In this corner, weighing in at 6 feet and 205 pounds, the ever testy, the outspoken, the King of the Shootout (Not), Sharks goaltender Evgeni Nabokov.

In this corner, coming in at a stout 6 ft, 1 inches and 200 pounds, the Dill of Defense, the Relish in your Roulade, Marc-Edouard “Why Didn’t You Block That Shot” Vlasic.

In case you didn’t catch the postgame buzz, Nabby was none too pleased that Pickles didn’t block that shot at the end of the Sharks 3-2 shootout loss to St. Louis last night. Vlasic’s point, which is well taken, is that there were five guys who dropped the ball (or puck) at the end last night, and six if you include Nabby.

So, what do you think of the Sharks version of “The Blame Game”?  Personally, I LOVE IT!

Why, you ask? Because it means these guys care. Haven’t we been asking for this? When was the last time we had guys calling each other out? Forcing others to take accountability? This team has been far too private and too laid-back for too long, and last night’s meltdown deserved Nabby’s quote-tastic response. The Sharks should be mad they choked that game away and it might inspire Vlasic, or Huskins, or anyone to do anything possible to win a game – which was not the attitude for the final minute of regulation last night. This team has been remade to win in the playoffs and if someone needs to be called out to pick up his effort, then so be it. Perhaps it is a little bit unfair to blast Vlasic for not blocking a shot, after all with 52 blocks he is tied for 20th in the entire NHL – so it’s not like he’s not willing to go there – but if the knock on Vlasic has ever been anything, it’s been a lack of intensity and flair for the big play. Blocking that shot would have been the big play.

So get amped up guys. You have a big contest with Calgary on Saturday night and you’ve got to bring the fire and then some. I like a little infighting from time to time. After all, we’ve seen what the Sharks “We’ll get them next time, boys” motto got us last year? Nabby’s comments might inspire Vlasic to throw himself in front of anything, if it means winning a Cup.

Goddam it, shouldn't I be the one starring in that stupid George Clooney movie?

Ryan Vesce, along with Jamie McGinn and Logan Couture, has been on the short end of the stick when it comes to the Worchester shuttle this year, and I heard a rumor that’s he’s being called up for the game tonight:

But unlike McGinn, Couture, Joslin, McLaren, and the rest of the crew that are accruing frequent-flyer miles at a fantastic rate, Vesce is a veteran player.  Some people may know a bit about the waiver rules in the NHL- they are based solely on age and years of experience.  Young guys like the ones I mention above are exempt from waivers, a process where any other team in the NHL can take a player for free and assume their contract.  But Vesce is 27 years old, way too old to be exempt from waivers, which he would need to clear to be sent to Worchester, and re-call waivers, which he would be required to clear to come back to San Jose.  How come we never hear about him clearing waivers, like the recently demoted goaltender Stephen Valiquette of the Rangers?

It’s because the Sharks are being extra careful  with Vesce, and taking advantage of some CBA minutia.  As some of you might know, I’m oddly fascinated by the various obscure rules of the CBA, and none may be more confusing than the waiver process.   The Sharks are manipulating his time carefully so that he’s not subject to either regular waivers (which is how he would be sent down) or recall (which is how he would come back).  This is a pretty neat trick.  The harder thing to get around is the recall (or re-entry) waiver process, and the Sharks are taking advantage of section 50.9(g) of the CBA:

The Re-Entry Waiver procedure will not, however, be applicable to Veteran Minor League Players defined as follows: (i) for goaltenders, Players who have:
(A) played in 180 or more professional games in North America (NHL, AHL and ECHL), and
(B) not spent more than 80 NHL games on NHL roster over the prior two (2) seasons or more than 40 NHL games on NHL roster in the immediately prior season; and (ii) for defensemen and forwards, Players who have:
Neither the salaries nor signing bonuses paid to minor league Players shall be counted against a Club’s Upper Limit or the Players’ Share. For a Player on a One-Way NHL Contract or a Two-Way Contract with a Minor League Salary and compensation that could be earned in excess of the following amounts:

2005-06: U.S. $75,000

2006-07: U.S. $95,000

2007-08: U.S. $100,000

2008-09: U.S. $100,000

2009-10: U.S. $105,000

2010-11: U.S. $105,000

2011-12: U.S. $105,000

the following rules shall apply:
(i) To the extent the Player does not require Waivers to be Loaned to a minor league affiliate, he can be freely Loaned and Recalled

Vesce makes $105k, right under the wire, so this first rule doesn’t apply- Vesce is not subject to recall waivers.  Now what about regular waivers- how does he get around that, being 27 years old, with NHL experience last year?

13.5 Waiver Expiration. The rights granted under this Article to Loan a Player(s) who is otherwise required to clear Regular Waivers to a minor league club expire for any Player(s) who, after clearing Regular Waivers:

(i) is not Loaned to a minor league club, or is Recalled from a minor league club (except on emergency recall); and

(ii) remains on an NHL roster for thirty (30) days (cumulative) or plays ten (10) NHL Games (cumulative).

So looking at the above chart, we know know why Vesce was sent back down on the November 14.  Because his waiver exempt status was about to expire.   Now with the new addition of Jay Leach, the Sharks are taking advantage of another waiver wrinkle – since Montreal got Leach on re-entry waivers, they only had to pay half of his salary, the Devils the other half.  And now that the Sharks got him on regular waivers from Montreal, they are required to pay the amount the Habs did, about half the league minimum.  Leach may or may not have been “a guy that our guys (scouts) have liked” as Pollak reported, but more likely it’s that “he’s a guy that our guys (accountants) have liked”.

After a horrible, putrid effort against the streaking Chicago Blackhawks, the Sharks were expected to take out their collective frustration on the hapless Edmonton Oilers, even more hapless since Ales Hemsky is out for the rest of the season.  Their best player this year (Dustin Penner) is a guy that no one would have guessed would be even their third best player if asked only a couple of months ago.

The Sharks should not have won this game.

And I don’t mean that in a good way.  They should not have won it, and they didn’t deserve to win it.  Frankly, I think the team would be better off today if they were sitting around in Vancouver doing whatever it is smart people in Vancouver do (other than criticize Steve Bernier), and slagging themselves for dropping a second game in a row to a team that doesn’t have a lot of rays of sunshine poking through the clouds.

Instead, they may be breathing a small, understated, collective sigh of relief.  A sigh they didn’t earn, because there were so many things that didn’t go well in that game, it’s impossible to name them all.  But I will concentrate on the one shortcoming that this team supposedly rectified during this off-season, with the acquisitions of Scott Nichol and Manny Malhotra.  Not faceoffs (although they managed to come out on the short side of that one too last night).  Grit.

I try to follow the NHL closely, and I had no earthly idea who JF Jacques was until last night.  Then, as I’m sure many Sharks fans did, I quickly developed a strong animosity towards him, once he checked Thornton in the back into the boards, went after Dany Heatley’s knee, then took another run at Jumbo a short time later.  Apparently, other Sharks didn’t develop this animosity like I did.

Because nothing friggin happened.  Against Philly, there were scuffles, fights, jawing, the whole bit.  In Edmonton, watching a game that was so blurry I thought I was watching the 1978 Indianapolis Racers there for a second, the Sharks looked like the 2008 Sharks, and let it slide by.  To me, that’s much worse than losing a game in November.  That’s a big step back, one that flies in the face of the “we have to move on” platitudes spouted after Chicago embarrassed them worse than any team did at the Tank since 1995.  They looked shaken.

I’m not going to generalize, saying this team is the same weak-kneed set that lost early in the playoffs the last few years, but I will feel a lot better if someone comes out tomorrow night and punches Steve Bernier in the face.

Tonight, with the Hawks in town, both teams will either be pining for missing players, or welcoming them back into the fold. The biggest story is the return of Marian Hossa, who hasn’t played a game yet this year after having shoulder surgery. That top line of Kane Toews and Hossa will be something to watch. Can the Sharks new third line, or a defensive minded second line (Marleau, Pavs and Malhotra) keep that line in check?  In addition to the missing Blake, Seto, and Shelley, another guy the Sharks might be without is Dan Boyle, who Pollak said is “still possible” to play.  That would be a huge loss for the Sharks and their #3 ranked power play.  Mitchell is back here, but not supposed to start until the weekend (ibid).  Is that the only time ibid has ever been used in a hockey blog post?  I’m trying to break new ground here.

Despite thinking that team is chock full of offensive weapons, the fact is Chicago’s defense is the more impressive. They’ve allowed only 2.14 goals per game, good for first in the league. Sharks are third at 2.36. Their offense certainly isn’t bad, 6th, while the Sharks are 4th. #1 in offense? Atlanta. Yeah, go figure. They have nine guys with 10 points or more.

Anyway, the point is the Chicago Blackhawks are as close statistically to the Sharks as any other team in the league. They are even 1-2 in faceoff percentage.  Two divergences- PK (Sharks 1st, Chicago 9th), and shots. San Jose is middle of the pack in both shots for and against, while the Hawks are near the top in shots, and #1 in shots allowed.

Also like the Sharks is their interesting free agent situation.  There were big rumors last week that the Triumvirate of Toews, Kane, and Duncan Keith had renewal contracts in the works, but this week is quiet.  If they make it happen, could that be a template for Doug Wilson in trying to sign Pavs, Seto, and Marleau/Nabby?  I’m using the slash because I still think only one of those two can be kept.

I suppose this would be the time where I would use terms like “measuring stick” and “statement game” and all that.  I’ll just take the win.

Two notes:  The podcast will be recorded and uploaded after the game tonight.  Didn’t seem right to talk about the Sharks before they faced off against the second best team in the West.  Also, if you’re looking for a ego killer, try this trivia contest.  I got only 51, and there were several more I should have gotten.

With the Worcester shuttle in full effect sending down a flu ridden Logan Couture and his cohorts Ben Ferriero and Ryan Vesce, this leaves one hole in the Sharks roster for Wednesday nights game vs. the Central Division leading Chicago Blackhawks.

Is it Torrey Mitchell time? In case you’ve forgotten what he looks like, I included a picture of the dude to the right. Meet Torrey Mitchell all over again, folks. Remember the speed and fearlessness we saw in four playoff games vs. the Ducks? The joy of a scrappy role player we saw in 2007-08 with his 20 points and 50 PIM’s.  If he’s healthy, the Sharks just got even better. As impressive as McGinn, Couture and Ferriero have been in guest appearances, they were just holding the place warm for Torrey.

So where should he play? Well, for starters he’ll likely be paired with McGinn and McLaren on the 4th line until he gets his NHL legs back but eventually, a 3rd line of Malhotra/Mitchell/Ortemeyer is something to look forward to. Mitchell is another top notch bottom six forward, another possible scoring threat with his speed and another PK guy (he was 2nd amongst Sharks forwards in 2007-08 in PK avg. time). Welcome back Torrey. Here’s to good healthy and another reason why this team is better than last season’s record setting club.

The rumor mill is a buzz that all is not right in Calgary with a certain star player. We’ve heard rumblings of Dion Phaneuf being moved in the offseason and with the addition of Bouwmeester and Regehr, should we be too surprised that Darryl Sutter is going to pick his brother over the player? I think not, these turtles stick together. Not that Sutter would ever deal Phaneuf in the conference, but what kind of blog would this be if I didn’t make a plea of how we might be able to get him, if he is truly available. I would suspect the price would be a young top four d-man, a top six forward and a young NHL ready player. So would you trade Vlasic, Clowe and McGinn to have a potential pairing of Boyle and Phaneuf? This would mean that Joslin would be part of the defensive core for the rest of the season, but I think Joslin has proved he can handle it.

Acknowledging the odds are those good friends, Slim and None, I’m just saying hypothetically, would you do it? Doug Wilson has never been afraid to trade for a marquee player (Boyle, Heatley, Thornton, Campbell). He will pull the trigger. He has stones of steal, but is this the right deal? Not enough? Don’t mess with a good thing or make a good thing better. You be the judge.

I Love Dan Boyle. Trade Me to San Jose!

One of the most anticipated match-ups of the year for me, the Philadelphia Flyers are in town (7pm start, not 7:30).  This will be Chris Pronger’s (booo!) first visit to the Tank since he was traded to the Flyers in the offseason.  As has been well-documented on the podcast, both Doug and I have put money down on the Flyers to win the Stanley Cup this year.  For those who might be sneering at us right now- c’mon, we got 12-1!  That’s just a solid bet.

The Flyers have been built to strike fear in the hearts of their opponents.  In addition to the aforementioned Pronger (booo!)  the Flyers have Dan Carcillo, Riley Cote, Ian Laperriere (who we thought would be a good fit for the Sharks) and Scott Hartnell to provide some rough stuff.  Although I’m not sure throwing your glove at somebody counts as “rough stuff”.  Despite that impressive list of pugilists, it’s Mike Richards who has more penalty minutes than all of the above save Laperriere, and it’s Richards that put David Booth to sleep with one of the most crushing (and controversial) hits of the year.  I’ll leave that debate for another day.

It also bears mentioning where Philly sits now versus where they sat on October 25, the day that Thomas Greiss got his first start, and led the Sharks to an impressive 4-1 win at the Wachovia Center.  At that time, the Flyers were 5-2-1, good but not fearsome.  Now, they are at 12-5-1, and have won 8 of their last 9 games.  Some of those games weren’t against exactly the cream of the NHL crop (Tampa, Ottawa, Carolina), but the last two wins have been the most impressive- at home versus the Devils (handing New Jersey their first road loss of the season) and two nights ago against the Kings, our old pal Brian Boucher weathering the storm.

Tonight we will have Nabby between the pipes facing a mostly healthy Flyers squad, minus the ever-shelved Simon Gagne.  Like the Sharks, there aren’t a lot of weaknesses to the Flyers.  They do commit a ton of penalties; they have four more minor penalties than the Sharks in five fewer games.  Can’t say I’m surprised by that, but they do have the 8th-best penalty kill in the league, plenty good enough to allow for some extra goonery.   They also sport the best power play at the moment, which means the Sharks, who are 16th in the league in PIMs/game (Philly is 25th) need to stay the hell out of the box.

Interestingly enough, the fourth line may be the difference for the Sharks.  If Ferriero, Couture, and McLaren McGinn are recalled as expected, this could be a real speed mismatch, going up against Blair Betts and Riley Cote. Can’t wait for this game.  And no, I won’t be wearing the Carle jersey.  I do like Fear the Fin’s prediction for the game though:  “Sharks win 17-1. Goals by Heatley, McGinn, Clowe, and a whole bunch of others. Matt Carle’s league-leading +/- drops like a stone. ”  Won’t be betting on that outcome, but a good call nonetheless.

The Sharks vs Preds tonight is radio only, so you’ll all have to listen live to Dan and Jamie.  Streaming at KFOX, or listen the old frequency-modulated way if you must.   News from Pollak that Greiss is starting again, with Staubitz and Seto out.   That means Frazer McLaren, Benn Ferriero, and Logan Couture are the fourth line tonight, with Malhotra moved up to the second,  and McGinn on the third with Nichol and Ortmeyer.  I’m actually looking forward to that combination- I’d like to think the youthful enthusiasm of those three might give the Preds’ checking line a little more than they bargained for tonight.

Second, a little housekeeping note- I’ve changed the RSS feeds of the blog and podcast over to feedburner, a common and popular service owned by Google that will allow us to keep stats about readership, and give a nice formatted page when you actually visit the feed.  I’ve set up some forwarding so I hope it’s all transparent to you, but I’m mentioning it just in case people run into issues.  Just click on the buttons there on the right to take you to the new feed.

Third, the podcast will be recorded and posted tomorrow night, probably around 8 or 9pm PST.  Emails always welcome.

Fourth, Claude Lemieux didn’t win Battle of the Blades on CBC, sort of a hockey Dancing With the Stars, but with hockey players and figure skaters doing a pairs competition.  Craig Simpson and Jamie Sale ended up winning, with Lemiuex and Stephane Richer (remember him?) as runners-up.  The most noteworthy thing about this show (other than the fact that I kind of want to watch it), is that Lemieux not only performed to the great Leonard Cohen song “Hallelujah” on the finale, but he sung it too.  And I’ll let Doug weigh in on this, being a performing arts guy, but as a person who’s been on stage a few times, I’d say his voice ain’t half bad. [youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GscWDUk3otA[/youtube]

This is giving me ideas for the podcast.

Jeremey Roenick waives to the crowd before the Sharks 4-3 OT loss in Chicago

The Sharks tangled with one of the most dangerous teams in the NHL last night when they swam into Chicago and tangled with the early Central Division leaders. This game featured some of the best young talent in the NHL on both sides plus a collection of the best skill players in the Western Conference. It was an extremely entertaining game and a fitting tribute to one of the most exciting players the NHL has ever seen in JR. As a tribute to their former teammate, the San Jose Sharks reached back into their old bag of tricks and coughed up a 3-1 lead just for old times sake. J.R. could have only smiled and said, “Ahh…memories…”

We’ve seen this from the Sharks before and unfortunately, their last three losses have been blown leads (2-1 in Detroit and the OT loss at home to Dallas). The good news is – they haven’t been losing much at all lately – but is this a real concern or just a good effort to get a point on the road against a playoff team?

Attempted levity aside, I’m not disappointed by the loss. It was a great effort against a very good team with an emotional crowd at their side. I am more and more impressed by Jason Demers every game and his continued development must be a great surprise for the Sharks front office. The Sharks have taken some heat the past few seasons for not having a top farm system, but I think the play of McGinn, Couture, Demers, Joslin, Greiss and Ferreiro in supporting roles is proving those critics wrong. It’s pretty hard to argue with the #1 seed in the West – again.

Tomorrow night’s game in Nashville isn’t on TV. Instead, Comcast Sports Bay Area is proud to present the following programming for your entertainment. After all, it is a contact sport.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SeMJOPlK-0E[/youtube]

*Vesce shown actual size

Dallas is certainly a worthy opponent, and the Sharks again managed not to lose in regulation last night, falling 3-2 in the shootout to the Stars.  Of course, the way they lost will the be the topic of discussion today, mostly because there isn’t much to talk about regarding the Sharks.  I don’t mean for this to be a strident, finger-pointing post, because these games happen, and you can’t expect the boys in teal to be in absolute top form every game of the year.  I thought Dallas played very well, with a few more crazy-Turk (Turco) moves than I’m used to seeing.  I was a bit surprised at their lack of offensive firepower- I thought their D would be the main issue with the Stars.  Only James Neal seemed to be a consistent threat, with Brad Richards (their top scorer) and Mike Ribero (their top actor) held at bay.

So the game seemed to be going according to plan, the Sharks finally manage to crack Turco on a classic Dany Heatley tally and a flukey Ryan Clowe wrist shot that went off the D, and then the third period happened.  The one off of Demers’ boot was just bad luck more than anything.  The second was worse, because it stemmed from a bad clearing attempt, with a scrum in front finally tying the game.  Fairly lively overtime, and like always, I go into the shootout with more than a touch of dread.  Nabby is tied for third all time in losses in the shootout (tied with Tim Thomas, behind only Giguere and Luongo) with a win percentage of .455 and save percentage of .584.

The title of this post refers to the odd (some might say lame) selection of the third shooter in the shootout.  McLellan kept his second best shootout player (Ryane Clowe, 6 for 13 all-time) on the bench in favor of Ryan Vesce (now 0 for 1 all time).  To be honest, after you get past Pavs (14 for 25) and Clowe, it does get a little thin, choosing between Dan Boyle (4 for 13), Patrick Marleau (5 for 17), Dany Heatley (4 for 21) or Devin Setoguchi (1 for 6).  I’m glad McLellan chose Boyle, because if nothing else, it’s entertaining watching Boyle make about a thousand moves, sending the goalie into a full spin and flop.  This time Turco spun and flopped correctly, and made a no-look save on Boyle’s backhand.

But Vesce, not so much.  He skated straight down the center of the ice, handled the puck a couple of times, tried to deke, and left the puck behind him.  He swept at it on the backhand, but because the forward progress had stopped, it wouldn’t have counted even if it had gone in.  Not exactly an impressive performance.

It’s a minor point, but who’s the goat in this situation?  McLellan for putting in a guy that’s ice cold?  Or Vesce who didn’t even manage to keep the puck on his stick when he tried to shoot it?

Marcel Goc makes his triumphant return to the Sharks Tank tonight after signing a one year deal with the Nashville Predators in the offseason. When you take a look at how much the Sharks bottom six forwards have improved, one has to tip their hat and give an assist to Predators GM Dave Poile for not resigning Scott Nichol and underutilizing Jed Ortmeyer, allowing them to fall into the clutches of our own Doug Wilson. Nichol and Ortmeyer have been two major keys to the transformation of the Sharks third and fourth line. Last season, the Sharks got limited offense and very little grit from their bottom six and this year these former Preds have brought a new attitude and work ethic to the mix. So, welcome back Marcel Goc. We may miss your blogging, but we do not miss your consistently disappointing play. I hope Poile is happy with your stat line and the $250,000 he saved by letting Nichol walk. Let’s look at the difference with the three stats that really matter for a bottom six center like Goc and Nichol: Hits, Faceoff % and PK time.

Marcel Goc (2009-10) 8 hits, 55.5% and 1:23 PK time.
Scott Nichol (2009-10) 53 hits, 64.2% (2nd in the NHL behind Paul Gaustad) and 2:07 PK time

Not to mention that Scott Nichol is a whopping 62% on PK faceoff draws and Goc is under 50%. Doug Wilson has delivered change in a big way with a player that might not get the press, but Nichol for Goc was a remarkable and much needed upgrade.

The Predators will be without their star blueliner, Shea Weber, tonight while the Sharks are getting back Seto and Vesce. I could see this causing semi-chaos upfront initially with the Sharks falling behind early, and I could also see this as what they call in the betting world a “trap game” with the Sharks perhaps looking ahead to a date with Dallas on Thursday. It’s for this reason that I hope McLellan starts Thomas Greiss tonight to keep the Sharks focused in their own end, forcing them not to check out against the weaker, hoe down dancing opponent. While the Preds are 2-9 against the Sharks in their last 11, I still smell trouble and a tight 3-2 win by the Sharks.

How do you like the new blog and sexy features? Just in case you were having trouble getting up for the game, a little dance down memory lane for you. Will McLellan play Staubitz tonight and scratch McGinn? We’ll have to see…

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yTpl_SuXygw[/youtube]