An Impressive Home Debut

Wow! What an entertaining performance by Dany Heatley last night. If you are one of the lucky fans who had a ticket to the home opener last night, you are a lucky SOB!

You'll have to forgive my exuberant writing style in this post. I have been pretty sleep deprived lately and when I am so sleep deprived I tend to be a little more emphatic than usual.

Some thoughts before I ponder all things Heatley:

- Scott Nichol was an incredible signing. The man has sandpaper for skin and the only thing on his mind is playing for his team by sacrificing himself. I'm sure most fans noticed that he took a monster cross check that sent him flying headfirst into the boards in the first period last night but the part that really impressed me was that it was exactly what Scotty wanted. That was his entire plan! He approached the Jackets defenseman (his name slips me) with the intention of ruffling some feathers and as soon as he got the guys goat, Scotty turned and showed his back to the guy as if saying, "Hey, here, cross-check me, I'm just a little guy, and you hate playing against me. Go on! Do it!" Lo and behold, the D-man dropped the boom into his back, earning two minutes of shame. Scotty knows the Sharks Power play is nasty and that when it gets more time on the ice the Sharks are more likely to win games. That is the epitome of a team-first attitude and he is a great example of playing a non-traditional role to the fullest. Judging from his interviews, he is not the brightest bulb in the room but he has earned my respect.

- Jason Demers is a lucky dude. He did not look sharp in the first period and I think the entire arena saw the defensive-zone turnover coming when Rick Nash targeted him for a hard-forecheck on the Sharks first period power play. You can only hope he learns from that experience that players in the NHL are expected to play smarter and think faster than that. Yet, I wont sell him down the river. He was specifically targeted by the Blue Jackets last night and he played pretty well!

- Allan Muir at CNNSI.com wrote an article about Demers and Ferriero: http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2009/writers/allan_muir/10/09/ferriero.lucic.chelios/index.html

- I am still in love with the sandpaper half of the Sharks lineup. Their effect was obvious last night in the second half of the game. The Blue Jackets are a team whose philosophy is to hustle and work until the other team folds. Yet, the Sharks are a team that can wear out a team like the Blue Jackets with their skill, uptempo, and physicality. The bottom lines of the Sharks wore out the Blue Jackets last night with their grit and it showed in the second half of the game.

Here are some numbers:

Hits Given: Sharks 31, Jackets 25.

Sharks Hits Given Leaders: Nichol 5, Clowe 5, Heatley 4, Mcginn 4, Malhotra 3, McLaren 3

Blocked Shots: Jackets 23, Sharks 9. This has been a pattern all season. Hopefully, players will learn the different shooting lanes and how to get there as the season progresses and players adjust to the system. That should get the shot numbers back to where they were last year.

Faceoffs: Sharks 33, Jackets 29.

Sharks Leaders: Thornton and Nichol, 9

Not all is well in faceoff land for the Sharks. Joe got absolutely dominated by the Jackets, and by Sammy Pahlsson in particular, last night by winning only 4 of 11 draws against Pahlsson and 9-23 overall. Joe also got dominated in draws in the defensive zone, going 3-9. He had an off night. Players bounce back.

Finally, Some First Line Talk:

The first line was, obviously, very dangerous last night. I think all Sharks fans sensed when we acquired Heatley that there was the potential for something special between him and Joe. I did not anticipate that Setoguchi might become a part of that special threat but here he is, maybe one of the most dangerous players in the NHL right now. He looks great out there with his speed, physicality, and dunk-ability in the slot. With their abilities to match teams checkers physically, if not over-power them, to move the puck masterfully around the ice, shooting and scoring is made even easier for this line. It appears that this line can just flat out dunk the puck. They seem to be having some problems with finding a D-pairing that works with them because of the breakdowns that have happened with this line defensively. I would proffer that Boyle/Murray might be the pairing of choice for them if only so that we can hide Murray out there and take advantage of Dan Boyle's offensive dirtiness to earn the first Norris trophy in Sharks history.

Finally, I am in love with the new Comcast Sports pre and post-game shows.