I think I did this last season. Some friends of mine also like to put out a report on their respective teams, now that the season is a quarter over. Here goes.

Goaltending: 8
The Sharks have arguably the best goalie tandem in hockey with Toskala (10-2) and Nabokov (5-5). Just for the record, all of Nabokov’s losses came against probable playoff teams (Minnesota, Rangers, Anaheim, Edmonton, and Detroit). I only gave an 8 because while having two netminders is a strength now, the longer we get into the season the bigger a liability it will become. Especially if their respective records have a similar disparity. Tosk will want the #1, and Nabby is making #1 money with a no-trade clause.

Defense: 7
Clearly the Sharks’ biggest weakness. The 6th spot is still up in the air, with Gorges, Davison, and Murray all rotating in and out. Nobody has played well enough to lock it up. Hannen is a rock, Matt Carle is a stud, and McLaren hip-checks like a freight train. Trading one of the goaltenders for a solid defenseman (Jovo and Boynton have been rumored) could possible kill two birds with one stone. You know who I really miss? Tom Preissing.

Forwards: 8
Joe is being Joe, but the Marleau-Bernier-Michalek line is the best on the Sharks right now. Cheech is hurt, and Bell, once thought to be the answer to the “Nils Ekman issue”, has been relegated to 3rd or 4th like duty. Michalek has been playing on the top line a bit, along with Mike Grier. The third and fourth lines have been doing their job well, with being pests, keeping the puck deep, and creating a decent chance now and again, but the top line needs to be more stable and scoring in order for the Sharks to get a 9 here.

Special Teams: 10
Clearly, the best special teams units the Sharks have ever had. The Sharks are currently #1 in the NHL in PP, #7 in PK. Curtis Brown and Mike Grier have shored up the PK, and putting Marleau and Carle at the points with Joe, Michalek and Cheech on the PP is a deadly combination of skating and shooting skill. Now that Joe is shooting more than last season, the opposing D have a Hobson’s choice.

Coaching: 8
There wasn’t much pressure up until now with the Ducks the clear favorites to take the Pacific in the pre-season polls, and the fact that they didn’t lose a game until last week. But ESPN has San Jose at #1 in the power rankings, and they are no longer a secret. This will raise expectations, and the Sharks will become of of those teams that other teams get up for, like the Wings. As long as Toskala and Nabokov aren’t sniping at each other in the press, the coaches are doing a good job.

First quarter Stud: Patrick Marleau – the captain should be on the All-Star team.
First quarter Dud: Mark Bell – I’m willing to be patient, since he got the DUI and everything. But he seems to skate and shoot like a Zamboni. I have no idea how he scored 25 goals like that… there’s something missing here. He needs to find it- quick.
Biggest Surprise – Dallas. They lost Arnott and stripped Modano of the captaincy. I was sure that would sow seeds of discontent, but they are still only two points behind.
Biggest Disappointment – Ottawa. How they are under .500 with a lineup like that is putting on a clinic of underachieving.

Comments welcome.

Some might be surprised that I give the recent 4 game roadtrip such a high grade. They played 3 teams, all not very good, and only got 6 points out of 8 possible. By the Sharks’ own admission, they played poorly against the Coyotes, the second game against the Kings (where they lost) and Colorado, for significant stretches. However, this feeling about the Sharks is almost entirely new to me. In past years, when the Sharks would play badly, they’d get shellacked. As this recent road trip shows, the Sharks are capable of sucking for a while, pulling up their (hockey) socks, and squeaking out a win.

This ability to win even in non-ideal circumstances is the mark of a good team. It’s fantasy to think the Sharks will have their best game every night, or even 95% of the time. There will be plenty of games where they are discombobulated for a period, a power play, or an entire game. Poor teams give up 2 goals during a bad stretch of time, and flog themselves the rest of the game for doing it. Good teams have that selective amnesia – forget about the bad things that just happened – and go back work, knowing they can still win. In the case of the game against Phoenix, we played just crappy pretty much the entire time. But the Sharks managed to find a decent opportunity to score, made it happen, and kept the puck out of their own net. It’d be great to put a 5-0 beatdown on the Sabres, but that 2-1 squeaker has a satisfaction all its own.

One of those sports clichés I really hate is that “good teams need to beat teams that are worse than they are”. I guess there’s a small amount of wisdom here, although I have trouble wrapping my mind around teams that only beat the teams that are better than they are. Does that mean those teams suck? Anyway, the Sharks have a four-game road trip coming up that applies to this “truism”. They need to collect as many points as possible in playing the Kings twice, the Coyotes, and the Avalanche.

I thought the Avs were bad, but as of now, they are 7-5-2, good enough for second in the Northwest. They have 4 fewer points than the Sharks, but the Sharks are third in the Pacific, easily the toughest division in hockey. I still don’t think the Avs will make the playoffs, and I think the Sharks should win that game, even in as hostile an environment as Denver is.

Tomorrow night San Jose faces off against the Wild, a team that made the Sharks look foolish at home on September 21st, beating them 4-1. I was there that night, and it was pretty embarrassing. Mark Parrish was forechecking everything, and the Wild played the defensive style that frustrates so many teams. I hope the Sharks can remember that drubbing to bring something a little extra tomorrow night. The Wild, unlike Colorado, have improved in the offseason, and should make the playoffs; they may even win the division.

The season is 5 games old for the Sharks, and they are 4-1. The Blues game on opening night was a good one, with the Blues putting up more than a fight than I thought they would. Tkachuk still manages to be a pain in the ass with his physical play. Guerin and Weight, while declining the past few years, are wily veterans than made our young D look foolish at times.

The second game was against the Islanders, which the Sharks won 2-0. Nabby put in a great effort against a terrible team. The Isles have one legitimate top-6 forward, Alexei Yashin, and that’s a bit of a stretch. Plus, they are the #3 hockey team in the tri-state area. I was watching a bit of the Islanders-Predators game on Center Ice last night, and to say Nassau Coliseum was half full would be charitable. Just a horrible turnout.

The third game was against the Flames, and the Sharks continued their dominance of Calgary, continuing their pre-season streak. Alex Tanguay scored their only goal late in the game on the power play. The Flames continue to have offensive troubles. After you get past Iginla and Tanguay, who does Calgary have that can put the puck in the net consistently? Amonte? 14 goals last year. Freisen, the old Sharks #39? 17 in 2005-2006. Their #2 scorer last year was Daymond Langkow, with 25 goals. Third? A rookie defensemen, Dion Phaneuf. Not good.

The game against the Oilers was the heartbreaker. Cheechoo had a hat trick, it was the third period, and the Sharks were up 4-2 in the Oilers’ building. Then the floor fell out. Ryan Smyth had a hat trick in a little over 2 minutes to give the Oilers a 5-4 lead, and they went on to win 6-4. This is the only game I didn’t watch (my TiVo forgot) and I’m glad. I have a feeling I would have broken something if I watched that. A brutal loss against the Sharks’ opponent in the Western Conference Semis last year.

To the Sharks’ credit, they rebounded in Vancouver the next night in a back and forth game, winning 6-4. Goals game from the most unlikely of players- Curtis Brown and Mike Grier scored on breakaways, and Rissmiller and Niemenen also scored. I must say, the Sedins with Naslund is a pretty fearsome line. Daniel had a pretty stunning goal on a cut to the middle. Ohlund and Willie Mitchell are holding the blue line down fairly well for the Canucks, but it’s apparent they miss Ed Jovanovski. Even Luongo can’t keep the puck out of the net when there are 2 or 3 guys in the crease.

So tonight, we play one of the three undefeated teams in the Dallas Stars. Their new big signing, Brendan Morrow, is leading their team with 4 goals. Their record might be a bit misleading- they’ve playing Colorado, LA twice, NJ, and the Ducks. Only the last two are actually decent. It’ll be a great matchup.

Well, for the Sharks anyway. I buckled and bought the Center Ice package, and I got my first taste last night in watching the first period of the Ottawa-Toronto game. I plan on spending many more hours in front of the tube. Gotta keep my average household viewing time close to the national average.

We should beat St. Louis badly tonight- they don’t have near the talent that we do. But they do have a number of scrappy veterans in Guerin, Tkachuk, and Weight. Those guys can hurt you at any time. I just don’t think they’re going to be able to keep up with Marleau, Michalek, and all of our other speedy forwards. I’m going to be paying special attention to the young D, namely Vlasic and Carle. I’ll try to take a pic or two on my phone, and have a report tomorrow.

Doug and I are here and the seats are great, as you can see…

I’ll be there with Doug, and hopefully I’ll be able to moblog a bit on my trusty Treo 650. Here’s some preview quotes about the Sharks I’ve cobbled together:

EJ Hradek (ESPN) :

The Sharks’ summer is better characterized by what they didn’t do than what they actually did. Yeah, the club did add Mark Bell (I’ll get to his recent problems later), Mike Grier and Curtis Brown, a trio of helpful forwards. But GM Doug Wilson wasn’t able to move one of his goaltenders. At the draft, Wilson talked with several clubs, particularly in the Eastern Conference, but he couldn’t strike a deal. So, unless something changes in the coming days, the Sharks will open camp with both Evgeni Nabokov and Vesa Toskala.
Earlier in the summer, Toskala expressed hope that a deal would be made before camp. He said that if both goalies remained on the roster when training camp rolled around, it wouldn’t be a good situation for either goaltender or the team.
For his part, Wilson is working to do what is absolutely best for the team. He doesn’t want to give either goalie away and he doesn’t seem interested in sending either stopper to another Western team. In the fall of 2003, the Sharks traded Miikka Kiprusoff to the conference rival Flames for a second-round draft pick. The rest, as they say, is history. Wilson doesn’t want to take a chance that history could repeat itself. Late last season, after signing a four-year contract extension worth $21.5 million, Nabokov lost his starting job to Toskala, who started all of the club’s 11 playoff games. Toskala, 28, is two years younger than Nabokov and a lot more economical after agreeing to a two-year deal that pays him $1.375 million per season. For those reasons, he’s easier to trade. Of course, the Sharks might prefer to keep him and move Nabokov. Statistically, Toskala was better than Nabokov in most categories. Toskala was 23-7-4 with a 2.56 goals-against average and .901 save percentage, while Nabokov compiled a mediocre 16-19-7 mark with a 3.10 GAA and a subpar .885 save percentage. At some point, Wilson would like to move one of his goalies, but he won’t do so until he finds the best possible deal for his team. That probably means Nabokov and Toskala will share the net well into the first half of the season.
Currently, Wilson could have another problem on his hands. On Monday, Bell was arrested on suspicion of drunk driving and a felony hit-and-run in San Jose. He was released on bond later that day. It’s unclear what legal ramifications will come from this incident. It will, however, be a distraction for Bell, who signed a three-year deal (worth $6.5 million) with the Sharks after being acquired from the Blackhawks in a three-way deal. Coach Ron Wilson would like to see if Bell could play left wing on the club’s top line with Hart Trophy-winning center Joe Thornton and Maurice Richard Award-winning right wing Jonathan Cheechoo. Some scouts believe Bell is better suited to be a third-line center instead of a first-line winger. It shouldn’t take Wilson too long to figure out where he fits. Over the years, the Sharks have done an excellent job of developing their young talent. I expect they’ll again be a tough opponent in the West. But until they find the right deal to move one of their goalies, they’ll be somewhat distracted by their overcrowded crease.

Scott Burnside (ESPN):

The theory is that you have to fall down before you can climb the mountain, or something like that. If that’s true, the San Jose Sharks might be poised to bring the Cup back to the Western Conference after a three-season absence (four if you count the lockout). The Sharks lost in the 2004 Western Conference finals and then dropped a heartbreaking second-round series last spring to
upstart Edmonton. The troubling part for the Sharks is that they blew a 2-0 series lead against the Oilers in doing so. They also led late in Game 3 before dropping what turned out to be the series-changing contest in triple overtime, all of which goes to the question of the Sharks’ killer instinct and whether they have enough of it. Curiously, that’s the same question being asked of defending MVP and scoring champion Joe Thornton since his arrival in the league. Still, few teams are deeper down the middle than the Sharks with Thornton and Patrick Marleau, and there’s also the defending goal-scoring champion, Jonathan Cheechoo, one of the league’s great feel-good stories of last season. Terrific two-way player Mike Grier arrives after being a major part of the Buffalo Sabres‘ run to the Eastern Conference finals. Mark Bell
will help with the offensive depth, although he faces criminal charges after an alcohol-related accident in San Jose in recent days. There are legitimate questions about depth along the blue line as Brad Stuart went in the Thornton deal and the surprising Tom Preissing left in the Bell deal. As a result, expectations are high, perhaps too high, for rookie defenseman Matt Carle. In goal, GM Doug Wilson must reconcile the very real possibility he will have a $5 million backup in the form of former rookie of the year Evgeni
Nabokov. And that’s never a good thing.

Final thought: youtube video of a Christian Ehrhoff goal in practice:

Can’t wait for the game!

Marty McSorley. Third most penalized player in NHL history. He did studio work for Fox Sports Net West in LA last year, commenting on Ducks and Kings games. I mostly remember him as a King (he was Wayne Gretzkey’s protection when the Great One was there), and for the slashing incident with Donald Brashear. The two heavyweights had exchanged words and fists earlier in the game. Late in the third period, and from behind, McSorley hit Brashear on the side of the head with his stick. It wasn’t a huge two-handed baseball swing, but it was enough to give Brashear a major concussion. Marty was suspended for a year, and never played in the NHL again.

I know I have gushed over youtube.com before, but I just can’t get enough of it. I also found this old fight between them, when McSorley was a Shark.

Anyway, I hope Marty will bring some of the same type of commentary that Drew did. The TV announcers (Randy Hahn is the play-by-play guy) are paid by the Sharks. But despite that, Drew and Randy still took the Sharks to task on many occasions when they played poorly. They both would point out bad calls by the refs, even when the Sharks benefited. Of course they were happy when the Sharks won, and sad when they lost, but they called the game in a balanced way. Nothing is more annoying than big-time “homers” on the radio or TV. I did not see any of McSorley’s analyst work last year, but I hope he will bring his 17 years of NHL experience to bear in the booth, and help fans understand the best sport there is. That includes blasting the Sharks’ power play when they’re only converting 10% of the time.

Doug and I went to our Select-A-Seat night last night at the Tank. We got dinner beforehand and talked strategy. There were certain sections that we were looking for, and price points we could afford. On the lower level, the seats on the sides of the rink (behind the benches and penalty boxes) were too expensive, so we were only prepared to take seats on the corners on the lower level. We agreed that we would rather sit upstairs than sit on the ends on the lower level. Your perspective of the far goal is just too poor, and lots of times you can’t see play behind the closer net or in the corners.

As far as the upper deck goes, we could afford any seat except the very first row seats, which are quite expensive – more so than the corners downstairs. The first row is pretty sweet, unobstructed views (in the middle of the row), and you have a nice shelf to put your food and drinks. If we had to go upstairs, we would try to get as in the middle as possible on the side of the arena facing the benches.

We get there a few minutes early to sign in, then went downstairs with the rest of the group to the club for the “orientation”. There were at least 50 or 60 people in our group, which was the first group of new season ticket holders. All the seats that were available had a colored piece of paper taped to it, with the color indicating the price. You couldn’t reserve seats and then look for better ones- you sat in the seats you wanted and raised your hand, and a Sharks employee would write down what you wanted, and took the tags off of the seats. No changing your mind once you did that. The only odd rule was that you couldn’t take a group of seats that would leave a single. So for us, we couldn’t break up a group of 3 seats, or sit in the middle of a group of 4. Once they said go, we all piled out as fast as we could. Doug and I had a lot more urgency than most of the people- we were running around trying to find a good spot without falling down the stairs.

The biggest surprise was the number of lower bowl seats available. Quickly we noticed that the end of the arena that the Sharks attack twice was quite empty, but the other end (the Sharks’ head end) had lots of green tags. We hustled over to the corner where the head was, and immediately sat down in a couple of seats in row 12. We were stoked! However, after looking at the sight lines a bit, we realized the protective netting pretty much covered our whole view of both offensive zones. Plus, the seats were so low were were not going to get a good view of one of the corners, or behind the net.

So we spotted a couple of seats on the aisle a few rows back, and sat down. These seats were even better. We had a more overhead view of the close zone, and the netting didn’t obstruct the far zone. We spotted some row 2 and 3 seats in the upper bowl, so I ran up there to check them out real quick while Doug sat in our new choices. It turns out that even in rows 2 and 3, the railing that keeps people from going over the side really blocks a lot of action. You’d have to go up at least 7 or 8 rows to get an unobstructed view.

So we were sold! Section 124, row 20 on the aisle closest to the middle of the rink. Only 56 days until the first exhibition game. We can’t wait.

In honor of our Select-A-Seat day this week, and given a recent IM conversation I had with Doug, I think I will write a post talking about the Sharks’ current depth chart:

1st line : Bell, Thornton, Cheechoo.
2nd line : Bernier, Marleau, Michalek
3rd line : Grier, Smith, Nieminen
4th line : Goc, Rissmiller, Brown

#1 D : McLaren, Carle
#2 D: Hannan, Gorges/Ehrhoff
#3 D: Ehrhoff/Gorges, Davison/Murray

I like the current state of the forward lines… there’s a good combination of grit and skill. The 3rd line could be called the “energy line” or the “checking line” or whatever, but there’s really more skill than that. It’s not Georges Laraque and Tie Domi- guys with basically no real puck skill. I was repeatedly surprised in particular by Ville Niemenen’s hands and skating ability last season. And I’ve been watching Mike Grier since he starred at Boston University in 1995. He’s not quite clever or fast enough to be a scoring star, but he has been lauded for his smarts and leadership ability.

The Sharks’ defense is a horse of a different color. I’m convinced Carle will be an All-Star in 2 or 3 years, but I think it’s too much to ask for him to be a top-4 defenseman now. He might just jump right in like Dion Phaneuf, but Phaneuf is clearly the exception and not the rule. I have serious reservations about both Josh Gorges and Rob Davison even as regular NHLers. Doug Murray can hit like a truck, but he skates like a truck too. The inexperience, and lets face it, lack of talent will hurt the Sharks this season. If the Sharks manage to trade for or sign a solid top-4 stay-at-home defensemen, the blue line corps will turn from one that has holes to one that has opportunities. No longer will Gorges, Ehrhoff, and Carle be forced to regularly take on the opposing top line and kill penalities, but can be worked into that role slowly, and will have an actual chance to win the job, instead of it being forced upon them.