Confirmed with Link: The worst day in Sharks history (DeMelo re-signed: 2yr/$900k per)

[The Nemesis]

Secondary follow-up disclaimer that in re-reading all my lengthy diatribes above, I'm beginning to think that being sleepy shut off the filter in my brain that reins in my tendency to get overly flowery, verbose, and dense in my writing.

In other words, now I'm worrying that all my posts came off as grossly arrogant sounding because my language choices leaned towards trying to leverage my vocabulary to sound more intelligent/credible. Apologies if that was the case. I never mean to use my writing style to sound condescending or patronizing. Sometimes I just get so lost in my thoughts that everything starts slipping out as if I'm writing for an academic journal instead of having a casual discussion about sports.

Consider this the downside of conditioning myself to be able to write all those Lord Passington goal quotes.

 

[The Nemesis]

I'll try to steer this ship of hockey damned back toward the Isle of the Saint of Pylons.

Nem, when it first came out that we weren't giving DeMelo a qualifying offer the first thought that crossed my mind was a cleansing salve of relief that there would be no more laughing DeBoer memes to haunt my dreams. Now there's not a hope in Hades.

Laughing DeBoer will never die. It's as much a part of this franchise's storied history as the rally potato, Spacemania posting in the wrong thread, the legend of Dimitri Patzold, turning an ugly game's GDT into all of us watching Spaceballs on cable, Ray Ratto's face, or the fact that almost nobody can recall anymore why our OT thread is called "10,000 part <#>" anymore.

What I'm saying is that this meme is a proud part of our heritage. And this is the point where I'd normally make reference to the awful "Canadian Heritage Moment" commercials on TV, except that at least 90% of you will have absolutely no idea what I'm talking about since you didn't grow up with them.

 

[AgentCooper]

Tim Heed - Full Stats, Line Combos and Game Logs

DATE	TEAM	OPP	G	A	P	+/-	PIM	S	PPG	PPP	HITS	BLKS	FOW	FO%	PPTOI	%PP	TOI/G	%TOI
Feb 25	S.J	@MIN	0	0	0	1	0	1	0	0	0	4	0		00:00	0.0	06:41	10.3
Feb 15	S.J	VAN	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0		01:22	22.8	09:18	15.5
Jan 13	S.J	ARI	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	1	1	0		00:00	0.0	17:53	28.5
Jan 7	S.J	@WPG	0	0	0	-1	0	3	0	0	0	3	0		01:41	27.1	17:27	29.1
Jan 5	S.J	@OTT	0	1	1	1	0	1	0	1	0	1	0		01:16	30.6	11:51	19.7

[TBODY] [/TBODY]

Ooohhhh. 5 games in 2018. Probably often by injury necessity, not DeBoer really wanting him in the lineup.

 

[BaileyMacTavish]

Laughing DeBoer will never die. It's as much a part of this franchise's storied history as the rally potato, Spacemania posting in the wrong thread, the legend of Dimitri Patzold, turning an ugly game's GDT into all of us watching Spaceballs on cable, Ray Ratto's face, or the fact that almost nobody can recall anymore why our OT thread is called "10,000 part <#>" anymore.

What I'm saying is that this meme is a proud part of our heritage. And this is the point where I'd normally make reference to the awful "Canadian Heritage Moment" commercials on TV, except that at least 90% of you will have absolutely no idea what I'm talking about since you didn't grow up with them.

f***. I miss that guy. He was cool and I got to talk to him on MSN like 6-7 years ago. (Damn, dated a f)

 

[BaileyMacTavish]

Tim Heed - Full Stats, Line Combos and Game Logs

DATE	TEAM	OPP	G	A	P	+/-	PIM	S	PPG	PPP	HITS	BLKS	FOW	FO%	PPTOI	%PP	TOI/G	%TOI
Feb 25	S.J	@MIN	0	0	0	1	0	1	0	0	0	4	0		00:00	0.0	06:41	10.3
Feb 15	S.J	VAN	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0		01:22	22.8	09:18	15.5
Jan 13	S.J	ARI	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	1	1	0		00:00	0.0	17:53	28.5
Jan 7	S.J	@WPG	0	0	0	-1	0	3	0	0	0	3	0		01:41	27.1	17:27	29.1
Jan 5	S.J	@OTT	0	1	1	1	0	1	0	1	0	1	0		01:16	30.6	11:51	19.7

[TBODY] [/TBODY]

The problem I have is that two games he's playing LESS THAN 10 MINS. One of them when Braun was already sick and we played 5D instead of 6 for NO REASON (MIN game). He isn't perfect but he simply isn't given a shot after his impressive first half of the season.

 

[Lebanezer]

Secondary follow-up disclaimer that in re-reading all my lengthy diatribes above, I'm beginning to think that being sleepy shut off the filter in my brain that reins in my tendency to get overly flowery, verbose, and dense in my writing.

In other words, now I'm worrying that all my posts came off as grossly arrogant sounding because my language choices leaned towards trying to leverage my vocabulary to sound more intelligent/credible. Apologies if that was the case. I never mean to use my writing style to sound condescending or patronizing. Sometimes I just get so lost in my thoughts that everything starts slipping out as if I'm writing for an academic journal instead of having a casual discussion about sports.

Consider this the downside of conditioning myself to be able to write all those Lord Passington goal quotes.

 

[Crazy Joe Divola]

Nem, when it first came out that we weren't giving DeMelo a qualifying offer the first thought that crossed my mind was a cleansing salve of relief that there would be no more laughing DeBoer memes to haunt my dreams. Now there's not a hope in Hades.

 

[shorkie88]

I know it's a few days old but I only just saw it.

 

[hohosaregood]

There's something just unappealing about Demelo's whole aesthetic

 

[OffSydes]

Y'all's a bunch of haters. DeMelo brings Donuts on Fridays and that kinda intangibles can't be replaced.

 

[Lebanezer]

I know it's a few days old but I only just saw it.

The people in the corner look like they're watching a tragedy unfold before their eyes.

 

[Pinkfloyd]

Secondary follow-up disclaimer that in re-reading all my lengthy diatribes above, I'm beginning to think that being sleepy shut off the filter in my brain that reins in my tendency to get overly flowery, verbose, and dense in my writing.

In other words, now I'm worrying that all my posts came off as grossly arrogant sounding because my language choices leaned towards trying to leverage my vocabulary to sound more intelligent/credible. Apologies if that was the case. I never mean to use my writing style to sound condescending or patronizing. Sometimes I just get so lost in my thoughts that everything starts slipping out as if I'm writing for an academic journal instead of having a casual discussion about sports.

Consider this the downside of conditioning myself to be able to write all those Lord Passington goal quotes.

 

[WSS11]

Nick Saban, probably the greatest college football coach ever, almost lost the last national championship game because he refused to play the better QB, despite EVERYONE knowing he was better. That includes pundits, media, fans, other coaches, his own assistants, players, everyone.

When he finally did play the other guy, Alabama won.

The point is, even the greatest coaches on Earth make mistakes.

Putting a true freshman QB into a NC game to start is a ballsy move. Saban didn’t have a choice though because UGA gave Hurts nothing. They knew he had no arm so they stacked the box. Much like Martin gave Deboer no choice but to put in Ryan after game 3, Saban had no choice but to switch QBs at half. Tua would have never gotten onto the field otherwise. I give Saban props for preparing Tua beforehand but it was an easy coaching decision

 

[KKurzNHL]

Did you actually watch them play at all this year?

Yes, and literally every hockey person I talked to that saw him on a regular basis thought he was a good third pair D man. I literally got texts from three or four people that didn't understand why he wasn't qualified. Is he a future star? No. Is he worlds better than Tim Heed? No. But he's a good player in his role, and if you guys don't see that, I'd suggest looking around the league at other defenseman that currently occupy slots on a third D pair.

 

[Maladroit]

DeMelo is definitely better than a lot of third-pairing defensemen around the league, no argument there. The issue is that he's quite a bit worse than Tim Heed and this contract will allow DeBoer to continue playing him over Heed.

 

[one2gamble]

Yes, and literally every hockey person I talked to that saw him on a regular basis thought he was a good third pair D man. I literally got texts from three or four people that didn't understand why he wasn't qualified. Is he a future star? No. Is he worlds better than Tim Heed? No. But he's a good player in his role, and if you guys don't see that, I'd suggest looking around the league at other defenseman that currently occupy slots on a third D pair.

Here is my thing with this, it avoids the point everyone else has made. Its not that Demelo isnt a serviceable bottom pairing Dman. Everyone knows this. Its that he doesnt bring anything to the table. There were teams and instances that Heed should have easily been playing of Demelo and that Demelo should have been benched. You refuse to admit that Heed has an element to his game that the Sharks were/are in desperate need of that Demelo simply will never have.

At worst this should have been a 50/50 icetime split until March

 

[TomasHertlsRooster]

In an alternate universe where all else is equal but Tim Heed does not exist, Dylan DeMelo is still not an adequate 3rd pairing defenseman. He has the worst puck poise of any NHL defenseman I’ve ever seen.

 

[WTFetus]

Here is my thing with this, it avoids the point everyone else has made. Its not that Demelo isnt a serviceable bottom pairing Dman. Everyone knows this. Its that he doesnt bring anything to the table. There were teams and instances that Heed should have easily been playing of Demelo and that Demelo should have been benched. You refuse to admit that Heed has an element to his game that the Sharks were/are in desperate need of that Demelo simply will never have.

At worst this should have been a 50/50 icetime split until March

To be fair, consider who you're talking to.

For Kurz. Did you bother to ask what these "hockey people" were basing their evaluations on? Or, like other posters, are you taking their word for gospel just because they're "hockey people"?

 

[do0glas]

In an alternate universe where all else is equal but Tim Heed does not exist, Dylan DeMelo is still not an adequate 3rd pairing defenseman. He has the worst puck poise of any NHL defenseman I’ve ever seen.

I think there may be some confirmation bias here.

Ive seen some pretty awful bottom pairing guys.

Colin white, irwin, polak. Those are just from the sharks.

Demelos numbers stats and usage are consistent with a 900k dman if not over performing his contract a bit.

The issue is that heed exists.

 

[Fistfullofbeer]

I think there may be some confirmation bias here.

Ive seen some pretty awful bottom pairing guys.

Colin white, irwin, polak. Those are just from the sharks.

Demelos numbers stats and usage are consistent with a 900k dman if not over performing his contract a bit.

The issue is that heed exists.

Yeah. I agree. I think the Heed and DeMelo situation is similar to what have encountered in recent times with older forwards getting played over the likes of Nieto and Carpenter. Serviceable players for their roles and on a fair contract being played over better players because of familiarity or bias (coaching style or just personal choice).

 

[Pinkfloyd]

Yes, and literally every hockey person I talked to that saw him on a regular basis thought he was a good third pair D man. I literally got texts from three or four people that didn't understand why he wasn't qualified. Is he a future star? No. Is he worlds better than Tim Heed? No. But he's a good player in his role, and if you guys don't see that, I'd suggest looking around the league at other defenseman that currently occupy slots on a third D pair.

And what exactly were they basing that assessment on? What exactly do you or the two or three potentially qualified individuals on this subject matter that you supposedly talk to think he actually does well in his role? Just because other teams employ crappy 3rd pairing defensemen doesn't mean it's a good idea for the Sharks to do that. In reality, given that they will have shortcomings at the top of their lineup, filling out depth positions with high quality players to win those matchups may be the only way for them to counter a likely losing matchup at the top or if you view them even to other teams at the top of the lineup, they would be the difference makers against a potentially equal team.

I'll wait until you actually give me a reasoned argument with some factual evidence to back up that he's even a good player in his role. He's a replacement level player that the Sharks can do so much better at in that spot and have done so in the past as early as last season when they had David Schlemko. Or better yet, instead of looking around the league, look at the teams that matter. Washington had Christian Djoos...better than DeMelo. Anyone you would want to use in Vegas was better than DeMelo whether it's Brad Hunt or Jon Merrill. Anaheim lost in large part because of someone in a similar position being terrible in Kevin Bieksa. The Sharks lost in the Finals to Pittsburgh in no small part because of a poor performance from someone that DeMelo replaced and was replaced by in Roman Polak.

If the Sharks want to compete better, DeMelo's spot in the lineup is a spot they need to improve upon no matter how you view him because he simply isn't good enough. I don't know if Tim Heed is the guy but I'd like to see him be given more of an opportunity to see if he is because his puck-handling skills are precisely what the Sharks back-end needs a lot more of.

 

[Pavelski2112]

Yes, and literally every hockey person I talked to that saw him on a regular basis thought he was a good third pair D man. I literally got texts from three or four people that didn't understand why he wasn't qualified. Is he a future star? No. Is he worlds better than Tim Heed? No. But he's a good player in his role, and if you guys don't see that, I'd suggest looking around the league at other defenseman that currently occupy slots on a third D pair.

He's not better than Heed at all, much less worlds.

 

[hockeyball]

I consider myself one of these "hockey people". I like hockey, know a lot about hockey, and I am a people.

 

[Fistfullofbeer]

I consider myself one of these "hockey people". I like hockey, know a lot about hockey, and I am a people.

I thought you were a hockey ball. Ball are not people last time I checked.

 

[The Nemesis]

I thought you were a hockey ball. Ball are not people last time I checked.

Yeah, but what do you know? You're a fist full of beer. Apparently one that exists without some sort of container to hold it in. So in my estimation you are exceptionally messy and needlessly impractical.