reason #10 the the NHL All-Star game is B.S.
Even with the Sharks at 20-3-1, no one on the Sharks are in the starting lineup for the West. Joe Thorton is 8th and Marleau is 10th in the forwards. Boyle is 5th (behind Campbell?!) and Blake is 8th. Even Nabby is 3rd behind Luongo and Osgood.
no love at all.
on a separate note, i was trying to do some research earlier tonight to see who has the best 24 game record in NHL history. I read earlier that the Sharks had the 3rd best 20 game record (33 points) behind the 29-30 Bruins (36 points) and the 05-06 Senators (34 points).
Can someone find a website or some stat site that says what the best 25 or 30 game record is? :)
Sunday, November 30, 2008
Friday, November 28, 2008
3rd line production
First off with an 19-3-1 record there's very little to be nitpicky about an outstanding start so far. But having flamed out in 3 postseasons in a row in the second round, one must always evaluate a team's weakness.
In my opinion the Sharks top 2 lines have been tremendous so far this year. The "O" line of (Seto, Jumbo, Marleau) have averaged a point a game while Clowe Pavs and Michalek have been providing secondary scoring. However, the same could not be said of the third and fourth line. While nobody expects the 4th line to provide much scoring, one thing is disconcerting is JR's drop off of producting from last year. Can we count on him to step up his game in postseason? I think so.
That leaves us with a makeshift third line right now. With Mitchell out and scheduled to comeback sometime in December, the current production of Goc, Grier and Cheechoo have been a thing not to behold. While I personally don't mind if this line doesn't score, it is unacceptable for them to be giving up chances to the other team. Momentum is usually won or lost right after another team scores a goal. From what I have seen so far this third line has not impressed me much. Grier and Cheechoo have been struggling to get on the scoresheet as well as keeping pucks out. Goc is very shaky in his own zone at best.
Stanley Cup teams need production from at least three lines. Anahiem's shutdown line of Pahlsson, Moen and Niedermayer line a few years ago were tremendous in the postseason both shutting down the opposition and putting the occasion puck in the net. Franzen, Maltby and Kopecky played the role of the third line for Detroit's run to the Cup last year.
The question is, when scoring is a premium come postseason, can the players on the Sharks thrid line get the job done come playoff time?
In my opinion the Sharks top 2 lines have been tremendous so far this year. The "O" line of (Seto, Jumbo, Marleau) have averaged a point a game while Clowe Pavs and Michalek have been providing secondary scoring. However, the same could not be said of the third and fourth line. While nobody expects the 4th line to provide much scoring, one thing is disconcerting is JR's drop off of producting from last year. Can we count on him to step up his game in postseason? I think so.
That leaves us with a makeshift third line right now. With Mitchell out and scheduled to comeback sometime in December, the current production of Goc, Grier and Cheechoo have been a thing not to behold. While I personally don't mind if this line doesn't score, it is unacceptable for them to be giving up chances to the other team. Momentum is usually won or lost right after another team scores a goal. From what I have seen so far this third line has not impressed me much. Grier and Cheechoo have been struggling to get on the scoresheet as well as keeping pucks out. Goc is very shaky in his own zone at best.
Stanley Cup teams need production from at least three lines. Anahiem's shutdown line of Pahlsson, Moen and Niedermayer line a few years ago were tremendous in the postseason both shutting down the opposition and putting the occasion puck in the net. Franzen, Maltby and Kopecky played the role of the third line for Detroit's run to the Cup last year.
The question is, when scoring is a premium come postseason, can the players on the Sharks thrid line get the job done come playoff time?
Monday, November 24, 2008
Meeting Jody Shelley!!
So yesterday, I went to the Westgate Starbucks at around 930AM. And who was in line in front of me? Jody Shelley! It took me 3 seconds to realize who he was. I knew right away he was on the Sharks, but I had to confirm in my head that it was Jody. I don't think anyone else recognized him, since no one talked to him. He had his back to me so I said "Jody?" He turned around and I told him I was a big fan and all that. Then I was nervous and didn't really know what to say, so I said "Good fight last night", even though he had gotten the crap beaten out of him by Donald Brashear. I regretted it the second it came out of my mouth. Anyway, he just played it off and by saying "Eh, it was alright". Then we talked for another half minute or so about how well the Sharks have been playing and he said it was exciting and stuff. I also asked if he lived in the area and he said he lives in Saratoga, so I'll be visiting that Starbucks more often on the Sharks' days off!
Sunday, November 23, 2008
interesting statistics about the Sharks
here are some interesting statistics I read from an ESPN blog.
1) The Sharks have 3 players in the top 15 of scoring (Setoguchi and Marleau tied at 8th and Thorton at 15). No other team, including Pittsburgh and Washington has more than 2.
2) Clowe, Marleau, and Setoguchi all have 10 goals. Only Philly can also lay claim to having more than one 10-goal scorer (Carter and Gagne).
3) 3 of the top 5 scoring defenseman are on the Sharks. Boyle is 1st, Blake is 3rd, and Erhoff is tied for 4th.
4) Nabby is still 5th with 10 wins, despite not playing for 9 games. Boucher has as many wins as Toskala, Giguere, and Bryzgalov.
very balanced team. i like :)
1) The Sharks have 3 players in the top 15 of scoring (Setoguchi and Marleau tied at 8th and Thorton at 15). No other team, including Pittsburgh and Washington has more than 2.
2) Clowe, Marleau, and Setoguchi all have 10 goals. Only Philly can also lay claim to having more than one 10-goal scorer (Carter and Gagne).
3) 3 of the top 5 scoring defenseman are on the Sharks. Boyle is 1st, Blake is 3rd, and Erhoff is tied for 4th.
4) Nabby is still 5th with 10 wins, despite not playing for 9 games. Boucher has as many wins as Toskala, Giguere, and Bryzgalov.
very balanced team. i like :)
Friday, November 21, 2008
a post back from the summer
so I was reading some posts from my own personal blog, and I came across an entry back from July 4th.
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Dear Doug Wilson (General Manager of the San Jose Sharks),
I apologize to you Doug Wilson, for ever doubting your personnel decisions. If you happened to stumble over my previous post, I take back everything I said.
I commend you for being such a great GM. Yes, you probably knew Brian Campbell would not resign with the Sharks, so you probably had Plans B and C already lined up.
When Soupy finally left for Chicago on Wednesday, the very next day you signed Rob Blake from LA. Even though he's an older veteran, he can still play...and boy can he still shoot. I am so excited to see him on the powerplay on the right point firing a Joe Thorton pass on goal. I dont think we've had a harder shooter then Al Iafrate from over a decade ago. Blake is a veteran...a former Norris Trophy Winner, and he will definitely be able to teach our young defenseman. What a great signing!
But you weren't done. You knew we still needed a puck moving defenseman. So today, you went out and traded for Dan Boyle from Tampa Bay. I know you were choosing between signing him or Campbell last March, and you ultimately chose Campbell, and now he's gone, but I wont hold it against you. Everyone makes mistakes, but at least you rectified them. It's kind of hard letting go of Carle and a 1st round draft pick and a prospect, but I applaud you for filling our immediate needs on the blueline.
To me these two decisions in two days shows to me that you trust your team, and we just needed upgrades to our blueline, and boy Blake + Boyle is a definite upgrade over Carle + Campbell.
Thank you for getting rid of all my fears for next season. I am now extremely confident that we have the skills and talent to compete for the Cup once again next season.
Thank you so very much!
Your biggest fan,
Jonathan Lee
P.S. If you can sign maybe one more person...maybe a 3rd/4th liner role player, who's also a good penalty killer that would be great! As you probably remember, the Sharks couldn't kill any penalties in the playoffs last season.
---------
Dear Doug Wilson (General Manager of the San Jose Sharks),
I apologize to you Doug Wilson, for ever doubting your personnel decisions. If you happened to stumble over my previous post, I take back everything I said.
I commend you for being such a great GM. Yes, you probably knew Brian Campbell would not resign with the Sharks, so you probably had Plans B and C already lined up.
When Soupy finally left for Chicago on Wednesday, the very next day you signed Rob Blake from LA. Even though he's an older veteran, he can still play...and boy can he still shoot. I am so excited to see him on the powerplay on the right point firing a Joe Thorton pass on goal. I dont think we've had a harder shooter then Al Iafrate from over a decade ago. Blake is a veteran...a former Norris Trophy Winner, and he will definitely be able to teach our young defenseman. What a great signing!
But you weren't done. You knew we still needed a puck moving defenseman. So today, you went out and traded for Dan Boyle from Tampa Bay. I know you were choosing between signing him or Campbell last March, and you ultimately chose Campbell, and now he's gone, but I wont hold it against you. Everyone makes mistakes, but at least you rectified them. It's kind of hard letting go of Carle and a 1st round draft pick and a prospect, but I applaud you for filling our immediate needs on the blueline.
To me these two decisions in two days shows to me that you trust your team, and we just needed upgrades to our blueline, and boy Blake + Boyle is a definite upgrade over Carle + Campbell.
Thank you for getting rid of all my fears for next season. I am now extremely confident that we have the skills and talent to compete for the Cup once again next season.
Thank you so very much!
Your biggest fan,
Jonathan Lee
P.S. If you can sign maybe one more person...maybe a 3rd/4th liner role player, who's also a good penalty killer that would be great! As you probably remember, the Sharks couldn't kill any penalties in the playoffs last season.
Wednesday, November 19, 2008
Hi I'm Grace and I'm a demanding Sharks fan
Symptoms you may be demanding too much:
- getting mad when the Sharks' last 10 game record is 9-1-0
- wanting them to lead the entire league for the entire season
- obsessively checking on NHL.com to see if any of them made the top 3 stars
- expecting a large goal differential per game
Yeah... I think I've been spoiled =)
- getting mad when the Sharks' last 10 game record is 9-1-0
- wanting them to lead the entire league for the entire season
- obsessively checking on NHL.com to see if any of them made the top 3 stars
- expecting a large goal differential per game
Yeah... I think I've been spoiled =)
Tuesday, November 18, 2008
Cheechoo and Google
Sorry I haven't posted lately. Been really busy. I'll catch up one of these days.
Anyway, the reason I'm posting is I was googling Cheechoo to show my friend something and I came across the funniest thing. Google auto-populates your search based on popular searches (I assume) - so what's the first thing that comes up when you type in "cheechoo"??? That's right - "cheechoo girlfriend"!! That means there's lots of girls out there who want to know if Cheechoo has a girlfriend. Hilarious!
Anyway, the reason I'm posting is I was googling Cheechoo to show my friend something and I came across the funniest thing. Google auto-populates your search based on popular searches (I assume) - so what's the first thing that comes up when you type in "cheechoo"??? That's right - "cheechoo girlfriend"!! That means there's lots of girls out there who want to know if Cheechoo has a girlfriend. Hilarious!
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