Has Vlasic Lost His Fire? ‘Furthest thing from the truth,’ Quinn Says

Marc-Edouard Vlasic wasn’t interested in discussing what he considers to be falsehoods. San Jose Sharks head coach David Quinn, however, was happy to speak up on behalf of his veteran defenseman.

On Monday, Elliotte Friedman said about Vlasic, on his “32 Thoughts Podcast”: “One of the reasons that San Jose benches him is because that fire, it’s been quenched. When you are having a year like you are and you’re turning over your team, you can’t have that. You can’t show your players that, if you feel a player isn’t competing to a level they can, especially around young players, you can’t let that happen.”

Vlasic has been a healthy scratch for much of this campaign, appearing in 16 of San Jose’s 27 games.

Quinn pushed back though on why he’s sitting Vlasic, after the San Jose Sharks practiced in Detroit on Wednesday.

“It is not that he’s lost his fire. It’s not that he’s lost his desire,” Quinn said. “That is the furthest thing from the truth.”

Ironically enough, Quinn said this after a very optional practice that nine regular San Jose Sharks sat out – but not Vlasic.

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