Sharks Host Players-Only Meeting After Latest Blunder

The San Jose Sharks on-ice performance has moved from turbulence to a full downward spiral as of late.

After last night's abysmal 7-2 loss to their rivals, the Los Angeles Kings, the Sharks hosted a players-only meeting.

Neither Macklin Celebrini nor Kiefer Sherwood went into much detail about what was said behind closed doors, but made it clear that they're tired of the way that things have been going.

"I think that's private," Celebrini said when asked about the message of the meeting. "Obviously things aren't going well right now."

To say things aren't going well seems to be a bit of an understatement. The Sharks have looked lost since starting their most recent homestand on October 27. Even their one victory in the last five games, against the Vancouver Canucks, was the result of a strong 10-minute stretch rather than a successful performance.

"We don't deserve any praise right now," Sherwood said of the team's recent performances. "We're going to have to get desperate here and get relentless."

"We know what we have in this room. We believe in each other and we're a team first and foremost," Celebrini said. "[We're] just kind of figuring it out."  

Both Sherwood and Celebrini made it clear that, in their mind, this ongoing slump is on the players and not the Sharks' coaching staff. 

"It's not on the coaches right now," Sherwood said. "We're not winning our battles. We're not being hard to play against. We're not making plays. It's not good enough."

"We're the ones on the ice," Celebrini added. "It's nothing in the structure."

"No one's feeling sorry for ourselves," Sherwood said bluntly "Until we do something about it, nothing's going to change."