Sometimes simple can be better, and that\u2019s the mindset Ryan Warsofsky wants to see more from the San Jose Sharks moving forward.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf you want to win this league, [then] you have to [play simple],\u201d Warsofsky said. \u201cDallas are a pretty good example of that. They don\u2019t beat themselves. Washington\u2019s even a better example of that. They\u2019ve got every guy on the same page [about] how they want to play. If you want to win in this league, you\u2019ve got to play a simple brand of hockey in a sense.\u201d<\/p>\n
Poise is often learned through experience, something that many of the San Jose Sharks\u2019 players are still improving due to their young age. Two of the Sharks\u2019 top leading scorers, Macklin Celebrini and Will Smith, are just 19 years old and 20 years old respectively. While that\u2019s a tremendous sign for the long-term health of the organization, it does mean they still have quite a bit to learn about playing in the NHL.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s about the team, and the team [having] an understanding of what we need to do to be successful that night, and the way we need to play,\u201d Warsofsky noted. \u201cLike we\u2019ve seen all year, we\u2019re not there yet.\u201d<\/p>\n
After the Sharks\u2019 4-1 loss to the Dallas Stars back in early December, 23-year-old forward Collin Graf shared his thoughts, stating, \u201c[We need to] just simplify our game, sometimes. Obviously, things weren\u2019t going our way last game and we weren\u2019t generating a whole lot today, so I think it\u2019s just trying to get pucks to the net.\u201d<\/p>\n
Simplifying is tied into shooting more. The \u201cshot mentality\u201d, as Warsofsky has called it, remains an issue over a month later.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re not shooting enough,\u201d the Sharks\u2019 coach stated after their 7-2 loss to Vegas on Jan. 11. \u201cIt\u2019s been our Achilles heel in a sense. We\u2019ve got to shoot more.\u201d<\/p>\n
The San Jose Sharks are 29th in the NHL with 25.4 Shots Per Game, actually down from last year\u2019s 27th-ranked 26.9.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat I see with our group is, we know, just sometimes we can\u2019t get there to do it consistently enough,\u201d Warsofsky added. \u201cWe meet as a group, we meet in between periods, there\u2019s a lot of video shown. There\u2019s a lot of individual conversations of where we need to get to [in order] to play at a consistent level.\u201d<\/p>\n
Part of what Warsofsky is saying is shot mentality isn\u2019t simply chucking shots at will toward the net, but getting into those dangerous scoring areas, too.<\/p>\n
The aforementioned Smith also understands why the coaching staff is keen to simplify a little more. As a young player, he sometimes gives up a decent scoring chance for a riskier pass. There\u2019s a time and place for both, especially when you\u2019re as skilled as Smith.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cYou have to know the time and what part of the game it is, and based on that, make the play that\u2019s given,\u201d he said in early December. \u201cIf stuff\u2019s not working out, simplify it. If plays are being made, then keep playing your game.\u201d<\/p>\n
The San Jose Sharks will learn this mental adaptability, which comes through talent and maturity and experience. <\/p>\n
\u201cI think our culture and the expectations of winning have come up, there\u2019s a real belief in that dressing room right now that we can play with the best of them,\u201d Warsofsky said. \u201cThat element of shooting more, though, [is the] next step for this team.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Sometimes simple can be better, and that\u2019s the mindset Ryan Warsofsky wants to see more from the San…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":426898,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5127],"tags":[845,58,5,4,748,519,168,5306,5305,1780,169,507],"class_list":{"0":"post-426897","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-san-jose-sharks","8":"tag-collin-graf","9":"tag-featured","10":"tag-hockey","11":"tag-nhl","12":"tag-ryan-warsofsky","13":"tag-san-jose","14":"tag-san-jose-sharks","15":"tag-sanjose","16":"tag-sanjosesharks","17":"tag-sharks","18":"tag-sjhn","19":"tag-will-smith"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nhl\/115954239859901210","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/426897","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=426897"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/426897\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/426898"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=426897"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=426897"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=426897"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}