Friday Fragments (January 11, 2008)

Cujo

News services are reporting that "sources" claim goaltender Curtis Joseph (presently out of work) is interested in signing with either the Sharks or the Calgary Flames, and that these teams are in turn interested in him. TSN's article has characterized the process of Joseph narrowing the number of teams he would like to play for from five to two as a "sweepstakes".

All reports are he played well in leading a team of Canadians to victory in the Spengler Cup in Switzerland, making 38 saves in the final against Russian squad Salavat Yulaev of Ufa. Even at age 40, then, he probably still has something in the tank...but if he winds up in a Sharks uniform I'm pretty sure I'm unlikely to feel as though Ed McMahon just showed up at my door with a giant novelty check. I'm uncertain where the notion that Curtis Joseph is the best free-agent goalie in the world comes from.

Look, are the other goalies in the Sharks' system ready or not? Thomas Greiss has never played an NHL minute, but there was a time when Evgeni Nabokov had never played an NHL minute, either. Then he showed up and won the Calder. If Greiss is worth having in the system he needs to play sometime, and there's no such thing as an unimportant game, so now is as good a time as any.

If Cujo wants to have a job in the NHL I'm sure he can find one, and I wish him well. Maybe he'll be unbeatable...stranger things have happened. But given the choice between Joseph and a young goalie scouted and developed by an organization with a league-wide reputation as one of the best when it comes to scouting and developing goalies, I think I'd rather have the kid.


Crumbling Leafs

Tomorrow night the Sharks host the Toronto Maple Leafs, who are absolutely on the verge of disintegrating. On a swing through SoCal the last few nights, the Leafs lost to the Ducks 5-0 then fell behind the Kings 5-0 before pulling two back to make the margin a little more respectable. Vesa Toskala, returning from an injury, stopped only 19 of 24 shots in Anaheim, but did better in relief of the torched Andrew Raycroft against L.A. Will the late signs of life against the Kings stir Toronto to make a stand against the Sharks? Or will the collapse continue? We'll see tomorrow...


Almost a Caps Fan?

In an earlier post I expressed some fondness for the Washington Capitals. (And no, I have nothing to say about the Ovechkin deal). I used to live in the D.C. suburbs when I was a little kid, and on a recent visit to my parents' house my mother confirmed for me that she and my father did indeed take me to a Caps game when I was little--I couldn't have been any more than five or six. (I've had a dim memory of this, but I wasn't entirely positive the event had actually occurred).

At some point in the future I'll relate the story of how I became a Sharks fan, but for the moment it's sufficient to say that the tale involves the theft of the team I grew up rooting for (the Minnesota North Stars). Sometimes I wonder what team I would've wound up supporting if particular events in my life hadn't led me to the Sharks. I'll bet I would've been a Caps fan...