San Jose Sharks | Hard to accept when “you get caught”

It is nothing less than the worst team in the National League since the presidency of William Jefferson Clinton which comes to the Bell Center to face the Canadiens on Thursday.

It didn’t show in Wednesday’s practice, that said. The always charismatic David Quinn, head coach of the team, tried to inject some enthusiasm into his group as best he could.

” Good start. We feel less like shit, right? “, he shouts after an exercise. At the end of the session, he organizes a competition between the white sweaters and the turquoise sweaters. The first team with five goals wins, the one who loses must do 25 push-ups. “I’m with the turquoise ones,” he shouts. In the end, it was White who won, forcing Quinn to get on his stomach and also do the 25 push-ups.

“I could have done 25 more, I’m ready!” », he joked to the three journalists at a press briefing afterwards.

It was also festive in the locker room, where goaltender Mackenzie Blackwood puffed a pipe at an equipment attendant, where players tried to agree on a restaurant to go to for dinner in town.

However, the good mood should not make us forget the reality, cruel, to put it mildly. On Tuesday, the Sharks suffered a 12^e loss in a row, a 7-1 beating at the hands of the Maple Leafs in Toronto.

“Many people have never experienced anything like this, including me,” he continued. You can’t Google: “How do you deal with a losing streak of this magnitude in the NHL?” and get a response. You have to find solutions. That was the goal today. I said we felt like shit after the loss yesterday. Today, let’s try to feel less like shit. »

Poor

This Tuesday match concluded a horrible first half of the season. Season which must however continue, because unlike the show VIPthe Sharks cannot close the door before the end of the year.

In figures, here is how their failures are reflected:

• A record of 9-29-3 for 21 points in 41 games, a success rate of .256. Since the 2004-05 lockout, the 2019-20 Red Wings had the worst record at .275. You have to go back to the 1999-2000 Thrashers to find a worse record. Atlanta had played to .238, but they were an expansion team then.
• 1.98 goals scored per match. Never a good sign when this statistic is written in the singular. Still since 2004-2005, only two teams have scored fewer than two goals per game: the Sabers of 2013-2014, then those of 2014-2015.
• 4.10 goals allowed per game. This is the worst defensive performance by a team since 2005. Last year, the Ducks allowed 4.09 per game.
• Two streaks of more than 10 losses in a row since the start of the season. The Sharks had in fact lost their first 11 duels of the campaign.

Marc-Édouard Vlasic is one of the rare survivors of the Sharks’ period of glory. Arriving in the NHL in 2006, the defenseman participated in the playoffs 12 times in his first 13 seasons, with one appearance in the final in 2016 and three other appearances in the final four. Years when the Sharks embodied a model of stability.

“It’s not fun to lose,” admitted the Quebecer after training. When you’re competitive, when you show up for every match, it’s less hard, you can accept defeats. There, we can’t really accept defeats, since we don’t show up. We get beat 7-1, 5-1, 10-2. It’s a little harder, but every day I’m here, I’m in a good mood, I love playing hockey, I still do it after 18, I still love it. »

Long reconstruction

Vlasic says he’s still enjoying himself and it showed by his enthusiasm on the ice on Wednesday. After the interview, he let his teammates head back to the hotel and stopped to sign autographs for kids from a local minor hockey team who had attended practice.

All the better if he likes it, because he’s basically taken in San Jose. The Quebecer has an agreement valid until 2026, worth seven million dollars per season. Its use decreases from year to year; he’s playing just under 14 minutes per game this season, when he plays. Left out on Tuesday, he will return to training on Thursday for this duel in front of his loved ones.

“It’s our home and every time I’m here, I play good hockey,” he said.

Except that in the long term, reconstruction promises to be tedious. In the last six drafts, San Jose has drafted in the top 20 only twice: it was for forwards William Eklund, who is playing his first full season with the Sharks, and Will Smith, still in the NCAA. The team has not reached the point where tomorrow’s core members occupy important roles. There are still many veterans in the middle or at the end of their careers, such as Mike Hoffman, Anthony Duclair and Jan Rutta.

“When I arrived, we were used to being one of the best teams. We were pampered, noted Vlasic. Hoping that things change quickly and that we don’t experience this for five or six years. I don’t think that’s the plan. They want to have a fairly competitive team quickly. I don’t know how they’re going to do it, but Mike Grier is the GM, it’s up to him to put it together! »