You can access the whole thing at chompboard.com. Here’s my call, near the beginning of the show.

San Jose Sharks beat writer David Pollak points out on his blog that there were several scouts in attendance on Saturday night. I’m going to throw out a team that was at the Tank on Saturday, a team that has struggled to find their own identity but they aren’t afraid to pull off a big trade.

The Florida Panthers.

Could the Panthers be the perfect trading partners for San Jose? They have what Doug Wilson might be looking for – a 29 year old All Star center and team captain. No, I’m not talking about our Patrick Marleau. I’m talking about Olli Jokinen. Doesn’t it make some sense? Florida is not going to make the playoffs and they have a decent young core that they need to continue to add on. Jokinen is signed until 2010, is a 80-90 point player and plays with more fire than Marleau. Jokinen has two fighting majors this season, averages around 70 PIM’s and he reportedly speaks out in the dressing room (as a good Captain should). Florida needs a sniper, another young D-man and a veteran center to replace Jokinen – we can offer all three. All the Sharks need in return in a 6th d-man to replace Ehrhoff in the line up until DW can swing another deal….and so we don’t have to watch Frankenstein. Florida likes to make the big trade, the Luongo/Bertuzzi deal and the Vokoun deal proves they aren’t afraid to roll the dice. They haven’t made the playoffs since 2000. Think they don’t need a major shake-up?

To San Jose: Olli Jokinen and Jasson Cullimore
To Florida: Patrick Marleau, Christian Ehrhoff and Joe Pavelski

So we lose Marleau (big deal) and Ehrhoff (not in the future plans anyways, I don’t think) and Little Joe. Pavelski is the one that stings, but you’ve gotta give to get and given Jokinen’s long term contract status, I think it’s worth it. Would this translate to a Stanley Cup this year? No. Would this be putting the Sharks back on the right track for the future? I think so.

Classic Drew Remenda post in the broadcaster’s blog:

I could disect(sic) the game for you but by reading the various chatroom threads you all have it pretty much figured out.

I’m sure he’s talking about my crack analysis (“The Wings are better”). You can’t get this kind of insight just anywhere. But then he gets warmed up (italics mine):

With the exception of Hasek after the first goal they just played within their system and kept moving their feet, pursuing the puck and working hard off it frustrating and dominating the Sharks. Basically the Wings don’t cheat. They don’t cheat the game or each other. They don’t have team meetings then three weeks later forget what was discussed. They just go out, play, work smart and win. They hold each other accountable by their actions not their words. Enough said.

Great blast. It should be said that if it was as easy as saying “we all need to work hard every shift”, then 29 other teams would be doing what Detroit is doing. But they aren’t. Detroit has a mix of players, coaching, and management that is yielding this kind of play. For now. As with everything else in professional sports, it could go south at any time. The President’s trophy is the kiss of death in the playoffs.

I’m not going to torture us all by recapping last night’s game against Detroit; instead, I’ll sum it one with one (ok, two) statements. The Wings are better. A lot better.

Not only do the Wings have superior talent, talent that is actually performing (ahem), but they they all play with the same intensity, regardless of the score or time on the clock. It’s a lesson the Sharks still haven’t learned this year.

I hate to revisit the same old topics again and again, but after a late-night discussion with grier, they seem to be new again.

First of all, is trading young talent for Sundin really the answer? Let’s say we get rid of Pavelski, Marleau and Bernier (perhaps among others) so we can get Antropov, Raycroft and Sundin. Would we be on par with the Ducks or Wings? Not really. And Sundin is UFA after this season, so DW would be raiding the pantry for what? So we can dump Marleau’s contract? To keep the fans from complaining? We are more than a Sundin away from winning this thing.

This brings me to my second point. As I commented in the previous post, something has to be done about Marleau, because he’s just sucking ass, and not really getting better. He’s -20 now, for those keeping score at home. It’s long been discussed and rumored that he and RW are at odds. What about dumping the bench boss? Grier thinks he won’t be back next year whatever happens, but maybe the Sharks should make a change now. It might immediately cure the Marleau issue. A new style may smooth out the huge ebbs and flows of intensity that we’ve all witnessed. Does anyone honestly believe the Sharks would be playing (and losing) the way they have in the last week if Ken Hitchcock was behind the bench? Or Mike Babcock? or Ted Nolan?

It might be time to make a change in that department. It would give us more info on the depth of the Marleau situation and more insight as to what this team really needs. I’m not saying the Sharks should pack it in for this year- teams get hot in the playoffs, and a hot Sharks squad could be very dangerous come April. But perhaps the Sharks should realize changes need to be made if the Stanley Cup is truly the goal. Regardless of their hot streaks, their cold streaks, and everything else, one thing is undisputed. The Sharks cannot beat the elite teams in this league. Until you can do that, the Cup is just a pipe dream.

Rumors are buzzing that the Sharks are throwing their hat in on the Mats Sundin sweepstakes. These two teams have been linked in the rumor mill for the last two months, so I don’t think we can discount there might be some truth to this. Let’s break it down, shall we.

I talked about Toronto and San Jose talking Blake/Marleau – but with the mention of Sundin, Antropov and Raycroft – this has the looks of a potential monster deal that could change the look of two teams that desperately need makeovers. So, what would Toronto want for those three players? What would Doug Wilson be willing to give? The list of usual suspects (Ehrhoff, Cheech, Goc) probably won’t get it done. The Leafs would likely want one of these players to be included – Bernier, Vlasic, Mitchell or Setoguchi. Which one would you be most willing to give up? I say Mitchell is untouchable. For a team that plays with little heart, he stands front and center every night and gives it his all. Mitchell’s ability to kill penalties, be a pest and score clutch goals makes him untouchable in my mind. Bernier has finally discovered his “B” game and paired with Clowe in the future, could be a dominant 2nd line force, so he stays. Vlasic is a solid, stay at home defensemen who has not discovered an offensive upside. DW let Hannan walk because Vlasic is in the future plans. He stays. That leaves The Gooch. I like Setoguchi, but his injury history and the presence of Cheechoo makes him expendable if the net return is a superstar like Sundin.

Patrick Marleau, Joe Pavelski, Devon Setoguchi and Thomas Greiss for Mats Sundin, Nik Antropov and Andrew Raycroft.

This is assuming Sundin comes without extension, which is most likely. He might leave and go back to Toronto in the offseason. It’s a risk that might be worth taking just to get Marleau out of town and change the culture of the team. Doug Wilson has had pretty good success convincing veterans to stick around in San Jose after trading for them (Thornton and Rivet) excluding Bill Guerin, who I don’t think was courted to stay after being a deadline bust. Perhaps Sundin could be convinced to spend his final years in a different shade of blue? If not, the Sharks will have six million dollars to play with in the offseason and are already very deep up the middle with Big Joe, Goc, Couture, Brown and Mitchell. And then there is Antropov. Antropov is bigger than Pavelski – he looked like a beast out there two weeks ago standing at 6’6″ and playing him in the middle of Bernier and Clowe would be HUGE – literally. Raycroft is worth the gamble and at 2.2 million next year, he is a decent insurance policy and certainly better than Greiss right now.

If this is real, and the Sharks are able to hold on to some of their key young players in the process – I say make it happen Dougie. What do you think?

I’m dreading tonights game vs. Detroit. Since we’ve yet to see the Sharks beat the Wings, Ducks or Stars on home ice this year – isn’t that a sure sign that something big needs to change and soon?

UPDATED (1/20)
LOOKS LIKE MIKE AND I OVERLOOKED ONE FORMER ALL-STAR CENTER WHEN DISCUSSING THE WORST PLUS/MINUS IN THE LEAGUE – BRAD RICHARDS, WHO HAS A TERRIBLE -23 GOING THIS YEAR FOR TAMPA BAY. PERHAPS THE SHARKS AND TAMPA BAY SHOULD HAVE A CONVERSATION??

I couldn’t believe my eyes. The Sharks are number one in the ESPN power rankings. I should be happy that the Sharks are getting some credit, recognized as the top team in the NHL….wait. I just threw up a little bit in my mouth. The Sharks have flip/flopped back to their Evil Dr. Hyde ways. Marleau looked terrible again last night, getting totally burned on the back check. He is now -18 for the season, the worst +/- rating in the league, tied with that NHL mainstay Steve McCarthy of the Thrashers. Marleau has the worst +/- in the league. I just wanted to say that again in case you missed it. He is virtually untradeable now, unless Doug Wilson sends Mike Ricci to slip another GM some crazy pills. Maybe that is what Marchment’s front office job is – to kick Don Waddell painfully in the nuts until he agrees to trade us Marian Hossa for Marcel Goc and a 7th rounder. You can stop calling for Patty’s head – we are stuck with him until he figures this out. With his high salary and lack of production, the return for San Jose would likely be nothing or we would have to take someone else’s problem in the deal – example, Jason Blake from Toronto. More on this later.

With McLaren out, the Sharks are forced to play Frankenov – and Ron Wilson was so disgusted that he only ran him out there for nine minutes last night. I’m begging you – no more Semenov. Call up Joslin or Spang or Brennan Evans. Bring Danny Markov over from Russia. Bring Doug Bodger out of retirement. Anything but Frankenstein please. If McLaren’s injury is going to be nagging for the rest of the season, the Sharks have a serious problem since they have lost all confidence in Ozo.

Does this sound like a #1 team to you still ESPN? Perhaps you don’t watch enough Versus or Fox Sports. Check out the NHL Network, if you can find it.

Back to Jason Blake, who the Leafs are rumored to be shopping around. If Toronto was willing to swap our problem (Marleau) for theirs (Blake) in a larger package that brought them some youth (take your pick from our roster) and brought us some veteran talent (Kaberle, Tucker, McCabe, or Sundin), would you be willing to take on Blake until 2012 with leukemia? I’m tempted to say yes. The dude has cancer and he plays every night. He’s on pace for his career average numbers, discounting last years contract season. He is a + 4 on a bad team. Isn’t that better than Marleau right now?

I’m sure Detroit is salivating at the chance to play the Sharks, who they have beaten five times in a row and held the Sharks to a season low 11 shots on goal last meeting. With the Sharks reeling again – the odds of them turning it around against Detroit are tough – but with this team, whenever I count them out, Dr Jekyll appears and gets a win. They are flirting with disaster. The Sharks are four points away from being the #8 seed.

So, mercifully, Frankenstein is out, and Oz is back in. Next time, let’s close the barn door before the horses all run out.

A lot has been said about the Ducks game, so I won’t really talk about that much more. But I do want to talk about several game-time and in-game decisions by the coaching staff, all of which I have a problem with:

1. Starting Thomas Greiss. I get that RW and Co. want the kid to get some NHL competition before the playoffs, but in his NHL debut?? Outside of Bertuzzi’s wraparound it was a good effort, but to me, this is the craziest personnel decision the Sharks have made this year. Unless the stuff about Nabby being banged up after the Leafs game was BS. What’s the harm in letting the kid play against the Coyotes first, then work up to some tougher games this month or next? We have Colorado and Calgary at home next month, a long Atlantic road trip, and plenty of tough teams in March.
2. Starting Semenov. We’ve beaten this to death. It was a decent gamble to bring this guy in, a good experiment, but the results are in. He shouldn’t be on an NHL roster.
3. Playing Semenov in key situations. Also flogged to perfection. Why he was out at the end of the game, and why he got PP time, is one of life’s great mysteries. As Jeremy said, Zettler should be held accountable for this decision if it was in fact his call. I laughed out loud when I read that Semenov was out at the end because “he is an NHL player.” That might be RW taking some heat for his assistant’s mistake. The idea that because Semenov, a frequent healthy scratch, is on an NHL roster somehow explains playing him in the most crucial moment of the game is ludicrous. If Brown, The Rizz™, and Marcel Goc play an entire 5-on-3 power play and the justification for having them on the ice is because they are “NHL players,” the coaching staff should immediately be placed in the NHL substance-abuse program. Oz can give you directions to the meetings.

It was like the Twilight Zone. Greiss in net instead of Nabby? No Bernier? McLaren on the IR? What else could happen.

IT’S ALIVE! IT’S ALIVE. FRANKENSTEIN IS ON THE ICE. SEMENOV. BRAINS! BRAAAAAIIIIIINNNNSSSS!!! PUTTING ON THE RITZ!!! I #$%*ing hate this guy and he proved why he is the worst player on the Sharks. Don’t believe me? Check this out.

Todd Bertuzzi scored in the 1st period to make the game a 1-1 tie. Guess who was on the ice? Semenov.

Corey Perry brought the score to 3-2 Sharks near the end of the 2nd period. On the ice again. Frankenov.

Then, the killer. Standing like a man-made block of lifeless tissue in front of the net with an Abbey-Normal brain in his head – Chernobyl’s finest living monster, Semenov, had Doug Weight’s shot bounce off his tree-trunk and past Greiss with 28 seconds left, deflating the Sharks and dashing any dreams the team had of pulling off their finest road win of the season.

WHY? Why is he on the ice for 17 minutes? Is Ozolinsh dying? Did he hit on Ron Wilson’s wife? Did he run off to Mexico with Britney? This turd Semenov is a -8 in 14 games and, for some reason, Ron Wilson continues to run The Monster out there to torture Sharks’ fans. There is a reason why this guy hasn’t played more than 46 games in five NHL seasons, why Florida – a team that doens’t exactly scream “Defensive Depth” – gave up on him. Terrible. Disgusting. In a matter of seconds this went from one of the best wins of the year to, quite possibly, the most disappointing. The worst part is, Semenov will probably be back out on the ice on Tuesday night vs. Phoenix. Mrs. Gretzky has the odds at 2 to 1.

I’m going to start drinking now…..

Last night at the Tank went from a disasterous loss to one of the worst teams in the NHL to a thrilling, come from behind home victory in a matter of 45 minutes. It was a typical home loss M.O. for the Sharks, they were out shooting Toronto 23-17 at the second intermission, we were outhitting them, we were blocking more shots – and the Sharks were losing two-zip. I was getting the text messages. “Sharks are done” “No way Sharks come back tonight” “Terrible loss”. I had little hope, but I reminded my friend to keep in mind how terrible the Leafs are and to not give up hope just yet.

And then…something did change. Craig Rivet, Joe Pavelski and Patrick Marleau all made sure that the Sharks were not heading to Anaheim tonight for another huge showdown with the smell of losing to Toronto wafting behind them (which I think smells like rotting Canadian Bacon laced with Molson and John Candy’s corpse). Did this just happen? I almost hesitate to talk about the recent San Jose upswing at home, with a season high three straight victories, but their improved play at home must be noted. San Jose should be riding an emotional high into Anaheim tonight, who are also on a home winning streak of their own.

I always get excited when an original six team comes to town, especially one that we haven’t seen here in the Bay Area for a few years. This Leafs team is as bad as advertised. Free flowing offensive attack, not much defense and piss-poor special teams. You look at their roster on paper, as I did at the beginning of the season, and think this is a playoff team for sure – but it doesn’t translate on the ice. It made me appreciate what we have here in San Jose even more. So, Sharks fans, when you feel like bitching about Marleau or whining about Ron Wilson’s system, take a look at the Toronto Maple Leafs. Stocked with talent (Sundin, Toskala, Kaberle, Kubina, Tucker, Blake, etc) and their cup runneth over with miserable hockey. Fire Maurice. Fire JFJ. Convince some on your vets to waive their no trades and restock. If the price is right, Mike and I have already said Sundin would be a great fit in Teal, but I just don’t think Doug Wilson is going to make a “big splash” unless it is the perfect deal. I’m looking for him to add two veteran third line players, “Craig Rivet” types at the forward position. Mike and I will identify some of our trade targets for Dougie in the coming week.

I remember fondly (or not-so-fondly) just a couple of weeks ago, when the Sharks had a horrible week against the Ducks and Coyotes. The mood around here was pretty pessimistic. Since then the Sharks have ripped off a 6-0-1 streak, including what I would consider the most dominating performance of the year tonight, beating Vancouver 3-1. There’s a lot of season left, but the Sharks’ play in the last couple of weeks have been just outstanding.

The Sharks seemed to be toying with the Canucks on a few occasions, with players simply passing up shots in order to continue the tick-tack-toe passing. If there was anything to be concerned about, and there really wasn’t, it still the slightly anemic scoring. Into the second, the Sharks were just killing it, yet only up 1-0 until JR scored on a nice and quick shoveled backhand rebound past Luongo. The Canucks had one very scary shift, with the Sharks out way too long, needing a change, and having the long skate to the bench in the second period. But Grier finally blocked a pass, and the threat was over.

I’ll be honest- I thought the Sharks would lose, and I bet fake money on ChompBoard to that effect. I figured their home woes would continue, and they have not been good this season after a long rest (their last game was last Saturday). But they proved me wrong. Oh boy did they. And I couldn’t be happier about it. I might just waste my ChompBux from now on betting against the Sharks, if they are going to play like they did tonight.

Sorry to say that grier’s rumor is finally over- AO signed a 350 year, $4.5B contract, or something close to that. He can get back to watching the sex tape of that girl’s giant ass (you wish there was a link here, don’t you? Don’t be lazy, just Google it).

Now the main NHL rumors surround the team coming into San Jose on Saturday, the Leafs. Driving home, I was listing to the post-game on the radio, and Dan and Jaime brought up a good point. Obviously having Sundin in teal would be just awesome. But what would the Leafs want? And to add another wrinkle, wouldn’t Anaheim be in that sweepstakes too, and shouldn’t the Sharks thus offer more to keep the Ducks from getting him? Wouldn’t Dallas want him as well? I think the Sharks should make a run at Sundin just as a defensive play. Toronto will want prospects and picks. I think the Sharks have more of a stable of those than either of the other two contenders in our division. The downside of course being that we get a big, strong, point-per-game leader who is a menace in the faceoff circle. We could do a hell of a lot worse.