To keep ourselves from getting the shakes due to lack of hockey, we finally started what we’ve threatened to do a couple of times- a podcast. It’s called (for obvious reasons) the Dudes on Hockey podcast, and it will be hosted on dudesonhockey.com. The direct link to the post is here, and on that page, you can also find a link to the podcast feed. We’re planning on releasing one of these every single week this summer, and I hope that will tide you all over until the preseason starts.

This is our first foray into the wonderful world of audio broadcasting; we’d love your feedback. You can leave comments here or send us email through the regular channels. Or, if you want a piece of the fun, send an email to questions (at) dudesonhockey.com – I guarantee we will read your email on the next podcast. Even if it’s horribly insulting and grammatically incorrect.

Oh, and the results of our Select A Seat?  You’ll just have to listen to the podcast to find out.

Why?  Because tomorrow is our Select-A-Seat day.  The day where we get to run (or in grier’s case, limp) around the Tank and choose where our season tickets will be next year.  Unlike previous years, it appears we aren’t required to give up our current seats in section 124, so it’s a zero-risk situation.  We really like the people that we are around, but it appears that some or all of them won’t be back, so we, like Brian Campbell and Marian Hossa, will be asking ourselves, “can we do better?”

Speaking of Campbell, rumors still abound that he’ll be testing the market, but we’ve seen DW pull off some stuff in the past.  Even given the power of our GM, if I were a bookie I’d put the odds at 25-75 that we are keeping Campbell, maybe even worse.  I don’t begrudge Campbell- this will likely be the most lucrative contract of his career, and probably the only one where he can really pick and choose.  More to come on these issues and prospects in the coming days.

After much speculation and hype, the 2008 NHL Draft came and went without any appearence by Doug Wilson and the San Jose Sharks. Who knows what he tried to do – rumors had Marleau going anywhere from Columbus to Nashville – but the return must not have been what DW was seeking or the other NHL clubs didn’t want what the Sharks were selling. So, we are left to speculate the following…

1) Patrick Marleau is going to be a San Jose Sharks for the next two seasons.

2) Brian Campbell is going to walk away from San Jose. Doug Wilson’s search for a number one blueliner continues.

3) The Phoenix Coyotes got way better today by adding Jokinen for two former 1st round picks (Boynton and Ballard) and a 2nd rounder. Florida upgraded their blueline but just got a glaring hole up front. Is this really the best offer they had??

4) Dan Ellis signed for 2 years/3M instead of testing the UFA market on July 1st. Huh? I don’t get it, sure Ellis was toiling away in the AHL one year ago – but he asserted himself as a #1 goalie and could have fielded offers from goalie starved teams like Los Angeles, Ottawa, Chicago and Edmonton. Instead, he stayed put and lost cash. Don’t get it.

Now I’ll turn it over to Mike with a few comments.

1) Filatov really looks like a little girl, but his low voice with no inflection was oddly soothing.

2) I think the Umberger to Columbus deal was pretty bad.  Sure, Philly got Luca Sbisa with that pick, but Umberger is a known good quantity.  Even in a deep draft year like this one the #19 is far from a sure thing.  I guess Philly chose to sign Carter and Upshall, and ditch Umberger.  They may live to regret that move.

3) Phoenix is going to be a big pain in the ass very soon, if not this year.  Now they have Jokinen, they have Turris ready to play every day, and now Boddker this year.  The blueline could still be shaky, but their offense is going to be scary.  If Breezy can steal some games, they could make a run at the #8 seed.

Just going on the record on a few things that I think will go down at the draft tomorrow.

1) The Sharks will finally trade Patrick Marleau, getting a useful player and a first round pick in the process. Vancouver, Atlanta, St. Louis and Columbus are all suspects. Could we get Bieksa and the 10th pick for Marleau? Hmmm….

2) Whoever lands Marleau might be forced to take out Doug Wilson’s trash in the process. See what DW did to Toronto last year. They wanted Toskala, you have to take Mr. DUI – Mark Bell as well. McLaren might be attached to any Marleau deal that gets done.

3) Spezza gets traded tomorrow for a high draft pick. Ottawa is looking to get rid of their two malcontents, Spezza and Emery, and start over fresh.

4) Jokinen is also finally traded tomorrow, maybe to Columbus for the 6th pick in the draft, which Florida will use to make a bizarre, unexpected selection.

We’ll see how these predictions hold up for posterity.

Darren Dreger is reporting that the Sharks and Canucks could be talking trade involving Marleau and Ryan Kesler. I’m assuming this deal would also include Vancouver’s #10 pick in the draft on Friday. This deal makes perfect sense for Vancouver, they desperately need a top flight forward to play on a team that struggles to score goals. They have the cap room, they need a make over – they need a Marleau type player.

Why does this make sense for San Jose? Kesler isn’t a great player, but he’s good. He’s 23, he’s signed for two more years at 1.75M per and he can play center or wing on the 2nd or 3rd line. He’s got decent size and with Pavelski and Seto, could be a smooth addition by Doug Wilson. It frees up the cash to resign Brian Campbell, which I think has been DW’s priority since the season ended AND the Sharks can get an exciting, young player in a very deep draft. I’ve gone on the record as being a fan of Kyle Beach – even though some hockey people think he’s too much of a loose cannon, I think the Sharks need to have a player like this and he’s worth the risk. Colin Wilson could be there at #10 as well, another DW type player who has excelled at the college game and could contribute on the big club in two years.

What do you think?

There are two good opposing arguments in the Nabby vs. Brodeur debate.  PJ from Sharkspage titled his post “Evgeni Nabokov finished second to Martin Brodeur in Vezina voting, rest of NHL scratches its collective head”.  And on the other side, James Mirtles calls his “Nabokov Didn’t Deserve the Vezina.”

The crux of the argument comes down to save percentage.  Brodeur clearly had a better save percentage than Nabby, .920 to .910.  And as several have pointed out, Brodeur faced about 200 more shots than Nabby did over the course of the season.  If you look at other stats, they all seem to favor Nabby- wins, shutouts, goals against.  But, the critics argue, those stats are team-based stats, unlike save percentage.  The fact that the Sharks were a very good team helped Nabby.

One thing I’ll admit to- save percentage is more of an individual stat than, say, wins.  The real question is, how much more?  To illustrate that point, if the Sharks took a shot every time they got inside the red line (and got it on goal), they’d rack up amazing shot totals, probably 40 to 50 a game.  Those 80-footers are easy pickings for pretty much any goalie that’s played hockey more than a month.  So the opposing goalie would look like Patrick Roy on the juice, with a .970 save percentage or more.  Vezina time!

Nabby faced 23.7 shots per 60 minutes of playing time, Brodeur 27.0.  That’s about 230 shots over the course of a season.  Let’s take a wild-assed guess, and estimate those extra 3.3 shots per game were not great shots, shots maybe from the point, shots that could have been blocked.  The Sharks blocked 1045 shots, the Devils 921.  If you say Nabby would have made those extra 230 saves, then his save percentage jumps to .920 as well.

It’s a woulda-shoulda-coulda argument, but to all of those that think save percentage is the be-all, end-all goalie stat, you’re sorely mistaken.  It might be one of the best we have now, but it’s far from perfect.   Myself?  I don’t particularly agree with either of PJ or Mirtle.  In fact (and you might want to sit down for this), I actually agree with E.J. Hradek.  It’s a damn close call.  And I probably would have voted for Brodeur.

To all those Sharks fans in despair, I say, it ain’t all that bad.  I think it’s actually better to have a player that (arguably) should have won the trophy than one that actually won it.  It’ll save us a few million bucks down the line when Nabby’s contract is up.

Okay, here’s part four of my attempt of trying to remodel the Sharks in the offseason. Remember, this is not what I think is going to happen – just what I might do if I was in DW’s shoes….My shot at playing Doug Wilson and roster moves has the Sharks sitting at 44.9M (roughly) with three major roster holes to address. I propose as GM that the Sharks should go out and get a new, younger enforcer to play on the 4th line, a veteran defensemen that can bring leadership and allowing a rookie defensemen a shot at the 6th spot instead of signing a veteran plug like Semenov.

THE ENFORCER
Darcy Hordichuk – Daniel Carcillo, who led the NHL in penalty minutes last season, said his toughest fight was against Hordichuk. Outside of Nashville, he isn’t well known, but he’s young and a total bad ass. Health has been a concern, but when able to play 74 games for Nashville in 2005-06, Hordichuk proved he can be more than just a goon, notching 13 points, a +9 and 163 PIM. I think he’s exactly what the Sharks need and, at 27 years old, fits the young core as well.
Signed@ 2 years, 1.6M. Sharks now at 45.7M.

THE VETERAN DEFENSEMEN – There are a few options here. I’ll break them down and then pick my favorite.

Jason Smith – Mike and I both think that Jason Smith could do wonders for the Sharks. He was voted by his peers in ESPN Magazine the “toughest hockey player” in the NHL, willing to play hurt and do whatever it takes to get on the ice. Smith dished out 142 hits and blocked 204 shots, while playing 18 minutes a game. He would instantly be the leader on the Sharks in both those categories, passing the Sharks leading shot blocker, Ehrhoff with 108 blocked, by a landslide. What else can I say to convince you? He’s 34, true. He reportedly has bad shoulder, true. He still managed 77 games last season and a full 82 the year before. Looking at what Aaron Ward got from Boston (2 years/5M), Smith will likely get more, but not much. I’d guess 3 years/9M.

Bred Hedican – Family ties might lure him back to the Bay Area with his wife Kristi Yamaguchi. I could see Hedican willing to play one more year and take a run at the Cup with the Sharks, playing a leadership role and operating on the powerplay with Brian Campbell. While he’s not overly physical, he can still block a shot (108 last season) and he led all Hurricane defensemen in ice time with 19 minutes per game. At age 38, he could fit nicely into the Sharks plans for a year. He might sign for 1 year/2.5M.

Mike Commodore – Mike and I advocated for Commodore to be acquired at the deadline and then he was dealt that same day to Ottawa. Go figure. He didn’t exactly perform well in a Senators uni (minus 9 and two points), but he did jump on the Ottawa Titanic right as it was sinking. His lackluster finish might have only dropped his price and he is still young at 28 with several good years of hard hitting hockey ahead of him. I think a contract similar to Ward’s is reasonable. 4 years/10M.

Bryce Salvador – This guy might got a little lost in the shuffle with some higher profile names on the market. Salvador can hit and thrives on being a defensive defensemen. He logs 20 minutes a game and has been around the block a little at age 31. While this wouldn’t be a big splash, Salvador would be nice to add to a core that right now needs a little toughness. Could probably be had for 2 years/5M, since he doesn’t bring any offense and has been injury prone year after year, only playing 64 games last season.

Brooks Orpik – Here’s a bit of a wild card. He’s 28 years old, he was born in San Francisco – might he want to parlay his Stanley Cup success into a homecoming to the Bay Area? He’s going to be a hot commodity on the UFA market, certainly one of the most fashionable. He might get Scott Hannan money and if Doug Wilson wanted to take a run and offer a long term deal to bring home a local boy, could 5 years/25M fill a major need for the Sharks? He’s certainly an upgrade over Ehrhoff, who is being asked to do the same things Orpik would.

My suggestion: I would say make a pitch for Orpik and hope the price is really more in the 4M range – if it gets too high, and I imagine it would, I would go straight to Jason Smith at 3 years, 9M. You have to look at what a player like this does for your team, see the effect CF Aaron Rowand has had on a talentless San Francisco Giants team this season. He demands hustle and hard work every night – and so does Jason Smith. I think the Flyers are fools to let him walk, but if they do, DW should snap him up. This puts the Sharks at 48.7M.

THE 6TH DEFENSEMEN
This is where I think the Sharks should let a young player without NHL experience have a shot at contributing for 10-12 minutes/night. Who could this be? Derek Joslin, who has solid offensive instincts but lacks true NHL size. Dan Spang, who has been a bit of a bust as a 2nd round pick in 2002 and his currently an RFA after two years in the AHL. Minor league tough guy Brennan Evans, could he earn a roster spot with toughness? How about Tom Walsh, another college defensemen, who had a good year with 36 points in Worcester. Or, could Ty Wishart get a shot to stick with the Sharks and learn on the job, paired with Jason Smith.

My suggestion: Let Derek Joslin have a shot at sticking with the big club and see what he’s got to offer. He’s under contract for one more year at 516,000. If Wishart excels in the AHL, then bring him up midseason and have Joslin on the bench as a scratch with some experience now. Sharks now at 49.2M

Okay now I’m done with the Sharks roster. Here’s how it would at 49.2M (roughly).

Michalek-Thornton-Cheechoo
Marleau-Pavelski-Setoguchi
Upshall-Mitchell-Clowe
Hordichuk-Cavanagh-J.R.

Rivet-Jason Smith-Murray-Campbell-Vlasic-Murray-Joslin/Wishart

Nabby and Boucher in net.

This doesn’t include bench players, which I think is very difficult to predict. What did I accomplish here? I kept the puck moving defensemen needs for McLellan to succeed on the PP, I gave the Sharks the toughest NHL defensemen who backs down to no one, we got a young enforcer in Hordichuk and a scrappy, 3rd line forward in Upshall. We kept heart and soul J.R. and Boucher in net and allowed a few rookies in Cavanagh, Joslin and Wishart the chance to contribute. We’ll see how any of this plays out in the coming weeks, it should be exciting and we should expect there to be some moves for sure. GO SHARKS!

Now in easy-to-read-bulleted format, made in chronological order, based on the IM conversation grier and I had during the ceremony:

• Adam Graves should have treated himself and bought a new tooth for the show. And gotten a tux not made of pleather.
• Jason Blake looks bad, it’s almost as if he had cancer or something. Oh, whoops. Too harsh? How about the fact that he cried like Mike Schmidt?
• When they asked the kid wearing the Sharks jersey what his favorite team was, and he didn’t say the Sharks, I wanted to kill somebody.
• If I had to pick between Datsyuk’s unintelligible acceptance speeches or Sally Fields’ “You like me! You really like me!” speech, I think I’d go with Fields.
• grier thought it was weak that Boudreau won because he didn’t coach the whole season, but my position remains that looking like Mickey Rooney trumps little faults like that.
• When Ron McLean took that fake cell phone call , grier IM’d, “It’s Kevin Lowe with an offer sheet.” Much funnier than whatever crap McLean then said. And thank God that whole cell-phone-call-during-the-awards-presentation thing hasn’t been done before.
• We all agreed Kane was going to win the Calder, but his speech was the BEST. Especially when he implied that all of his teammates want to have sex with his sisters.
• What can you say about the Gordie Howe lifetime achievement award? I heard that already existed. It’s called the “Hall of Fame”. Tie: $1.99. Shirt: 3.50 at Old Navy. Suit: $32 at Goodwill. Stiches and dentist bills: $354,765 800 goals: priceless
• When they did the split screen thing for the Norris, wasn’t it great how they cut half of Phaneuf’s face off so they could get Elisha Cuthbert fully in the frame? Smart choice, CBC producers. And they had to go back to them during Lidstrom’s speech.
• I bet $5 that Broduer would win, and I’m eager to collect. People like SV% more than other stats, except when they don’t.
• AO, yawn. I think he was living out his nightmare of standing in front of a room of people in his underwear- he looked that uncomfortable.

There’s just something about how Doug Wilson and Todd McLellan looked together during the press conference. This looks like a good match – McLellan brings the qualities that so many of us were hoping for in a new coach. I like that he’s young, he’s a proven winner on every level, he comes highly recommended from the best in Scotty Bowman and he is looking to inject the Sharks with a new attitude – which this team desperately needs. We’ve all loathed the Sharks power play under Wilson, the non movement and static nature of Joe on the boards looking to make the perfect pass. Those days are surely done. We might actually see McLellan use a big body like Clowe similarly to how he used Holmstrom in Detroit – or even put Thunder Joe himself in front of the net.

What most impressed me during the press conference was the statement by Doug Wilson that McLellan called the Sharks the morning after he had just won the Stanley Cup with one thing on his mind, “When can I get to San Jose to interview for the job?”. He wanted this job. He wanted to be here. E.J. Hradek discussed this morning on NHL Live that he heard Doug Wilson called McLellan at the airport on Tuesday after they spent two days together and asked him to postpone his trip to interview for Atlanta. The fact that McLellan did just that – throwing away any chance that Atlanta would interview him after doing that – also shows how much he wanted to be there.

One thing that was pointed out in the Mercury News today is that we often forget that DW did not hire Ron Wilson, he inherited him. In the end, this is his first chance to get a coach that completely melds with the roster he has assembled since 2003. This goes back to teamwork, working together with a partner in a coach that is on the same page as you across the board. McLellan and Doug Wilson seem to have this understanding already, and that could be a major piece in the Sharks taking the next step we fans are all waiting for.

On a side note, you have to believe that the hiring of McLellan means that Brian Campbell isn’t going anywhere. Getting a powerplay specialist coach who is used to having Rafalski, Schneider and Lidstrom on the point and then not giving him the roster to operate with would have been discouraging for McLellan, I’m sure. This topic must have come up during their meetings. There’s no point in having a high tempo, puck possession coach when you don’t have the quarterback to start the break. This gives even more hope that Brian Campbell isn’t going anywhere and a deal could be struck after the draft when the Sharks clear the cap room needed to make the deal.

I’ve got a good feeling. It’s a solid way to officially start the offseason in San Jose.

I admit, if you asked me before this post-season to name a Detroit assistant coach, I wouldn’t have been able to tell you about Todd McLellan. I do remember Drew Remenda dropping TM’s name a few times during a broadcast or on Shark Byte. Actually, if you asked me to name any NHL assitant head coaches, I think my over/under would be around 5. Hunter, Zetz, Tocchet, Lewis, Sullivan, Granato (until recently) …. uhhh… Joe Kocur? No wait, he’s in the league office.

You see what I’m getting at- assistant coaches operate in relative obscurity. They have their sphere of influence, the power play, the defensive lines, whatever it may be, but the head coach is out front, and takes the hit for any mistakes or breakdowns. I’ve never once heard a coach throw an assistant under the bus. I’m not implying that TM is not capable of handling the pressure and media scrutiny an NHL head coaching job brings, but I don’t doubt it will be a new and sometimes surprising experience.

On the contrary, when I review TM’s resume, the one word that pops to mind is ‘ambitious’. Minor league head coach in his early 30s. NHL assistant in his late 30s. And now, at 40, his first ‘administration’. His been angling for a job like this for years, and no doubt he’s thought about it often. I don’t think there is a more qualified candidate that didn’t have head coaching experience. For a team that is close to the brink of a Stanley Cup championship, I think I would have liked to have had a coach that had been there before, or at least had NHL bench boss time under his belt. But DW likes to go a bit off the path, and I admire him for it. He’s forgotten more about hockey than I’ll ever know. I appreciate his desire to avoid a “retread” and get a guy that’s young and enthusiastic. But it’s a bit of a risky move. If TM fails quickly, then both of their jobs are on the line, and DW knows it.

I hope he’s ready. I hope that pressure of coaching a contender is offset by the relatively mild SJ press corps. I hope that the success he enjoyed in Detroit is contagious. As Vince Lombardi said, “Winning is a habit. Unfortunately, so is losing.” I hope he can maintain the Sharks winning habit in the regular season and break the bad habit of losing in the playoffs.

I’m excited.