I like Ron Wilson. He's high tech, smart and seems to be a nice guy. Nevertheless, he's had his turn here in San Jose-Bye Ronny it's been nice knowing you.
Why does RW deserve to be fired?
The Sharks breakout scheme is absolutely the worst in the league. Pass the puck back. Keep on retreating and give the forecheckers time to chase you down. Lets go behind the net to set up instead of making the quick outlet pass. Always pass along the board to get it picked off. Couple this with a mostly inexperienced and immobile D corp against a transtion/trapping team and you have a disaster.
Eliminated in the 2nd round for 3 years in a row is not going to win many believers. The way they lost those series stings having gone up each time. And this year is just the icing on the cake.
Offseason wish list.
A new coach with a different scheme
An instigator
At least 2 defensemen can shoot the puck from the point and can skate
Bye everyone. It's been fun knowing you all. Go Penguins!
Tuesday, April 29, 2008
Monday, April 28, 2008
Disappointed
I am thoroughly disappointed in the Sharks right now.
I took the game 1 loss pretty well. They played hard. They played well. They played with heart. So the OT loss wasn't THAT bad, and it was ok to swallow. Life went on.
Last night, was a different story. They had the 2-1 lead after 2nd, and they completely imploded in the 3rd. It might have been the worst period I've ever watched...ever.
TURNOVERS! TURNOVERS! TURNOVERS! absolutely killed us. All the 4 goals were over turnovers. All 4 goals were because the defense couldn't make that first pass to clear the zone and proceeded to turn over the puck. Well, no. I take that back. The one goal Modano scored out of the penality box was cause Vlasic was out of position. For at least 10 seconds, I kept yelling that Pickles was out of position for the entire shift. I knew he was going to get burned...and I was correct.
Our defense sucks. Campbell, Erhoff, Rivet, Carle, Vlasic all made horrible mistakes, and they couldn't clear the puck! Gosh. They played like a bunch of wusses.
The only good thing about the game was that Section 220, Row 15 has to be the best section in the arena. It's a bunch of hardcore season ticket fans, that get so into the game and are so passionate.
Best line from the game (after a defenseman just happened to pass the puck to an open area on the ice): "Ok guys. Now is not the time to pass the puck to your imaginary friends on the ice."
I took the game 1 loss pretty well. They played hard. They played well. They played with heart. So the OT loss wasn't THAT bad, and it was ok to swallow. Life went on.
Last night, was a different story. They had the 2-1 lead after 2nd, and they completely imploded in the 3rd. It might have been the worst period I've ever watched...ever.
TURNOVERS! TURNOVERS! TURNOVERS! absolutely killed us. All the 4 goals were over turnovers. All 4 goals were because the defense couldn't make that first pass to clear the zone and proceeded to turn over the puck. Well, no. I take that back. The one goal Modano scored out of the penality box was cause Vlasic was out of position. For at least 10 seconds, I kept yelling that Pickles was out of position for the entire shift. I knew he was going to get burned...and I was correct.
Our defense sucks. Campbell, Erhoff, Rivet, Carle, Vlasic all made horrible mistakes, and they couldn't clear the puck! Gosh. They played like a bunch of wusses.
The only good thing about the game was that Section 220, Row 15 has to be the best section in the arena. It's a bunch of hardcore season ticket fans, that get so into the game and are so passionate.
Best line from the game (after a defenseman just happened to pass the puck to an open area on the ice): "Ok guys. Now is not the time to pass the puck to your imaginary friends on the ice."
Sunday, April 27, 2008
Shot blocking
The art of shot blocking is not glamorous. Hardly anyone gets noticed, but like RW said, its the details of the game. Shot blocking requires both timing and courage. The timing part comes when you lay down to block a shot and a guy fakes it, he can skate by you. And courage? Well lets just say its not instinctive to stand in the way of a 90 plus mph slap shot and have it hit you. The Sharks need guys willing to block shots to win the Cup.
Saturday, April 26, 2008
Marleau Hop
Anybody have any thoughts on the Patrick Marleau hop on Modano's power play goal? It's generated some heated discussion from fans coaches announcers alike. Looking at the replay, I would have to agree that Marleau SHOULD NOT HAVE JUMPED. Even if he stood there that puck hits his skate probably. Sorry Captain, we need you to show up, sacrifice the body, whatever it takes. Our team goes where you go.
Sharks System
Our supposed puck possession system will not be around longer (which of course means RW and his coaching staff are gone) if the Sharks dont get at least to the WCF.
Sometimes when the Sharks do a D to D pass behind the net to avoid the forecheckers, they are just standing there. This gives the forecheckers time to put pressure on your D and eventually the Sharks D men cough it up, get hemmed in their own zone and the puck ends up in their own net. I don't know if Ron Wilson is trying to have puck possession like Detroit, but Detroit's defensemen are lot more skilled than ours. When you have Rafalski and Lidstrom you can play catch all day if you wanted to. Does anyone want to see any of the Sharks defensemen play catch too long in their own zone? I think not.
To summarize, it's better to make one quick pass out of our own zone than making multiple passes to avoid the forecheckers. Both options have there risks, but at least with the quick pass you have the potential to catch the other team off guard.
Sometimes when the Sharks do a D to D pass behind the net to avoid the forecheckers, they are just standing there. This gives the forecheckers time to put pressure on your D and eventually the Sharks D men cough it up, get hemmed in their own zone and the puck ends up in their own net. I don't know if Ron Wilson is trying to have puck possession like Detroit, but Detroit's defensemen are lot more skilled than ours. When you have Rafalski and Lidstrom you can play catch all day if you wanted to. Does anyone want to see any of the Sharks defensemen play catch too long in their own zone? I think not.
To summarize, it's better to make one quick pass out of our own zone than making multiple passes to avoid the forecheckers. Both options have there risks, but at least with the quick pass you have the potential to catch the other team off guard.
Friday, April 25, 2008
Thursday, April 24, 2008
2nd Round Preview
Dallas vs. San Jose
This 2nd round promises to be another long series between two old rivals.
Here are some things to look for on the Sharks
Sharks PK vs Dallas PP
The Sharks vaunted #1 PK in the regular season was absolutely atrocious against the Flames and ranked dead last out of the 16 playoff teams after the first round. Mike Grier took a horrible angle on the Adrian Acouin shot from the point for Calgary's first goal in game 7 and has not been very good along with Mitchell in getting pucks out the whole series. Simply put, our pk guys are not getting to loose pucks and need to work harder. Dallas has more skilled guys and watch out for Modano on the point as well as Robidas who had a tremendous series against Anahiem.
Sharks 3rd line performance
The normally reliable 3rd line of Mitchell, Grier and Rismiller during the regular season managed a combined 2 pts total that whole series (2 assists). While not expected to score a bunch of goals, they need to get better defensively. Rismiller was scratched a couple games and RW put Michalek on that line for a bit as well. This line got hemmed in its own zone way too long for a checking line.
Milan and Brian
Milan looked better in game 7 and had some chances and played well defensively. He needs to chip in some goals to take the pressure of Cheechoo on that 1st line. Campbell looked lost out their at times with Murray giving up at least 2-3 breakaways that series. Calgary's relentless forecheck gave BC little space to skate or operate. Expect Dallas to try the same to make him a nonfactor. The playoffs are about adjustments. Brian needs to lead the offense, especially on the power play. Oh, and please beware of Mike Modano when on the pp on the point. I do not want to seem him going alone on Nabby. He has killed us shorthanded multiple occasions during the regular season.
Things to look for on Dallas
Sergei Zubov
Word on the street is that Sergei is practicing again and is day to day. If he comes back in this series an already lethal Dallas PP (2nd ranked in postseason) will certainly get even better.
Dallas defensemen
The injury to Boucher and Zubov has put the young Dallas defensemen right into the playoff fire. Niskanen, Fistric, and Grossman will have to deal with a much better group of forwards than Anahiem. Look for the Sharks to try to exploit these inexperienced D.
Steve Ott
The Calgary Flames never had an agitator in the truest sense. Fans hated Phanuf, but Dion was a superstar defensemen. An agitator doesn't need to score to get under your skin. Steve Ott fits that description. Think Sean Avery of the NYR. Will the Sharks remained disciplined when Ott tries to goad them into taking penalties? If not, this could be a very short series.
Niklas Hagman
Like Milan Michalek this guy posted goose eggs in the 1st round. Having scored 27 goals in the regular season, if he can't produce and the Sharks remained disciplined, Dallas will have a tough time getting secondary scoring aside from the Modanos, Riberos and Richards.
This 2nd round promises to be another long series between two old rivals.
Here are some things to look for on the Sharks
Sharks PK vs Dallas PP
The Sharks vaunted #1 PK in the regular season was absolutely atrocious against the Flames and ranked dead last out of the 16 playoff teams after the first round. Mike Grier took a horrible angle on the Adrian Acouin shot from the point for Calgary's first goal in game 7 and has not been very good along with Mitchell in getting pucks out the whole series. Simply put, our pk guys are not getting to loose pucks and need to work harder. Dallas has more skilled guys and watch out for Modano on the point as well as Robidas who had a tremendous series against Anahiem.
Sharks 3rd line performance
The normally reliable 3rd line of Mitchell, Grier and Rismiller during the regular season managed a combined 2 pts total that whole series (2 assists). While not expected to score a bunch of goals, they need to get better defensively. Rismiller was scratched a couple games and RW put Michalek on that line for a bit as well. This line got hemmed in its own zone way too long for a checking line.
Milan and Brian
Milan looked better in game 7 and had some chances and played well defensively. He needs to chip in some goals to take the pressure of Cheechoo on that 1st line. Campbell looked lost out their at times with Murray giving up at least 2-3 breakaways that series. Calgary's relentless forecheck gave BC little space to skate or operate. Expect Dallas to try the same to make him a nonfactor. The playoffs are about adjustments. Brian needs to lead the offense, especially on the power play. Oh, and please beware of Mike Modano when on the pp on the point. I do not want to seem him going alone on Nabby. He has killed us shorthanded multiple occasions during the regular season.
Things to look for on Dallas
Sergei Zubov
Word on the street is that Sergei is practicing again and is day to day. If he comes back in this series an already lethal Dallas PP (2nd ranked in postseason) will certainly get even better.
Dallas defensemen
The injury to Boucher and Zubov has put the young Dallas defensemen right into the playoff fire. Niskanen, Fistric, and Grossman will have to deal with a much better group of forwards than Anahiem. Look for the Sharks to try to exploit these inexperienced D.
Steve Ott
The Calgary Flames never had an agitator in the truest sense. Fans hated Phanuf, but Dion was a superstar defensemen. An agitator doesn't need to score to get under your skin. Steve Ott fits that description. Think Sean Avery of the NYR. Will the Sharks remained disciplined when Ott tries to goad them into taking penalties? If not, this could be a very short series.
Niklas Hagman
Like Milan Michalek this guy posted goose eggs in the 1st round. Having scored 27 goals in the regular season, if he can't produce and the Sharks remained disciplined, Dallas will have a tough time getting secondary scoring aside from the Modanos, Riberos and Richards.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
