tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34419223709524769452024-03-21T23:07:18.647-05:00Team Teal in the Twin TownsMusings on the NHL, and the San Jose Sharks in particular, by a longtime fan.Chrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18443519657228429544noreply@blogger.comBlogger137125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3441922370952476945.post-1039709934769579982009-04-28T19:43:00.001-05:002009-04-28T19:44:23.789-05:00Okay, Maybe This is my Last PostI have a few thoughts about the depressing collapse of the Sharks on <a href="http://friendswiththeduke.blogspot.com/2009/04/all-kings-horses-and-all-kings-men.html">my new blog.<br /></a>Chrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18443519657228429544noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3441922370952476945.post-7905939830909399082009-04-03T18:25:00.002-05:002009-04-03T18:29:39.385-05:00All Good Things...<span style="font-family: trebuchet ms;"><br />I have a <a href="http://friendswiththeduke.blogspot.com/">new blog</a>. This is my official last post at Team Teal in the Twin Towns.<br /><br />Writing this blog was great fun and very rewarding. It's clear from a quick glance at the archives, however, that it had been a long time since I had posted here. I take that as a sign that it's time to move on to other things. <br /><br />My new blog, <a href="http://friendswiththeduke.blogspot.com/">Close Personal Friends With the Duke!</a>, is intended to be more general in its subject matter. Skate on over and check it out. <br /><br />Many very sincere thanks to everyone who has taken the time to read my puckhead ramblings over the past year or so.<br /><br />Go Sharks!<br /><br />Chris<br /><br /></span>Chrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18443519657228429544noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3441922370952476945.post-54573628617605743102009-01-02T11:48:00.003-06:002009-01-02T12:35:09.390-06:00They Shoot. They Score.<span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"><br />The NHL held its second New Year's Winter Classic outdoor game in as many years yesterday. The Detroit Red Wings defeated the Chicago Blackhawks 6-4 in front of more that 40,000 fans at Wrigley Field.<br /><br />Talk about an event going off without a hitch! Everything about the game was just about perfect. All of the decisions the league had control over (the teams involved, the venue) turned out to be right on the dot, and the things that no one has any control over (i.e., the weather) cooperated as well. By all accounts the ice conditions were excellent, and the absence of any snow on the rink (picturesque as it was last year) permitted the pace of play to be much higher than it was during the last Winter Classic in Buffalo. Scoring was commensurately higher--let's face it, ten goals is better than two, when it comes to holding the interest of the casual fan. Could even a player as gifted as Pavel Datsyuk have produced a goal <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SJx3Jht1O6Q&feature=related">quite this beautiful</a> in last year's ice conditions? Almost certainly not.<br /><br />Perhaps it's just the afterglow of the event's success, but I no longer have any reservations about making this an annual event, <a href="http://sharksfan1993.blogspot.com/2008/01/on-subject-of-outdoor-hockey.html">as I did last year</a>. The Winter Classic represents an opportunity for the sport of ice hockey to step up and genuinely be in the spotlight for one day a year. (And yes, I do think it is possibly to effectively compete with that traditional sporting occupant of New Year's Day, college football...certainly as long as the NCAA adheres to its current, absurd method of determining a champion, which dooms all New Year's bowl games to being meaningless exhibitions). The fact that its occurrence on the calendar (provided it is always held on New Year's, as it should be) is set far in advance will allow people to plan events around it, as they do for the Super Bowl. I had a few friends over for last year's game and a few more over for this year's game, and I hope to make it an annual tradition.<br /><br />With the fatalism of a long-time NHL fan, of course, my thoughts immediately turn to an obvious question: How will the league screw this up? Certainly the very worst move the NHL could make would be to stage some sort of exhibition game--such as the NHL All-Star Game--as its annual outdoor event, rather than a meaningful regular-season game. <a href="http://sharksfan1993.blogspot.com/2008/02/problem-with-all-star-game.html">As I've mentioned in this space before</a>, the All-Star Game is inevitably an intrinsically flawed event, and in my opinion ought to be phased for <a href="http://sharksfan1993.blogspot.com/2008/02/great-mid-season-tournament.html">something better</a>, anyway. (Both this year and last year, non-hockey fans have asked me, with respect to the Winter Classic, "Does this game count?" When I respond in the affirmative, their interest level immediately goes up...you can see it in their faces.)<br /><br />I've heard some talk from some quarters about doing precisely what I opposed in the last paragraph, but as near as I can tell there is no movement in the league's front offices for any such thing. More worrisome to me is the potential for the game to be staged someplace that doesn't have genuine, honest-to-goodness winter on 1 January...such as Ross McKeon's suggestion, in the sidebar to <a href="http://sports.yahoo.com/nhl/news;_ylt=AuZABQfKnUkEjNAtV8Fe8ut7vLYF?slug=rm-winterclassic010109&prov=yhoo&type=lgns">this article</a>, that an outdoor game be played in Las Vegas. <span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">"</span>No doubt, the players and fans would enjoy the Sin City setting," McKeon writes.<br /><br />Um...sorry, wrong. I am in general a big advocate of Sun Belt hockey (I root for a team from California, for crying out loud) and I don't have an ideological opposition to playing hockey in climates with no natural ice, as do some hockey fundamentalists. But much like a Green Bay Packers game from Lambeau Field in December, the aesthetic that comes with the "Winter" part of the Winter Classic provides much of the appeal, especially for the casual fan. As much as the snow mucked up play in Buffalo last year, it was unquestionably positive from an aesthetic point of view. So places like Boston, New York, Montreal, and (ahem) the Twin Cities of Minneapolis-St. Paul should all be candidates for the next several years. Los Angeles, Las Vegas, Tampa Bay? Not so much. <span style="font-style: italic;">Maybe</span>, if the event truly becomes well-established over the next decade or so...<span style="font-style: italic;">maybe </span>then you consider putting it someplace warm, just to mix things up a bit. Until then, though, let's keep it cold. </span><br /><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"><br /><br /></span>Chrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18443519657228429544noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3441922370952476945.post-84846952520223047962008-12-24T12:34:00.004-06:002008-12-24T13:18:05.484-06:00Shuttin' 'Em Down<span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"><br />I tuned in to the game between San Jose and Vancouver last night at just about the midpoint of the second period. (I have been reading Dave King's memoir of his year coaching Metallurg of Magnitogorsk in the Russian Super League, entitled <span style="font-style: italic;">King of Russia</span>...I was in one of those reading grooves and wanted to push through to the end. It was good...maybe in the future I'll provide a review in this space.) By this time the Sharks had built a 5-0 lead, which I was pleased to see. What I was less pleased to see was the way in which the Canucks controlled the play for the remainder of the second period and indeed the game.<br /><br />The game ended 5-0 because the two best players on the ice last night were Evgeni Nabokov and Vancouver goalie Curtis Sanford, who relieved starter Cory Schneider after the Sharks scored their fifth. I felt very good about Nabokov's performance--he made some tough saves and always looked in total control of his net. His focus was still exceptionally sharp, even though his team had a huge lead.<br /><br />Combined with his seventeen third-period saves against the Rangers on Saturday, instrumental in preserving that 3-2 win, it's been a great couple of bounce-back games for Nabokov after looking dreadful in the high-profile 6-0 loss to Detroit last week. Like those of defensive backs in scrimmage football, the mistakes of goalies are obvious on the scoresheet and critical to the outcome of games. There is nothing that can send a team into a lengthy slide quite like a stretch of poor play from its top goaltender. Since every goalie has the occasional three-sigma-bad game that just doesn't go his way, the ability to get right back on the horse is crucial. Nabby has done that, and he looked in top form last night; that's why he's one of the best in the world.<br /><br /><br /></span>Chrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18443519657228429544noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3441922370952476945.post-14725973175477292422008-12-18T21:03:00.004-06:002008-12-18T21:11:22.687-06:00Ugh<span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"><br />Ugh. Just...ugh.<br /><br />The outcome of the big Sharks-Wings tilt in Detroit tonight? Wings 6, Sharks 0.<br /><br />Hopefully we can leave all the excessive and factually misleading* gushing about the Sharks' "historic" start behind us, now.<br /><br />The Sharks played reasonably well for the first ten minutes tonight. Then Evgeni Nabokov gave up a couple of featherbed-soft goals and they folded like Superman on laundry day.<br /><br />Best case? This is a wake-up call that serves to remind the Sharks that however many points they have, they are <span style="font-style: italic;">not</span> the league's best team.<br /><br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;font-size:85%;" >* The Sharks only set a record for total points through thirty games because there are ways of getting points now that didn't exist several years ago. If all of their overtime/shootout wins were counted as ties (as they would've been in the past) their record would be more modest.<br /></span><br /><br /><br /></span>Chrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18443519657228429544noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3441922370952476945.post-63309259638396275492008-12-13T11:27:00.001-06:002008-12-13T11:30:26.673-06:00More Than Atmosphere<span style="font-family: trebuchet ms;"></span><br /><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms;">You hear it all the time, when two rival teams who are playing well collide during the regular season..."playoff atmosphere". Usually a term used to describe the feel, the buzz, surrounding the game--and the potential for the teams to meet in the postseason--the characterization often cannot be extended to the play itself. </span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms;">However, Thursday's game between San Jose and Anaheim--which the Sharks won 2-0--transpired much as a playoff game would transpire. It was a tight, nasty, very competitive game from start to finish, with the Ducks effectively preventing the Sharks from engaging in the type of free-flowing hockey that San Jose has used to such good effect so far this season. Evgeni Nabokov played exceptionally well; his counterpart in the Anaheim net, Jonas Hiller, played okay, too, although he maybe let in one soft one. The dislike between the two teams, which has existed for years and been amplified in recent seasons when both clubs have been amongst the league's elite, was palpable from the start and only grew as the game went along, punctuated by a good fight between George Parros and Jody Shelley (winner: Shelley) and finally coming to a head in a scrum in the last minute that saw dozens of penalty minutes handed out. Even though the teams don't meet again until March, a dark cloud of unfinished business hung in the Tank as the players skated off. </span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms;">As a Sharks fan, I found this to be the most satisfying win of the year so far. The Sharks will meet teams during the regular season against which they can impose their superior offensive talent and fire forty or fifty shots, and that's outstanding, but the playoffs ain't going to be like that. Playoff hockey is a tight-checking, very physical affair, and Thursday's game was a great dress-rehearsal for April. It was very encouraging to see the Sharks play full-bore for sixty minutes of tough, often ugly, always physical hockey, and very encouraging to see them bite back when the bullying Ducks (much like the Flyers teams of the '70s, dirty cheating has served Anaheim well) attempted to push them around. (Although there's a very fine line between refusing to be bullied and falling into the trap of playing the other team's game and finding oneself constantly shorthanded). </span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms;">The Sharks were a difficult and no doubt unpleasant team to play against on Thursday night, and that's a good thing. Much like baseball, in which the reptilian fear of getting hit by a pitched ball is fundamental to the way in which the pitcher-batter duel plays out, and is therefore fundamental to the sport, you want teams that step on the ice against you to feel a lurking dread and to be acutely aware that there is nowhere to hide. (Teams obliged to play the Flyers when they were winning Stanley Cups were frequently afflicted by "the Philly Flu".) For all of their talent in the past several seasons, one has rarely had the impression that the Sharks inspired much fear in their opponents. Perhaps that is changing...and a welcome change it would be.</span>Chrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18443519657228429544noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3441922370952476945.post-43319966179524665902008-11-23T15:13:00.004-06:002008-11-23T15:53:29.618-06:00Improvement, But Not Perfection<span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"><br />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.<br /><br />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.<br /><br />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.<br /><br />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.<br /><br />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.<br /><br />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.<br /><br /></span>Chrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18443519657228429544noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3441922370952476945.post-1826253307659088122008-11-19T22:11:00.002-06:002008-11-19T22:16:17.793-06:00Back Online!<span style="font-family: trebuchet ms;"><br />Okay, we're into the new place and officially hooked back up to the internet. So expect that I'll resume normal posting soon. <br /><br />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". <br /><br />More later...for now I just wanted to announce that I'm back online. <br /><br /></span>Chrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18443519657228429544noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3441922370952476945.post-58023352478662166352008-11-12T17:04:00.002-06:002008-11-12T17:09:09.505-06:00Half-Full? Half-Empty?<span style="font-family: trebuchet ms;"><br />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.<br /><br />Other Sharks fans will look at the loss and see a second consecutive blown two-goal lead, and start to worry.<br /><br />Count me amongst the latter camp. <br /><br />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.<br /><br /><br /></span>Chrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18443519657228429544noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3441922370952476945.post-27182538113736471872008-11-09T21:34:00.006-06:002008-11-10T23:16:11.171-06:00Swiftly Turns the Tide<span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"><br />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.<br /><br />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.<br /><br />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.<br /><br />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.<br /><br />San Jose still leads the league in points, and by just about any measure they are one of the top if not <span style="font-style: italic;">the</span> 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.<br /><br /></span>Chrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18443519657228429544noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3441922370952476945.post-43666363253198262442008-11-09T17:37:00.003-06:002008-11-09T17:39:52.751-06:00Ban the Mass Noun Nickname (Redux)!<span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"><br />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:<br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">"So the hockey team is the Wild or the Wilds?"</span><br /><br />You see! Mass noun nicknames are not just awkward, they're confusing!<br /><br />Obviously I rest my case.<br /><br /></span>Chrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18443519657228429544noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3441922370952476945.post-32342125968455796732008-11-09T12:12:00.004-06:002008-11-09T12:24:50.951-06:00Say What?<span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"><br />I seriously wonder at the hockey savvy of some of the guys who write game recaps for the Associated Press.<br /><br />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 <a href="http://sports.yahoo.com/nhl/recap?gid=2008110818">here</a>):<br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">"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 <span style="font-weight: bold;">whose puck-handling skills have long been criticized</span>."</span><br /><br />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 <span style="font-style: italic;">admired</span> 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.<br /><br />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.<br /><br />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.<br /><br /><br /></span>Chrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18443519657228429544noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3441922370952476945.post-50522281333022842682008-11-07T06:24:00.004-06:002008-11-07T06:29:14.557-06:00Uh-Oh<span style="font-family: trebuchet ms;"><a href="http://www.mercurynews.com/sharks/ci_10922521">The Merc is reporting</a> 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. <br /><br />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...<br /><br /></span>Chrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18443519657228429544noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3441922370952476945.post-88996471152162308522008-11-05T21:34:00.005-06:002008-11-05T22:07:57.145-06:00A Tough (but Triumphant) Triplet<span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"><br />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.<br /><br />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.<br /><br />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...<br /><br />...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.<br /><br />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...<br /><br />...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.<br /><br />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...<br /><br />...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).<br /><br />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.<br /><br />These were three great wins. I'm feeling genuinely optimistic about this team's chances.<br /><br /><br /></span>Chrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18443519657228429544noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3441922370952476945.post-85250624101381330322008-11-02T21:32:00.005-06:002008-11-02T22:20:14.965-06:00Ban the Mass Noun Nickname!<span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"><br />The Sharks defeated the Colorado Avalanche tonight 5-3. No, it wasn't 11-0, but I'll take it.<br /><br />I love beating Colorado. Not only are they another one of those teams stolen from their <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quebec_Nordiques">proper home</a>, but they have a horrible mass noun for a nickname.<br /><br />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.)<br /><br />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!<br /><br />(I'm willing to give a pass to the <a href="http://www.rolltide.com/index-main.html">Alabama Crimson Tide</a> 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.)<br /><br />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 <a href="http://www.norfolkadmirals.com/">two</a> <a href="http://www.milwaukeeadmirals.com/home.html">teams</a> named the Admirals, the NHL can have a North Stars and a Stars. Better yet, rename the Dallas team something else. (<a href="http://starsblog.dallasnews.com/archives/2008/11/turco-scorches-some-earth.html">At the moment, it's hard not to suggest Sieves</a>. Tee-hee.)<br /><br />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.<br /><br /><br /></span>Chrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18443519657228429544noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3441922370952476945.post-14207469166597287772008-10-31T23:58:00.003-05:002008-11-01T00:18:37.155-05:00Test Passed<div><br /></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';">I just wanted to get in a quick post on the subject of this week's games against last year's Stanley Cup finalists. The Sharks beat the Penguins 2-1 on Tuesday night, and the Red Wings 4-2 last night. </span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';">Both wins were pretty convincing. The poor defense I complained about in my last post was in little evidence for San Jose...they held Pittsburgh to only eleven shots on goal, and conceded few good chances to the Red Wings. In both games the Sharks came out with a high level of energy and sustained it throughout, in contrast to the team's habit of coming out flat time after time last season. Most importantly, Team Teal is possessing and pursuing the puck in a way that I don't think I have ever seen; the reason the Penguins only had eleven shots is that the Sharks dominated time of possession. </span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';">Any team is going to have ups and downs over the course of a long season, but I think it's very fortunate that the Sharks have started off the season strong. Hopefully the good start will aid the credibility of new coach Todd McLellan's system in the locker room. If the team continues to play at the level they demonstrated this week, they'll have to be included in any discussion about which team is the best in the league. </span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';">There are still a couple of worrisome areas. There still appears to be some vulnerability to letdowns at crucial times...in the Pittsburgh game, no sooner had Mike Grier put San Jose up by two than the good team defense falls apart, guys start to chase around anxiously, and all of the sudden Ruslan Fedotenko puts the puck behind Nabokov and the finish is far more dramatic than it needs to be. The ability to grimly close out opponents in a boring, efficient way still seems to elude this team. </span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';">Also, the play of Evgeni Nabokov this year has been highly average. Detroit's opening goal, by Marian Hossa, was a shot Nabby should've stopped. Coming into the year, it was presumed that goaltending would be one of San Jose's strengths, but this hasn't been the case. I'm confident that Nabokov is just fighting through a rough patch, though...I'm sure his game will improve, and it's a good thing that the rest of the team is clicking at the moment and they're piling up the points, anyway. </span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';">All in all, a good week for the Sharks. There are still some things that need to improve, but so far this team looks like a legitimate Cup contender.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';">Next game Sunday against Colorado, one of my most hated teams. I'm hoping the Sharks win 11-0. Nice and boring.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><br /></span></div>Chrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18443519657228429544noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3441922370952476945.post-58889676162226269402008-10-26T11:13:00.005-05:002008-10-26T19:48:45.330-05:00Pause & Reflect<span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"><br />All thirty teams in the NHL were in action yesterday, and today they all rest. My own life has been joyously busy for most of the last two weeks, and while I've been having a blast I have not had much of an opportunity to update this blog. So today, while the NHL is taking a league-wide timeout, seems the perfect moment for me to get back on the proverbial digital horse.<br /><br />So, where are the Sharks nine games into the 08-09 season? Honestly, it's tough to tell.<br /><br />At first glance, the state of the team looks very good indeed. They are 7-2 and atop the Western Conference with 14 points. Captain Patrick Marleau, <a href="http://sharksfan1993.blogspot.com/2008/09/marleau-or-mar-low.html">who I asserted would be the bellwether player for the Sharks this year</a>, leads the team in points (9) and is tied for the team lead in goals (5) with the emerging Devin Setoguchi. Unlike last season, the team is getting balanced scoring--after Marleau, there are four players with eight points each. The promised increase in blue-line contributions to the offense has indeed transpired--Dan Boyle has two goals and six assists and, more surprisingly, the talented but (formerly) frustrating Christian Ehrhoff (who had one goal all last year) has identical numbers. Furthermore, there is substantial reason to believe Ehrhoff's increased production will continue, simply because he has clearly taken to heart the importance of putting his shots from the blue line on goal. This was absent from his game last year. Ryan Clowe, who I believe has legitimate claim to being a genuine NHL badass, is showing aptitude for getting to the costly and painful twenty square feet right in front of the enemy goal and causing opposing defenses serious problems. Comparisons to Detroit's Tomas Holmstrom are reasonable.<br /><br />So far, so good, right? Well, maybe. Look beneath the gaudy record and the surface positives, and there are some reasons for concern.<br /><br />San Jose's schedule so far this season has been extremely soft. Of their nine games to date, only four have come against teams that made the playoffs last year, and those four games were against two teams (Anaheim and Philadelphia) that have struggled badly so far this season. They lost one of the four (4-0 to Anaheim), and another game, a 7-6 shootout win over the Flyers, had everyone in the organization sour-faced over the dismal defensive effort.<br /><br />It's the absence of a level of team defense remotely close to what is required of a contending NHL team that has me most worried. Yes, they shut out Tampa Bay 3-0 last night, but the Lightning are the consensus worst team in the league, so I hope my skepticism can be forgiven. I watched the 4-3 loss to Florida on Friday night, and the Sharks made a Panthers team of very modest offensive talent look at times like Gretzky's Oilers. San Jose still put fifty shots on the Florida net and probably would've won if not for the heroics of Panther goalie Tomas Vokoun, but maybe it's good that they didn't...after getting away with similarly bad defense in back-to-back games with Philly, a deserved loss may have provided a much-needed kick in the pants.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.mercurynews.com/sharks/ci_10817133">The Merc reports </a>that a Saturday-morning meeting of Shark defensemen occurred. Maybe this meeting can be credited for last night's shutout over Tampa. Maybe Tampa's own ineptitude had more influence on the results. Maybe it was a little of both. Upcoming games at home against last year's two Cup finalists should provide a more legitimate test of this new San Jose team.<br /><br /><br /></span>Chrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18443519657228429544noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3441922370952476945.post-40827321781067294782008-10-10T00:06:00.003-05:002008-10-10T09:07:31.219-05:00I'll Have the Roasted Duck, Please<span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"><br />The Sharks' 2008-2009 campaign began tonight with a convincing 4-1 win over the Anaheim Ducks. (Yay! for the start of the new season!) It's late and I have a busy day tomorrow, so just a few quick comments.<br /><br />Man, is it nice to stomp Anaheim for once. And it's nice to get off to a good start for once, too.<br /><br />New coach Todd McLellan promised us more offense from the blue line, and sure enough, there it was tonight. One of San Jose's goals was scored by a defenseman (Christian Ehrhoff, who has apparently been taught that he will score more if he actually hits the net with his shots) and defensemen figured in all four one way or another. Dan Boyle and Rob Blake were both impact players on the power play.<br /><br />Evgeni Nabokov gave up some scary looking rebounds early in the game--one of which was barely missed by a charging Chris Pronger--but these appeared to vanish after the midway point.<br /><br />I think this team still has some lessons to learn about the duration of hockey games. <span style="font-style: italic;">Sixty minutes</span>, guys. At about the fifty-four minute mark tonight the Sharks took their eye off the ball, and the next thing you knew Anaheim had a goal and was threatening to make this thing interesting. This was a problem all last year, and absolutely has to be fixed. (Some redemption points awarded for Devin Setoguchi's late clinching goal.)<br /><br />Overall, though, a good win against a tough opponent and a good start to the year.<br /><br />Out of town over the weekend...I'll rap with y'all when I get back.<br /><br /><br /><br /></span>Chrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18443519657228429544noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3441922370952476945.post-9356124305003897142008-10-08T21:09:00.002-05:002008-10-08T21:30:50.085-05:00It's a Business<span style="font-family: trebuchet ms;"><br />Veteran defenseman Kyle McLaren has been waived by the Sharks, and as no other team claimed him he has been assigned to San Jose's AHL affiliate in Worcester. (Story <a href="http://www.cbc.ca/sports/hockey/story/2008/10/08/kyle-mclaren.html">here</a> and many other places...McLaren's career stats <a href="http://www.hockey-reference.com/players/m/mclarky01.html">here</a>.)<br /><br />The placing of McLaren on waivers was a move that even the most casual Sharks watchers saw coming. Something had to happen to get the team under the salary cap, and he was pretty clearly the odd man out in a defensive corps that features three new imports (Dan Boyle, Brad Lukowich and Rob Blake) and three up-and-coming homegrown players (Christian Ehrhoff, Douglas Murray, and Marc-Edouard Vlasic). <br /><br />He didn't have a very good year last year--he struggled with injuries, and I'll bet he couldn't be as physical as he wanted to be--but as a fan of the team, I have to recognize that McLaren was an essential member of some of the best Sharks teams ever to hit the ice. This seems such a melancholy way for him to leave...dismissed by the team, unwanted by any other, sent to Worcester to suit up against the Lowell Devils and the Hershey Bears. A tough reminder that at the end of the day, professional sports is a business, and a particularly hard-nosed and unsentimental one at that. <br /><br />I hope McLaren catches on with another NHL team. He's been a tough, solid player for many years, and I hope that when the end of his career comes it can be on his terms.<br /><br /><br /></span>Chrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18443519657228429544noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3441922370952476945.post-22086137103755728302008-10-06T21:49:00.004-05:002008-10-06T22:43:55.363-05:00"Starting in Goal, Number Seventeen..."<span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"><br />A curious story in the NHL as the regular season gets underway concerns the Vancouver Canucks and their new captain, Roberto Luongo.<br /><br />What's curious about it is that Luongo is the Canucks' goalie.<br /><br />The official role of the captain in ice hockey is actually pretty limited...the captain (or one of his alternates, if he is not on the ice) is the only player empowered to engage in discussions with the officials about the rules (and then only when invited), and has various other relatively minor functions concerning communications. The captain is identified by a letter "C" stitched to his sweater.<br /><br />The rules of the sport prohibit goalies from acting in the capacity of captain or even from wearing the "C". (The intent is to prohibit the goalie from constantly leaving the crease and interrupting play to converse with the officials.) Apparently the Canucks are going to get around the latter provision by painting a "C" on Luongo's mask, but there's no way they'll be able to get around the former.<br /><br />Of course, the <span style="font-style: italic;">unofficial </span>role of the captain--to be the team's emotional leader, to be the go-to guy at critical moments, to provide a source from whence the other players can draw confidence and intensity when adversity strikes--far outweighs any official nonsense about who supposedly gets to talk to the refs. So since Luongo is by far the best player on a weak-looking Vancouver team, maybe making him captain makes sense...although it smells a bit gimmicky to me, and besides is something that Just Ain't Done.<br /><br />I understand the purpose of the rule prohibiting goalies from being captains. But another thing that Just Ain't Done, apparently, concerns the numbers worn by goalies. In all my years of watching hockey, I don't think I've ever seen a goalie wear a sweater number between 2 and 19.<br /><br />There are plenty of goalies who are number 1, and there are plenty with really high uniform numbers--Jose Theodore wears number 60, just to name one. But you're not going to see any goalies wearing 8, or 11, or 17.<br /><br />What's up with that? As near as I can tell there's no rule governing how players are numbered, as long as it's with an integer between 1 and 98 (Gretzky's 99 having been retired league-wide). There are particular rules that apply only to the goalie, but his identity on the ice is of course obvious...it's not like scrimmage football, in which uniform numbers serve to distinguish eligible from ineligible receivers. As near as I can tell, it's just a cultural thing.<br /><br />Does anyone have any insight into this? Can anyone provide a counterexample of a goalie wearing a uniform number between 2 and 19? In the NHL or any other league? If you can, please leave a comment...I'm interested in hearing from you.<br /><br /><br /></span>Chrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18443519657228429544noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3441922370952476945.post-37305813670692935132008-10-04T13:49:00.003-05:002008-10-04T14:11:24.436-05:00Drop the Puck!<span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"><br />And...we're underway!<br /><br />Even though most teams are still finishing out their preseason games, the NHL regular season officially began today with a pair of games in Europe. The New York Rangers just defeated the Tampa Bay Lightning 2-1 in Prague, and they're just about to drop the puck in Stockholm for a game between the Pittsburgh Penguins and the Ottawa Senators. (The Sharks open next Thursday against the Ducks).<br /><br />Wow. Pittsburgh already leads 1-0 on a very soft goal against Martin Gerber forty seconds in. Goalie woes continue in Canada's capital, apparently.<br /><br />As the world gets smaller, all the North American pro leagues are looking to expand the market for their products. With so many Europeans playing in the NHL, countries like Sweden and the Czech Republic would seem like "low-hanging fruit" for the league's efforts in this regard. England--where the league opened last year with back-to-back games in London between the Ducks and the Kings--would really be virgin territory. And our very own San Jose Sharks are looking even further afield, <a href="http://www.mercurynews.com/breakingnews/ci_10492032">sponsoring China's only pro hockey team</a>, the China Sharks. The goal in China would be to emulate the NBA's success in growing a massive new market in the blink of an eye. Maybe we'll see a couple of teams opening the NHL season in Shanghai someday soon...<br /><br />Well, regardless of where the games are played, it's just a great feeling to know the season has started.<br /><br />Oh, and before it gets too late, I guess I'd better make a Stanley Cup prediction. So here it is: Red Wings over the Habs in the final. Of course I want the Sharks to win it all (duh), but Detroit has to be the favorite...they were the best team in the league last year and only got better in the offseason.<br /><br />Happy Hockey Season!<br /><br /></span>Chrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18443519657228429544noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3441922370952476945.post-50193868187461610582008-09-29T21:25:00.002-05:002008-09-29T21:48:53.084-05:00This is Not a Slam<span style="font-family: trebuchet ms;"><br />This is not intended as a criticism of either Todd McLellan or Patrick Marleau, but David Pollak's <a href="http://www.mercurynews.com/sharks/ci_10584947">article in the Merc</a> over the weekend illustrates exactly what I'm talking about when I assert that Marleau is high maintenance (see <a href="http://sharksfan1993.blogspot.com/2008/09/marleau-or-mar-low.html">last post</a>). <br /><br />McLellan:<br /><br /></span><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms; font-style: italic;" id="mn_Global"><span id="mn_Article">"I think we need to give him some breathing room right now to see if the (coaching) change is going to affect him positively or negatively."<br /><br /></span></span><span id="mn_Global"><span id="mn_Article"><span style="font-style: italic; font-family: trebuchet ms;">"I think he's excited about a fresh start and we have to let that evolve a little bit."</span><br /><br /></span></span><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms;" id="mn_Global"><span id="mn_Article">I mean, the whole piece strongly suggests a "Shhh! Don't scare the Marleau!" tenor to the relationship between coach and captain. Which is fine, really...everyone's different and if Marleau is high maintenance, he's high maintenance. If McLellan can find the secret to successfully maintaining him and he scores 40 goals, I'm cool with him being as high maintenance as he wants.<br /></span></span><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms; font-style: italic;" id="mn_Global"><span id="mn_Article"><br /><br /></span></span>Chrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18443519657228429544noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3441922370952476945.post-61725781448566442502008-09-26T18:47:00.004-05:002008-09-26T19:53:24.311-05:00Marleau or Mar-Low?<span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"><br />The preseason is underway, and the time is ripe to look ahead to the 2008-2009 edition of the San Jose Sharks.<br /><br />Fans of Team Teal will be all too familiar with the storyline heading into this campaign...despite being one of the league's top teams for most of the 00's (and in the post-lockout years in particular), the Sharks have consistently wilted where it matters--in the playoffs. Early playoff exits have become an annual event of gloomy regularity for Sharks fans, rolling around to ruin those great regular seasons the way the first day of school inevitably shows up and ruins summer for small children.<br /><br />The organization's management gave the team a good shake in the offseason in an effort to produce a different ending this year. San Jose's defensive corps will look very different this season, and of course there's a new man in charge behind the bench. But I can't help thinking that the key to a reversal of fortune lies with a guy who's been on the roster for years--the man wearing the "C", #12, <a href="http://sports.yahoo.com/nhl/players/1644">Patrick Marleau</a>.<br /><br />Let's not mince words: Marleau had a horrible year last year. After a career-high 34 goals and 52 assists in 05-06, and an only slightly less productive 06-07, Marleau skidded down to 19 goals and 29 assists last year, for a mere 48 points, and was -19 on a team that was generally good defensively. And this was with a relatively strong finish: nine of those 19 goals came after the trading deadline.<br /><br />Not every captain has to be a pugnacious, fiery scrapper like <a href="http://www.hockey-reference.com/players/e/erreybo01.html">Bob Errey</a> or <a href="http://www.hockey-reference.com/players/o/odgerje01.html">Jeff Odgers</a>. A guy can have a low-key on-ice personality and still be an effective captain. But to do so, he has to let his production do the talking. Marleau simply has to increase his production this year...<span style="font-style: italic;">particularly </span>because he has retained the "C".<br /><br />I'm betting this must've been a tough decision for new head coach Todd McLellan. If it were his decision to make--if Craig Rivet (traded to Buffalo) had been last year's captain, for instance, and there were no incumbent--it is difficult for this particular fan to believe that Marleau would get the "C". But it would clearly be very difficult to take the "C" away from any player who wears it, especially Marleau, who appears to be burdened by at least some amount of psychological fragility. (Did the fact that he was widely blamed for allowing Robert Lang to score the series-turning goal in the 2007 playoffs contribute to his poor start last year? Is it a coincidence that his best stretch of the 07-08 season came after the trading deadline, when all of the rumors that swirled around him could finally be put to rest?)<br /><br />Marleau strikes me as a brilliant but difficult player who must be handled with great care and precision at all times--kind of like a Formula 1 car. Make a mistake and he can stall out or fly off the road. It was widely reported that Marleau had a relationship with former coach Ron Wilson that ranged from merely cordial to downright poor. Maybe coach McLellan can solve the Marleau Enigma, and ensure that this essential element of the team contributes to his full potential.<br /><br /></span>Chrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18443519657228429544noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3441922370952476945.post-50754428859062350752008-09-22T21:57:00.004-05:002008-09-22T22:09:32.161-05:00"My Client Has No Comment!"<span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"><br />The Sharks hired John Ferguson Jr.--GM of the Toronto Maple Leafs until he was fired by that organization in January, leaving it in pretty rough shape--as a scout over the weekend.<br /><br />Ferguson seems to be pretty universally reviled by Leafs fans...there were several players the Leafs would've liked to have moved for draft picks and young talent at the deadline last year (Mats Sundin chief among them), but they all had no-trade clauses inked by Ferguson and the organization was paralyzed. </span><br /><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"><br />So the guy's reputation is in need of a makeover. You would think in announcing his hiring on their official site, the Sharks could've found at least one picture that didn't make it look like he was making a perp walk...<br /><br /><br /></span><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZE99HtItDnvT58JKwkWFOYJfMPqk5NJrjP_srDnK-KhGU-NzzZhrWHNZFXx-9jwMf-7x5YXrxlGvJBVt6MNE3q5_t3SJX-GZ0toLOaaHn91hWPdF_HwWA3e_PH5j_R9ZHyWSTawWjNuew/s1600-h/JFJ.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZE99HtItDnvT58JKwkWFOYJfMPqk5NJrjP_srDnK-KhGU-NzzZhrWHNZFXx-9jwMf-7x5YXrxlGvJBVt6MNE3q5_t3SJX-GZ0toLOaaHn91hWPdF_HwWA3e_PH5j_R9ZHyWSTawWjNuew/s400/JFJ.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5249048316892406706" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">Inspires confidence, doesn't it? <br /><br />Maybe he'll do better as a scout...<br /><br /><br /></span>Chrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18443519657228429544noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3441922370952476945.post-45808794580374746912008-09-21T21:47:00.005-05:002008-09-21T21:55:42.649-05:00We Got News<span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"><br />Training camp tends to be one of those time periods for which "no news is good news" holds true. Well...we got news.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/story/?id=250285&lid=headline&lpos=secStory_nhl">Media reports</a> indicate that second-year center Torrey Mitchell--who provided a nice, unexpected spark as a rookie last year, although he faded somewhat down the stretch and flashed his rookie side a little too often for my comfort--has broken his leg and will be out for eight weeks.<br /><br />Coach McClellan, meet your first major-league curve ball.<br /><br />With Mitchell down, someone will have to step in. Who will that someone be? Very very early indications (via <a href="http://blogs.mercurynews.com/sharks/2008/09/20/sharks-camp-a-rough-go-for-roenick-a-timely-goal-for-friesen/">David Pollak's blog</a> at the Merc) indicate that Once-And-Future(?) Shark <a href="http://www.hockey-reference.com/players/f/friesje01.html">Jeff Friesen</a> could have the early inside track.<br /><br />Certainly a situation to watch as camp continues.<br /><br /><br /></span>Chrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18443519657228429544noreply@blogger.com0