Sharks Get Testy
December 12th, 2008, 8:48 am
I breathed a bit of a sigh of relief when the Sharks finally closed out last nights game 2-0 against the Ducks. This was shortly after a sigh of disbelief when Grier missed an empty net from about 20 feet out. Please tell me the puck was rolling. But I digress.
The game certainly seemed a bit slower than most Sharks affairs. I think the Ducks were largely successful in keeping the common Sharks break-in from happening. That is, the center skates it into the zone, kicks it out to the wing and drives the net. The winger puts it on net and the center is right there to try and bang the rebound home. Seems like the Sharks do this 5-10 times a game at least, and they sure tried it last night, but I can’t remember a single time when it was anywhere close to successful.
But it was a testy matchup between two good teams, one I hope to see again in the playoffs. I really need to start TiVoing all the games, even the ones I go to, because I didn’t get a good look at the JR near-boarding or really what started the scrums. Please enlighten me in the comments.
The reason I need that is this- what I see on the Mercury News home page this morning:
Yeah. Jack squat. I don’t blame David Pollak or Mark Emmons, who do a great job, but c’mon, “SAN JOSE” NEWSPAPER. It’s not like I’m looking for Sharks coverage in the Tuscaloosa Times here.
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Michalek vs. Pronger: Michalek checked Pronger hard into the boards and Cory Perry took exception and challenged Michalek, who hit Perry in the face. Pronger then comes in front of the net and levels Pavs. Then Kunitz jumped in (the clear 3rd man in), bringing Ehrhoff and Pavelski to the scrum, gloves off. There were so many players tangoing, I think even Ken Klee was there….
I was upset because the linesmen dragged Pavelski away but they didn’t get any Ducks out from what I could see. Weak. I wanted to see Pavs drop too, he was ready.
Only Mike Grier would miss an empty net. Ouch.
Grier’s miss: He just missed, it was down and on his stick from what I can tell. I think he over thought it and rushed it because he thought he had pressure.
Scrum 1: Michalek crushed somebody into the boards and Perry took offense, so Michalek knocked his ass to the ice too and just about everybody jumped on each other. I particularly enjoyed Pavs trying to fight through a ref to get at somebody, but Erhoff was deep in the scrum with Michalek as well.
Scrum 2: Perry tried to set up shop in front of the net and Blake was having none of it so he cross checked him 3 times in the back, Perry turned around to take a whack at Blake and Blake reacted with a spear to what looked like the crotch. Perry went down like a sack of potatoes and the scrum ensued.
Not sure about the near boarding penalty to Roenick. I think the extended stay in the box was due to language used to vividly describe what he thought of the ref.
Thanks Evilducks. Actually, when JR was skating to the box, I thought I read his lips as saying, “That’s fucking hogwash,” which would have been really funny.
I have never relied on the merc to post anything about the Sharks, just like the AM channels in the bay area rarely talk about the Sharks even when they are telling of bay area team’s scores. They do during the playoffs but rarely. 740AM doesn’t and yet they will go on and on about the Giaints and Niners.
Try globesports.com and even canada.ca and torontosun.ca Pretty much any paper that isn’t in California. Pretty sad imo. I get a lot of Sharks news up here in Toronto from the radio and tv. Its always been weak in the states for good hockey coverage.
I always recorded the games even the ones I went to. I got pretty much every game played on tv since Oct 2000 and even some from this year.
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Mike and Doug- I appreciate your blog, podcast and enjoy listening to chomptalk. I have a question for you on the Ducks game. Did the officiating seem a little off to you? I admit to being a little bias, but did it seem that the Ducks got the benefit of the doubt on some calls. Were they just better at not crossing the line on interference and hooking penalties? It seems a lot of minor hooking that I have seen called in prior games was not called.
The officiating let the two teams play (and beat the tar out of each other) for the most part. The only thing I don’t agree with are the outcomes of the scrums. Kunitz should have been in trouble after the first one, and I have no idea why they went mostly after the Sharks on penalties in the 2nd. Blake I can understand, but Michalek got a misconduct as well that makes no sense to me.
Correct me if I’m wrong, but one more game misconduct and Blake gets a 1 game suspension, right?
Scratch that, Blake only got the major, no misconduct.
How about the change in Michalek this year? He’s actually playing out there like he’s as big as he is and pushing people around instead of playing like he’s 5’8″ 160lbs.
I think Michalek got sick of being hit to oblivion like in games against EDM. He is playing like a big dude and taking names. Something that he should of done a couple of seasons ago.
I honestly cannot remember the last time the Sharks scored an empty netter. But I definitely remember several icings that came from missing the empty net.
The Mercury News problem is definitely the worst when football or baseball are in the offseason, but still get the front page headlines ahead of the Sharks or Earthquakes. Wouldn’t it be funny if there were football fans complaining that the San Jose teams get too much coverage?
From the flip side, I offer this:
No need to overreact on the JR hit. It was clean. He just braced himself ackwardly against the dasher.
Corey Perry doesn’t need to stand up for Pronger. Chris can take care of himself. And Perry just looked foolish when Michalek flattened him, too. That being said, Michalek doesn’t seem like he’s going to be able to take the Holmstrom-type of abuse he’s in for if he continues that “gritty” play.
Rob Blake should have gotten a misconduct – or worse. The officials let it get to that by not calling the cross checking on him to begin with. For a veteran to show that lack of respect is something that should be punished. (And let’s just imagine for a minute if Pronger had speared Seto in the nuts what we’d be calling for)
You guys should be able to comment on the ice. Guys from both teams losing edges; the puck jumping; it looked bad. I’d say the two games the Ducks have had at HP have been the worst ice of any arena – hands down.
Even though the Ducks were shut out, I’m not sure that the Sharks were anything to be in awe of. Do they have more? They had four days to prepare for a team that played the night before. Nabby might be able to play better. And he’ll have to come post season. I don’t see the team getting better with Cheechoo’s return. He’s not a 3rd or 4th line guy. He’ll be traded to the Rangers before the All-Star break. The tough spot the Sharks find themselves in is that there’s no where to go but down.
Yeah, I love how the Mercury News has no sharks link in the sports section on their main page. I sent an email to them a couple of times but received no response.