Drew Remenda on the Sharks: What is needed to stave off elimination
There is one big difference between the Sharks and the Vegas Golden Knights, and it is one that can be bridged.
Like the Sharks, the Vegas Golden Knights toiled through the 82-game marathon season. Like the
Sharks, they practiced day after day sharpening their tools. Like the Sharks, they watched
countless hours of video looking for every advantage. Like the Sharks, they are one of the best
teams in the Pacific Division.
However, unlike the Sharks, the Golden Knights are not making catastrophic mistakes that end up with the puck in their net. Also, unlike the Sharks, when they do make a mistake, their goalie has made the saves.
So, give them credit. The Vegas Golden Knights are a heck of a team. They have depth, speed,
skill and toughness. They are well-coached and stick with the team structure because they know
it works.
Which brings me back to The Sharks. Now I don’t want to go on a rant here and kick the team
when it is down… BUT, I’m going to power through it.
When I was Assistant Coach with the Sharks or “Vididiot” as Igor Larionov used to call me, I
perused hours and hours of video. When you watch the game like that, slowing it down and
freezing the screen, the game appears rather easy. In fact, former Sharks defenseman Jeff
Norton would yell at me once a game, spicing it up with an extra word or two: ”It’s pretty easy from up there, isn’t Drew?”
He’s right. Video and TV give us that impression.
So, my criticism regarding the appalling lack of detail in team structure by the Sharks should be
taken with a grain of salt.
Watching Game 4, you can understand why coaches have bags under their eyes. It’s
the sleepless nights wondering why and how their charges can make such heinous mistakes.
In the first period, the mental miscues gifted the Golden Knights a 2-0 lead and the
game was over.
The game wasn’t over because the Sharks quit or lack the will. It was over because the lack of
details and mental commitment was very evident. As the great Ben Hogan once said: “If you
didn’t bring it with you, boys, you aren’t going to find it out here.”
Another old saw is that a hockey rink is only six inches wide. That is the space between a player’s
ears.
The Sharks are a much better team than they have shown in the last couple of games.
They are a lesser team without Joe Thornton, who was serving his one-game suspension, and two of their top six defensemen. The absence of Marc-Edouard Vlasic and Radim Simek has forced coach Pete DeBoer to overuse Erik Karlsson and Brent Burns
We all know that in the playoffs everybody plays hurt and very few teams are running a full and healthy squad. The Vegas Golden Knights are an exception. That is why it’s imperative the Sharks
mental game needs to be at 100 percent.
These days it is rare that a coach will single out players verbally or visually for a mistake on the
ice. The players are smart. They know they screwed up. Blaming players for a goal-against
is counterproductive. These days it’s about building the guys up and getting them re-focused.
My childhood hero Bruce Lee once said: “The successful warrior is the average man with laser-like focus.”
The Sharks need 20 warriors for Game 5