Fire McLellan

[naes666]

blow the whole thing up! get rid of them all at this point! the sky isn't falling, it already fell and its lying in a pool of its own blood on the ground.

 

[Destroydacre]

If memory serves, Wilson was pretty vocal about calling out some of the slackers (iirc, Marleau found his name on the board of shame a lot). I am not saying thats better or worse than Todd's approach - but it seemed to get about the same result.

The top players have not been the dominant players they were in the past but our 3rd and 4th lines haven't been much help either. I like Todd as well, and your critique can be read as "he's tried everything else and has run out of ideas on what he CAN do to get something out of his crew".

I am not sure which it is but I am pretty sure we are not getting anywhere with the team we are watching right now. They have some games to pull it together but I am not feeling it at all right now.

I agree, although RWil was one of the absolute worst at making sure to place any and all blame on the players when something went even just slightly wrong. He was never one to cover for his players or to try and sidestep issues in the media. I'd like to see what the Sharks might do under a coach who is a hard ass but also keeps things in the locker room. I'm not convinced a coach like that would make a difference, but that's the style I'd like to see after both RWil and McLellan were unsuccessful at getting the Sharks to the SCF. I'm not sure there's anyone out there like that though (who is also a good coach) so I'm not saying that I think the Sharks should make a move just to make a move, only make the move if it's the right fit. And there's also a very good possibility that Dougie (or maybe a new GM?) would have a very different view of what kind of style of coach he may want than I do if he wants to make a change at all. But that's what I'd prefer.

 

[23sharks]

If memory serves, Wilson was pretty vocal about calling out some of the slackers (iirc, Marleau found his name on the board of shame a lot). I am not saying thats better or worse than Todd's approach - but it seemed to get about the same result.

The top players have not been the dominant players they were in the past but our 3rd and 4th lines haven't been much help either. I like Todd as well, and your critique can be read as "he's tried everything else and has run out of ideas on what he CAN do to get something out of his crew".

I am not sure which it is but I am pretty sure we are not getting anywhere with the team we are watching right now. They have some games to pull it together but I am not feeling it at all right now.

The problem is the Sharks top guys are now in their 30's, and their best days are behind them. Look at the core players on the other good teams in the West, and most of them are better, and younger.
Totally agree about the 3rd and 4th lines too. The 4th line actually hasn't been that bad, and a 4th line isn't going to win you a Cup, but you better have a good 3rd line.
Someone here made a point about the Sharks not having a very good 3rd line since the days of Ricci-Thornton-Sundstrom, and that was right on the head

 

[Stackem]

Ricci - Thornton - Sundstrom.. Probably my favorite sharks line of all time. I would literally laugh out loud when they got the cycle going down low. No body could stop em. And if they didn't score, they would either eat up a bunch of time on the clock or punish the other team physically. Someone taking liberties with a shark member? Scotty 's there to drop the gloves. And really, is there anything better then watching hair ball, toothless Ricci flying all over the ice.. I would propose no.

 

[MrFlyingV]

So if the Sharks had a Tippett or Hitchcock the last few years instead of TMac (an inexperienced head coach at the time) would they have made a Stanley Cup final? Was it wise of Dougie to hire McClellan instead of a proven commodity with a talented team on the brink of something at the time? Or did it not matter who the coach was because Thornton/Marleau teams where never going to the promised land no matter who coached the Sharks.

 

[rares]

So if the Sharks had a Tippett or Hitchcock the last few years instead of TMac (an inexperienced head coach at the time) would they have made a Stanley Cup final? Was it wise of Dougie to hire McClellan instead of a proven commodity with a talented team on the brink of something at the time? Or did it not matter who the coach was because Thornton/Marleau teams where never going to the promised land no matter who coached the Sharks.

Pretty much 100% guaranteed, yes.

 

[rares]

From teh blog today:

Winnik said he has had to make an adjustment since coming here from Colorado because the two teams take a different approach when short-handed — none of which should come as a surprise to those who watch the two teams play.

“Colorado’s pressure all the time and here we sit back. It’s different,” he said. “You kind of have to go against your instincts the last two years. And my years in Phoenix, we played that same kind of pressure style. That was the biggest adjustment.”

Sit back on the PK? No fucking wonder it blows.

Fire all the coaches immediately after they miss the playoffs, IMO.

 

[Mr. Teal]

Two weeks later, I'm still not on the fire the coach bandwagon.
The problems exist on the ice and wear shark sweaters.

 

[Mr. Teal]

So if the Sharks had a Tippett or Hitchcock the last few years instead of TMac (an inexperienced head coach at the time) would they have made a Stanley Cup final? Was it wise of Dougie to hire McClellan instead of a proven commodity with a talented team on the brink of something at the time? Or did it not matter who the coach was because Thornton/Marleau teams where never going to the promised land no matter who coached the Sharks.

^^ This.

 

[ads_2006]

From teh blog today:


Sit back on the PK? No fucking wonder it blows.

Fire all the coaches immediately after they miss the playoffs, IMO.

Colorado had the worst PK in 2010

Our PK was a ranked ahead of phoenix in 09 and 08 (phoenix was 28)

so its not all about pressure

 

[caliraftdude]

The problem is the Sharks top guys are now in their 30's, and their best days are behind them. Look at the core players on the other good teams in the West, and most of them are better, and younger.
Totally agree about the 3rd and 4th lines too. The 4th line actually hasn't been that bad, and a 4th line isn't going to win you a Cup, but you better have a good 3rd line.
Someone here made a point about the Sharks not having a very good 3rd line since the days of Ricci-Thornton-Sundstrom, and that was right on the head

No argument there. Although I recall DET getting a lot out of Lidstom, Shanny. a one-legged Yzerman, Hull, Robitaille, Drapes, Chelios, and McCarty... maybe a few others.

I still think we have a lot of talent in those 30-somethings, but the reality is we don't have a good balance of talent, a coach that has run out of ideas on how to get more out of them and a GM that can put a lot of pieces together but competes with GMs that know how to do it better.

I am glad it appears they have made the playoffs - but I don't see a lot more opportunities for this core, if at all.

 

[rares]

Todd McLellan finishes the season with 195 regular season wins, the most by any coach in his first 4 seasons in NHL history.

Impressive but still...

 

[rares]

http://www.sportshoopla.com/forums/...eneral-discussion/67765-plenty-rumo-u-rs.html

He'd be good in SJ... no?

 

[rares]

Reason #230920390 McLellan has no clue what he's doing:

Why were Braun, Moore and other-people-who-can't-fight-worth-shit out there for the last shift tonight?

Also, if Demers OR Mitchell aren't healthy scratches next game, you should be fired immediately.

 

[sjrules99]

IMO, Todd should have 2 more losses to keep his job in SJ. he has done a reasonable job, but his inability to master the X's and O's and his decision to keep things 100% in the hands of the players only works when the players you are trusting are named lidstrom, rafalski, datsyuk, and zetterberg. When you are working with Thornton and Marleau, the players clearly need a different approach.

The PK cost them the vancouver series. It nearly cost them the PO's entirely this year. It is currently costing them this series. it's not like this is a new or sudden problem. Todd has had multiple years and multiple long preseason and regular seasons to experiment, try new strategies, new players, new systems. However, it seems to me like this team plays a super passive style that clearly doesnt work and has for years.

Todd seems to get outcoached year after year. At this moment, I would Jacques martin. MTL had a horrible roster with guys like gomez and gionta eating up huge money and basically no good offensive players. its no wonder they struggled. however, they had the #2 ranked PK and martin got alot out of a team with a really really weak roster.

Out of the spotlight on montreal, martin could be a great match for this team.

 

[SJVP408]

Yeah I'm sick and tired of this passive defense strategy. The Sharks will allow opponents to cycle all day on the perimeter if they wanted to. So little is done to pressure the puck yet they call themselves a puck possession team. If you are a puck possession team, and you don't have the puck, GO GET IT! Not only that, but the Sharks invite the opposition to enter the O zone rarely contesting the blueline. You play this passive and it snowballs down the lineup and you become a passive team.

For the PK, if you are going to play passive, fine. But the whole point of playing a passive style is to keep a tight box and not allow the cross ice pass for backdoor slam dunks. This happened three times last night! Backdoor goals. I think Todd switched to a 1-2-1 and that caused Vlasic to get owned again and again as the lone Dman protecting the front of the net. Hedican mentioned being loose as a PKing dman, not getting tied up with anyone in front of the net in order to have your stick free. Vlasic choose to tie his man up and the backdoor play was there for the taking. Then, it happened AGAIN, in the same fucking game!

 

[Cbrower91]

I still blame shaw and baby jay woodcroft

 

[MrChangoT97]

Tmac will match Slobitchcock and have a game plan to fuck up his boring defensive style of play. Big bodies is what will be the key not speed. Winchester & Handzus should get the call. Mitchell & Moore time to sit on the smooth lumber pine.

 

[sjrules99]

I still blame shaw and baby jay woodcroft

I agree but ultimately it comes down the head coach. he is the GM of the coaching staff. he is the man responsible for all aspects of the play. If the PK is failing as it has for 2 years, the head coach has to work on it. he has said that he's been working on it the whole time, but all we see is more of the same ineffective strategy, or possible getting even worse. the two LA wins overshadowed the fact that they gave up 6 PP goals in those 2 games. The only difference is that the blues are a super defensive team, so you cant get away with that kind of play.

After the game, the only answer was "gotta stay out of the box". Clearly, they are out of idea for how to kill a penalty. Martin had the Canadiens killing at a nearly 90% clip. That alone would make him my top choice to replace TMac. if they lose vs STL, I would say 4 years is enough.

 

[Cmon_WTF]

Martin is a posibility though Cunneyworth is the one responsible for the Habs PK not Martin. Don't be surprised if Tony Granato's name pops up as well.