SAN JOSE, Ca – The L.A Kings are the measuring stick in the Western Conference right now and in one of the most entertaining games of the year the Sharks doubled up on their division rivals 6-3 at HP Pavilion.
Scott Nichol had this to say about playing the 1^st place Kings.
“They’re the big dogs, they’re playing real well and are the hottest team in the NHL. It was nice for us to play our style and have a big home win,” Nichol said
Don’t let the score fool you, this game was closer than the 6-3 final. The Kings came into the game with an 8-2 record in their last 10 games and looking for their 6^th win in a row. They met a very determined San Jose team who for a change were the underdogs in the first meeting of the season between these two California based teams.
L.A opened the scoring at 16:05 of the first period on a Scott Parse goal who had a clearing attempt go in off his foot.
It didn’t take long for the Sharks to steal the momentum back. Ryan Clowe finished off the prettiest goal of the night on a tic tac toe play 92 seconds later that was started and orchestrated by Dan Boyle. Boyle patiently carried the puck from his own end into the offensive zone creating space with his maneuverability before dishing the disc into the corner to Logan Couture. The young rookie whose mind works as quickly as the great Magic Johnson’s did on the basketball court, no looked a pass to Joe Pavelski behind the net who found a streaking Clowe in the slot for his 2^nd in as many games and all that was left was the was the roar of the crowd.
Momentum was something that the Kings tried to capture all night but the pesky Sharks team only let them sample it. Whenever the visitors got close the Sharks were able to restore their two goal lead and more importantly keep the rambunctious crowd involved.
One match-up everyone looked forward to was the special teams battle. San Jose’s power play operated at a 50 percent success rate and the penalty kill was perfect, both played a key factor in the win.
Scott Nichol who scored his 2^nd goal of the season felt special teams played big role in the game.
“I thought our power play won us the game against the best penalty kill in the league. They kept inching back then we would get a power play and would score to restore the two goal lead, you have to give our guys a lot of credit,”   Nichol added after the game.
The Sharks scored on their 2^nd power play of the game just nine seconds into it to take a 4-2 lead early in the 3^rd period.
It is no fluke that the Kings are in first place in the west and after watching them tonight it is easy to see why. They never gave up. It was end to end hockey and their goals were not pretty but blue collared. For the second time in the contest the Kings closed the gap to one goal at 7:06 in the final frame thanks to a Jarret Stoll tip in.
Equal to the challenge the Sharks Dany Heatley who has been all around the net lately but hasn’t had his usual success on the scoreboard netted his 7^th of the season on a wrist shot from 50 feet. The assists went to Kent Huskins and Patrick Marleau. Marleau started the play by passing the puck to Huskins on the point and then went to the front of the net and screened Kings net minder Jonathan Bernier. Without Marleau’s presence it would have been a routine save.
Marleau finished the night with the game winning goal and two assists. Patrick was a standout all night long showing his exceptional speed and was rewarded with the game’s first star.
Joe Pavelski and Torri Mitchell rounded out the scoring for the Sharks.
It won’t show up on the score sheet but the Sharks’ Niclas Wallin deserves to be recognized for his efforts. With the team’s most physical defenseman Douglas Murray sitting out after blocking a shot against Calgary Saturday night Wallin picked up the slack and in front of his net and was a physical presence especially in the after whistle scrums.
The team as a whole played well without the man called “Crankshaft” who was the only player not to dress. Derek Joslin filled in for Murray on the blue line and recorded his first point of the year in his first game of the 2010/11 season.
Coach MacLellan also commented on Niclas Wallin and Marc-Edouard Vlasic‘s night.
“They both played maybe their best game together throughout the year. They weren’t always on the ice together but when they were they played well,” MacLellan said of their efforts.
The Sharks arguably played their best game of the season. Everything was working for them and the breaks they enjoyed they created for themselves. It wasn’t a lucky bounce night for the home team. If anything they should have had two more power plays from missed high sticking calls. All four lines scored goals for San Jose and Niittymaki was solid in net.
Nichol was happy with the shared scoring effort tonight, “I think that’s a pretty good recipe for success is when you spread it out throughout the line up.”
With tonight’s victory the Sharks have earned nine points out of a possible ten in their five game home stand. The only game they didn’t win was when the team’s captain Joe Thornton was serving his suspension and that contest they lost in overtime.
There is no doubt that the team is playing better hockey but the upcoming days will tell a lot about where this crew really stands. San Jose heads out on the road for a two game road trip which is a place they have not faired well. The last three games on the road the Sharks have failed to score a single goal. They will have their chance to remedy that on back to back nights when they face-off against the Colorado Avalanche and the Dallas Stars on Wednesday and Thursday.
The second line for the Sharks has seen a change of personnel and so far it has been for the better. Logan Couture has moved into the middle with Joe Pavelski and Ryan Clowe on the wings. Against Calgary on Saturday night the newly formed line scored three of the team’s four goals and since Couture has joined the squad both of his wingers have ended their scoring drought. Devin Setoguchi has been relegated to the third line but has played his best hockey of the young season since being paired up with Torri Mitchell and Jamie McGinn.
Keep your sticks on the ice,
Contact Cam.Gore@prohockeynews.com
 

SAN JOSE, CA – The San Jose Sharks lost a heartbreaker in overtime last night and the men in stripes played a role on the winning goal.
It was a classic division rivalry last night in San Jose and only the second of the season for the Sharks. The Anaheim Ducks won 3-2 in the extra frame under a controversial set of circumstances. With just over a half minute left in sudden death Sharks forward Devin Setoguchi was interfered with at the red line while attempting to play the puck but no penalty was awarded to Anaheim. As a result of not playing the puck icing was called on the Sharks. On the ensuing draw the Ducks won the puck back to Lubomir Visnovsky on the point. Visnovsky moved along the blue line to a better shooting position and allowed his team mates to screen the front of the net before firing home the game winner at 4:27 of the overtime period.
Here are Setoguchi’s thoughts on the turn of events.
“I can’t touch the puck if I’m laying on my back. If you step up and hit the guy than it’s no icing so maybe he missed one there but it’s just the way it happened. You still have to win the draw and get the puck out of there. It was a tough call, I have to be able to touch the puck or make the play.”
Coach Todd MacLellan’s had this to say about the controversial ending to the game.
“There is some doubt into the call that was made. The officials have a real tough job, it was a bang-bang play and they are two different wave lengths. The referee is there to call a penalty and the linesman is calling an icing so they aren’t thinking the same thing, but in our opinion it has to be a penalty or a non icing call. It has to be one of those two.”
At the end of the day the Sharks got hosed on the call and when the dust settles at years end they all come out in the wash, you hope. That doesn’t make it any easier to accept or swallow in the now. All things considered both Setoguchi and coach MacLellan’s post game responses were done admirably. They had every right to show more emotion than they did but their professionalism took precedent.
All controversy aside the Sharks had plenty of chances to put this game away in the third period. San Jose entered the third trailing 2-1. The team found an extra gear and peppered the Ducks goalie with 22 shots which resulted in just one goal. Setoguchi notched his second goal of the season to tie things up at 9:05. The Sharks attack was like great whites at seal island, it was relentless. The final shot count was 41-20 in favor of San Jose. They really turned things around in the third and applied the pressure.
Leading the brigade was Joe Pavelski with eight shots on net. Pavelski had the best chance to put the game on ice in the overtime period but Ducks net minder Jonas Hiller who was the games first star kept the sold out crowd at the HP Pavilion from erupting with one of many game saving stops.
Although Anaheim was out shot and in many facets of the game outplayed they did do a lot of things right to earn their fourth win in a row. The Ducks won numerous key face-offs in both ends of the rink and they did a great job of filling the shooting lanes particularly on the penalty kill.
The Ducks were opportunistic on the scoreboard as well. Their second shot on net was tipped by Jason Blake. In a game when you hold the line of Perry, Ryan and Getzlaf to one goal, which the Sharks did last night you have a good chance of winning. Perry tallied the Ducks second goal of the night picking up a rebound and backhanding it in over Antero Niittymaki.
For the Sharks Torri Mitchell opened the scoring at 1:42 of the first period when Ryan Clowe outworked three Ducks in the corner and centered the puck to a wide open Mitchell who one-timed a shot through the 5-hole of Hiller.
The two game suspension against Sharks captain Joe Thornton has been served and the team went 1-1 in his absence. Between the controversial call last night and Thornton’s questionable suspension San Jose has endured their share of bad calls lately.
Rookie Logan Couture has been commended for replacing Joe on the top line. Against the Tampa Bay Lightning on Saturday the rookie scored a goal and an assist for his first multi point game of his career. His line scored three of the team’s five goals. Dany Heatley added to his season totals with a goal and an assist and Patrick Marleau had two goals one coming while shorthanded.
So far San Jose have seen the oppositions goalies step up and play their best hockey while facing the Sharks. It has become to common to be called coincidence. Teams get themselves pumped up to play against the Sharks especially the net minders. They see it as a challenge to shut down one of the most offensively gifted teams in the NHL and if the Sharks are going to turn things around they had better get used to it.
San Jose will have a chance to get back in the win column on Thursday night when the New York Islanders visit. They will have the team‘s leading scorer “Jumbo” Joe Thornton back who is raring to go and get back on the ice. The puck drops at 7:30 (pst)
Keep your sticks on the ice, Contact Cam.Gore@prohockeynews.com

SAN JOSE , Calif. – The San Jose Sharks tied a franchise record in St. Louis Thursday night after they were held scoreless for the third time in a row on the road.

The road is a dreary place to be right now for the Sharks, who last year boasted one of the best NHL records away from the Shark Tank.
Last night the red hot St. Louis Blues outscored San Jose 2-0 in a place where they have won their last 12 games dating back to last season.
This young team, which is full of home grown talent, has been riding the hot hand of Jaroslav Halak. Halak was the stand out player in the playoffs this past spring for the Montreal Canadians. He lead his team to the Eastern Conference Finals, beating out Cup favorites the Washington Capitals in seven games in the first round, and then went on to stone the defending Cup champion Pittsburgh Penguins in a series that also went the distance. The trade that made the most noise this summer was Halak to the Blues for two young prospects. Only time will tell, but so far St. Louis looks like the winner of this blockbuster deal.
The Blues’ new net minder lived up to expectations last night stopping all 25 shots he faced, which is not a large number, but the quality of scoring chances for the Sharks were outstanding. While on the penalty, kill San Jose was unable to capitalize on numerous breakaways and 2-on-1 opportunities.
Coach Todd MacLellan summed up the lack of offense with these comments.
“We had three breakaways and didn’t have any shots on goal,” McLellan said. “It’s incredible when that happens. We had a couple two-on-ones where we didn’t get a shot on goal. We probably haven’t had that many free looks at a net in a game all year.”
This game had very little flow due to penalty-filled first and second periods. The Sharks were called for 12 penalties versus 7 for St. Louis, including four fighting majors that all took place in the first 40 minutes.
Joe Thornton received a major penalty and a game misconduct for what the referees considered to be a blindside hit on David Perron at 5:29 of the second period. Thornton’s hit on Perron has drawn attention from the league officials who he will have a meeting with to determine future punishment if any.
Thornton was not happy with the on ice call and felt he did nothing wrong.
“I felt like I established myself on the ice,” Thornton said. “I just braced myself for the hit. He just ran into me, to be honest with you.”
After a short break, Perron finished the game and scored the Blues second goal.
The Sharks started this two-game road trip in Minnesota where they lost 1-0. As in St. Louis, the opposition’s goalie had a stellar night and was the difference in the game. San Jose played well for 60 minutes against the Wild and kept the pressure on. Half-way through the game they were out shooting the opposition 18-4 and the lone goal that Antero Niittymaki gave up to Andrew Brunette came on a 5-on-3 power play. When it was all said and done, the Sharks out shot the Wild 36-16.
The Sharks coach agrees and had this to say.
“In an 82-game season, you’re going to have five or seven games that you throw away because you’re just that bad,” McLellan said. “Tonight wasn’t one of those nights. I thought we played well, but Backstrom was better.”
There are positives to take away from this short road trip. First off the team played hard from buzzer to buzzer in each game. Just because they didn’t fill the net like they did in the previous games doesn’t mean that the work ethic faltered.
A big sigh of relief to players and fans of the Sharks has to be the display that Antti Niemi put on last night against the Blues. This was hands down the best he has played in a Sharks uniform. Niemi turned away 27 of the 29 shots fired at him and was perfect on the penalty kill. People in San Jose have not seen much of the Cup winning goalie and after his previous starts some doubt on his ability has been creeping into the minds of skeptics. Let’s hope that receiving his 2010 Stanley Cup Champion ring was not the reason for his great play and that his performance is something we can expect from the big Fin on a regular basis.
The last note we can make from the road trip perhaps isn’t necessarily a positive, but I wouldn’t go as far as to say it is a negative. The Sharks have been creating great scoring opportunities. No they haven’t been showing the touch around the net that they are capable of but when the chances dry up that is when the alarm bells go off.
Things don’t get any easier for San Jose because the Tampa Bay Lightning and the league point leader Steven Stamkos come to town for a showdown at the Shark Tank on Saturday night.
Contact Cam.Gore@prohockeynews.com

SAN JOSE, CA- The Sharks looked sharp in Denver and Edmonton but took the night off in Calgary.
 
After a two game home stand that the whole organization would like to forget, the Sharks were looking forward to hitting the road. They started in a building that they have come to know quite well and a place where they have been successful in the recent past. The Pepsi center in Denver has become a Sharks friendly zone after last year’s playoffs. San Jose won games four and six of the series eliminating the Avalanche in the latter from the post season in 2010.
 
Some pitchers like certain mounds in visiting stadiums just like Joe Pavelski and his teammates enjoy playing in Colorado.
 
Joe scored his first two goals of the season against the Avs and had this to say about playing at the Pepsi center.
 
“Maybe it’s the lighting. I don’t think it’s the altitude, the only thing the altitude does for us is it makes us keep it a little simpler with shorter shifts. We definitely had more energy.” The consensus from those who debate anything and everything about why a team wins or loses, myself being one of them, felt that the Sharks had to use the K.I.S.S system which stands for Keep it Simple Stupid (or Silly depending on how thick the player’s skin is.) San Jose did just that in achieving two points against the Avalanche.
 
The first goal was a beauty, from the fourth line and hard work paid off for Jamal Mayers who played in his first regular season game as a Shark. On a 2-on-1 down low, Mayers showed great patience and waited for Scott Nichol to get into a passing lane before he feathered a hard pass in between the defenders stick and legs resulting in the first goal of the season for Nichol and a 1-0 lead that they carried into the first intermission.
 
The next two goals came courtesy of Pavelski, with the man advantage and Logan Couture rounded out the scoring with an empty net goal late in the third for 4-2 victory.
 
The momentum carried over to Edmonton where the Oilers rookie Jordan Eberle opened the scoring at 1:22 of the first period while shorthanded but from there on it was all Sharks. Coach McLellan felt that goal got his team going.
 
“It woke us up a little bit,” he said. “It didn’t look like we were overly prepared to play, but then we got our game back.”
 
From that point forward, San Jose scored six unanswered goals from different players. Dany Heatley tied the game late in the first period on the power play and in doing so, quieted the boos from Edmonton fans who voiced their displeasure of Heatley for rejecting a trade with the Oilers before he became a Shark in the summer ‘09. With the man advantage, the Sharks went 3-for-7, receiving additional goals from Pavelski and Dan Boyle. Adding to the score sheet were Couture, who ended with the game winner, Ryan Clowe and John McCarthy.
 
The Oilers looked like a young team who were just going through the motions from the half way point of this game. While the Sharks continued to add to the scoreboard, they perhaps should have saved some of that touch for the Calgary Flames.
 
The Flames came out hot in Saturday nights contest, scoring three goals on five shots against Antii Niemi until he was relieved by Antero Niittymaki. Niittymaki let in the sixth shot of the game and it was all but over for the Sharks. The final was a 4-0 routing from a team that has been offensively challenged.
 
Sharks coach Todd McLellan had a tough time hiding his displeasure with his team. “In the first period, there could have been two pucks on the ice and we wouldn’t have had either one of them.” He summed the game up by saying “We were that slow. We were pushed off pucks. We didn’t compete along the boards. We weren’t playing the way we were supposed to play as far as the system went. Very disappointing.” 
 
Momentum created in the first two games on the road, was not carried over to the third. This team has spoken about not being mentally engaged and the Flames game was an example of that.
 
These are two teams that have created quite the rivalry over the past few years and if the Sharks can’t find the mental edge when playing a foe like Calgary there is reason for concern.
 
Concern on the goaltending front. So far the Sharks have given their latest signed goalie every opportunity to cement himself as the number one man with failed results. Antti Niemi’s play has been sub par and the form he had in winning the Stanley Cup last spring seems eons away from what he has shown Sharks fans so far this year.
 
The power play for San Jose is off to a rampant start, but the lack of scoring 5 on 5 is also reason for concern. So much so, that after experimenting with line changes to spread out the scoring depth, the coaching staff has gone back to two front heavy producing lines and two checking lines.
 
Just when it looked like this team had turned the corner towards playing consistent hockey, they put on a display like the one witnessed on Saturday night.
 
The Sharks will try to get back into the win column on Wednesday night when the New Jersey Devils visit the Shark Tank for their lone visit to San Jose this year. Game time is 7:30 pacific.
 
Keep your sticks on the ice,
 
Contact the writer at: Cam.Gore@prohockeynews.com

SAN JOSE, Calif. — After two embarrassing losses at the Shark Tank, hitting the road for three games in four days may be exactly what this team needs.
The San Jose Sharks finished their training camp and began the regular season in Europe. Cologne, Germany was the first stop for an exhibition game and then on to Stockholm, Sweden for back to back games against the Columbus Blue Jackets.
On the flight home this team looked to be off to fair start to the 2010/2011 NHL campaign. They earned three of a possible four points losing the second game in overtime. The newly appointed captain Joe Thornton scored two goals in as many games and appears to be shooting the puck more, which is something he has been criticized for in the past. The power play was successful after being non-existent in the pre-season and youngster Logan Couture scored the game winning goal in the first contest.
Since then the tides have turned for the Sharks. The home opener in San Jose came a week after the team’s last game overseas so rust is an excuse, but at this level the players and coaches will never buy into that. In fact Saturdays game against the Atlanta Thrashers started off as well as it possibly could for the Sharks. They came out like gang busters pressing the road team and took a two goal lead into the first intermission. Since that point to say the wheels have fallen off would be putting it lightly.
From the start of the second period versus Atlanta San Jose have given up two short handed goals. Both goals were the other team’s first of the game and have been turning points in the home losses. In that time the Sharks have been outscored 9-2 and had six unanswered goals against.
Excuse or not this team looks very rusty and the mistakes they are making have been costly. The scoring chances have been there but the finish has not. Passes are in the skates, the defense have made poor judgment when they pinch and the turnovers have killed them.
Here is what Joe Thornton had to say after Tuesday night’s 5-2 loss to Carolina “I thought every goal they scored was on our stick for a little bit and we just gave it up, it just went in the back of the net. You’re not going to win games when you give the other team Grade A chances when it’s on your stick. It should be a firm play and away you go. We’re making mental mistakes that shouldn’t happen. Mistakes happen but we’ve got to correct them now.”
Coach Todd MacLellan had this to say about the lack of offense “If you look at the offensive chances, the number of empty nets that we missed tonight, and the number of chances around the net offensively in the last couple games, we haven’t been polished.”
Clearly this team has underachieved so far but that is no reason to press the panic button. First off when you play at the high level that these players do winning games is all about playing together and finding rhythm with one another. In this early season the Sharks coaching staff has made changes to the lines to try and spread out the scoring and make them a more difficult team to play against. In theory is a great idea and should be given some time to work. The line that has created the most scoring chances this year has been Logan Couture surrounded by Dany Heatley and Ryan Clowe.
For years Evgeni Nabakov was the goaltender and the team knew how he played and how to gel with their long time net minder. This season they have two new players between the pipes that they have to become better acquainted with and vice versa. This transformation doesn’t happen overnight and it will take time. So far the goaltending has not been great but that is not where the blame should be laid for the home losses.
Lastly, and perhaps the biggest reason this team has stumbled out of the gate is they are missing the team’s former captain Rob Blake. This man was the leader of the Sharks who brought a calm cool presence to the locker room and lead by example on the ice. His booming shot from the point on the power play has been missed along with the valuable minutes he ate up. The Sharks decided not to replace him but to let the role be filled from within. Well those are big skates to be filled and they won’t ever be replaced, rather this crew will have to learn how to get the job done without him and that is going to take time and patience.
The Sharks leave today for a three game road trip with stops in Colorado, Edmonton and Calgary. The team will have a chance to find their rhythm on the road playing three games in four days. It is early in the season so fatigue will not be a factor.
Taking time to figure the habits of new teammates and offensive line mates is vital to a team’s success. Once these guys get on the same page the potential for offensive output is exciting for hockey fans. Let’s hope that they gel as a unit sooner rather than later or the coaching staff will be forced to blow it up go back to two top heavy lines and two checking units.
The Sharks face-off against Colorado Thursday at 6pm pacific.
Keep your sticks on the ice,
Contact the writer at: Cam.Gore@prohockeynews.com
 

SAN JOSE, Calif. — The San Jose Sharks start another NHL season billed as a team that has the talent to be considered a favorite to compete for the Stanley Cup. However, those who are bold enough make predictions for what team will have their name engraved on the most coveted trophy in professional sports aren’t picking San Jose; and who can blame them.
For years now the Sharks have had great regular seasons but have underachieved in the playoffs. Last season could be argued as an exception. They made it to the conference finals and were one of four teams remaining before they were swept by the eventual cup champions, the Chicago Blackhawks. Three of the four games were decided by one goal including an overtime loss. The numbers of pro sports would make you believe that the Shark’s are due to break through and win Lord Stanley’s Cup in this, the 20^th year of the team’s existence, but I have a feeling the bookies in Vegas aren’t taking a lot of calls concerning San Jose.
Let’s take a closer look at the Sharks by position.
Goaltending:
This is where the most dramatic change has taken place for this team. Long time Shark Evgeni Nabakov who was drafted in the 9^th round 219^th overall in the 1994 NHL entry draft has been a work horse for the team teal over the years. Nabby, as the hometown crowd called him was nominated for the Vezina Trophy which is awarded to the league’s best net minder and started over 70 games twice in his career.
Taking his spot are two Finns, Antti Niemi who was the starting goalie for the Chicago Blackhawks last year and Antero Niittymaki. Niittymaki was signed on the first day free agency, while Niemi didn’t become available until recently after a bitter divorce from Chicago that went to arbitration. Tomas Griess was the back-up goalie last year and although he posted good numbers finds himself the odd man out. Having three NHL caliber back stoppers is never a bad thing especially if injuries play a role but if they don’t than that is another player that GM Wilson will have at his disposal.
Taking nothing away from Nabakov’s accomplishments, he was the benefactor of a good team system played in San Jose and the Finnish duo should have no troubles delivering stellar goaltending. Compared to 2009/10 the goals against average for this team should remain the same give or take a point and the goaltending will be a wash.
Defense:
This is where the San Jose Sharks will find themselves vulnerable this year with their current roster. With the retirement of Rob Blake after last season (and he has confided in me that he won’t pull a Brett Favre) this leaves a gaping hole on a defensive core that needed some upgrading to begin with. Blake’s leadership and stability on the point will be missed along with his 30 points and +14 rating.
At last year’s trade deadline they picked up 35 year old Niclas Wallin who was signed to a contract extension. On a team where the nucleus of the blue line is not extremely youthful this could come back to bite the Sharks. Wallin is a big body out there but his mobility is not what it used to be in a league where the average age continues to get younger and the players faster.
Dan Boyle is the glue on the blue line for the Sharks and no other player is as important to the team’s success than he is. Boyle is a great influence to his teammates and is the go to guy in all situations. His scoring touch for a defenseman is extraordinary. His puck carrying ability is not something that can be coached along with his decision-making and he logs big minutes night in and night out. One player San Jose cannot afford to lose during the season is Dan Boyle.
Jason Demers has shown great potential to be Boyle-like but that transformation does not happen overnight. He is a bright spot on the blue line who has yet to show us his best hockey at the NHL level.
With nobody other than Derek Joslin in the minors who has NHL experience, expect to see General Manager Doug Wilson acquire at least one if not two rearguards before the trade deadline. An ideal situation would be to land both a puck mover as well as a physical player to bolster the back end for a playoff run.
Forwards:
The forward position is as rich as it can be for any NHL team. The talent and depth up front for the Shark’s puts a smile on my face as the thought enters my mind.
We all know about the top line consisting of Joe Thornton in the middle with Patrick Marleau on one side and Dany Heatley on the other. This line strikes fear into the best defensemen in the league because they have everything. They are all well over six feet tall and the average weight is 220 pounds. They can beat you with speed, finesse, reach and two of the three are snipers while the other is known for his sweet set up hands.
That element was there last season but what will make the forwards better going forward will be the coming out of Joe Pavelski and Logan Couture. Pavelski learned how to take his game to the next level at the 2010 Olympic games in Vancouver and in the playoffs last year where he shook the nickname “Little Joe” and became known as “The Big Pavelski.” He finished the season including the playoffs at a point per game pace and carried his team through the first round and a half of the playoffs scoring clutch goals while his teammates found their stride. Pavelski just turned 26 years old this past summer and signed a four year contract extension.
Logan Couture was drafted 9^th overall in 2007 of the NHL entry draft in what was considered a weak draft year. After 53 points in 42 games at the AHL level Couture was given his shot with the Sharks and did not disappoint. This young man added some bulk over the summer and now knows what to expect at the NHL level. So far he has shown that he doesn’t shy away from situations and contributed with some big goals in a limited role last season including four in the playoffs.
Couture will most likely start on the 3^rd line in a checking role but that doesn’t mean he won’t fill the net. The fact that he won’t be relied on to contribute on a scoring line should make his transition to becoming a full time NHLer that much easier. When teams are playing against San Jose the 3^rd line won’t get a great deal of attention from the opponents top defenders. That may change if Couture lives up to his potential.
With great depth at the NHL and the AHL level the Sharks are as strong as they come for the foreseeable future at this position.
The Intangibles:
The intangibles for this team are going to be how many games are lost to injury, some good fortune and whether or not they have the heart to make the jump to the next level in the post season.
Heart is something that athletes can grow into. Like skill, it can be worked on in the off-season. How they train in the summer months and putting in that extra hour or two each day all effects the 82 game grind one way or another.
Personnel changes can also alter the attitude of teams. When you look at this Shark’s team and their nucleus of players it is hard not think that they won’t be better than they were at the end of last year. They are still very young up front and are still improving.
They play in a tough and improved division from years past which will help them prepare for the games that count the most come springtime, but know that until this skilled roster proves that they can win the big games they will be known as the underachieving team from the Bay.
Keep your sticks on the ice,
Contact the writer at: Cam.Gore@prohockeynews.com