“We’re A Tomorrow Team…
"It comes with some pain," Wilson said. "The timeframe of that rebuild will be based upon the players that get added, the growth of some of the players that we have and how we manage it."(The Hockey News)
Those words, title included, came out of Doug Wilson’s mouth in June 2014. Perhaps the Sharks are a ‘tomorrow’ team but based on what he did in the off-season that immediately followed those comments it was pretty clear that he didn’t mean that tomorrow.
Wilson spent July first courting the skillful services of 6’8… head-thumper John Scott and angling a deal to acquire Tye McGinn in exchange for San Jose’s 2015 3rd Round pick. Apparently, for Wilson, tomorrow meant bad hockey with a chance of a bench clearing brawl. I will give Wilson credit for acquiring a second round pick for Brad Stuart in an absolute steal of a trade – but that deal qualifies as ‘The Day After Tomorrow’.
Wilson also made sure to re-sign Scott Hannan and Mike Brown. These were the roster answers to a biblical playoff collapse – and the first moves of ‘tomorrow’.
Sharks Enter Training Camp Sans Captain
"We're going to re-establish the hierarchy and the culture in the organization," McLellan said, according to CSN Bay Area. "If it's real evident that [Thornton] is the guy, he'll be the captain. If there's somebody else that assumes that role and is prepared to take it on and is doing a very good job, then they will be. To say we stripped him, no. We've cleaned the slate, and we're going to go forward." (NHL.com August 20th 2014)
Perhaps the biggest sideshow of all for the majority of the San Jose Sharks 2014-2015 season was Joe Thornton not having the ‘C’ on his sweater. In the above quote, McLellan said ‘If it’s real evident that [Thornton] is the guy, he’ll be the captain.’ Add that to the laundry list of lies from off-ice Sharks personnel from this season.
It was definitely evident – and it was evident all season – but Thornton never reacquired his letter.
There was no re-establishing of hierarchy within the Sharks. There was Thornton and then there was the second tier of alternates. Joe Pavelski stepped up in the spotlight during an Epix episode but, since the cameras aren’t in the dressing room outside of that series, should be believe that’s different from anything he did in previous seasons? Leaders have a voice, with or without a letter, and I’d wager that ‘little Joe’ wasn’t ‘silent Joe’ until that video aired.
Before the season even began the coaching staff and management tried to divide the room – a room that had just accumulated 111 points in the previous season.
EPIX Television Series
Maybe all of the above was simply to create good reality television.
The Sharks list of distractions was large before the season even began and the Epix series was one of them. As a fan it’s exciting to get an inside look at the team and see flashes of what you normally wouldn’t get to see – but it’s still a distraction for the team.
When the Sharks blew a 3-0 series lead to the Los Angeles Kings in the 2014 NHL Playoffs the next move shouldn’t have been to put them closer to the spotlight. It should have been to remove them completely so they could focus on their jobs. As entertaining as it was to see Brent Burns at the zoo, or wherever he was, the series added to the pointless nonsense that went on in Northern California this year. When Joe Pavelski had choice words in the locker room it was great to see – but all it did was create a non-story. Are we to believe that Pavelski hadn’t spoken in the locker room before that? That he never got pissed off? Nonsense. Everyone knew Pavelski was a good leader before that.
The Sharks should have told the NHL to pick another patsy – but, then again, money talks.
Dollars and Cents
The Sharks are in a great cap position and as much as I think Doug Wilson should be fired he has done a very good job managing the finances of the roster. That’s a commendation for doing his job, not exceeding expectations, though.
The Sharks are losing money. The television deal that they signed with Comcast is an absolute joke. $7M over a 13 year deal. That’s absolutely embarrassing for a franchise that had been as successful as the Sharks. To put that deal in perspective, John Scott – according to spotrac.com – has earned an estimated $3,821,796 over 7 seasons in the NHL. That means that pro-rated over 13 years – the same as the TV deal – John Scott will have made more money than the Sharks did from a television contract.
In a recent article from BaySportsNet, David Barclay dropped this:
"After the 2012 season, the Sharks declared they had lost $15M, a figure that was substantially higher than the previous lockout shortened season. Leading up to the 2013 season, the Sharks have had operating incomes of $-5M, $-6.2M, $-8M and $-0.9M." (BaySportsNet)
Consistently losing money and then missing the playoffs for the first time in a decade worth of seasons has to create a little unrest on the business side of things, right? Is it enough unrest to call for change from ownership or will it push the Sharks to have an internal budget?
Financially this season was a disappointment and when the numbers come in for operating income I don’t foresee too many happy faces at the top of the food chain. The 205 game sellout streak was gone in October and the attendance was up and down all season. At the end of the day the Sharks are a business for those whole make the puppets dance. Negative finances will impact the product on the ice – and maybe it already has. If this off-season comes and goes and the Sharks don’t acquire some help via free agency or a trade perhaps all of the cap space they have is intended to remain intact.
Thornton v. Wilson
With the Sharks in a fight to keep their playoff dreams alive, Doug Wilson decided to throw a grenade into the picture.
"He cares about the game so much. The reason we took the 'C' off him . . . He carries the weight of the team on his shoulders and he's got such a big heart that when stress comes on him he lashes out at people," Wilson said, "and it kind of impacts them.
"The pressure and stress, I felt, was getting to Joe," the general manager continued. (Mercury News)
Well, that’s one way to create a media circus. Dig up old wounds and hurl your captain-but-not-captain back under the next Greyhound bus that drives by.
Thornton didn’t take well to the comments – rightfully so – and responded with his own candid statements.
"I think Doug just needs to shut his mouth," Thornton said after his team's morning practice. "I think that's the bottom line." (Mercury News)
Thornton went on to say that Wilson needs to ‘stop lying’.
This is all happening while the Sharks are trying to stay afloat in the Western Conference playoff race. Impeccable timing.
The public rift caught the attention of Hasso Plattner, who emerged from the shadows of his Wikipedia page to intervene.
"Via email, Hasso Plattner confirmed he talked to both Joe Thornton and Doug Wilson. Asked what he said, he replied, “What happens (with) the Sharks stays with the Sharks. All good.…" (Sportsnet)
Doug Wilson has seemingly spent the better part of a calendar year trying to force Joe Thornton to waive his NMC, but to no avail. Will the touchy relationship magically heal itself? I highly doubt it. So no, Hasso, I don’t imagine things are “all good.…
This situation – the Thornton/Wilson situation – is going to hang over the San Jose Sharks as long as they both remain employees of the organization in the same capacity. Since Thornton’s can’t change that leaves two realistic options: fire Wilson or remove him from the general manager role. Otherwise, the drama is bound to resurface.
McLellan v. Wilson
Earlier in the year James Mirtle ran a story that questioned the strong relationship between Doug Wilson and Todd McLellan. Immediately the San Jose media went scrambling to refute the claims but Mirtle stood pat.
“But what happened was a disagreement between Wilson and coach Todd McLellan. The coach wanted to play Burish. The GM had other ideas and put him on waivers.
Reminds you a bit of Moneyball, actually, in terms of taking away a player a coach wanted to use.… (Globe and Mail)
Mirtle doesn’t just make stuff up, he covers the sport great. The Sharks and the media got past the article and then the trade deadline happened. James Sheppard and Andrew Desjardins were shipped out and Wilson mentioned Tomas Hertl potentially receiving a chance for a bigger role as third/fourth line center – a position Wilson said is where Hertl is projected to be.
It never happened. Hertl remained a winger on various lines to finish the season even though a lesser quality player in Ben Smith remained a staple down the middle.
What we’re left is a story of a GM seemingly taking players away from a coach to force his hand in lineup decisions. That doesn’t sound like a rosy relationship and, to me, it sounds like Mirtle may have been completely on point when he pondered the stability of the Coach-GM relationship in San Jose.
Summary
Behind the scenes, the Sharks are marred with dysfunction on all levels. It might not seem like it should have an impact with the on-ice product – but it does. The decisions made from top to bottom impact what happens with player acquisitions and, possibly for the Sharks, player usage.
The on-ice product has a lot of work to do, but so do the people that hide in the shadows. Without change on some levels this team has the potential to disappoint all over again in 2015-2016.
Thanks for reading.
*I'd like to send a huge thank you out to everyone who donated to the Canadian Cancer Society and helped me hit (and exceed) my fundraising goal for the Ottawa Marathon. I crossed over the 100% mark and the support is greatly appreciated. http://convio.cancer.ca/goto/timchiasson