Nashville, TN

Reilly Wonders if this is the Year

So far so meh?  Not really, but the Sharks have been inconsistent to say the least.  From a high point of destroying Philly on a recent road trip, to coughing up the lead in two road games they should have won, to winning handily against former nemesis the Buffalo Sabres, San Jose is searching for an identity.

With the dawning of the Erilk Karlsson era, its a pretty exciting time for a Sharks fan.  Never have they had so many weapons at their disposal.  With arguably the top TWO offensive defensemen in Karlsson and Brent Burns, there should be big time scoring from the blue line.  Timo Meier and Kevin LeBanc are a year older and stronger, they have the ‘Don Father’ Joonas Donskoi, some other Finn named Anttii Suomela, a flashy scorer type from the Finnish elite league, and a Swede Marcus Sorenson, arguably their fastest player.

Joe Pavelski, Evander Kane, Logan Couture?  They were good for about 85 goals last year, and can easily be counted upon to score 100 this year.  I haven’t even mentioned the best defensive D man Marc Eduard Vlasic and the steady hand of Martin Jones in net

So far so good, maybe.  They are 4-3-1 and could be 6-2.  That was before their HUGE comeback win last night over the Nashville Predators.  The game was seesaw, scintillating and a display of skill unmatched by most teams.  Both goalies played great and still gave up 9 goals between them as the Sharks prevailed in a comeback victory 5-4.  It was the Sharks first victory in Nashville in 7 years. Hallelujah!

So now, what next?  Carolina is next for San Jose, providing another good test for playing against a very fast, shot generating machine of a team coached by former NHL star Rod Brind’Amour.  Their record is identical to San Jose’s and they are the surprise of the Metro division, residing in 1st place.

Timo Meier scores the first of 5 goals the Sharks put up on the Preds last night.

Reilly Predicts a CAPS Victory in Six Games

Las Vegas, NV

It is inexplicable to me and probably a large portion of the hockey community to accept that the Ls Vegas Golden Showers are in the Final.  While I’m long past being surprised because I watched them beat a very good San Jose Sharks team and arguably even better team in the Jets, it does speak to the the Great Satan Bettman’s dream to have an expansion team win in their inaugural year.

The draft rules that the NHL (Bettman) set up were a joke compared to the precedent set in past league expansion drafts.  For example, the San Jose Sharks were not even given a chance to draft from other teams rosters.  Their team was composed of the bottom 50% of one of the worst teams in the league at the time, the Minnechota North Stars.  The Stars subsequently moved to Dallas and won a cup five years later.

In 1993, the Anahymen Ducks and the Florida Panthers were added to the league.The 24 teams existing in the league at the time of the draft were each allowed to protect one goaltender, five defensemen and nine forwards. All first-year pros were exempt from claim, and all second-year pros on the reserve list were exempt from claim.  In the 2000 expansion the rules remained in place.

Why the change for the Vegas Golden Showers?  Isn’t it obvious?  The first pro sports team in Las Vegas had to have a better chance to win than other traditional expansion franchises precisely because of who runs the town: The sports books and casinos.  Now I don’t know, but I’m guessing Satan Bettman cozied up to the civic leaders and offered them different terms because of a couple of things.

One is obvious, shit tons of money poured into the town from building an arena, all the concessions, Knights schwag, etc. The other reason is more subtle but equally insidious.  Bettman and the NHL wanted to guarantee first year success so that the buzz would be so intense and the spotlight would remain on the Knights all year, and if the unthinkable happened, as in they made the playoffs, the narrative of amazement would continue.

OMG, this has never happened before, first year team makes it to the dance in their first year!!!  If you listen to NHL Network Radio, the hosts (I’m talkin to you Scott Laughlin!) never stopped talking about how unlikely and how cool and how amazing and how awesome it was that they were successful.

It was eerily reminiscent of the Trumpian narrative, of how this upstart candidate upset the traditional/conventional world and won the Presidency.  Vegas followed suit (pun intended) and turned the hockey world on its ear by being successful in their inaugural season.

The other thirty teams and their fan bases were jobbed in the sense that Las Vegas was given advantages never before given to an expansion team.  As I write this, and reflect on their season, it occurs to me that their was pretty much little chance that they wouldn’t be successful.

I admit, I thought it was an extra four wins per season for my team and the rest of the Pacific division.  But once December rolled around and the Showers were in 1st place, I could tell that they were a much different expansion team.  When you have a 3 time Stanley Cup winning goalie to build around, numerous former #1 draft choices playing for your team, plus second line players from both offense and defense, YOU’RE GONNA HAVE A GOOD TEAM, possibly great!

The series is tied 1-1 and who knows whats gonna happen.  Vegas has been remarkably resilient in the Playoffs so far, beating some good teams, sweeping the Kings, ousting the Sharks in six and a beat up Winnipeg Jets team in five games.

Nuff said.  No I don’t want Vegas to win, #ALLCAPS GO CAPS!

St Paul, MN

San Jose visited the Wild on the last game of their 4 game road trip, looking to end it on a positive note.   Unfortunately, they gave up the lead with 4 minutes left continuing their maddening trend of win 3 lose 2, grabbing defeat from the jaws of victory after blowing a 2-0 lead.  Martin Jones was great for the Sharks 36 saves on 38 shots, singlehandedly keeping them in the game until, with 4 minutes left he gave up the tying goal to Eric Staal.

On a goal that was mostly bad luck mixed with some soft play in front, Staal scored on the wraparound after it glanced off of Marc Eduard Vlasic’s skate and through the five hole.  They would go onto lose in OT on a horrible giveaway by Brent Burns.  Yes, again.  The vision of Burns on his belly, vainly flapping his fins to block the shot is a sight all too common for Sharks fans.

Moving on towards the playoffs, San Jose looks beatable because of a couple of trends, one familiar and a couple more that defy logic.  One, they get outmuscled for the puck too often, with their opponents smacking them in the face and daring the Sharks to respond.  One San Jose forward, Timo Meier is a physical force and will go toe to toe with anyone.  All of the rest refuse to engage their protagonists.  Also, the management doesn’t provide an enforcer, and the players do not fight for each other.  Despicable

I don’t know if its coaching, or the several European players on the Sharks, but it occurs often.  The last place Arizona Coyotes used the tactic recently, beating San Jose last week, literally and on the scoreboard.  Video shows San Jose can be beaten if you beat on them enough.  I’ve heard teams use video for scouting.

Another trend is losing after taking the lead, late in the game.  9 OT and shootout losses confirm this. Win half of those games and the Sharks are right on Vegas’s tail, a couple of points behind.  One more Captain Obvious observation: the Sharks miss Joe Thornton deeply on a couple of levels.  One is in the physical realm, as in he doesn’t take anyones shit, and two, he scores almost a point a game.

There is no timetable for his return, perhaps for the playoffs.  How effective will he be?  50%, 75%, who knows?  The term first round exit occurs to me.  Once again.  BTW, Sharks are on 0-3 since acquiring the great Eric Fehr from the AHL San Diego Gulls.  Bench him.

Brent Burns beaten again in OT loss to Minny

Logan Couture and Brendon Dillon celebrate Cooch’s goal against the Ducks

Sharks with two scintillating wins over the weekend, both of the comeback variety.  While Saturday night’s affair against the Connor McDavids (Oilers for the uninitiated) was a slug fest with 10 goals between the two protagonists, the win against the Anahymens was particularly sweet.  More on that later.

Saturday’s game against Edmonton had all the makings of a rout initially as the Sharks struck for three goals in the first and could have had more if not for Al Montoya’s timely saves.  The second period was horrid for Aaron Dell and San Jose as the Oilers struck for three and then opened the third with a goal to take the lead.

Normally, the Sharks would not be able to retake the lead especially after giving up 4 unanswered.  The Oil smelled blood and were coming hard and often.  Yes I know that sounds vaguely sexual, but there was nothing sexual, just a gut check for San Jose. Viscerally speaking D Joakim Ryan was the gutsiest of the bunch, scoring the winning goal with about two minutes left and Captain America added a rather skillful empty netter, Sharks win 6-4.

Which brings us to Sunday night and the hated Ducks.  Anahymen took an early lead and scored again in the first but it was disallowed because of an offsides, challenged perfectly by Coach Pete DeBoer.  San Jose, having played less than 24 hours before was struggling to find their legs and their game but played a much better 2nd period, outshooting the Ducks at one point 18-2.  They also held them without a shot for close to 15 minutes.

The third period saw the Anahymens score another goal and things were looking grim.  What made this game different was San Jose’s composure in the face of a relentless smacking around by the Ducks.  One hit after questionable hit after another, some late, some penalties, some downright f ed up. At 9:09, the Sharks broke through an a goal by Couture, drawing them within one goal at 2-1.

The highly skilled smacking and stickhandling continued down to the wire as the Sharks got chance after chance on John Gibson.  Finally, at 19;07 on a hard slap pass by Couture to the front of the net, Timo Maier banged it in.  The Pond went silent as the Sharks celebrated.

OT was scoreless and in the shootout, Logan Couture scored the winner on only the Sharks second shot.  Martin Jones looked more solid than he has in two months and stopped both Ducks attempts.

What can we conclude from this display of bravado and grit?  Young guys playing great in pressure situations and in the absence of key personnel.  That was great to see for the fans, and Logan Couture wasn’t so bad either with a goal, an assist and the shootout winner. Hope springs eternal right?

Next up tonight, the Arizona Coyotes.

Timo Maier celebrates his tying goal, scoring with 53 seconds left tin the third period.

The Tank, San jose, CA

Jonas Donskoi is on fire against Arizona, scoring the tying goal with 16 seconds left in the game.

Hey now, Happy New Year to all my readers!  The Sharks came off the mandatory 5 day bye week with a thrilling albeit sloppy game against the Yotes on Saturday night.  While it seemed there was no stopping San Jose’s vaunted power play, the Sharks couldn’t contain the leagues worse team, as they traded goals in the first period three times each.

Martin Jones looked lost, giving up 3 goals on six shots and was pulled at 14:01 of the first period!  Aaron Dell came in and steadied the goaltending, giving up two goals for the rest of the game.  Meanwhile, The Donfather as play by play announcer Randy Hahn calls him, was nearly unstoppable with two goals and the primary assist on Logan Couture’s 1st period goal.

The third period was wild and wooly as the Sharks and Coyotes traded goals, with Arizona briefly taking the lead after chasing the Sharks most of the night on a goal by Josh Archibald (who?).  That set up the heroics from Donskoi as he scored with almost no time left on a wrister from the Wookie Brent Burns.

This leads me to expand on the Sharks defensive woes after much of the year leading the LEAGUE in goals against and save percentage.  Martin Jones has been awful from a results perspective, losing six straight and getting pulled last night.  Thank God for G Aaron Dell, because he is the rock San Jose needs.  San Jose’s fourth line was kinda awful, a combined -10 for the night.

Brent Burns, he of the cannon from the point, is the teams worst in plus minus at -18.  It seems that every game I watch I see him on his belly as the other team’s play goes by him time and again to score.  When is he or the coaches gonna figure out that isn’t the way to stop today’s NHL player from scoring?  Stay upright and drill him!! Also, I know it’s cliche but he stops moving his feet, which is why he thinks he has to dive to check the puck.  It works about 1 in 20 times.

To sum it up, Sharks need to tighten up their defensive play, giving up 25 GOALS in six games.  Their last road trip was horrid, losing to Dallas 6-0, Toronto in OT 3-2, Ottawa 6-5 in OT after leading 5-2 in the 3rd and Winnipeg 4-1. Their lone win was in Montreal against the offensively challenged Montreal Canadiens and Carey Price.

As the second half begins, the Sharks have 3 games in 4 nights, playing the Kings tomorrow and Arizona at home on Tuesday.  LA is also muddling along right now after leading the Pacific for much of the first half of the season.  They started out 11-2-2 and after losing to the Shmucks of Anahymen are 13-12-3.  The Kings are beatable right now, but so is Martin Jones.

Hey Coach Pete DeBoer, bring back Paul Martin and play him with Burns.  Burns won a Norris Trophy with Martin as his D partner and put Brendon Dillon back on the third pairing with Tim Heed or Joakim Ryan.  Can’t be any worse than averaging almost FIVE GOALS AGAINST for your last six games?

Marc-Eduard Vlasic with the winning OT pickle in Saturday nights game against Arizona

The Tank, San Jose CA

Joe Thornton scores his second goal of the game. Classic form!

Yes this is last weeks news but hey its the holidaze!  With the OT win over a plucky Canucky squad, the Sharks showed some sack, some spunk and any other manly reference to testosterone with an overtime win in yours truly’s presence.

And what a present it was because San Jose seemed to have the upper hand scoring three straight goals after giving up the first one.  Vancouver has some shifty new players including Brock Boeser, who has rookie of the year candidate written all over him.

Before you could say Eddie Shore it was tied and the Sharks were lucky to get out of the period with a tie.  In the third both teams traded goals and went to OT.  Kevin LaBanc, he of the FOUR point night potted the winner in 3 on 3 time.

Fast forward to Saturday nights rumble in the jungle with the LA Kings, who at the time were in 1st place.  The first period was scoreless yet highly entertaining because there was a whole lotta smackin goin on.

Recent callup Marcus Sorensen, the Slick Swede opened the scoring with a speed rush that was too much for Drew Doughty and the slightly less Quick JQuick.  Beautiful move, hard to the net, score from the slot! God we need more of those!

In the third the intensity ramped up even further with some dirty play from Doughty and Tyler Toffoli, the Slashin Twins, with a side of Jake Muzzin employing the same methods. In a rare display from Pavs, he tackled Toffoli following the aforementioned two hander and it was on!!

On the ensuing PP, Captain America Joe Pavelski netted the second goal on a trademark redirect to make it 2-0.  From there on, it was tight checking in the neutral zone, amazingly clutch saves from Martin Jones who shut out his former team for the win.

Tonight the Calgary Flamers come to town, lets go boys!

Sunrise, FL

The Sharks are on a roll on the road, taking their second straight road game and third win in a row Friday night against the Florida Panthers, winning 2-1. C Joe Pavelski scored his 300th goal in the second period and Chris Tierney scored the winning goal at 7:13 of the third period against Roberto” Louie” Luongo on a crash bang play.

C Joe Pavelski celebrates with his fellow Joe and linemate on his 300th goal.

Stingy defense, great goaltending and timely scoring are the recipe for winning this season, as the Sharks lowered their league leading GAA to 2.12.  Marc Eduard Vlasic, Justin Braun and the rest of the D corp are smothering opponents every night.  It doesn’t hurt to have Martin Jones in net with his .930 save % and his backup Aaron Dell is sporting a gaudy .933 save %.

Aaron Dell is strong in goal as Joel Ward pancakes a Panther in front of the net.

San Jose has 7-2-1 road record as they seem very comfortable away from the Shark Tank. Their home record is a little fishy at 7-6-1, leading this writer to be cautious when considering attending a home game.

The Sharks won without Jonas Donskoi, their Flashy Finn catalyst, as he nurses an injury incurred against a dirty and frustrated Flyers team on Tuesday night past. He is listed as day to day with a “mid to lower body injury.”  Goalie Martin Jones’s injury status is also day to day with an injury suffered against the Winnipeg Jets last Saturday night, but is on the trip.

San Jose continues to fly under the radar in the NHL, with almost no mention of their play on the NHL Network or any other hockey website.  Perhaps its because they win with defense, or play on the West Coast but the Hockey Proletariat continues to yawn regarding the Sharks.  Its OK, just win baby.

Brent Burns skating and creating down low.

The Tank, San Jose, CA

Captain America scored on a trademark redirection.

Wednesday night at the Shark Tank was a splendid affair, for the simple fact that it was  my first game of the season, I was with #1 daughter and oh yeah, San Jose put a PLB (parking lot beating) on the Nashville Predators.

In uncharacteristic fashion San Jose was the heavyweight, throwing their weight around and making the Preds pay in 5 on 5 play scoring three times.  Throw in a power play goal, several fights and stifling goaltending from a resurgent Martin Jones and it was a recipe for the Sharks third straight win and seventh in their last ten games.

The only thing that soured me a bit was an injury to Marc Eduard Vlasic on a horrid hit by Ryan Johansen, as he boarded the Pickle and hit him in the head with a right shoulder.  He received a two minute slap on the hand as the Sharks lost their best defensive D man.

The inequity of that sticks in my craw, but hopefully his injury isn’t too serious.  Coach Pete DeBoer had no update on the injury last night.  Captain Joe Pavelski fought the aforementioned dirtbag Johansen and had a nice takedown in their short bout.

What conclusion can we draw from this game?  First, I have to say that no one is talking about San Jose as a major playoff contender, and I watch a lot of NHL Network.  Secondly, there is little to no buzz in San Jose as the arena was not sold out and there were numerous blocks of empty seats. So what you say?

To answer my question, what I’ve observed about the Sharks is this: they don’t care what you think about them and their 26 years with no Cup.  They have a big skilled team with a very solid goalie and they are on track to have a nice season.

San Jose has two rookies on defense because of an injury to Paul Martin and the departure of David Schlemko in the expansion draft.  They’ve filled in nicely and one, a Swede named Tim Heed has an absolute howitzer from the point and scored his 1st NHL goal against the King, Henrik Lundquist of the Rangers.

GM Doug Wilson has built a team with almost no change in personnel from the last two years, one of which they went to the Cup Final and lost to the Sidney Crosby’s.  Quite frankly, I think the West is up for grabs and I think San Jose has a team “thats been there before”, yet when it comes to winning a Cup they can’t say “been there done that.”

Yet.

Reilly Predicts a Sharks Victory against Anahymen on Saturday

Manson’s Monster Mash on McLeod.

Twelve teams are gone from the NHL Playoffs, among them some very good teams. The President’s Cup winners Washington Capital, Atlantic Division winners Montreal, Western Conference Champions Chicago Blackhawks.  Columbus Blue Jackets, 106 regular season points, Edmonton Oilers 101 points, Minnesota Wild 104 points.  And that’s only six teams.

Of the four teams that are left, Cup Champs Pittsburgh playing a gutsy Ottawa Senators squad, are in a 2-2 tie, with the Anahymen Ducks and the Smashville Preds being the other series.  The aforementioned Preds won last night to take a 3-2 lead, playing a fast paced style vs a Ducks team that is trying to pulverize Nashville puck carriers.

As we move towards the Cup Final, it is extremely evident that the Playoffs are a game of attrition.  Pittsburgh is missing key components, like Kris Letang, Brian Rust, Justin Schultz and it appears Sidney Crosby is playing with a concussion.   Smashville lost its #1 and # 2 centers two games ago.  The Ducks are playing without two of their top four scorers and their #1 goalie.  Ottawa’s two time Norris trophy winning D man Erik Karlsson is playing with broken bones in his feet and so is Anahymen C Ryan Getzlaf.

As I write this, the Pen are up 5-0 in their home game vs Ottawa with half the game to go.  What I wanted to point out next is that the scrubs from the minor league teams are being plugged into the lineup and scoring the winning goals and winning the bulk of the faceoffs they are being asked to win.  Are they really scrubs?  Naw, they are mostly high  draft choices on deep teams that just couldn’t crack the lineup.  Until now, when its for all the marbles.

Admirable to say the least and downright clutch in most cases.  Hey San Jose, fucking pay attention.  Jettison players that are taking up valuable roster spots and costing an arm and a leg.  Everyone else is doing it.  Is it ridiculous to have Joe Thornton play with a torn ACL and MCL?  Hell yes, he was ineffective.  Even Logan Couture, who I love as a player, was largely a liability vs the Edmonton Oilers because his jaw was destroyed by a deflected puck in a game against Nashville in the regular season.

The point is, when players suffer catastrophic injuries it isn’t a good idea to let them play.  End of story.  Writers with better access to players than me, fawn over these guys like they’re gods because they’re “playing with pain.”  As a former hockey player I can tell you that we all played with pain, even in beer leagues.  There is a huge difference between playing with pain and playing injured

Everyone plays with pain in the playoffs. Bring up the scrubs, they often can play more effectively than an injured star.  Hell, you might make the team next year by how well you rise to the occasion in this years payoffs.

Get well soon Cooch!!!  Oh yeah, you too Joe and Patty, he said grudgingly.

A Puck is a Terrible Thing