Reilly stickhandles in the backyard.

Saddledome, AL

As Reilly and I watched the Sharks and Flames last night, he turned to me and said “are you kidding me?  Martin Jones has 47 straight saves, several of the spectacular variety and its still 1-0 for San Jose.”  Well, as you know the mere mention of a shutout or great play by the color man and Calgary gets a goal with 1:22 left in the game.  As they began their 8th power play of the game the Flames pulled their goalie Ortio for an extra attacker.  It took an amazing tip by Joe Colborne off of a dynamite shot from the point by Giordano to finally beat Martin Jones.

As deflating as the goal was with practically no time left, the Sharks wasted no time in OT, putting the Beast and the two Joes on the ice and won it in 19 seconds with a power move by Burns off of a slick entry by Thornton and the Captain tucked it under the Calgary goalkeeper.

Reilly and I sat in amazement as the Sharks skated off the ice with the victory to continue their hot play.  Since January 9th, San Jose is 18-5-4, as they keep pace with their California rivals in what has become a three team race in the Pacific Division.  Anahymen has vaulted past the LA Kings to take over first place with the Kings 3 points back and the Sharks five points off the pace.

Remember when the pundits were calling the Pacific the worst division in hockey and they were extolling the virtues of the Central as the best division in all of hockey?  Well, it seems the cream rises to the top as the Ducks have reeled off 11 straight wins to pass LA, who keeps chugging along under Dour Darryl Sutter.  If the season ended today, the playoff pairing would feature another King/Sharks series.  Always entertaining and these two teams flat out hate each other.

Regardless of who they play, Martin Jones has been the MVP for San Jose in his first season as a starter with 33 of the team’s 36 victories for the season.  He is calm, cool and collected as he is square to the shooter and anticipates the cross ice presciently.  Hows that for a two point word?

San Jose,CA

Reilly stickhandles in the backyard.

Reily the Hockey Dog has been very patient with the San Jose Sharks this season as they have struggled with consistency, especially at the Shark Tank where they have the worst home record of contending teams.  On the road however, they are monsters!  Winning their twentieth road game last night in a bit of a snoozer over the Panthers is none the less a great victory for a much maligned squad.

Joe Pavelski pots the winner in a shootout and Martin Jones continues his strong play, making several spectacular saves to preserve the tie to get to the shootout.  Doug Wilson is looking like a genius for once as he spent a #1 draft choice to steal Jones from the Kings in a bizarre draft day deal.

Jonas Donskoi, the Finnish Elite league player of the year last year has quietly come out of nowhere to give the Sharks a legitimate threat whenever he is on the ice.  He is a human highlight reel, especially in the shootout where he scored again tonight on a sick five hole move that left G Al Montoya scratching his head.

Kudos for the defense who are playing a very disciplined brand of shutdown hockey (Brent Burns excepted) as they buy into the DeBoer defensive system of separating the puck from players entering the offensive zone and turning it back the other way for prime scoring chances.  Paul Martin has been $$$ for San Jose as he continues to be the defensively responsible member of the Burn/ Martin pairing at a +4.

I will caution Sharks fans not to get too excited that their hot stinky chum breath is on the back of the LA Kings neck, because we have seen great regular season play from the franchise in the past.  However, the tweaks to the roster, the new coach, new goalie and the balanced scoring combined with stingy defense are  making the Sharks fun to watch again.

Reilly stickhandles in the backyard.

Hey now, I’ve been thinking about column ideas for six weeks now, gonna just holla about different stuff, so hear goes (pun intended).  What do we make of the Sharks at the quarter mark of the 2015-16 season?  Streaky is one thing, won 4 straight to open the season followed by 3 wins in 11 then an epic road trip with record results.  Six wins and saving the best for last, a third period comeback against the Blow Jackets!

So does this scream mediocre, parity, new coach/system?  Maybe all of that, but as a jaded Sharks fan I can’t find faith that this new/old incarnation of the Sharks can do some damage in the playoffs.  Playing in the Pacific Division will require garnering one of the top three spots because of the strength of the Central.  It is quite possible that all the wild cards will come out of this division.

I digress, so to continue the positive slant of the column I will say congrats to future Hall of Famer Patrick Marleau for reaching the 1000 point plateau!  That dude has been hell on wheels this year, blowing past guys 15 YEARS younger and playing a playoff brand of hockey already.

Martin Jones has been a pleasant surprise as the #1 goalie, and the addition of veteran defenseman Paul Martin has shored up a defense that was shaky at best last season.  Signing Joel Ward as a 3rd line energy player has paid monster dividends for the Sharks already, as he is on pace to post career high numbers.  Love what he brings to the table.

The Logan Couture injury watch is close to being over, as he is slated to return next week from a broken fibula.  That should be a helluva Christmas present because he is definitely one of the main motors that drive the Sharks.  Playing in all situations, 5 on 5, PK and PP he is arguably one of their top four players.  Speaking of top players, Brent Burns is playing out of his mind with his All Star caliber stats and playing beside the steady Paul Martin has helped mask some of his reckless style of play that led to some atrocious defensive breakdowns last year.  Thankfully these haven’t happened anywhere as much this campaign.

The Euro influence cannot be discounted on the Sharks roster as Swede Melkar Karrelson has returned from an early season injury to resume his clutch play and penalty killing strength for San Jose.  Finnish league MVP Jonas Donskoi has cracked the lineup and has played on all three of the top lines and has contributed a skill level previously absent from the Sharks.

Center Chris Tierney has anchored the fourth line and has shown flashes of Joe Thorntonesque skills, delivering tape to tape passes and a high level of defensive responsibility.  Recently signed Dainus Zubrus is a bit of a puzzle to me because he is an older player, but he played for Coach Peter DeBoer in New Jersey for the past three years.  Perhaps he has some goals left in his stick, Sharks can always use more offense!

The rest of the defense has played well with the pairing of the Pickle, Marc-Eduard Vlasic and Justin Braun a very good 1A to the # 1 of Burns and Martin.  Brendon Dillon brings the nasty element nightly and his partner has often been the homegrown player, young Matt Tennyson.  I see a big upside for this player because he adds a nice offensive skill to his D game.  The Sharks have alternated him with #1 draft choice Swiss born Mirco Mueller, a skilled guy who needs some more seasoning.

Moving forward, the Sharks enter play tonight one point out of 1st place and with several home games in December, they need to make some hay at the Tank.  They have a very unSharklike home record of 3-6 and an amazing road record of 10-3.  This is unacceptable for a potential playoff team.  That being said, I hope they can return to their former home ice advantage that they have enjoyed for many years.  Beginning tonight with the Calgary Flames, a very beatable team.  Go Sharks!

San Jose, CA

Hey now, welcome back to my blog, been away for awhile.  My favorite team that all the prognosticators love to bag on  has opened the season 2-0.  The Sharks followed up a dominating performance in LA to open the slate,  by beating Anahymen 2-0, on goals by the much maligned Patrick Marleau. Oh yeah, and their new goalie ain’t too shabby either, Martin Jones pitched a shutout with 27 saves.

If one reads the papers or even worse, listens to  NHL Network Radio, San Jose is often mentioned as an underachieving team because of their lack of a Stanley Cup.  Some of the criticism is justified because of their meltdown in 13 against the Kings, losing in seven games after being up 3-0.  The main focus for their vitriol is Marleau and Joe Thornton, also an ageless wonder.   As both men slide into the downside of their dreaded thirty somethings it may be argued that they have lost a step or even worse that the only reason they are still around is their seven million dollar cap hit and no trade clauses.

The constant bagging doesn’t seem to faze them or GM Doug Wilson because he keeps running them out there and they produce.  In the Ducks game, with Marleau centered by Logan Couture and flanked by new addition Joel Ward, Marleau constantly broke free from the Ducks defense from guys 15 years younger to produce chances with seven SOG leading to two goals.  Thornton was also a beast on the top line with Pavelski and new addition Jonas Donskoi with five SOG including two breakaways.  Only brilliant saves by Freddie Anderson prevented the tallies as the the Ducks young defense was victimized by the Sharks old men and newcomers, giving up 44 shots.

I’ll wrap up this fishwrap by saying good on them, a Canadian saying popularized by Jim Boomer Gordon of NHL Network Radio.  The Sharks have retooled by adding Paul Martin on D, Martin Jones in G and Joel Ward as a legitimate power forward and net presence on the power play.  These guys coupled with the usual suspects like Vlasic, Couture, Marleau, Thornton and All Star Brent Burns have this guy feeling like we can compete with LA, Anahymen, Chicago and St. Louis for a return to the playoffs.  And that my friends is all you can ask of your team, just get in baby, just get in and do some damage!

Hey San Jose, can you please give us one of these poses?

Sincerely,

Sharks Fans

Literally, figuratively 

Brent Seabrook

70,000 fans went home disappointed last night as the San Jose Sharks stunk up Levi Stadium, losing to the World Champs in desultory fashion 2-1.  The second California Stadium Series game went to the road team again, as LA has found its game and the Sharks well, they foundered again, playing inconsistently and were unable to beat Jonathan Quick.  The ice was soft and so was San Jose as the Kings continue to bully their NorCal rivals by physically beating down the Sharks.

Shark fans have seen this script too often as this offensively challenged team played just well enough to lose by one goal.  Brent Burns, of the gaudy offensive numbers and defensively challenged game had his pocket picked by Marion Gaborik in the neutral zone and slapped one past Anti Niemi for the game winner.  Patrick  Marleau was less effective than a screen door in a submarine and on the ice for the Kings winning goal. Patty isgoing in the wrong direction on his plus/minus, a -2 for the game and a team leading -13 for the season.

F Matt Nieto, Marleau, and D man Brenden Dillon are a combined -36, a staggering indication of defensive ineptitude, prompting the question, why not bench your all time leading scorer Marleau?  Brenden Dillon, acquired for Jason Demers in November is obviously not a solution for the Sharks continuing defensive sucking.

The culture of sucking in this organization has hit a new low this season as Doug Wilson continues to slam his head against the wall by sending out the same shit game after game expecting different results.  Definition of insanity.  Look it up.  Its almost as if the GM is afraid to bench Marleau, because of his exalted status as the all time leading scorer for San Jose.  Past accomplishments don’t win games and his minus play continues to help the Sharks lose games.  Sadly, the braintrust doesn’t have someone to replace him so they run him out there every night.

Not sure if they could even garner a bag of pucks for his lame ass if they tried to trade him.  At least get his attention by sitting him up in the press box.  Show him film of how often he fans on good passes or delivers the puck to a guy with the wrong color jersey.

The only cure I see for the malaise that has gripped me is,….. don’t watch the trainwreck that is the San Jose Sharks

Hey Sharks fans and all two of my readers, welcome to another rant about, you guessed it: my dissatisfaction about the formerly vaunted San Jose Sharks.  Now, to be fair they are in a “rebuilding phase” but watching them has become more painful than ever.

NDR stands for Not Defensively Responsible and the chief culprit is their lone All Star representative Brent Burns.  Second in line, right behind him is Patrick Marleau. Both are big minus players, Burns -7 and Marleau -11.  Ouch, yes thats right a combined -18 for two of the elite players on the Sharks roster.  Combine those with little used D man Matt Irwin checking in at a robust -10, a -28 is a big deficit to overcome.  Coupled with Marleau’s anemic offense, it is no wonder the Sharks continue to struggle for consistency as they try to rebuild.

Everything about them yawns meh…They sit in 3rd place currently, 1 point ahead of Calgary whom they lost to in OT on Saturday after storming back from a two goal deficit, scoring three to take the lead.  When its all said and done, they are a mediocre 24-23 and a -3 in goal differential.  Now, I’m not a big metrics guy, but the numbers say that San Jose has fallen hard and fast from their former elite status over the last several years.

After years of watching regular season domination, the fans don’t even get that satisfaction anymore.  They are bordering on unwatchable because they’re so predictable.  They lose to bottom feeder teams, Buffalo twice, Florida twice, Carolina, and most recently stinking up the Tank with chum by losing to the Devils.  But then they kill the Ducks, the NHL points leader or beat the Blues in OT.  We won’t talk about them losing twice to the Blues in a week by the combined score of 14-4  They can’t put away teams when they get a lead.  Their young guns got no bullets and their old guys need some PEDs or sumthin.

This old guy has been finding other things to do besides getting frustrated with the Sharks.  Like watching Homeland on demand.  Its just sad…

 Bianca Beauchamps

There, not so sad, right???

Yeah I know, not even as good as the old Sharks right?  People have talked long and hard about how tired they are of the Sharks gaudy regular season record, only to choke in the playoffs.  I’m talking the ultimate choke, losing when up in a series 3-0.  Well, I think the scars etched on Shark fans psyche from that series will remain for years to come, and the stink of rotten fish emanating from the Tank this year will only grow stronger.  I’l try to articulate my gut feelings..

Look at the Pacific Division standings after 22 games and they tell you a lot.  Look who’s back in the top tier?  Vancouver.  Ryan Miller and a new coach have them back on track and tough to play against.  Anahymen is on top o the division but have sucked a lot lately.  The Kings are right where they need to be in the regular season, barely over .500.  Even Arizona is ahead of the San Jose right now.  The Sharks, who got off to a great start have defined mediocrity since then.  Lets look at their record against teams the rest of the league has no trouble beating:  Buffalo 0-2, FLA 0-1-1, Columbus 0-2.  That’s six losses against arguably the worst teams in the league.  Home record 2-3-2, which I will call 2-5 at HOME!  To say they ain’t gettin it done is an understatement.  You call this a product?  I wouldn’t pay 10 cents to see this team right now.

Since their last home WIN on 11/1, the Sharks are 3-7, stumbling to say the least.  Doug Wilson decided that Jason Demers was one of the reasons for their atrocious record and shipped him off to Dallas for Brenden Dillon.  Dillon had one point in 20 games for the Stars, who have arguably one of the worst blue lines in the league.  So we get one of their worst D men?  Demers on the other hand played on the PP, had 34 points last year and was often paired with Vlasic, making them a pretty good shutdown pair, er ex-pair.  Waive bubeye to Adam Burrish also.  Never could stay healthy and provided very little of anything positive in his two years here.

The Sharks offense, ranked 18th in the league is an atrocious mess.  T Mac continues to juggle his lines more often than a woman with DDs on a stripper pole.  The result?  More and more disjointed play, with only a couple of guys with any consistency.  Secondary scoring?  Non existent.  After the usual suspects Pavelski, Thornton and Couture, there is a huge drop off.  Defense has remained fairly solid, although with predictable results:  playing just well enough to lose by one goal or lose in a shootout.  Notable from a defensive standpoint is Bret Burns, with 19 points and Minus 7!  Vlasic and Justin Braun lead the team in +/- with 10 and 8 respectively.  Niemi?  7-6-3 with a 2.58, mediocre just like the rest of the team

To sum it up, expect more of the same desultory play unless some roster changes are made.  Or a new GM comes in to replace the embattled Doug Wilson.  Todd McClellan is hanging by a thread, and if I didn’t know better, I’d say his players are trying to get him fired.  Hey Shark fans, do you miss the good old days when they won 50 games or more every year?  Get used to it and no I don’t miss Drew Remenda either…

For those of you who read to the end, here is this TT (tasty tidbit)