound would have been harmless).

 

[DG93]

It's a little frustrating to see the same core players that struggled vs. teams like the Preds/Pens in 2016 continue to make the same mistakes again. Burns, Couture, Pavelski, etc. all take way too long with their decision-making, and with Nashville's speed and stickwork, those passes all get picked off. There were so many more turnovers today than usual. And of course this leads to them playing more carelessly and taking stupid shots from the point = more turnovers, and it becomes a cycle. The only guys who had success were Meier and the Hertl line, who used their feet and size to go around the Preds' defensemen. I guess part of that is on the stubborn coaching staff failing to adjust. Oh, and Jones sucking massive a** really didn't help either.

 

[WSS11]

Haley was one of the best players on the ice tonight...

No

 

[tahoesharksfan]

Haley was one of the best players on the ice tonight...

Guess there's no point in my watching the recording then....thanks, you saved me a couple of hours tonight...

 

[Pinkfloyd]

Losses happen. On to the next game.

 

[TomasHertlsRooster]

It's a little frustrating to see the same core players that struggled vs. teams like the Preds/Pens in 2016 continue to make the same mistakes again. Burns, Couture, Pavelski, etc. all take way too long with their decision-making, and with Nashville's speed and stickwork, those passes all get picked off. There were so many more turnovers today than usual. And of course this leads to them playing more carelessly and taking stupid shots from the point = more turnovers, and it becomes a cycle. The only guys who had success were Meier and the Hertl line, who used their feet and size to go around the Preds' defensemen. I guess part of that is on the stubborn coaching staff failing to adjust. Oh, and Jones sucking massive a** really didn't help either.

Burns/Couture/Pavelski destroyed the Predators in 2016.

 

[Bizz]

I would say he's a problem, but outside of him and the other crater on D in Braun (Haley won't be dressed for the playoffs) goaltending is the biggest problem with this team.

Out all the 16 teams in a playoff spot and the two teams in each conference that are in the first spot outside a playoff position, I would say the only teams that don't have a better goalie than Jones (at least when their starter is healthy) are Calgary, Carolina, Arizona and maybe St. Louis. Kuemper is on a hot streak, but he's been a (mostly) backup for the majority of his NHL career and Binnington is still too new to say if he's better than Jones or not. Allen absolutely is not. So I'm not basing this off of just this year, although him still not being consistently hot and getting his **** together heading into the playoffs is a bit alarming.

Can't say that I'd rank any other team that's in the playoffs or the two teams right outside of them (Montreal and Minnesota) below the Sharks in goaltending. I mean, Minnesota is close, only because Dubnyk doesn't look like he's all that good, despite having an above average save percentage and many goalie analytics agree with me in saying he isn't very good, so you can argue they'd be below the Sharks out of those 18 teams, along with Calgary, Carolina, Arizona and St. Louis, but that's it.

Don't get me started on Braun. Holy f*** he's terrible.

 

[Bleedred]

Don't get me started on Braun. Holy **** he's terrible.

Since most people (in the media and hopefully GM's) don't know that he's terrible now, I'm hoping he can be unloaded for the final year of his deal. Since his salary isn't bad and he's still living off a reputation and has only a year left, I think he can be traded. The question is whether Doug wants to trade him or not and I think he should, if not just to dump cap.

Sounds like a call needs to be made to Dorion after the season. He loves BAD Sharks players over there. He's already got DeMelo and Boedker. See if he can take out one last piece of trash for us.

 

[Doctor Soraluce]

Dives by that definition are rare though. Most instances of the dive/embellishment unsportsmanlike come from something that might be penalty-worthy getting over-sold by the victim. Rare are the times where a guy outright fabricates being struck with a stick or tripping with absolutely zero outside contact or input.

I remember a game (playoffs?) when Gretzky was with the blues and he was standing next to a defenseman in the offensive zone after the play went back the other way. He repeatedly just threw himself in the air and onto the ice yelling so the refs would turn around and see him being flung to the ice. It took a couple times before the refs turned and saw and gave the opposing player a roughing minor. That level of diving always blew me away. I guess he was the great one when it came to diving as well.

 

[DG93]

Burns/Couture/Pavelski destroyed the Predators in 2016.

Whoops, shouldn't have written Preds there...my bad.

 

[TomasHertlsRooster]

Vlasic, Couture, and Jones sure have been great all season. It’s a good thing we’ve got them next season at $20.75M to help us with our impending cap crunch, and it’s a great thing we’ve also made sure to extend Peter DeBoer!