As if we don't see him enough...

When not moonlighting for CSNCA, good ol' Ross McKeon scribed an
article about the top line for Yahoo! Sports.

http://sports.yahoo.com/nhl/news?slug=rm-heatley100909&prov=yhoo&type=lgns

I think he's not far off comparing the Ottawa line to the Bean Burrito
line.
It'd be interesting to compare the accomplishments of Alfredsson to
Seto.

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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.

Joy in Staubitz's Suspension and Concerns about the longevity of the Fourth Line

First off, I want to say that I enjoy that Brad Staubitz got a suspension. It's not that I have any ill will towards Davis Drewiski. In fact, I had never heard of him until the other night. What I like about this suspension is that a Shark showed a little sandpaper on the bottom lines beside the usual Jody Shelley fight. As some of my friends may recall, I have been pining for a Shark player to earn a suspension via a crushing blow. Honestly, I can't remember when a Shark last received a suspension!

The suspension itself represents a step away from the past few Sharks rosters and, perhaps, a step back towards the years of Daryl Sutter and Bryan Marchment (a current Sharks executive, you'll recall). Those were the years where you could count on the bottom lines to being the energy, bring the heat, and crush a guy every now and then. They really powered the team through some games by punishing opposing forwards on the boards and by sparking the crowd through their sheer determination. Indeed, it seemed for some years that the Sharks' soul lied in the heart of those lines.

For those of those who don't get hockey, you must realize that these players play an important function in the game. It's not hitting for hitting's sake, as Herb Brooks might say. The bottom half of the forward lines exist to shut down the other team. They are there to make life tough for the other team by tiring them down, working them hard, and hitting them just as hard. There's a difference between hitting guys hard and just dropping the gloves with them. When you grind them out, you tire the players and you gain momentum for your other lines to continue on. Having a line of players who can slow down another team, cause them to hold up in the corners, or ignite a home crowd/quiet a road crowd is incredibly important to a team.

For the past few years, the Sharks have had third and fourth lines who were good at slowing the team down but they didn't bring much else to the table. They rarely scored, they rarely fought, and they rarely ignited a crowd. They were able to hide their inability to score or hit by being a very good checking line. They were good at keeping the Sharks off the ledger during the regular season which is an essential component of a winning team. Yet, for all the Sharks' success, they didn't help much in the playoffs when they were exposed by stronger players who were able to muscle them (I'm thinking particularly of Edmonton in '06, Detroit in '07, Calgary in '08, and Anaheim in '09) around and reduce their role.

The current movement towards a stronger, faster, more physical third and fourth line is exciting for me. especially considering one of their more exciting players, Torrey Mitchell, is expected back in late October/early November. I think they will add a lot to the rest of the roster and transform the Sharks into a team who can dunk the puck on you, keep you out of their own net, and make you regret you challenged them in the boards. Of course, I'm a fanboy and totally biased but this is what I'm hoping for.

One concern about the new 'goon' line of Shelley/Nicol/McLaren(Staubitz): can they survive the season? It's three games in and already one guy has been suspended, one guy has a black eye fitting of The Outsiders, and the other has been bloodied twice in fights. If this pace keeps up, I'm worried they wont all make it to the Olympic break, let alone the end of the season. That is something I will be watching in the weeks to come.

Predictions for Tonight

I'm predicting a Sharks victory, 5-2.

Two fights: Staubitz and Shelley. I'd be very surprised if Scott Nicol fought with that monster shiner and the massive swelling over his left eye.

First Star: Setoguchi

Second Star: Dany Heatley

Third Star: Dan Boyle

First goat: Kent Huskins, for his continuing subpar play.

To those on the edge....

UPDATE***

I found a similar article by James Duthie of TSN.CA, posted here. I'm glad I'm not the only one to see this!

http://tsn.ca/nhl/story/?id=294197

END UPDATE**

In light of the Sharks roller-coaster of performances lately, there has been a lot of talk about replacing Nabby, dumping Huskins, and other premature judgements and solutions. To be fair, criticism is deserved. The goaltending has been abused and it's readily apparent that our defensive core is not as talented as it was last year. While we acknowledge that, we have to keep in mind...it's game four!

We are going to have to accept something as true: the Sharks aren't ready to play regular season hockey yet. The training camp was a short one and there are just so many new players and players in new roles that the team (similar to this blog) has yet to find its voice.

To be thorough (in no particular order):

Players learning the system:

- Malhotra

- Nicol

- Ortmeyer

- Huskins

- Heatley

Players Up From the AHL/Learning to Be NHL Players:

- McLaren

- Mcginn

- Staubitz

- Demers

Playes in New Roles

- Murray (as a top 4 D)

That's half of the roster!

I don't want to make excuses for professionals but as a consumer with a specific end, The Stanley Cup, in mind, we have to be patient for a few weeks to let these guys gel together. As any hockey player will agree, a team will take on a new identity when you start a season with a group of new teammates. The idea of a brand new team being dominant from the beginning is just ridiculous. We are seeing that now. They will probably need at least 10 games to get their feet below them and learn to play together in this system. It's the practical way to assess the team as a whole.

Not everything is on a team basis. As we have seen with the "Worcester Shuttle," some players will not have the 10-game window to prove themselves. I think Kent Huskins will survive the 10-game window but if his play continues poorly for the first half of the season, he will find himself a New York Islander.

Not all is bleak in Shark-land. There are signs of life offensively from the "Bean Burrito" line of Heatley/Joe/Seto. The second line prior to Pavelski's injury was excellent on both ends of the rink. Jason Demers has been impressive for a young rookie. Jed Ortmeyer looks like he is exactly the type of hard-hitting and swift moving third line player the Sharks needed. And Patty has been more-than-impressive on both ends of the rink and on special teams. You have to admire the way he obviously handled himself this past summer by putting all of the bad press out of his mind and focusing on his conditioning. He looks great out there.

Be Patient! We'll get there. The idea is to win the cup! We're in the beginning stages right now and the coaching staff has to get all the boys on the same page before we can assess what they are capable of as a unit. Obviously, this team looks great on paper. Yet, they have been playing together for less than a month and for some players even less! We'll soon see how the paper translates into reality but in the meantime, try not to turn blue.

Howdy Howdy Howdy....(vomit)

So, here I go off on the trail first blazed in the Shenkin Clan by my father (buddshenkin.blogspot.com)! I am nervous about opening up my hockey thoughts to the rest of the world to read, as I am often wrong and unintentionally rude to people. I guess that will be included in the "working on finding my voice" part of my development as a young blogger.

As the four of you who are reading this must be wondering, "why the hell is Pete starting a blog, and how is he going to find the time to blog during school!?" I am starting this blog because I am so frustrated with trying to get a word in to other knowledgeable people in the message board/comments section venue. I don't need this blog to be read, nor am I sure I particularly want it to be read broadly but if by some chance my blog becomes a venue for some other Sharks or Bay Area sports fans to collect, I will be okay with that.

I like to talk about the Sharks extensively: the players, the past, the history, the things we didn't notice then, the things we think will happen in the future, the in-game mistakes, the lessons to be learned, and the lessons that were obviously not learned. Perhaps the best way to view this blog would be as a workspace to play with thoughts and sharpen the hockey mind of those involved, and to do so in a reasonable, more academic way. If you're here, I guarantee you're going to be heard above the fray so there isn't a need to yell.

I am also a bit of a sentimental guy so I promise there might be some posts ruminating on the history of the team. I often feel that there is a real lack of palpable Sharks history on the internet and in real life. Part of my goal is to bring the history of the team back to life in our memories by sorting through the material available and, as if we were in a sports bar drinking beers, look back with excessive fondness. Some of the posts might be describing things I remember and some might be trying to figure out things I didn't understand back then. Thanks to YouTube, we can all share and glorify the memories of past eighteen years.

I hope this goes well!

Pete

Test!

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