Mike and Doug finish all preseason talk with more salary cap discussions, and a Pacific division preview.  Although the season has technically started, and a little bit of discussion is warranted about the Rangers and Penguins games, Sharks fans know the season doesn’t really start until October 9 with Sharks vs. Ducks.

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Good news first- the latest podcast is available, which finishes our season preview.  We’ll be each posting here with a recap of our previews in brief; I encourage you to listen to the individual episodes if you want more explanation and witty banter.

Bad news is the McLaren situation has come to a unfortunate end: TSN reports that McLaren is now on waivers, along with a whole truckload of other players around the league.  Whether he is claimed or not, McLaren’s $2.5M salary will not count against the salary cap unless he clears and the Sharks decide to bring him back.  That situation is so unlikely it’s almost not worth mentioning.  This means that the Sharks were unable to reach a trade agreement with anyone.  With the Semenov, Plihal, and perhaps Friesen deals yet to be posted, it just wasn’t possible for the Sharks to take a regular NHLer in return and be responsible for more salary.

It’s really an unfitting end for a very good player.  Once the Blake signing and the Boyle trade happened, it became clear that McLaren was the odd man out, and the difficult part was that it was due to his salary, and not his playing ability.  Well, I guess that’s not entirely true.  If McLaren were an All-Star offensive defenseman, then the Sharks wouldn’t have gone out and gotten those guys.  It’s certainly not Kyle’s fault- the salary cap era has created this shrinking middle class of players- players better than entry level or journeyman guys, but too expensive because the superstars are getting so much money, creating cap pressure.  This is why guys like Steve Montador and Semenov have jobs, but McLaren and Marek Malik don’t.  McLaren isn’t the first casualty of this unfortunate circumstance, and he won’t be the last.  I just hope he lands on his feet somewhere quickly, and has a productive last few years of his career.

Stay classy, 4.  You’ll be missed.

Update:  If this isn’t a fitting tribute, I don’t know what is.

A belated podcast this week, but still in time to discuss the home preseason games we witnessed, and break down several pending questions about the Sharks.  The salary cap situation, McLaren and Friesen situations, and other issues are debated.  Finally, Mike and Doug continue their season preview with the Northwest division, finishing up next week with the Pacific.

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Here.  A day late since I was out of town, but we address the many issues facing the Sharks, and continue the season preview.  We are so ready for the preseason conjecture to end (although we are as guilty as anyone) and the regular season to begin.

It sure was great to see live hockey again.

Last night was my first preseason game and test-drive of our new seats. Mike is still in New York and, being a man of his word, if you watched NHL Live on the NHL Network on Tuesday, you could see our very own Mikey pretending to shop in the background as E.J. Hradek talked about Sergei Gonchar’s injury. Alas, Mike’s camera hogging was cut short by the arrival of an actual hockey player, Brian Rolston, and Mike disappeared into the streets of New York faster than Al Davis’s dignity at a press conference (that was embarrassing yesterday….and I hate the Raiders). Good work Mike! Next time, get E.J. to plug to podcast!

The game last night featured what appears to be the Sharks top four lines, and the unveiling of McLellan’s new top line: Marleau, Thornton and Setoguchi. Did it work? You tell me.

Third Star: Joe Thornton
Second Star: Patrick Marleau
First Star: Devon Setoguchi

HELLS YEAH! They looked super dangerous in the 2nd and 3rd periods and carved up the ‘Yotes for three of the Sharks four goals. I think McLellan has found his top line. The Sharks in general were sleepy in the first period, falling behind 2-0 to Phoenix – but found a way to dig it out in overtime thanks to Joe Thornton being left all alone to skate right in front on Al Montoya and bury the puck. Oops.

Even though this is preseason, here are some things to take away from Tuesday

– The Sharks look dangerous every time they have the puck and McLellan’s coaching philosophy is evident. The Sharks bombed Montoya for 35 shots and 11 of them came from the blueline.

– In glimpses, you saw that the Cheechoo/Marleau/Thornton/Blake/Boyle powerplay is going to be the best in the NHL by midseason. They had the Coyotes scrambling and pissing their own pants.

– This is not your grandma’s San Jose Sharks. They are going to give up some goals due to the risks the blueline are now encouraged to take in the offensive zone. Phoenix had several odd man rushes, two resulted in goals and a few were saved by Nabby. Lots of 5-3 wins this season are in our future.

– It looks like Plihal has taken Mitchell’s roster spot for now. He had five good scoring opportunities. Four of them he shot into Montoya’s pads and he finally got one past him in the 2nd period. I guess this means that Friesen is frozen out?

– THERE IS NO EXCUSE FOR SEMENOV. The first goal Phoenix scored was all his fault. He sucks. Oh man..does he suck. Last night the Sharks scratched Ehrhoff to give young D-man Mike Moore another look, and he continues to show redeeming qualities at +2. Assuming Lukowich is not going to be ready to play in the opener, the Sharks will keep Frankenstein and one more D-man, and it looks like it will be Mike Moore. Here’s hoping McLellan sees the light and goes with Moore opening night.

P.S. The streak of Sharks players sitting in front of us continued, with Thomas Greiss joining his “lady friend”. You go Greiss. Experience the ladies of San Jose before you are shipped back to Worcester…and please take Semenov with you.

I’m ready for opening night. We’ll give our final season preview on Friday with our next podcast. Make sure to check it out at dudes on hockey.com.

I don’t put a lot of stock in preseason games.  Actually, about none.  Neither team has all their good players in, which makes the outcome about as significant as Tila Tequila’s view on the economy.  Last night, the Pavs-Cheech-Michalek line was in, and tonight they were replaced with the Joe-Patty-Clowe line.  The D were also on the rotation- last night Boyle and Ehrhoff, tonight Blake and Vlasic.

Good and bad things happened in both games (you can’t get this kind of analysis just anywhere); last night a third period flurry made the Sharks look good in a 5-2 win.  Tonight, the good Canuck defense and Bobby Lou prevented the Sharks from scoring until the third in a 3-2 loss.

As far as the young kids go, no one has made a really big impression on me in terms of their play.  Brad Staubitz is perfectly happy to bang around with guys and drop the gloves, which the fans appreciate.  In my opinion, only Mike Morris and Steven Zalewski have really shown they can compete at this level, and then only in flashes.  Derek Joslin, a early pick to be a 7th or 8th defenseman, has been pretty invisible.  Semenov, the guy who will likely be that 7th D, scored last night, but it didn’t make up for some ill-conceived passes, slow movement, and lack of physicality.

One thing new was the power play strategy.  Sometimes it looked like a herd of cats, and occasionally you’d see a guy camped on the half boards a la Wilson, but McLellan has clearly implemented a new style.  Every time the D get the puck at the point they move quickly to create a shooting lane and are more inclined to let it fly.  You see more guys crashing the crease, like Joe and Marleau, and Clowe’s goal tonight was due to a redirect off his skate (half on purpose).

To be honest, the most interesting thing (other than the fights) in these two games was the realization that the new seats are in the players’ wives’ section.  And tonight, that also meant a visit from some actual players.  This photo was taken from my seat:

As we can see, Christian Ehrhoff and Milan Michalek decided to take in the game from the stands in some snappy suits, and conveniently situated near some hot women (not pictured, but take my word for it).  The third guy was also pretty dressed up, and I figured he was a player too, but I couldn’t place him.  Anybody know who this guy is?

But I did have a scintillating conversation with Ehrhoff as he went to his seat:

Me: Played well last night, man.

Ehrhoff:  Thanks.

I’m not a star-chaser at all, so I just let them go about their business after that.  Pretty much everyone around was clocking their every move, but they were more or less left alone. If it were Dan Boyle instead of Michalek I don’t know if I could have resisted saying something embarrassing (“I love you, man!” or “Hey, you want to go to Red Lobster?”) but luckily I was spared.

In other news, I’ll be heading to the Big Apple on vacation this week, so the podcast will be delayed until Thursday this one time. Also look for me on the NHL Network feed of the NHL Live! radio show one of these days- I’m planning on hanging around the NHL store a bit when the show is broadcast.  Maybe I can induce Hradek into a rant about something.

Doug Wilson does it again. A preemptive strike to prevent another Sharks player from hitting the open market. Douglas Murray sticks with the Team Teal Comes First concept and signed a four year/10M deal before beating the $%*& out of former Sharks prospect Brennan Evans and scoring a goal in last nights preseason loss in Anahiem. He also managed to be a +1 on a night when the Sharks coughed up six goals.

What do I think? A great move by Doug Wilson….and a head scratcher for Douglas Murray. He might have just left around six million dollars on the table by not testing the open market, when you figure if he had another solid year – he might have fetched a four year/16M deal. Hell, if Jeff Finger got four years/14M…why not, right? Nope. Not for Murray. He now joins a Sharks core that has Vlasic, Boyle, Ehrhoff and Murray locked up until 2011 and beyond….just think of adding Petrecki to that mix and that’s even tastier than Mike’s Rainbow Dippin’ Dots (couldn’t resist).

What if Rob Blake drinks from the fountain of Roenick and has a career re-birth of 40+ points and 90 PIM’s? Well…if the Sharks need a great trade chip they have three good, young D under contract long term – and that increases their value ten-fold. Matt Carle was turned into Dan Boyle. Doug Wilson is like the Cris Angel of the NHL, but without the bad hair and unisex jeans.

I guess this is a personal choice for an athlete. Is six million dollars left on the table worth playing in Atlanta or Columbus? Ron Hainsey would say “hells yes”. Murray quietly grunted and signed on the dotted line to chase the Cup in San Jose. Someone get this man some Swedish Fish!

So, what would you say? Murray showed character by signing early or stupidity by not testing the UFA market?

After months of no hockey, the Sharks are back with their annual intrasquad exhibition game, Teal and White.  Mike and Doug discuss what happened, and what might be taken away from such a game.  Next they address the most pressing issue facing the Sharks, and the question of several listener emails, the Sharks salary cap situation.  After discussing some options there, the season preview continues with the Central division.

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We were both very excited to finally see some live professional hockey last night in the Teal and White game. It’s a opportunity to check out some of the young guys that are coming up, and a first look at the new faces, like Blake and Boyle. The latest podcast is about that, and we continue our season preview.

In other matters, you see we have a new look and feel over here- lots of changes have been made to the hockeyanalysis.com group of sites. I certainly recommend you check out the other sites here, be it other teams, the rumors site, or the fantasy site.

Also, you can see I’ve added an advert for the upcoming Sharks call-in radio show. It says “Saturdays” but the first show is October 4 October 11, so don’t tune in quite yet. Store up all your rants, raves, and questions for the Saturday after the season opener, and I hope you’ll call in. It can be streamed over the web at the KDOW 1220 website.

Finally, we’ve launched our very own fantasy league for readers of the blog and listeners of the podcast. I guess that means everyone on Earth, although somehow our numbers just aren’t reflecting it yet. Anyway, it’s a Yahoo league, id# 45644, password ‘danboyle’. I hope you’ll join up, meet other readers/listeners, and trash talk us in the message section. And no, I don’t think I’ll give you Evgeni Malkin for Fedor Tyutin and Mark Smith.

Many die-hard Sharks fans already know that Torrey Mitchell broke his leg in training camp yesterday, but as one commenter put it in the last post, what does that mean for the Sharks salary-wise?  Sorry to keep posting about the CBA and salary cap rules, but this is really the most serious issue facing the Sharks going into this season.

First of all, as bcyde said, Mitchell can’t be put on Long-Term IR unless he’s out a much longer time, but I think that’s a red herring.  LTIR doesn’t really gain you cap relief, not really.   And yes, the ‘mepex’ in that comment thread is me.

So the Sharks have to bite another bullet, and find a way to replace Mitchell with a minimum of cap hit.  As grier responded in the last thread, this pretty much cuts out Logan Couture, Mike Moore, or Jamie McGinn.  And with Couture or McGinn, if they play 11 games or more, that counts as a ‘professional season’, which shortens their restricted free agency, and would count toward the 50-player SPC limit.  Sending those guys back to juniors is the right move here.

So look for a college or minor league player, like Zalewski or Mike Morris, to get a cup of coffee in the bigs.  And I agree with grier that as long as Friesen doesn’t tank camp or have some unreasonable contract demands, he’ll be on the opening day roster.

In other news, the Sharks signed John Ferguson Jr., the former GM of the Maple Leafs, as a scout.  Most people only know Ferguson as the guy who signed all his players to contracts with either no-trade or no-movement clauses, which put the Leafs over a barrel time and again.  By most accounts, JFJ is a capable scout, his crown jewel being the drafting of Daniel Alfredsson by the Sens in the 6th round of the 1994 draft.  As far as I’m concerned, if he’s a good scout, welcome aboard.  As long as they keep him away from the contract talks and personnel decisions, I’m happy.