Improvement, But Not Perfection

The Sharks defeated the Southeast Division-leading Washington Capitals last night 7-2. The margin suggests a more lopsided game than what actually took place.

The Capitals are in the midst of a difficult road trip and were missing two of their most talented players--offensive D-man Mike Green and team goal-scoring leader Alexander Semin--due to injury. Even tired and short-handed, the Capitals controlled play for much of the evening and held an edge in shots-on-goal until relatively late in the game. San Jose's second goal was a gift from Washington--in soccer, it would have been scored "Own Goal: Shaone Morrisonn"--and their last goal came with less than a minute left in the game, long after the outcome was no longer in doubt. Despite taking advantage of early opportunities to score three quick unanswered goals, the Sharks still demonstrated that they don't know quite what to do when they get a big lead...the Caps came out and were clearly the better team both at the start of the second and the start of the third periods, getting goals in each sequence that allowed them to sniff a rally. Really, without Morrisonn's own goal and with a few key stops by Caps goalie Brent Johnson, the final score would've reflected the much closer game that this actually was.

On the other hand (it occurs to me I write those four words a lot...one has to, writing about this team) there are substantial reasons for Todd McLellan to be happy about last night's game, outside of the obvious. Although criticism of the Sharks for allowing the Caps to get back in the game is warranted, it's worth noting that San Jose followed up Washington goals with goals of their own, righting the proverbial ship and keeping the Capitals from building too much momentum. (In that nightmare game against Calgary in the playoffs last year, once the Flames got their first goal one could not avoid feeling that the Sharks, win or lose, were at a minimum not going to score again that night.) Hopefully this is a sign that the team is at least improving its ability to play with a lead, something that's been a persistent problem.

The production from the blue line continues to be extraordinary...Rob Blake had in what my opinion was his best night as a Shark (four assists) and is one of a remarkable three San Jose defensemen (the others are Dan Boyle and the suddenly blossoming Christian Ehrhoff) who are amongst the top five in the league in scoring, as of this morning. That particular part of McLellan's preseason plan has gone about as well as anyone could've possibly hoped.

And at the end of the day the Sharks did exactly what they needed to do with their opportunities. You get a tired team nearing the end of a road trip in your building when you've had a chance to rest up, and you have to clobber them...the Sharks did. (And as a fan of a Western Conference team, I pretty much have a cry-me-a-river attitude when it comes to road trips by Eastern Conference teams...gee, sorry you guys have to travel out of sight of the Atlantic Ocean for once.) You get a 5-on-3 at a crucial juncture, you need to capitalize on it...the Sharks did. Ice hockey, as I've said in this space numerous times, is really all about taking advantage of those islands of opportunity in a sea of broken, anarchic play. By this measure, the Sharks were a great team last night, worthy of their 17-3-1 record.

The fact that they've accomplished this while still having room for improvement...right now, writing in November of 2008, it really seems that the sky is the limit for this team.

Back Online!

Okay, we're into the new place and officially hooked back up to the internet. So expect that I'll resume normal posting soon.

What's new with the team? Well, the Sharks are 16-3-1, and there's reason to believe they can play even better. It's enough to make you say "Wow".

More later...for now I just wanted to announce that I'm back online.

Half-Full? Half-Empty?

Some Sharks fans will look at last night's 4-3 OT loss to Nashville--with San Jose launching a franchise-record 57 shots--and say, Hey, their goalie robbed us. That's the way it goes. Nine times out of ten we win that game...it's just a little bump in the road.

Other Sharks fans will look at the loss and see a second consecutive blown two-goal lead, and start to worry.

Count me amongst the latter camp.

Personal note: I'm going to be moving over the next few days, so my connectivity will be intermittent. Look for more posts once we get settled in to the new place and all the wires are going where they're supposed to go and carrying the electrons they're supposed to carry.

Swiftly Turns the Tide

I made pasta for dinner this evening. I started cooking it up during the first period of tonight's game against Phoenix. The Sharks had just taken a 2-0 lead on a power play goal by Ryan Clowe when I fished out a piece of spaghetti and determined that it was properly done. It looked as though maybe the poorest functioning piece of the San Jose machine this year (the power play) was finally running smoothly, and I allowed myself to believe that perhaps the Sharks were on their way to a convincing and pleasantly unexciting victory.

In the time it took to drain the pasta, the Coyotes got two goals to even the score. Phoenix went on to win, 4-2.

Disappointing game tonight after a promising start. Brian Boucher, getting the start in goal for an injured Evgeni Nabokov, came back down to Earth following a spectacular start to his career in teal--he was okay, but this was his first loss as a starter for the Sharks. (Although I have to give a tip of the cap to the string of remarkable saves he made at the end of the game, when, down 3-2 and with three men in the box after the officials apparently decided there is a new minor penalty in the NHL called Playing Defense and quickly punished the Sharks for being guilty of said penalty, San Jose's desperate attempts to pull one back playing 3-on-5 left him hung out to dry numerous times. Phoenix's fourth goal came with Boucher on the bench for an extra skater.) Overall, the Coyotes generally showed more spark and energy tonight.

Something that bothers me about the Sharks' three losses is that it seems they played down to the level of their opposition in each. Their first loss of the season was to Anaheim, and the Ducks, although on a hot streak now, were playing poorly then...in fact, that win was their first of the season. The second loss was against a decidedly mediocre Florida team. And the Coyotes, although possessed of much young talent and likely to be on the brink of a swift rise in the league, are a team the Sharks really ought to beat, especially if they have them down by two goals.

San Jose still leads the league in points, and by just about any measure they are one of the top if not the top team in the league right now. Every opponent is going to look at a game against the Sharks as a test, and will bring a little bit extra to the rink. Team Teal has to learn to match that extra energy, and close out the games they're supposed to win.

Ban the Mass Noun Nickname (Redux)!

Country music star Taylor Swift, quoted by Sasha Frere-Jones of The New Yorker, prior to playing a show in St. Paul at the X:

"So the hockey team is the Wild or the Wilds?"

You see! Mass noun nicknames are not just awkward, they're confusing!

Obviously I rest my case.

Say What?

I seriously wonder at the hockey savvy of some of the guys who write game recaps for the Associated Press.

With reference to last night's 2-1 San Jose victory over Dallas, the winning goal of which was scored by Patrick Marleau off of a mishandled puck by Stars goalie Marty Turco in the game's final minute, AP "Sports Writer" Greg Beacham writes the following (link here):

"Dan Boyle also scored and backup goalie Brian Boucher made 23 saves to stay perfect as a starter with San Jose, but the NHL-leading Sharks’ seventh consecutive victory came down to a horrendous mistake by Turco, the veteran goalie whose puck-handling skills have long been criticized."

Say what? I would hope that anyone who writes about the NHL for an institution as august as the Associated Press would be familiar enough with the sport to know that Marty Turco has long been admired around the league for his excellent puck-handling skills. Yes, Turco has had a horrible year and has caught all kinds of flak about every element of his game, but to assert that his "puck-handling skills have long been criticized" is absurd.

Sometimes I seriously question if the people who write these recaps have even watched the games they presume to write about. I have seen recaps that have credited the wrong player with a key goal, and recaps that have described particular plays in ways that are factually incorrect.

C'mon, Associated Press...could you please assign some writers to write about our sport who actually know what they're talking about and care enough to get it right? Thank you.

Uh-Oh

The Merc is reporting that starting goalie Evgeni "Shoulda Won the Vezina" Nabokov appeared to have twisted his left knee during the Sharks' 5-4, come-from-behind shootout win over St. Louis last night.

The Sharks have been fairly free of injuries to their core of key personnel in recent years. Losing Nabokov for any length of time would be a huge hurdle to overcome for a team that is off to a hot start. Stay tuned, I guess...

A Tough (but Triumphant) Triplet

After a relatively soft start to their schedule, the Sharks have faced tough opposition in their last three home games. Back-to-back games against Pittsburgh and Detroit saw them face last year's Stanley Cup finalists, and last night's matchup pitted them against another division leader--the Minnesota Wild. And there was a road game against Colorado thrown into the mix as well.

The Sharks won all three of those home games in convincing style (and the game in Denver, too). They are still undefeated at the Tank. Yet as impressive a run as this is, there is still an important caveat to each win.

The Sharks dominated possession against the Penguins and won 2-1, holding the Malkin-and-Crosby-led defending Eastern Conference champs to only eleven shots...

...but the Sharks were facing Pittsburgh's backup goalie, Dany Sabourin, rather than first-stringer Marc-Andre Fleury, and the Penguins have a gaping hole in the blue line with Sergei Gonchar and Ryan Whitney out with injuries.

The Sharks beat the defending champs 4-2, and hockey writers across North America breathlessly scribbled about how San Jose had successfully out-Winged the Wings with possession-oriented, puck-pursuit hockey and a ton of shots...

...but the Red Wings were tired, having lost a tough OT game in Anaheim the previous night. And, once again, the Sharks drew a matchup with Detroit's second-string goalie.

The Sharks clobbered the Wild with a dominant third period, outscoring Minnesota 2-0 and outshooting them by a whopping 22-5 margin in the final frame en route to a 3-1 win...

...but Minnesota was without Brent Burns, one of their top defensemen, and Marion "The Iron Man" Gaborik, who is, shockingly, injured (for the jillionth time in his career).

So that's the list of caveats. But some of them should be given little if any weight...Dany Sabourin played great against the Sharks, and it's not like Chris Osgood (Detroit's primary netminder) is exactly a brick wall this year. And anyway, even if San Jose did get some of these teams while they're a bit down...who cares? Hockey is fundamentally about being opportunistic, both tactically and strategically. If your opponent has a weakness, you have to make them pay. The important thing is that San Jose won all three of these games, and in reasonably decisive fashion. Any time you beat the Red Wings you've accomplished something. Any time you hold a team with Crosby and Malkin in the lineup to eleven shots, you've accomplished something. And any time you launch 49 shots against a Jacques Lemaire-coached team, you've accomplished something.

These were three great wins. I'm feeling genuinely optimistic about this team's chances.

Ban the Mass Noun Nickname!

The Sharks defeated the Colorado Avalanche tonight 5-3. No, it wasn't 11-0, but I'll take it.

I love beating Colorado. Not only are they another one of those teams stolen from their proper home, but they have a horrible mass noun for a nickname.

A few weeks ago I was in Madison for my girlfriend's brother's wedding. I had the opportunity to get to know a friend of the bride & groom who happens to despise mass noun team nicknames as much as I do. It was instant brotherhood. (Also, I give him credit for suggesting the term "mass noun nickname", which concisely and perfectly describes what I'm railing against.)

Avalanche. Lightning. Wild. Thunder. Heat. Magic. They're all awful. I'm pretty sure you can draw a correlation between how seriously (or not) a professional sports league is taken and the number of mass nouns employed as team nicknames. Why is the NFL the most successful league in the world? Because of good, honest nicknames like Steelers and Packers and Vikings. Why is MLS on the fringe? Because of the Columbus Crew, Los Angeles Galaxy, and Houston Dynamo, that's why!

(I'm willing to give a pass to the Alabama Crimson Tide due to the tremendous history associated with the University of Alabama's athletic programs, and the fact that "Roll Tide!" is a cool cheer. But that's the only concession I'm willing to make.)

Perhaps what's needed is a grassroots movement to rename the Avalanche, Lightning, and Wild. Heck, I can't see any reason the Minnesota team can't be named the Minnesota North Stars...if the AHL can have two teams named the Admirals, the NHL can have a North Stars and a Stars. Better yet, rename the Dallas team something else. (At the moment, it's hard not to suggest Sieves. Tee-hee.)

Speaking of the North St--err, Wild, the Sharks play host to them on Tuesday. Like San Jose, Minnesota is off to a great start. Should be a heck of a collision.