Craig Morgan from PHNX Sports joins the San Jose Hockey Now Podcast (39:10)! He joins us to take a trip down memory lane, reflecting on the 2017-2018 and the 2021-2022 Arizona Coyotes, who both started 0-10-1, just like the Sharks. The echoes between these teams and the current Sharks makes for a great conversation about the parallels between bad teams.
But before we get to Craig, Sheng and Keegan discuss the news of a fairly good week for the Sharks.
Why is Keegan happy and wearing a Sharks jersey this week? (1:28)
Sheng and Keegan discuss the back-to-back wins for the Sharks to break the slump (2:28)
Why does the Eklund-Hertl-Zetterlund line work so well? (5:00) Plus some notes on the play of Granlund and Hoffman (6:50), as well as Zadina (8:50).
Sheng reveals some of the ins-and-outs of the General Manager Mike Grier tongue-lashing that the Sharks received before their wins this week (9:55).
Keegan discusses why this team meeting with Mike Grier is a good sign for a young general manager and was exactly what the team needed to avoid more embarrassment (17:40).
Sheng and Keegan discuss the Calen Addison trade and why it’s a good fit for the Sharks (24:25)
Sheng talks about the misstep of drafting Merkley and how Addison is filling the role he could have filled on the Sharks today (27:50)
Keegan highlights why Addison can stick in the league with ‘forgivable’ defense vs. Merkley who could not (29:55).
Finally, Sheng and Keegan discuss the Sharks entry drafts from 2015-2020, including Adam Raska who was traded in the Addison trade (33:00).
Alright, time for Craig Morgan (39:10)!
First we talk about the 2017-18 Coyotes, who, like the Sharks, also started 0-10-1 and were looking to avoid that record-breaking 12th loss (41:18).
What did people think of that Coyotes team to start season? (42:25)
What does Craig think the low points of that losing streak was? (43:45)
How did Rick Tocchet and the Coyotes manage their way out and end the season 29-31-11? (46:46) Also, how did they buy-in to his system? (50:10)
Who were the leaders of the locker room at that time? (51:50)
What was current Shark Anthony Duclair’s role on that 2017-2018 Coyotes team? (54:50)
How did Clayton Keller handle all the losing in that season as a young player and how did that shape his future career? (57:20)
Moving on to the 2021-2022 Arizona Coyotes, what does Craig remember about that season? (1:02:50)
How did Coyotes head coach Andre Tourigny coach that team to a respectable-ish record by season’s end? (1:05:30)
How good goaltending can really save a sinking ship, and how that relates to the Sharks and Blackwood. (1:07:30)
The Coyotes lost the draft lottery in 2022 but found themselves the real gem of the draft in Logan Cooley (1:10:10), and why Sharks fans shouldn’t pin all their hopes on just one player.
The Coyotes also took on some project players, Shayne Gostisbehere among them, how did he fare that season? (1:12:52)
Craig wonders just what the expectations were for Sharks head coach David Quinn this season. (1:15:40)
Back to the Coyotes, what was the defense like during the 2021-2022 with recent draft pick JJ Moser joining? (1:18:40)
How important was finding a goaltender, Karel Vejmelka, during this rough time for the Coyotes? (1:22:07)
Keegan and Craig talk about how Vejmelka built up his image on the backs of excellent high-danger save percentage. (1:25:20)
Craig goes into detail about Matias Maccelli and how he should have won the Calder over Stuart Skinner last year (1:27:00)
Sheng asks Craig about Coyotes scout Teal Fowler, and tries to get the Sharks to hire him based on his Sharks-esque name. (1:29:40)
Craig talks about the final positives and negatives related to the 2021-2022 Coyotes, including getting out of Glendale. (1:32:28)
Craig clears up just where the Coyotes are at in terms of a new arena deal. (1:35:40)
Finally the three talk about why the Coyotes are more competitive and dug themselves out of a deep hole just two years ago (1:38:55)
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2 Comments
Quinn's term, "mental fortitude," seems to capture the main thing going on with the Sharks when they get a bad penalty, or multiple goals scored against, or other negative events on ice which lead to the team giving up visibly, collapsing and the other team running up the score. The key is that you have to be tough enough to take many such negative events and bad puck luck and turn around and work harder. The psychological abilities of the coach and staff become even more significant when the Sharks get shocked on ice and need to be nursed or doctored back into playing shape. I hope that Sharks fans don't start booing and throwing their jerseys on the ice in disgust. This is the paradigm of a struggling team that has lost its mental fortitude and is searching for a new team identity built on roster of new faces, misfits and prospects with some role player veterans who have enough synergy to handle the rough times and find ways to work together.
I hope we keep Blackwood… we need goaltending like this. Just think about where we would have been if we had gotten goaltending like this back in 2018-2019? We might have won it all