This Ride Is Making Me Dizzy
October 7th, 2009, 12:51 pm
We got too cold in game 1, too hot (if there is such a thing) in game 2, and now game 3 was almost in the middle. And by middle, I mean pour in some liquid nitrogen, then some melted tungsten to even out at a nice 60 degrees. All that and more in the latest podcast.
Without flogging a dead horse, that goal Greiss gave up was a killer. It absolutely sapped whatever momentum the Sharks had, and no doubt shook their confidence playing in front of him. If your goalie can give up a goal on a shot that’s not even on net, what the hell else is he going to let through?
And for those bandwagon jumpers out there (watch out for those ankles!), try to keep in mind, at least for a week or two, that there’s been a ton of changes on this team since we saw them last play real hockey. Just to get it out there: last night, 9 of the 19 skaters were different in comparison to the last playoff game against the Ducks. Show me a team that swaps out 50% of the team and plays in full synchronization on game 3, and I’ll ask you what color the sky is in your world.
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Fellas…
havent listened to the P-cast yet but do you think we will see Stalock sooner than expected?
If Greiss gives up another goal or two like the one last night, most definitely. But the only thing lamer than letting that goal go in would be to judge a goaltender by 1.4 periods of work.
I thought ahead and recorded the hour afterward and caught the Clowe “fight”. It was just a wrestling match, no real punches thrown.
The only thing of note was Clowe was pissed off about something. He was chucking equipment on the way down to the locker room (by equipment I mean helmet, but I think it still counts).
Three things better change quickly.
(1) Vlasic must play better. Take the last three games of this season and all of playoffs last year, and he’s easily our worst defenseman. His -4 from last night speaks volumes.
(2) Clowe must reappear from his sleep that he went on since signing a big contract. Completely invisible in the preseason, and even more so in the regular season. Am I right that he’s disqualified for the next game for starting a fight with less than 5 minutes left in the game? What an idiotic move that was.
(3) The top line must be broken out. They don’t play defense at all, and barely create anything when 5-on-5. I don’t know how I’d break it up – maybe Switch Marleau with Seto, or Seto with Malhotra – but they’re a huge defensive liability. I think McLellan will think of something, especially if we have few more games when we give up that many goals. I thought Marleau-Joe T-Seto line worked fine last year, and Patty would back check nicely. If we don’t want to break up Heatley-Joe tandem, let’s at least put a defense minded forward as another winger.
At some point we’re going to need to find out what we have in Greiss. There’s always going to be a “reasonable” excuse to keep playing Nabokov. If he plays poorly, you want to give him the next start to get back on track or get consistent. If he plays well, then you find it difficult to justify benching him.
But, don’t we basically know what we have in Nabokov? If he plays like he did last year, which is a reasonable and conservative assumption, is that good enough for this team? Probably not, at least if the current defensive play holds. At his age, Nabokov isn’t going to suddenly transform into a different goalie. He’s not going to “reach another level” for example. And, he’s become increasingly erratic. Now, if the defense continues to be putrid, it won’t matter who is net.
At the start of the season McLellan said two things: (1) he wanted 25 or so starts for the back-up goalie and (2) Nabokov would have to earn his starts. We’ll see, as it’s only been one week.
Looking at the schedule, I would guess Greiss might get starts against Phoenix (10/12) and the Islanders (10/17). Those teams are improved, but that’s still sheltering Greiss. If you believe what the front office says, he is supposed to be talented enough to be a starting goaltender, maybe even for this team, starting next year. If not him, then Stalock (hopefully). But, whoever the back-up is, he needs game experience, since they’re going to have to step into a contending team, not a rebuilding one.
When other players play poorly, they get their ice time cut or they move to a different line. Maybe Greiss is terrible, but part of playing him is holding Nabokov accountable, too.
Just for clarification Mike, I’m not judging Greiss on 1.4 periods of work.
I am saying though that the goal that he gave up will and should put him on a very short leash. This team is supposed to be an elite team not waiting all season for Greiss to realize that he has to step up his play to stay in the NHL.
And I’m not suggesting Stalock should be brought in now. I simply wanted your thoughts on where that line was. I think you read way too much into that simple question.
Tom, I wasn’t accusing you of that. Frankly, I think Greiss and Nabby should be on short leashes. The Sharks, for now, have cast their lot with Greiss, and he should get a few (less than five, I’d say) games to get a real quality start. Nabby gets more slack because of his history, but Stalock should be brought in if he’s really impressive in Worchester. This season, the Sharks have to make a decision about their goaltending long-term, and it will really irk me to see Nabby playing 65 games without a plan for 2010.
I agree on the long term questions about goal tending. Frankly I think your crazy prediction about Nabby possibly being traded isn’t too far fetched.
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just got home from tonights game. Wow I’m a little numb. Dan Heatley is amazing.
Anybody else notice he was right in front of the net on all three other goals? He screened Mason on Vlassic’s goal. One of the most dominating displays ever in a Sharks uni.
Here is the fight you guys said you missed on the podcast. Not sure how it started, but Clowe through a beating on him similar to that fight he had against Anaheim:
http://sharkspage.com/galleries/2009_sharks_kings3/pages/sharks_kings3_12.html