Man Oh Man

I haven't had much time to watch a lot of hockey. But when I do, I am impressed.

I can't believe we held the Penguins to 11 shots!!!!!! Meanwhile we had a whopping 34 shots.

We've been so good about throwing the pucks at the net and preventing the other team from getting close to Nabby (and Boucher). Too bad this means Nabby's save percentage is going to suck a little. But, at the end of the day, all we care about is getting that W.

This is one crazy year.

greatest idea ever

they need to bring this to the shark tank.

i would so sign up for this...

Upcoming..

Good 2-1 road trip. Any trip above .500 is considered good, especially in the NHL.

Right around this time last year and for most of the year two players were carrying this team: Joe and Nabby. Now with Joe and Nabby off to a slow start (by their standards), the rest of the team especially our defensemen have picked it up. According to stats earlier this week, the Sharks lead the league by points from defensemen. "My Boy" has been deemed the most consistent Shark player by Jamie Baker today on the radio.

Great test this week with Pens and Wings in town. Go Sharks!

thorton playing hurt

i guess its official, and it only confirmed my suspicions to start the season.

thorton just hasn't been playing that well. he hasn't been skating well, and he's giving up the puck a lot.

http://blogs.mercurynews.com/sharks/2008/10/23/thornton-sits-out-practice-as-groin-soreness-returns-plus-a-travel-diversion/

Good for the game

San Jose's 7-6 shootout (literally in both ways) win over Philly is what the NHL needs. More high scoring games like the 5-4 games of the 1980s and early 90s. I really do hope the GM's are sensible enough to make the goalie equipment smaller. Sorry Nabby but offense and scoring chances sells both to the casual and die hard. Who here can say they did not enjoy these past two games against Philly?

Thoughts after the 1st Period of the Crazy Game

7 goals in the 1st period?! what the heck?

sharks are giving the puck up way too often. hopefully they can play more disciplined the rest of the game.

mad props to Chris before the year regarding Ehrhoff.

"put him down for 40 points! 10 goals and 30 assists. heck maybe i'll draft him in the later rounds"

3 Goals! 3 Assists! in 7 games! MY BOY EHRHOFF! :)

*EDIT: They took away Ehrhoff's goal and gave it to Pavelski. Ehrhoff got the primary assist.

Week 2 Fantasy Update

(note im going to talk about myself in 3rd person for clarity sake)

Congratulations to Chris and Grace and Jonathan for their first wins this week. Ting disappointingly got a tie in his first game.

Chris dominated his opponent 8-1.
Grace and Jonathan each squeaked by their opponents 6-4.
Ting tied his opponent 4-4.

Stat leaders from our teams this week...

Goals: Grace with 12. Simon Gagne let it up with 3 this week.
Assists: Tied between Chris and Jonathan with 17. Langkow led Jonathan's team with 4 assists, while Kiba and Cammalleri led Chris's team with 3.
+/-: Jonathan with -1.
PIM: Chris with 53. He got great "help" from Morrow, Boyle, and Blake.
PPP: Pretty even. Chris, Ting and Jonathan each had 12. Grace had 11.
SOG: Ting with 114. Chris and Jonathan were next in the high 80s. Ting had great contribution from Nash who had 21.
W: Chris with 4. He had Garon and Nabby. Both Edmonton and San Jose are off to strong starts. No fair.
GAA: Ting at 3.23. Lundqvist and Gerber had strong starts.
SV%: Ting at .896. Same as above
SHO: Grace at 1. Stupid Giguere shut out the Sharks.


Next up this week...

Jonathan vs Grace: mhm...roster sabotage maybe? :D
Chris vs Tim (my friend): should be an interesting matchup. he has strong goaltending in Brodeur in Legace, as does Chris. The rest of his roster is decently strong as well.
Ting vs "Arsenal FC": My friend's friend. He won his first match 7-3.

Defensemen and Power Plays

Last night's exciting victory over the Flyers in OT reminds me why I love hockey. Albeit a regular season game, it had everything from hits, fights, saves and a timely comeback by the home team. I had a bad feeling about this game. Somehow the Sharks fought back from three separate deficits, 2-0, 3-1, and 4-3. Credit the team for their 'resiliency'.

As I look at the stat sheet for the season, three of our defensemen (Vlasic, Boyle and Erhoff) are in the top 5 in scoring for the team. This is what I imagined as McClellan has emphasized the our blueline to shoot more. This is a good thing! Lots of good things happen when you shoot the puck.
Erhoff already has more goals then he had all of last year!

Now lets take a look at a concern. Despite the defensive breakdowns, I am still more concerned with our power play. At times guys are still standing still and waiting for someone to make a play. Even Cheech admitted to doing that. Old habits are hard to break and guys need to move around and have one guy in front of the net. Sounds simple on paper but harder to execute on the ice.

2008-2009 Fantasy Hockey Preview

Since all 4 of us bloggers are in the same fantasy hockey league, I'll give my analysis on each of the 4 teams, plus a few extra notes. We'll start off with my team, ThsIsSharksTerritory. (WARNING - This analysis may be biased, because I wouldn't have picked anyone who I didn't think would do well)

Goalies

I'll start off where I'm strongest. Not to boast or anything, but I have the best goalie tandem in our league right now. It was a little bit of a stretch to take Nabby with the #6 pick in the draft, but I've always valued goalies very highly. In most standard leagues, there are only 2 roster spots for goales, yet they count for 4 of the 10 scoring categories.

When the 2nd round rolled around, I wasn't planning on taking Luongo, but there were no forwards (or defensemen) that I trusted enough to take that high. Gaborik is injury prone, St. Louis plays for a bad team and only gets points, and Nash also plays on a bad team and gets no help.

I thought my 3rd goalie was also a good steal in round 14. Mathieu Garon is the starting goalie for an improving Oilers team. Garon never put up great numbers in the past, but that's partly due to the fact that he played for the LA Kings. Hopefully, this year, he can reach 30-35 wins, with a 2.50 GAA and a couple shutouts.

Forwards

This is probably where I'm weakest, considering I didn't take a forward until the 4th round. I took Brenden Morrow with the pick because of how well-rounded he is (I know, I know - he plays for the Stars). He had "only" 74 points, but he also contributed a +23 and 105 penalty minutes. I would gladly take him over someone like Eric Staal, who had more points, but was minus player and had less than half the amount of penalty points.

Aside from Morrow, I took a lot of guys who have potential, based on who they're playing with this year. Marleau should be good for 80+ points if he stays on a line with Big Joe, with many of those coming on the power play. Cammalleri should be in the 70 point range, playing with Iginla and have a better +/-, being on a better Calgary team. Steve Bernier also falls into this category. Playing with the Sedins, hopefully he can put together a 30/30 year.

Speaking of the Sedins, Henrik's one of the guys I'm looking to replace on my roster. Yes, he did contribute 76 points (only 15 goals), but he didn't help too much in the other categories. I think I'm just biased and never really liked the Sedins (or the Canucks).

Another team I REALLY don't like is the Ducks. So I have no idea why I took Teemu Selanne in the 5th round. I should've taken into consideration that the Ducks' offense is now pretty horrible and Selanne is now 38 years old. He won't hit 94 points, like he did back in 06-07, but I'm hoping 80 is within reach.

Petr Sykora is a hot guy (that one's for you Grace). Hopefully he can stay healthy enough to stay on a line with Malkin and Staal all year. If he manages to do that, he should pick up 60-70 points easily. Malkin is an absolute stud (100+ points) and Staal should be much improved (he just turned 20!).

Defense

My defensemen are a solid group. I might have taken Boyle a little early (in the 3rd round), but I have really high hopes for him this year and it's nice to have as many Sharks as I can get on the team. With him on the power play with Joe, Patty, Cheechoo, and Blake, he can end up with 40 power play points and maybe 65-70 total.

Blake should have a rebound year too. He was decent last year, but his +/- was pretty bad. He should get about 40 points and also contribute 100 penalty minutes.

Kuba and Timmonen are both solid defensemen who play tons of minutes on pretty good teams (Ottawa and Philly). They'll both put up solid numbers, between 35-45 points. Kuba has led the Senators in ice time in each of the first 3 games and already has 3 power play assists. Timmonen hasn't put up great numbers yet, but has logged at least 27 minutes of ice time in each of the Flyers' 3 losses.

I knew nothing about Byfuglien going into the draft, but anyone who plays as a forward but is eligible as a defenseman should pretty valuable. Last time I checked, he was playing on the 2nd line in Chicago with Sharp and Kane - good company. However, he got less than 14 minutes of ice time tonight, so I'll continue to keep an eye on him. I might drop him in the future if he doesn't step it up.


And that concludes my team. Tune in this weekend and I'll cover the other teams when I have the time.

The last team

With the Niners and Raiders playing for draft picks (and even ready to move according to one source) and the A's and Giants not even close to sniffing the playoffs for a while and the Warriors losing Davis and Ellis, your San Jose Sharks are the Bay Area's last hope. In fact they have been a model of consistency for the last 4-5 years. It's a great time to be a Sharks fan. Enjoy the ride!

Thoughts about last night's game

-Patrick Marleau and Jonathan Cheechoo are back this year

-Columbus really outplayed us. We only won because we capitalized on their defensive mistakes.
Sharks need to work harder against the less talented teams or they will lose on some nights

-The power play needs to remember to move around. Guys were standing around once again. Old habits are hard to break

-If all else fails, the best goalie in the league will save our butts.

Like A Proud Mother

I'm loving the Sharks - I feel like I have some sort of motherly glow when I talk/think about them. I guess I'm only allowed to talk like this cause I'm a girl. I'm sure the guys are cringing as they read this. Some thoughts:

- 4 out of 4 in their first 4 games. That's pretty impressive. However, this does not mean it's ok to slack off - I'm sure McLellan won't let that happen. He's looks very intense on the bench, almost expressionless. But he's definitely whipped them into shape.
- Thornton and Marleau in the top ten in face-offs. That's very very good. When the team is showing improvement in ALL areas, you know they really have improved and it's not just luck.
- Pickles is THE BOMB! Vlasic, Blake, and Marleau are leading the league in +/-.
- We've given ourselves a nice comfortable lead in the league, hopefully the difference will keep widening as the season progresses.
- 2 shorties in 1 game.

We're 4-0!!!

4-0 baby! WOOT!

it was a kind of sloppy game at times. let in two power play goals, and the biggest problem the entire game was that we couldn't cleanly clear the puck out of our zone.

other than that, we looked good!

- Grace's boy Pickles got a goal and had a plus/minus of 4!!!
- Two shorthanded goals were a very nice surprise.
- Michalek and Marleau finally got their first goals

I especially liked the end when JR got into that fight. Way to go JR!

Chicks dig the hockey players

http://www.faniq.com/blog/Video-NHL-Players-And-Celebrity-Women-Go-Hand-And-Hand-Blog-12590

Wanna lace em up Jon and Chris? =P

Thoughts after the first three games

1. Sharks look good! It's great to go 3-0 in 4 days against our Pacific Division rivals. It's also nice to see Dallas and Anaheim winless through two games so far.

2. I love this new philosophy that Todd McClellan is bringing to this team. Shoot! Shoot! Shoot! Good things happen when you put the puck on net. 41 shots each in game 1 and 2 gave a comfortable enough margin of victory. Only 19 shots in tonights game, and the game was a little closer. But man good things happen when you shoot. Ehrhoff scoring a goal from the blue line in game 1...Kaspar getting his first career NHL goal tonight. Back in the RW era, I would put money down that Kaspar would look to pass first rather than take that shot.

3. I'm loving our goalie situation. Nabby will definitely be a contender for the Vezina again this year, but Todd said that he'll probably cut his games down by 5 or more. It's comforting to know that we have a very able Boucher to come in and give Nabby a rest.

4. I'm loving the balance in offense of this team. Our young guys (Setoguchi, Pilhal, Pavelski, and Kaspar and to an extent Cheechoo and Ehrhoff) have been providing the goal scoring, yet guys like Marleau, Thorton, Michalek, and Clowe have yet to find the net). It's nice to see that even if our big guns aren't find the net, we have others to step up. I love how even these four aren't producing goals, they're still playing great hockey. Imagine how electrifying our offense will be when Marleau, Michalek, and Clowe start lighting up the net.

5. Our power play has been shut out these past two games after scoring 2 in the opener. It's a lot more improved then last year, and I've seen great things come out of it, but I'm thinking that Todd is going to spend some more time on it during practice.

6. I didn't really like the game tonight. The Sharks seemed sloppy at times and a bit undisciplined taking 5 penalties, but I guess that's to be expected after playing 3 games in 4 days. A wins a win though, and that's all that matters.

Quick Thoughts on Game 1

A few quick thoughts about game 1 before I have to go to a meeting.

- Our powerplay looked great for the most part. We had some trouble getting the puck controlled and into their zone, but once we did, we got some really good chances. Looks like McLellan has our guys moving around on the powerplay. No more of Big Joe on the half-boards trying to create something. Also, it's REALLY nice to have guys like Blake and Boyle on the point. They both have great shots and really know how to work the powerplay. That puts pressure on the opposing penalty killers to get out to the points, giving our forwards more room to move. Another thing I noticed is that we always tried to have someone parked in front of the net, mostly Cheechoo. Even in the post game interview, comparisons were drawn to Tomas Holmstrom, Detroit's pest in front of the net on their PP. I think the traffic paid off, particularly on Ehrhoff's goal. Jiggy was pretty well screened and I don't think he saw the shot all the way.

Okay, I ran out of time so I'll finish this post later.

Continued... I think for the rest of the season, I'll use the following rating system to convey my options. SCORE - good thing. MEH - not good, not bad. FAIL - bad thing. Let's test it out on game 1.

SCORE - Dan Boyle and Rob Blake - Both Blake and Boyle played solid first games for the Sharks. There were no spectacular plays on either end of the ice, but both contributed both offensively and defensively. Blake stood out more because of the bombs he launched from the point on the powerplay and strong play in front of our net, but it's Boyle who can really make a difference, with his smooth skating, fancy puck skills, and quick and accurate shot. Almost as important, he looks to be a solid defensive player, something that can't be said of our previous "star" defenseman.

MEH - Joe Thornton - Big Joe seemed to have a very sloppy game. I don't remember any plays he made that led to a scoring chance for us (aside from his assist to Cheechoo on the 5 on 3 - that was just too easy). He had some trouble with the puck and didn't carry play like he usually does. It was just game 1, so I'll give him a break. At least he made a big hit on Scott Niedermayer to set the tone early in the game.

FAIL - Sharks' 3rd lines - Fail seems like such a harsh word, so I may have to rename my rating system. I guess you can't say the 3rd line failed, but they certainly didn't have a good game. Maybe they're not used to playing together yet, but the line didn't seem to work well together at all. They didn't really generate any scoring chances and had trouble in their own zone. I remember at least a couple shifts where Anaheim was putting on the pressure in our zone and our 3rd line couldn't do much about it. They had trouble clearing the zone and made a few big errors. One play that stands out in my head is when Ryan Clowe tried to pass the puck up the middle but it went straight to a Ducks player in front of our net. They were also on the ice when Anaheim scored their only goal. Once again, it was their inability to get the puck out of the zone that led to the goal.

SCORE - Evgeni Nabokov - I have a feeling Nabby will SCORE often this season. He was solid as usual, only letting in 1 goal on a deflection. He also bailed out the Sharks on a few mistakes, stopping Teemu Selanne and Brad May point blank.

San Jose Sharks 2008-2009 Season

Welcome back guys! We've missed you. Let's make this an exciting year!

NHL Opening Night
San Jose Sharks VS. Anaheim Ducks
HP Pavilion
7:30PM

GO SHARKS!