All Shook Up

Okay. So. Let's review the last few days, because they've been quite eventful.

The NHL free-agency period kicked in on July 1st, and immediately the Sharks lost defenseman Brian Campbell--widely regarded as the top blueliner available in a slim market--to the Chicago Blackhawks. This means that the price Sharks GM Doug Wilson paid for Campbell at the trade deadline--a first-round draft pick and Steve Bernier--turned out to be the cost of a short-term rental. My reaction: not surprised, or even that disappointed, really. I was ga-ga over Campbell during the regular season, but he didn't contribute in the manner I had anticipated during the playoffs, and frankly I think the Hawks might have overpaid for him...with few top defensemen available as free agents this year, it's just the nature of the market that the price tags would be inflated.

However, I presumed that Wilson would move immediately to make his suddenly short-handed team better...but this didn't happen. For a couple of frustrating days, I watched while seemingly every other team in the league made moves to improve for next season, while the only story about the Sharks was a press release from the team describing prospect Nick Petrecki's visit to the White House. Yippee skip.

(All this time, I should add, rumors were floating around that the Sharks were one of a number of teams pursuing Tampa Bay defenseman Dan Boyle, who is a similar player to Campbell. But Boyle had just signed a new contract with the Lightning in February, just got married to a Florida native, just started to build a house in the Tampa area, and had publicly stated that he didn't want to waive the no-trade clause that was part of his contract. Lame hockey trade rumors are a dime a dozen, and those involving players with no-trade clauses tend to deserve particular skepticism, because a no-trade clause means what it says--the player can nix any trade that the front office agrees to. So the scuttlebutt surrounding Boyle reminded me of the hurricane of hot air blowing around (for instance) Toronto Maple Leafs Mats Sundin and Pavel Kubina as the trade deadline approached back in February--both were the subject of intense speculation, both possessed no-trade clauses, and nothing came of any of it.)

Finally, on July 3rd, Wilson stirred himself to action, signing veteran (read: old) L.A. Kings defenseman Rob Blake to a one-year, $5 million contract. My reaction: underwhelmed. Rob Blake has had a fabulous career that has included a Norris Trophy and a Stanley Cup, and I respect the hell out of him, but his most productive season was over a decade ago, and he's been in the league for longer than the Sharks have. Adding Blake while deleting Campbell would not have made the Sharks better, in my opinion, but with options dwindling (even less-desirable D-men such as the fading Wade Redden or the post-operative Michal Rozsival were off the market by this point) this seemed exactly the situation that fans of Team Teal were facing.

What I didn't anticipate--what I'm not sure anyone could have anticipated--is what happened next.

Actually, in fairness I have to say it's not entirely clear what happened next, at least not to me. There isn't a body of evidence out there in the public record that would make a court case. All that is certain is that only a very short time after signing a new contract, marrying a Florida woman, commencing work on a new house in the Tampa Area, and stating that he had no intention of waiving his no trade clause, Dan Boyle agreed to be traded to the San Jose Sharks.

The most extensive comments from Boyle that I have found are here. Boyle suggests that the Lightning's new ownership group criticized his work ethic and threatened to put him on waivers (this would've meant that he could be claimed by any team in the league and would have no control over where he would wind up). Some quotes by Boyle from the above, which is by Erik Erlendsson of the Tampa Tribune...

"When my work ethic is questioned, my offseason work ethic and the way I get ready for games and what I do is questioned, and it gets personal and I'm threatened, that is absolutely the way not to do business..."

"...I, for a long time now, have been under the impression that I was part of this team going forward, wanting input from me on other players, and never in a million years did I think that I was one of the guys that needed to go."

Given the circumstances, I believe Boyle. If true, this is a really classless, unprofessional, and disrespectful move by the Lightning organization, and totally against the spirit of Boyle's contract. I'm pretty sure I need to retract all of the generally favorable things I said about the new Tampa ownership group just a short time ago.

I'm certain this has disrupted Boyle's family life tremendously, and I feel kind of bad for him. At the same time, though, it's a gain for the Sharks. Maybe if Boyle can once more put his name on the Cup (he was part of Tampa's championship team), this time while wearing teal, it'll make the ordeal seem worthwhile.

Okay, this is getting to be a long post, so I'm going to stop for now. In my next post I'll have some thoughts about how I think this particular trade, and a further deal Wilson made as a direct consequence (Craig Rivet to Buffalo) will work out for the Sharks. Till then, stay cool...

What Comes After Consolation Prize? Disconsolation Prize?

O-o-o-o-kay. Rob Blake signs with the Sharks (one-year, at $5 million, according to TSN).

Well, I guess I exhibited desperation for any move.

Most humorous part of the above article? New coach Todd McClellan comparing Blake to Nicklas Lidstrom.

Blake is 38 years old and his production is in a decline that seems unlikely to abate. He can still have a role as a solid NHL defenseman, because so much of playing that position is good decision-making, and there's something to be said for a guy who's seen every conceivable situation go down about ten million times. And he can probably serve as a(nother) mentor for the younger guys on San Jose's D, who are still pretty green...it helps that Blake has more big-game experience than Craig Rivet (or anyone else on the Sharks, for that matter).

But still...this is not the answer to Brian Campbell's departure, and Wilson sure as heck better have something else brewing, or I'm going to be one disappointed fan.

Sunday Scraps - February 17th

Awesomeness or Cartoonish Super-Awesomeness?

The Detroit Red Wings have a 41-14-5 record (good for 87 points) which places them very comfortably atop the NHL. Yet their current five-game losing streak cannot be ignored. It has included losses to last-place (but improving) Los Angeles and second-to-last-place (and floundering) Toronto, not to mention a 5-1 drubbing at the hands of the Columbus Blue Jackets Friday night (at home). All-Star goalie Chris Osgood has been chased in two consecutive games. Is there cause for concern in Detroit?

Probably not. Any discussion about the Red Wings pretty much boils down to a debate about whether they have achieved awesomeness or cartoonish super-awesomeness (to paraphrase Waylon Smithers). It's a long season and no team will maintain any particular level of play, good or poor, from wire to wire. Roll together a couple of injuries (Niklas Kronwall has been out for a while and Brian Rafalski didn't play against Columbus), a bit of a slump by an otherwise good goalie, maybe a game against an inferior opponent who happened to get hot at precisely the wrong time (Toronto had won at Le Centre Bell two nights before beating the Wings in a shootout--perhaps the Leafs dug deep and found some pride after getting smoked by the Panthers 8-0 on February 5th), and BAM!, there's your five-game losing streak.

A brief survey of the internet appears to reveal some rumblings among the Red Wings' considerable fan base about the need for the team to acquire some help at defense. What's this? A contending NHL team is looking for another solid defenseman as the trade deadline looms? Stop the presses! Seriously, at this time of year, every GM in the league who thinks they have a shot at a Cup run is shopping for help at the blue line.

If this current slide has any consequence, it's that the pressure to make a move could oblige GM Ken Holland to overpay for a quality defenseman. Regardless, there's little doubt in my mind that the Wings will win the President's Cup and be the odds-on favorite to win it all.


Kings-Coyotes Observations

Los Angeles visited Phoenix tonight and I decided to check it out. The Kings and the Coyotes are both intriguing teams lately, especially for a fan of another Pacific Division squad. Phoenix, unexpectedly, is in the playoff hunt out west--if they do squeak in, I think that Wayne Gretzky has to be considered a legitimate candidate for the Jack Adams Award. Los Angeles, as of this writing, is dead last in the league in points, but one gets a strong sense that they are headed in the right direction. They just finished an eight-game road trip with a very solid 4-3-1 record; they are very young and seem to be getting better by leaps and bounds.

Good game tonight in the desert. Phoenix took a 3-1 lead into the third period, then the Kings rallied to tie before Radim Vrbata scored to win the game for the Coyotes 4-3. The highlights are worth checking out if for no other reason than to see Phoenix's second goal, scored by Joel Perrault. Perrault was very deep in the attacking zone, nearly to the goal line and outside the dot to Dan Cloutier's right, when he took a pass from Shane Doan and snapped a beautiful one-time laser short side. Extraordinary shot from a very bad angle. (There was also a weird sequence late in the second period in which Kings defenseman Brad Stuart's stick became entangled in Cloutier's equipment during the course of play. With the Coyotes attacking, neither player could really do anything about this, so Cloutier continued to play with Stuart's stick sprouting from his equipment...he looked like a mammoth that had been speared by an ice-age hunter. I'm not sure if that will show up on the highlight reel, though.)

(UPDATE: But it is on Youtube...)

Part of the reason I was interested in watching this game was to have a look at Kings rookie center Brian Boyle. A Massachusetts native, the kid is enormous--listed at 6'6", 222 pounds--and a veteran of four years of high-level play at Boston College. He scored four goals in his first seven NHL games, and though he wasn't listed on the scoresheet tonight, I have a feeling he's going to be giving Sharks, Ducks, Stars, and Coyotes fits for a while.

The Kings aren't quite there, yet. They definitely have some guys who can score--Anze Kopitar, Alexander Frolov, Mike Cammalleri, Dustin Brown--but goaltending is still a bit of a question mark. Nineteen-year-old Jonathan Bernier, who actually did get a little NHL playing time this season early on, is presumably the goalie of the future for the Kings organization. If he matures into that role, and the young guys who seem to be meshing now continue to do so, this could be a dangerous team before you know it.

(Incidentally, Los Angeles' old war horse, Rob Blake, has been mentioned in various trade rumors as the deadline approaches. He has been dealing with some injury issues, which would presumably drive his trade value down at least a little bit. With the Kings' kids seeming to bloom recently, one wonders if maybe Blake doesn't have more value as a veteran presence in the Los Angeles locker room than he does as trade bait. Just a thought.)

From the perspective of a Sharks fan, all of the above means that the Pacific Division is not only likely to remain the toughest division in hockey, but is likely to get even tougher in the near future.


R'uh R'oh!

Speaking of tough opposition, I caught a little of the Rangers game today. They were firing on all cylinders and blew the doors off Buffalo, 5-1. The Sharks, of course, visit Madison Square Garden tomorrow. Zoinks!