Sharks Locker Room: Worst Team of the Cap Era?

The San Jose Sharks didn’t want to talk about losing streaks, which is understandable.

Just 44 games into the season, they’ve had two double-digit losing streaks, 0-10-1 to start the season and a 12-game skid that they just snapped last Thursday.

So they were in no mood to talk about the steps that they had to take to avoid another protracted losing streak after a 3-0 shutout against the Buffalo Sabres, their second-straight loss after Thursday’s victory.

“Score more goals than the other team and win hockey games” was all Luke Kunin offered when asked what the San Jose Sharks needed to do to avoid another long losing streak.

He’s not wrong, of course.

But like it or not, that’s going to be a story for the rest of the season, whether the Sharks can avoid history of the worst kind.

They’re already on pace to be the worst team, points percentage, of the cap era (i.e. no more ties). San Jose’s .261 is currently behind the 2019-20 Detroit Red Wings’ .275.

Another 11 games or more losing streak would make them only the third team in NHL history to have three losing streaks of that length in a season, joining the 1992-93 Ottawa Senators (losing streaks of 14, 11, and 11) and 1992-93 Sharks (17, 13, 13) in infamy.

Point is, the awfulness of these Sharks, until they prove otherwise, is going to be a story all season.

So can they avoid being the worst team of the cap era? Can they avoid being one of the worst teams in NHL history?

Tomas Hertl

See the full Hertl interview here

Hertl, on what the San Jose Sharks need to do tomorrow against the Chicago Blackhawks:

We have to definitely be ready. Same like we start today. We definitely need to score some goals.

We have to be more hungry and more strong around the net because we kind of just skated around waiting for the bounce, but it will not happen if you don’t go there.

Luke Kunin

See the full Kunin interview here

Kunin, on what the San Jose Sharks did right in the first period:

Just a good forecheck, getting on top of them, creating turnovers. Good F3, just all the usual things that need to get offensive zone shifts. Next step is finding ways to keep that going and put a few in.

Kunin, on what he saw on the Alex Tuch power play goal:

They were in a spread. We didn’t react quick enough.

David Quinn

See the full Quinn interview here

Quinn, on San Jose Sharks not shooting enough:

An area that I think we really can improve on is shoot more pucks and create opportunities for other people. Right now, I think we’re in the mindset of we’re not going to shoot unless we’re going to score.

Quinn, on promoting Alexander Barabanov onto Hertl and William Eklund’s line in the game:

I just thought he was playing well. Obviously, he had missed a lot of hockey. Sometimes. I think it takes a little bit of time for guys to find their game and I think it’s trending in the right direction for him. I thought his skill level would help Tommy and Eky.