Someone in the Sharks organization leaked Alexei Semenov’s team picture before color correction and cosmetic surgery:

In the latest installment of “Did You Know”, did you know that last night’s +1 effort was Frankenov’s first plus game of the season? Brings him up to a glistening -6 in 12 games. On the positive side, he’s a big dude. Big. Really Big. The problem is he seems to be made of wood, and he doesn’t use his size for the forces of Good. Only for the for the forces of Slow. Yeah, he got into a fight last night, and promptly got his ass kicked by Todd Fedoruk, who’s entire face is now made of paper maché. Or as the Canadians would say, “POP-i-yay MA-shay”. Or as Semenov would say, “UNNNHHHH”.

In fact, I heard the build-up to the fight, because it was near section 124:
Semenov: BRAINS!
Fedoruk: What the fuck d’you say to me?!
<drops gloves>

But we kid because we love. Sort of. I still can’t understand why Semenov is out on the first PP unit every night. He has three points, none on the power play. I’ve been reduced to thinking that Ron Wilson has an overdeveloped sense of irony.

But as Grier said, it was an all-around great effort by the Sharks last night, and I would rank it as the Sharks’ best of the season.

I’ve decided the Sharks are like a bad case of herpes….they show up unpredictably from time to time , when in full force they are a huge pain in the ass to those they encounter and they are a part of Chris Pronger’s life eight times a year.

The Sharks played their best game in weeks tonight against Minnesota. This was not a phantom win. They finished checks. They crashed the net. Bernier and Pavelski showed up and demonstrated all that “potential” we’ve been waiting to see. Marcel Goc and Kyle McLaren finally got out of the press box and both of them had excellent games and were seemingly everywhere on the ice. Fittingly, Goc, Bernier and Pavelski were the games three stars and McLaren kicked Aaron Voros’ ass in a fight during the third period. Super Joe didn’t have to carry the load tonight. Even Semenov was a +1.

The goals weren’t pretty. They don’t always have to be, something the Sharks have a hard time getting through their Teal skulls. Minnesota, a team known for hard work, hustle and team defense looked outmatched tonight. This would be a first round match up if the playoffs began today, and I’m sure the Wild hope this won’t end up being the case. The Sharks finally looked like the biggest team in the NHL and won back the home fans tonight.

So….will the “Teal Herp” return again in full force vs. Vancouver on Thursday or will the Canucks have taken their Valtrex? If the Sharks play like they did tonight – the Canucks, without Luongo in the pipes due to injury, will be next on the homestand hit parade and remission for the rest of the NHL will be tough to come by.

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An interesting bit of news from the Ottawa Sun. Patrick Marleau’s no trade clause apparently kicks in on January 1st, 2008 – so we can expect these Marleau rumors to continue the next few weeks and then finally disappear…..or come to fruition. While I think the Sharks need some new blood and an infusion of energy, trading Patty and getting equal value is going to be difficult. I don’t see Toronto, Ottawa or Montreal offering anything that can help this team RIGHT NOW become better and take steps to defeat the Red Wings or the Ducks in a seven game series. Vermette and a pick? Kaberle for Marleau and McLaren? No thanks.

Will Patty stay or will he go?

Round and round we go, when the Sharks will win at home – nobody knows.

I count my lucky stars that I wasn’t able to attend last nights embarassment, but I was in Downtown San Jose having a late dinner with some friends at a San Jose landmark restaurant, Original Joe’s – the type of place you would expect Tony Soprano to walk into at any moment. We were surrounded by Sabres fans and right behind me was a table of Buffalo players, including Derek Roy, Brian Campbell, Maxim Afinogenov, Ales Kotalik and Tim Connolly. I was impressed by how awesome they were with their fans, signing autographs, shaking hands and posing for pictures while they were trying to eat their dinner. It only further illustrates that hockey players are the most gracious professional athletes in the United States and that they really get how important the fans are to their sport.

I texted Mike and said. “We are sitting behind a bunch of Buffalo players.”

MIKE: “Tell them to go #$&@ themselves.”

ME: “Wow. I just heard them say it was 7-1.”

MIKE “No comment”.

I can only imagine how terrible the game was. I tried saying last week that the Sharks are still not themselves, even though they went 3-0 on the recent road swing. They beat Colorado without Sakic and Svatos, they beat Dallas who really isn’t that good, let’s face it and they barely beat Phoenix in a game that was dull beyond belief. To an outside NHL fan, it appears the Sharks are still alive and well with a winning record and in playoff position, but for a team that we say over and over should be taking that next step, to lose at home to a Buffalo team that is not the powerhouse they were the last two years 7-1? Unreal.

Where is McLaren, by the way? Great to Semenov get another -2. What is going on here? Are we turning into a defensive team that will run out seven defensemen and try to hold on for 2-1 wins night after night? How will this Jekyll and Hyde team respond against a very good Minnesota club on Tuesday? What does Doug Wilson need to do to get this team on the right track?

Eklund posed the question of Marleau and McLaren for Kaberle this morning and it made me dry heave.

I am so confused by this team that, for the moment, I have to agree with Mike.

No comment.

Pretty embarrasing game, losing 7-1 like that. Especially after leading 1-0 after the first. The speed and crispness of Buffalo’s breakout was apparent throughout the entire game, but it wasn’t without risk. The Sharks had at least two breakaways, and a two-on-one. If the Sharks scored on at least half of those, it might have been a different game.

Really, the most interesting thing that happened during the game is the complete and utter failure of Dmitri Patzold. I’ve no doubt this guy could mature into a NHL caliber goalie, but he just ain’t there yet. He gave up 3 goals on 9 shots, and looked very tentative, especially his lateral movement. The first goal he gave up, he just didn’t get a good push across, or hesitated to do so. The far side of the net was wide open.

It’s clear now why Nabby has started every game, and will probably continue to do so. Lack of confidence in your goalie will greatly affect the way you play, and if Patzold starts a few games, I would predict the offensive output to be even more anemic than it already is. It’s time to grab a veteran backup that may not be a solid #1 all the time, but you can at least know that he can face down NHL competition. Patzold can’t do that right now. Or maybe the Sharks should try Griess out. He’s 6-6 in Worchester with a 3.33 GAA and .895 SV%.

All NHL teams go through bad games and slumps. The measure of a good or great team is their ability to bounce back. Will we see the Sharks in the Detroit series, who were a shadow of their former selves once they lost the OT game? Or will we see the Sharks after the “Destruction in the Desert” game last year, when they righted themselves quickly after an 8-0 blowout in Phoenix? We’ll definitely know after this week’s games against the Wild, Canucks, and Stars.

Hoo boy, the game last night was boring. If it weren’t for Grier and some others buddies over, complete with beer and pizza, I don’t know if I would have stayed awake for the whole thing. There were only a handle of quality scoring chances for either team in the game it seemed, and a broken play (Thornton was really looking for Roenick) resulted in the game’s only goal.

Like the Avs game, the Sharks seemed to recede into a bit of a shell late in the game, with extra drama inserted by Rissmiller’s completely retarded penalty. I know it was a total accident, just bad luck really, but taking an offensive zone penalty with two minutes left in a one goal game has to be infuriating for the coaching staff. The 6-on-4 last minute was pretty tense, but no great scoring chances came about.

That’s enough of that- even reading about that game is giving me the yawns.

In other news:

• We were flipping around various games on Center Ice, and we watched some of the last of the Dallas-Ottawa matchup. First of all, I LOVE CENTER ICE. Second of all, if Ottawa is doing their thing, and there were only flashes of it that I saw, nobody in the NHL could hang with them. I know they’ve lost a bunch in a row, but they get their ass in gear, they’ll give anybody in the playoffs all they can handle. Even Detroit. I can’t say the same about the Sharks right now.
• Recchi was claimed by Atlanta. They still have the same problem they had yesterday- if Kovalchuk goes cold or gets hurt, Atlanta is in a world of hurt. And even if he stays healthy, they could start sucking again at any time. Hmm, kind of like Nabby and the Sharks.
• Things have quieted down in Toronto for the time being, nothing like winning a few. I’m still stunned that for all the trade rumors that have been floating around, none involved Tucker. Could it be that he’s the name that GM’s have been keeping under their hats, trying to throw JFJ and the press off the scent?
• Listen to the Teal Spiel tonight if you can- Randy Hahn will be on taking questions. I might try to call in, but I’m probably meeting friends for dinner before tonight’s game.

So I see this quote from Bob McKenzie at TSN:

The Ducks’ committed payroll for next season is the issue. With Niedermayer potentially returning, and with another year left on his contract after this season, the Ducks could not add him to the roster now without freeing up cap room for next season. In the new CBA, it’s called ‘tagging’ room and the Ducks don’t have enough of it next season to allow Niedermayer back on the roster this season – unless they move a player who is under contract for next season.

And since I’m a geek, I have to figure out what this means. I have a copy of the CBA on my desktop (doesn’t everyone?) and I look up this “tagging” rule (50.5(e)(iv)(C)):

In order for a Club to sign such a Player to a multi-year SPC after December 1 of a season, the Club must have Payroll Room equal to or in excess of the Averaged Amount of the Player Salary and Bonuses for the remainder of such season. If, however, the Averaged Amount of the SPC exceeds the Club’s Payroll Room for the then-current League Year, the Club may still sign such SPC, provided that it has Payroll Room and, if such Payroll Room is insufficient to acquire the SPC, it has an amount equal to one or more SPCs that will expire at the end of such League Year, in an amount equal to or in excess of the amount by which the Averaged Amount exceeds the Club’s Payroll Room (the “Tagged Payroll Room”). Until such time as the Club has or makes Payroll Room in the current year in excess of such Tagged Payroll Room, the Club may not engage in any Player transactions requiring Payroll Room, including but not limited to, acquiring an SPC or “extending” or entering into a new SPC (the “Tagging Rule”). In the event the Club does have or creates such excess Payroll Room, it may use such excess Payroll Room in accordance with the terms of this Agreement.

It’s like a friggin’ obfuscated code contest. But I think I figured it out. The salary cap (around $51M) is actually pro-rated daily for the regular season, 187 days. So now that SN comes back, the Ducks don’t pay him his entire $6.75M salary, it’s pro-rated for the days he missed. That enables the Ducks to be under the cap this season, even though his average salary puts them over it. But the ‘tagging rule’ above says that if it’s a multi-year deal, which SN’s is, the team must also have salary at the end of this year equal to the amount they went over (based on his average salary, not the pro-rated one). If they don’t, they need to clear out other players with multi-year deals before Scotty can suit up. I’ve tried running the numbers, but I don’t see the Ducks over the cap this year, even taking SNs average salary cap hit, so I’m confused on that point.

For those wondering, the rule for single-year SPCs (standard player contracts) is that a club can sign them for whatever amount they want, as long as the total amount paid comes in under the cap. So if the Sharks have $1M left under the cap, they could theoretically sign Selanne to a $187M single year contract on the last day of the season, paying him $1M for a single day’s work, and come in under the cap. This means the Roger Clemens idea is is full effect- there is no CBA prohibition on joining a team at any point of the season.

Update: It turns out the Ducks also need to pre-calculate the cap for all the years of SN’s contract, and given the raises to Getzlaf and Kunitz next year, factoring in SN’s numbers, they Ducks will by over. It’s seems very odd the Ducks need to correct that overage now, but it is what it is. Thanks for the comments.

First, Joe was amazing tonight. He has put the team on his back lately, with seven points in the last three games. But Mikey, I wouldn’t say we “housed” the Stars tonight. One thing about Dallas, they come to play and they play hard. There was a stretch in the 3rd period when I thought we were in trouble, but the Sharks played through it and held on for another close win. Good to see Marleau involved as well. Did anyone else notice f’ing Frankenstein was on the ice for that Modano goal? I hate that douchebag.

I want to say something about this whole Niedermeyer situation. I think it stinks. Not just because it’s the Ducks. Not just because it’s Niedermeyer and his stand out play will have a huge impact on the Pacific Division and probably give the Ducks a huge boost. Not just because he is convienently coming back when the Sharks and Ducks play head to head three times, like Mike said. My problem is that players going into “retirement” and then magically changing their minds after the rigors of training camp and the boring part of the season has past could soon become a more regular occurance in the NHL. Hell, it is Roger Clemens favorite summer trick. Wait until the highest bidder comes around, missing Spring Training, join the team in middle of the season for the fun part and make a ton of cash. Bogus teammate and bad for sports in general. What kind of message does this send? Hey kids – don’t bond with your teammates, serve as a role model for younger players and work your ass off through the rough patches at the beginning of the season like everyone else. If you’re an aging superstar, you can skate with your buddies and join the big boys in the clutch, and look like a hero in the process. This year in the NHL, we have three of these situations. Niedermeyer’s fate has been determined. Will Selanne be the next to decide retirement isn’t for him? What about Forsberg, who is waiting until the best team with the right offer comes along in 2008 so he can jump right in for the Stanley Cup playoffs. Do you see the problem? What is going to keep Joe Thornton and Sidney Crosby from saying…hey – I don’t want to play until December either! My back hurts too! This type of behavior could become more common place in the years to come. I hope not, but this isn’t a good trend so far.

So, welcome back Niedermeyer. Your team hasn’t been the same without you. Now you can hug your brother and cry over family photos of you two holding each others Cup. Drew Remenda speculated tonight that the Ducks will likely have to make a trade to accomodate the Ducks impending salary cap problems for next season, when they must resign RFA Corey Perry. I think Schneider is gone. And if I were him, I would flip Niedermeyer the bird on his way out the door.

Although all the mystery was gone, the Ducks tried to do it up nice, and announced Scott Niedermayer is coming back. I was shocked. Shocked! The real question is, how long has this been planned? I wouldn’t doubt this was the whole idea back before the season started. The Ducks save a bit on salary, Scott gets to miss some of the drudgery of the regular season, and they get to stage a nice dog and pony show once the Ducks struggle a bit. Amazingly, Nieds will be back just in time for the week when they play the Sharks three times. How about that.

In the meantime, the Sharks again housed the Stars in big D and won 3-2. Funny how we’re 3-1 against the Stars, the division leader, but 1-2 against the Kings, the division goat. I refrained from writing a game recap post after the Colorado game, mostly because I was lazy, but also because I was pretty frustrated with the Sharks play in the second half of the game. I thought I was seeing things, because I saw quotes from Ron Wilson in the paper the next day about how the Sharks played better, and did a good job late. I couldn’t disagree more.

The Sharks went into a shell once they gained the lead in the Avalanche game, and didn’t come out for 30 minutes. They’d chip it out to center, barely forecheck, and wait for the Avs to gain the zone, where they would push them to the outside, and chip to center again after 45 seconds or so of nail-biting. They didn’t even try generate scoring chances. Maybe that’s the kind of hockey you’re supposed to play on the road, but I thought the Sharks were playing with fire. They were leaving counterattack chances on the table, and giving Hejduk, Stasny, and company way to much time to create.

The opposite happened tonight with the Stars. The Sharks had a 2-1 lead going into the third period, and before the ink was dry from the columnists making notes on Modano’s game-tying goal, the Sharks were skating hard again. I didn’t even have time to bitch and complain about the Sharks playing for the tie. They drew penalties, kept the Stars deep, and Joe scored on a pretty Michalek feed to put the Sharks up 3-2. I braced myself again for the prevent defense, and I didn’t see it. Instead of letting Zubov jump into the play, the Sharks pressed the pace, keeping the Stars’ D honest. More scoring chances followed, and the Sharks won 3-2 going away.

Joe has now scored or assisted on 137% of the Sharks goals this season, his GAA is 1.02, his save percentage .989, and his plus-minus requires exponents. He’s the early leader for the Hart, Vezina, Ross, Masterson, Calder, and Heisman trophies. I mean seriously, is there anything this crazy bastard can’t do?