Escape

Where to begin?

The San Jose Sharks bounced back from their dismal Game Six performance in Alberta and defeated the Calgary Flames 5-3 tonight, winning their first-round playoff series four games to three.

That's the one-line summary, but it doesn't begin to scratch the real story.

Let's start with Jeremy Roenick. JR, who is older than his uniform number (ahem) and was a healthy scratch in Game Six, was involved in four of San Jose's five goals, scoring two himself and chipping in two assists. You hear a lot of talk in the playoffs about the importance of "veteran presence", et cetera, and it's the kind of thing that one is tempted to sneer at and dismiss. Sharks GM Doug Wilson lured JR out of retirement in the offseason precisely to bring to the team that kind of guy...the kind of guy who can lead a team to victory through sheer force of will. So clearly he believes in it. I believe in it, too, and I offer Roenick's performance tonight as evidence.

I find something hockey-affirming in this. The notion that willpower, emotion, and courage can be at least as important as talent in ice hockey is not just an old saw for writers of dramatic sports journalism...it's as real as the blood on Patrick Marleau's face in Game Three.

I think the effort of Joe Thornton has to be acknowledged tonight, as well. Big Joe has taken a lot of heat for allegedly disappearing in the playoffs, not just this season but in years past (and not just in San Jose...in Boston, too). To an extent, I think some of this criticism is justified. But it's not about the goals. Some of Thornton's critics have been grumbling that his playoff goal totals are meager, but Thornton is not primarily a goal scorer and never has been. He is a dominant possessor of the puck and an extraordinary passer, and as such his role is to make the other players on the ice better. He excels in this role, which is why he's always among the league leaders in assists. But in this series, Thornton has only rarely seemed to be the player he was during the regular season--the dominant final shift in Game Four that ended in his game-winning goal was an exception, not the rule. But Thornton played inspired hockey tonight, possessing the puck well and winning at least two crucial battles for loose pucks in the late-going with six Flames on the ice.

The Sharks put forth the kind of dominating effort tonight that many fans of the team knew was possible, but which, to our frustration, we glimpsed only rarely during the regular season. It goes without saying that I'm glad the Sharks put together this strong of a game tonight, but in my mind it's still an open question whether the Sharks really have what it takes to play playoff-caliber hockey with enough consistency to challenge for the Stanley Cup.

The Sharks can be proud of their effort tonight, but they also need to count themselves as extremely fortunate to have advanced to the second round after a series that included a blown 3-0 Game Three lead and a dreadful effort in Game Six. They were the best of teams, they were the worst of teams. If they "come out flat" in even one game against Dallas, that will be one game too many, and summer vacation will be on us before we know it.

What will it take to convince me? A playoff series in which the Sharks work hard, fight for every loose puck, hit, get to the tough areas of the ice, and show the remorseless killer instict of, well, sharks, in every game. Not just "When it counts", or "When it matters most". Every. Single. Game.

Next are the Dallas Stars, the Evil Empire, against whom I nurse a deep and very personal grudge. I can't think of a team I'd rather beat in the playoffs.

Can it be a Tie?

For a while, this post was going to be entitled, "Why Joe Thornton Should Win the Hart".

For a more or less equal amount of time, this post was going to be entitled, "I Feel Like a Traitor For Writing This, But..."

The race for the Hart Memorial Trophy, awarded each year to the NHL's MVP, is wide-open this season. Candidates have to include Pittsburgh's Evgeni Malkin, Calgary's Jarome Iginla, and even Evgeni Nabokov. But once the votes are counted, it should come down to a two-man race between Washington's Alexander Ovechkin and San Jose's own Joe Thornton.

The case for Big Joe is extremely strong, and of course I have a deeply ingrained teal bias. For the first half of the season (at least) watching the Sharks was an exercise in frustration. (This post from January pretty much captures my feeling at the time). They were an immensely talented but inconsistent bunch unable to get any production from the two guys who were supposed to be their leading goal scorers (Jonathan Cheechoo and Patrick Marleau). Yet somehow the team won games. A big part of this was a generally high level of defensive play, led by Nabokov in goal, and this is why Nabby deserves Hart consideration himself. But most of all, Thornton seemed to bring his best every night, and his best is very very good. There were times when he almost literally carried the San Jose offense on his own and led the Sharks to victory.

The Sharks weathered the rough times at the start of the season, somehow managing to stay within shouting distance of the top of the Western Conference despite the struggles of Cheechoo and Marleau and a seeming inability to win at home. Then, starting that night in Philadelphia, things started to go right. A few days later Brian Campbell joined the team and the puzzle seemed to be complete. No team has been able to beat the Sharks in regulation since, and as of this writing (the Blackhawks lead the Wings 5-2, early in the third) the President's Trophy is still a possibility.

The outstanding performances of Nabokov and Thornton provided the shelter that allowed this year's edition of the San Jose Sharks to struggle, err, learn, and grow, finding their game and their heart and their intensity in time to turn what looked like a potentially deeply disappointing team into the best Sharks squad ever. Nabby should get the Vezina (if he doesn't it's a dreadful injustice) so it seems only right to recognize Thornton's contribution to this extraordinary season with the Hart.


Except there's this guy in Washington...

As much as I love Joe, I cannot deny that the Capitals' Alexander Ovechkin also has a very strong claim to the Hart. First, just look at the numbers...63 goals, 110 points as of this writing. Ovechkin is the first player to top 60 goals since Mario Lemieux in the 1995-96 season. For a league that has struggled--and sometimes failed--in recent years to find even a single fifty-goal scorer, this is of immense importance. Never mind his value to the Capitals, which is of course enormous--he has led a back-from-the-dead charge which may or may not take the Caps to the playoffs, but which nevertheless has enchanted the hockey world and even captured the attention of casual fans. Ovechkin, taking obvious delight in everything that has to do with hockey, is of tremendous value to the league.

I reject the notion that Ovechkin should not be considered for the Hart unless the Caps make the playoffs. If we're going to set some sort of standard of team performance for Hart consideration, it ought to be hoisting the Cup, because nothing else matters. A team that makes the playoffs but loses in the first round is not more successful than a team that barely misses the playoffs in any meaningful way...if you're looking for yardsticks to measure the development of a franchise, enormous improvement of the type the Capitals have shown over the course of this season ought to count. If Washington had continued to be an easily beatable team despite Ovechkin's best efforts, that would be one thing. But win or lose the team has been the central actor in a captivating playoff race, and they are scary hot. (Should the Capitals squeak in to the last playoff position, the top seed in the East suddenly doesn't look like such a good deal).

I suppose only one guy can win it, and I have to admit I'm rooting for Joe--there's probably some bias at work here, but hey, that's sports. I'm a fan, dangit. Hopefully, though, Ovechkin will get the consideration he deserves, regardless of the success or failure of the Capitals' current mad sprint for the finish line.

Friday Fragments

My Awesome Winning Streak

I suppose a salient detail I ought to mention is the fact that I actually saw the Sharks play the other night. Like, in person...they played Minnesota over at the X in St. Paul, and I was there (in full Sharks regalia, of course). That makes a four-game winning streak for the Sharks at the X, and I've been there for all four...


It was a great game...San Jose took a 2-0 lead into the third, then Minnesota fought back to tie it. But right off the face-off following the Wild's second goal, Cheechoo took it in to score the eventual winner. Did that ever silence the crowd in a hurry! Heh. Still, even though they're The Opposition, the Minnesota crowds are great...totally passionate about their team. Great atmosphere.

Still, there's nothing better than going into an enemy building in your team's colors and coming out with a win.







"I got that guy's hockey card at home. I'll show it to ya."

My folks got me some packs of hockey cards as a stocking-stuffer for Christmas. And what card do I get...?



Oh, you know it's Big Joe! He shoots, he scores!!!

Thanks, folks!


Elsewhere Around the League

I watched the first half of Atlanta and Carolina's home-and-home on Wednesday, and kind of half-watched tonight's game while puttering around the apartment and writing this. Some observations...

Ray Whitney scored a goal tonight for Carolina and had a pretty assist on the game-winner. Whitney broke into the league with the Sharks many years ago...followers of Team Teal may remember his sudden-death series winner versus Calgary in the 1995 playoffs. (My roommates at the time may remember me running around the house and screaming with joy.) His goal tonight was his 20th of the year...obviously he is still playing top-notch hockey. This is a guy who's quietly put together a great career, and it's nice to see him doing well. The Hurricanes are, as of this writing, on top of the Southeast Division, but they're having trouble in goal and have suffered a raft of injuries--they had some emergency call-ups from Albany tonight who looked like they were barely old enough to drive. To right the ship, they'll need a guy like Whitney to provide leadership.

Another guy having a great year is Atlanta's Ilya Kovalchuk. This is a guy who for many years had a rep as a fabulously talented goal-scorer, but a one-dimensional player with a bit of a questionable attitude. He always seemed to end the year, like, -30 or whatever. This year, though, he's gone from being merely a talented goal-scorer to becoming a great hockey player. In addition to his highlight-reel goal on Wednesday that I raved about in a previous post, he had three assists in that 5-4 OT win, including a perfect dish to Marian Hossa for the winner. (Oh, did I mention he's leading the league in goals?) I'm betting this is the year he finally becomes a force in the NHL.