I did a little scouting last night and watched the Ducks vs. Canucks in Vancouver last night and it lived up to its billing. The most penalized team in the NHL (Vancouver) vs. the 2nd most penalized team (Ducks). 66 total penalty minutes, 14 power plays and mucho thuggery later – the Canucks got an emotional victory. This is nothing new – last year they were both the two most penalized teams in the NHL again. The biggest difference is that this year, Vancouver can actually put the puck in the net while playing defense. Check this out.

2008-09 Vancouver is 9th in goals scored and 9th in goals allowed.
2007-08 Vancouver is 23rd in goals scored and 7th in goals allowed.

The Sharks had little trouble with last years version of Vancouver, sweeping the season series with a virtual $%* kicking. Last night, Vancouver took full advantage of the Ducks embarrassing style of play – the Ducks looks like a bunch of school yard bullies this year except they don’t have the excess talent to back it up. When things would go wrong, the Ducks took more penalties. Tonight, I expect the Canucks to play the Ducks role and try and irritate the Sharks into getting off their game. This approach has not worked this year against San Jose and will not work tonight. Vancouver will have a reversal of fortune, take too many minor penalties, run out of gas and give the Sharks too many chances with the man advantage.

Santa comes early. Canucks will look tired. Sharks 5 Canucks 2. Lots of penalties.

We’ll be doing our final podcast of 2008 tonight after the game. Look for it online tomorrow. Happy Holidays.

And Big Brother said to Little Brother, “Not so fast. You can’t have my Cup yet”.

The Sharks got spanked last night. It was miserable to watch. After looking pretty sharp for the first ten minutes, it all went to Hell and a Hudler after that. We got worked, what can you say? We beat their butts in San Jose and they got even on their home turf. They won all the battles: outshot the Sharks, won more faceoffs….yada yada yada.

So with the #$% kickings out of both teams systems, the next meeting you can expect to be a tightly played, best vs. the best hockey game. We haven’t seen that yet from these two, but it’s on the horizon. Both teams have excuses, not that they would ever make them, about how or why they had a poor performance when they lost. The Sharks were playing with a less than 100% Pavelski, a rusty Cheechoo, no Michalek and no JR. They were on the 2nd game of a back to back and their 3rd game in four days. Detroit had the same adversity when they lost in San Jose, 3rd game in four days, no Franzen or Chelios, wah, wah, wah.

I’m not concerned about the loss. Losing can build character, make a team work harder, want it more, etc. What I’m mildly concerned about is the injury situation and the current effectiveness of Cheechoo and Pavelski, which last night appeared to be zero. The extent of their injuries, including the absent Michalek, will most definitely impact how the Sharks do against the Atlantic Division leaders, the New York Rangers, on Saturday night.

DP reports now Michalek won’t be playing tonight against the Wings, with Pavs and Cheech game-time decisions.  Reportedly Cheech is probable, Pavs not.  So conceivably the Sharks could be without Cheech, Pavs, Michalek, Mitchell, and JR.  Fan-freaking-tasic.  And lets not forget that Cheech hasn’t exactly set the league on fire this year- he hasn’t played since November 28, and he hasn’t scored a goal in exactly two months.

This is precisely what I didn’t want – the Sharks to have an excuse to lose.  Not that they will approach the game that way, but it will certainly be easy to say tomorrow that the Sharks were missing four or five forwards, and that’s a big reason whey they lost.

Here’s something we’ve learned in the last two weeks, Sharks fans. Our boys, the best team in hockey, doesn’t match up very well against the Columbus Blue Jackets. Nope. They don’t. Columbus has thrown everything they have in their Red, White and Blue tanks at us the last two meetings. The first, the Sharks escaped. Tonight, an overtime loss. Is it the end of the world? YES!! WE SUCK! TRADE EVERYONE!!! Oops. Sorry. Shades of last season. No, but reality and a bit of dramatics leads me to believe this will not be the last time we see the Blue Jackets….more on this in a sec.

Without Pavelski, the second line is lost. This is a little unsetting but the Sharks offensive machine has certainly stalled without Little Joe and J.R. in the line up – only three regulation goals in two games. It didn’t stop the Sharks from peppering Steve Mason (who looks like the Real Deal Holyfield – I think Columbus has found themselves a gem here folks) with 48 shots. I certainly hope Little Joe is back tomorrow night, or we could be in for a long night in Motown. Was McLellan holding out Pavs for the showdown in Detroit?

I applaud the coaching of McLellan again. After Columbus tied the game, in the final minute it was clear the Sharks were not going to leave without atleast getting a point. Who cares if Columbus gets a point. San Jose must get a point too. Job well done McLellan. I don’t even mind the odd man rush at the end of the game when Umberger beat the Sharks because the D had pinched in on the attack. The Sharks should go for the gold, the extra point – they have nothing to lose. No big whoop.

The announcers for the Blue Jackets on Center Ice were pretty bad. Two of my favorite comments of the night by play by play announcer, Jeff Rimer.

#1: “Here comes Marleau with the puck” He said this almost every time Milan Michalek had the puck. Um….does a 9 look like a 12 to you? “Here comes Marleau with the puck”.

#2: “Brassard’s penalty is over in nine seconds” There was 1:35 or so left on the high sticking minor when the statement was made. Afterwards, a bit of silence. I think the color guy was stunned, or still trying to figure out who the heck #9 is on the Sharks. Come to think of it, I’m not sure I heard them say Michalek’s name all night….somehow they can say Fedor Tyutin just fine.

So – those of you normal people without obsessive compulsive Sharks disorder (also known as NHL Center Ice Package) – are you ready to see the Sharks on TV tomorrow night? Even if you missed the Columbus game tonight, I have a sinking feeling we might be seeing them in the first round of the playoffs. This team is one point out of the #8 seed and a match up with the Sharks in Round One is probably low on my list of preferred opponents. They aren’t the best team in the West, but Columbus seems to know how to match up against San Jose. We can only hope they torment Detroit instead of us….but they will be there for the dance. Columbus is on the verge folks behind Steve Mason.

One last stab: Sharks (gulp) lose in Detroit 4-1. Pains me to write it but the Wings will be out for blood.

UPDATED: FOR THE RECORD, SINCE I’M MR. NOSTRA-GRIER, LET’S TAKE A STAB AT HOW THE RANGERS WILL CLEAR THE CAP ROOM FOR SUNDIN.

TO VANCOUVER: SCOTT GOMEZ
TO RANGERS: MATTIAS OHLUND

JUST A HUNCH.

What a crazy world.  I found this article through Puck Daddy in the Detroit News about agitators, which contained this memorable quote:

When he was with the Red Wings, Avery mocked Eric Lindros, then with the Rangers, following Canada’s 2002 Olympic championship.

“Did you get a gold medal?” Avery asked Lindros while lining up for a faceoff. “You don’t deserve it. Give it to Joe Thornton. He wasn’t on the team, but he was better.”

Classic.  And by the way, most recent podcast here.

The Sharks faced some adversity this week, with close wins against the Blues, Ducks, and Kings, but the big news of the week is injuries to JR and Pavelski.  Mike and Doug discuss how that might affect upcoming games, and ponder having three rookies in the lineup.

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The Kings are not embarrassing.  Even after last night, they have 31 points, same as Phoenix, Minnesota, and Colorado, and more than Columbus or Edmonton.  As much as the Kings have been the whipping boy of the West in years past, we are starting to see this team get some things right.  Kopitar has started a bit slow (much to my fantasy team’s chagrin) but he’s picking it up as of late.  Dustin Brown and Patrick O’Sullivan won’t be secrets much longer.  Our resident prognosticator, grier, again called it perfectly last night.  Get your bookie on speed dial, I hope we’ll have more predictions this week from Nostra-Grier.

With three rookies in the lineup last night and a bevy of different line combinations, the Sharks certainly didn’t have the shimmer and polish that we’re used to seeing.  Kaspar played on the top line at times, and we saw Michalek centering the second line.  McGinn and Cavanaugh were also in the lineup, but barely got any ice time- under 5 minutes each.

Speaking of shimmer and polish, clearly I’m used to/spoiled by Randy Hahn and Drew Remenda because it seemed like the Kings announcers didn’t have much.  I guess I’m not used to Bob Miller; it sounded like he was searching for players’ names all night, and seemed to pull out the same stat when mentioning guys again and again.  He must have said Patrick Marleau had 15 (then 16) goals at least five times.  Or maybe I’m just watching the NHL Network’s Voices too much.

The one aspect that was firing on all cylinders last night was special teams- 1 for 1 on the man advantage, and perfect on the kill with a shorty.  I was about to say that if the Sharks commit as many penalties against Columbus and Detroit as they did last night they will be in trouble, but since those special teams units are mostly intact, I say hack away.

Oh yeah, you can find the latest ChompTalk here, including a discussion with Ryan Garner about the idea of bringing Sean Avery to the Sharks.

First off, my lovely wife sang the national anthem at the Sharks/Blues game on Saturday night and it was a highlight of this big kid’s life. The Sharks staff was extremely gracious, allowing us to sit in the penalty box during warm ups and I got the best seat in the house to see our boys up close and personal. I took a ton of pictures, got a smile and got a “what’s up” head nod from my boy Jody Shelley. My wife was awesome, even waited for the “Hey St. Louis, You Suck” to pass by before launching into the anthem. I was so proud of her.

Things remain sunny in Teal Town. The Sharks are the first to 50 points, still undefeated in regulation at home and they continue to show the makings of a Stanley Cup threat…..but as the weather changes here in the Bay Area this week, could the prospects of the Sharks winning streak get rained upon?

The Sharks are entering an uncertain stretch of five games in eight games with Pavelski banged up, Cheechoo’s “injury” status up in the air and J.R. out indefinitely with shoulder surgery. It is quite possible we could see the Sharks drop their first back to back games and it’s not impossible to imagine a reason why the Sharks could lose any one of these five games. LA is average at best, but very tough at home. Columbus gave the Sharks fits last week and Detroit is well, Detroit. We know they are waiting to take their shots after the first meeting and this time on their turf. The Sharks then draw the Rangers, who could be making their first appearance in the Sundin era and top it all off with the Northwest Division leaders, Vancouver. Rough stuff. A challenge. With the injury bug hovering, could the Sharks go sub .500 for the first time in a stretch this season? I think it hangs on Pavelski’s health and effectiveness tonight, if he’s able to go in LA. Without Pavs, the Sharks are turning to Kaspar, Goc and Plihal to be the offensive juggernauts we know they are NOT – and that could spell trouble until Pavs comes back. Let’s hope, as currently reported, he’s able to go tonight.

Sharks win in LA tonight, but it’s not pretty. Sharks 3 Kings 2.

A FEW OTHER NOTES
Early season cast off Lukas Kaspar, who looked good on the 2nd line on Saturday night until he almost lost the game for the Sharks by taking a penalty in the final minute and allowing the Blues to go 6 on 4 at the end of the game, might finally get his shot tonight at playing extended minutes on a scoring line in the NHL. Given he must clear waivers to be sent back down again, is this Kaspar’s last stand?

Are the Sharks really in on Sundin? Um….no. I think not. One irrational, JFK conspiracy side of me thought, for a fleeting moment, that the Sharks are holding Cheechoo out in order to trade him for a pick then use his cap number (3.5M) to sign Sundin. Um…no.

Check out the podcast tomorrow when we have our 2nd guest in Dudes on Hockey history. Tune in to hear who we got!

When the Sharks played Columbus on the 4th, Nabby bailed out the Sharks with a stellar performance.  Last night, the Sharks returned the favor.  I though Nabby looked off against the Blues and it happens- you can’t have your A game every single start.  I though Boyes’ goal and Winchester’s second were both of the weak variety, and Nabby made at least a couple of ill-advised long passes into the neutral zone.  So be it.

This time, Marleau answered the call with an All-World play to give the Sharks the lead late in the 3rd.  Imagine you’re skating hard to a loose puck, it gets caught in your skates, but you have a breakaway.  And you overskate it.  And you have 17,000+ people watching.  And you have two 200-lb guys skating hard to pound you into the end boards.  What does Patty do?  Stops, gathers the puck behind him on his backhand, waits for Chris Mason to go down, and then roofs it.  Amazing composure and skill, just unbelievable.

As I’ve said before, Sharks opponents are getting up for the league’s best, and the Blues did their best to be the first team to unseat the Sharks at home in regulation.  And again, the Sharks wouldn’t let it happen.  Drink it in, Sharks fans.  This is certainly the best I’ve ever seen them play, and I’m with Randy Hahn– it’s ok to enjoy it.

In other news, be sure to tune in to ChompTalk tonight at 9pm at 1220kdow.com– we are giving away 12-week skating lessons to the winners of a Sharks trivia contest.  The number to call is 1-800-516-1220.

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.