The Character of the Team

I feel like talking about the Sharks because Saturday’s overtime loss may have been overlooked as an insignificant event in light of the one point and Edmonton’s loss moving San Jose one point closer but not really being a huge move either way.

In case you missed it, San Jose played their second game against the Coyotes in three nights and after having been soundly beaten on Thursday they looked to be back in low form during a second period meltdown that put them down 0-3 going into the last twenty minutes of play. Randy Hahn and Drew Remenda, Sharks TV announcers, noted as the period began that that final period would be very telling as to what this Sharks team is really all about this year.

When all was said and done the Sharks lost during the 4-on-4 overtime which was certainly disappointing but when you consider that they were on the penalty kill when the winning goal was scored and you note that they had some very real chances of winning shorthanded (that is to say, they almost scored at least three times with only three men on the ice) plus they had just battled back from a deep deficit and the penalty called against Matt Carle was dubious at best (as were most of the calls, going both directions, all night long), well let’s just say if there is such a thing as a moral victory, this was one.

Here’s the thing about the Sharks: They’re a very good team on paper. Good enough that they really ought not to be struggling at this late stage in the game to make it into the playoffs; good enough that they should be fighting for Pacific Division Champions and not trying to elbow their way in a crowd of five or six other teams hoping for two or three low-seed playoff berths. Adding Joe Thornton has certainly improved the team, but that wasn’t really hard because the Sharks were basically atrocious in the early part of the year (remember December?).

It may be a bit early to be nitpicking each individual on this squad but I figure no one cares once the season is over (assuming the Sharks don’t make the playoffs as I predicted) and it won’t matter if the Sharks actually do hit the post-season since a year in which one finishes in the top eight can’t really be counted as a poor effort. So regardless of what happens from here on out, here’s my decidedly un-professional opinion about the team, player by player.

Steve Bernier: Bernier has been pretty impressive this year. I like putting a big strong guy on a line with the speedy Marleau and if nothing else Bernier will be remembered in San Jose for that sublime spin-o-rama goal a couple of weeks ago. For a guy with his size he doesn’t seem too thrilled about hanging out in front of the net which is a shame, but he’s definitely got potential as he continues to improve and learns how much his strength can be an asset.
Matt Carle: It’s tough to say if the late season pickup of this young collegiate star is a good thing or not since he’s been seen so little at this point. I can say that I like the guy’s slapshot (hard and on target, unlike—for example—Kyle McLaren who just shoots it hard at… who knows what) and offensive D-men are a welcome presence in this club so hopefully he’ll stop taking brain-dead penalties sooner than later and work on making sure that he doesn’t push the offensive side of the equation so far that he forgets his primary responsibility which we’ve seen him do a few times already. I appreciate that there is a learning curve in the NHL but a guy coming in with this much hype is going to have a hard time working through his growing pains in the middle of a playoff race so he’ll have to get good in a hurry or I bet fans’ patience with him will be very thin.
Jonathan Cheechoo: Fans knew Cheech was something special during the last season but if you think it was just the addition of Joe Thornton that turned him from an average goal scorer into a 50-goal threat behemoth you’re not looking at the whole line. Cheechoo impresses me not just because he can bury the puck but because he’s not a Selanne-like cherry picker who sits and waits for the feed outside of hot zones; the kid forechecks like a lunatic, crashes nets, smells opportunities and capitalizes on chances. Thornton may have made him complete by understanding what he was capable of and making Cheechoo’s efforts pay off, but I think Cheechoo would have had a 35 goal season even without big Joe on the dish. When you have a dynamic duo like this, don’t worry about where it comes from or why it happens, just keep enjoying while it lasts.
Rob Davison: A remarkably average defenseman, he does nothing special either for or against his team. The quintessential warm body on the ice, he’ll occasionally throw an impressive check or make a blue line play but I wouldn’t miss him if he were gone and I don’t mind him filling a roster spot while he’s here.
Christian Ehrhoff: Ehrhoff is one of those players who is either the hero or the goat. As often as he’ll make a brilliant play he’ll drop a massive egg out there which is why watching him is so frustrating. Streaky offensively, he has finally started finding the net from the point as opposed to being a threat primarily to the corner glass. Which doesn’t mean he scores a lot, just that hopefully he’ll start making those power play shots mean something other than a free zone clear for the defense. His inability to hold a blue line is probably his biggest detriment on that side of the ice. Defensively he makes some questionable decisions way more often than I’d like, Ehrhoff has at least youth going for him and if the organization decides to keep him around hopefully he’ll continue to improve bit by bit until he eventually develops the flashes of excellence he shows and stamps out the last vestiges of youthful idiocy to become a premier defender.
Nils Ekman: Give Nils credit where due: The dude gets more dynamite chances to score than anyone else on the team. I’ve never seen so many breakaways, hard work chances and pure skill based opportunities develop as a result of Nils Ekman’s play. It’s a shame that he can’t shoot the puck to save his life. For every brilliant scoring chance laid at his feet he seems to fail to capitalize 99.999% of the time. Compare and contrast him with Jonathan Cheechoo who both benefit from Joe Thornton on their line and where Cheechoo has let his natural scoring ability sparkle with the big passer’s skills at his disposal Ekman has continued to struggle with shot placement, second efforts and finishing plays. He’s also the worst offender of the bad penalty on the whole team, taking hooking calls deep in the attacking zone for no reason, making sloppy plays on defense and constantly putting his team in a bad position at the most inopportune times. Ekman has in him, somewhere, a very good hockey player but it doesn’t seem to be coming out in this line or perhaps in this system. Bottom line: Trade bait. Sorry, Ek.
Jim Fahey: Fahey hasn’t played a ton of games this year and seems to be in the process of being replaced by the young Matt Carle. Which isn’t a bad thing since in 21 games Fahey is operating at a -11 which puts him lowest on the team in plus/minus.
Marcel Goc: Another low plus/minus player on the Sharks is Goc which I attribute to the fact that he’s lazy on defense probably because he fancies himself a sniper which his performance doesn’t seem to validate. When lower line Centers have you beat in points production (Goc has 19 points in 72 games of which only 7 are actual goals) you have some work to do and I honestly don’t see Goc making a lot of progress. He looks far too contented and even bored on the ice and if the Sharks make it to the playoffs or hope to make a serious run to the Cup next year it’s guys like Goc who are going to have to defecate or vacate the toilet.
Josh Gorges: Gorges has quietly been putting together some nice work in the Sharks’ zone since coming up mid-season. He hits hard and plays aggressively which I like and while he hasn’t been much of a threat offensively, he at least seems to have the fundamental defensive skills to become a young Hannan-type player. One to keep an eye on.
Scott Hannan: The Sharks primary ice-time guy, Hannan has been a very good zone protector for several years now and he’s still improving as he goes along. I’m happy to see Scott rushing pucks into the offensive zone on occasion now and generally looking more comfortable taking the shot than always looking for the pass. He doesn’t play quite as much of a physical game as guys like Doug Murray or Kyle McLaren but he’ll play it when it’s smart and seems to try and outthink his opponents. He is great at playing the body position game and I’ve seen him break up more than a few odd man rushes or breakaways that shows you he’s a good player to pair with a younger guy like Carle or Gorges in case one of them makes a mistake. If Scott could put a 40-point season together, that would take the Sharks a long way toward being serious Cup contenders.
Patrick Marleau: The Sharks captain has finally shaken off the slumpy woes that plagued him through his first seven years as an NHL player and the resuts have been exactly what fans have been hoping for. You don’t argue with 80 points and 32 goals from your captain and the fact that most of the year has had him playing on a line with two rookies just makes his season all the more impressive. Giving Bernier and Michalek ample time to develop into their own skills will only make this second line stronger (on other teams a 130-point line could be their number one) and Marleau better. Which is kind of scary, really. Doug Wilson and crew need to do what they must to make sure Patty is a Shark for a long time.
Alyn McCauley: McCauley did great things for the Sharks during the previous season but has been quiet this year, playing out of position on a more physical line than normal (the Sharks have seven natural Centers so someone had to play elsewhere). You’d like to see McCauley be closer to 20 goals at this point in the season but not every year can be a career defining one. If the Sharks don’t make the playoffs this year expect to see McCauley traded in the off-season or on a very short leash for the 06-07 campaign.
Kyle McLaren: Kyle McLaren must love playing defense. He’s got that classic D-man insanity in his eyes and it seems to be his life’s wor to try and peg every swollen-head sniper the Sharks face with a big fat end-over-end hip check. And it’s a blast to watch. Nothing is sweeter as a fan than seeing Selanne, Iginla or Modano smeared all over the ice trying to sneak something tricky across the blue line. For that reason alone (and the fact that he’s not horrible on the other side of the rink) I think McLaren should remain a Shark for seasons to come.
Milan Michalek: Bernier and Marleau’s linemate has quietly had a pretty darn decent rookie year with 34 points and a +6. Unfortunately his offensive production seems to have the same sort of stutter-start, streaky issues that Marleau went through for the first few years of his career. Michalek is a fast skater with good instincts and some nice moves but it doesn’t seem like he works with his line yet; almost like he’s playing with Marleau but not Bernier. A bit more chemistry on that line and it could be really, really dangerous.
Doug Murray: It’s a shame that the new NHL rules have forced guys like Murray into a supporting role because he’s an absolute hoot to watch. The way he throws checks reminds me of watching hockey back when the Sharks first came into the league and the game was grittier and nastier and there was a reason that hockey players evoked images of toothless savages. Now the game is slicker, faster and I’ll grant you overall more exciting. Still, nothing sparks a stadium crowd like a thundering, bone-rattling, glass wobbling plaster into the boards. Maybe a bit more time in the minors developing some stick skills and a shot to go with that devil-may-care body tossing will create a real force to be reckoned with. Murray is everything we always wished Rathje would be, and that’s a compliment.
Evgeni Nabokov: It’s been a rough year for Nabby. He’s been hurt, he’s been bad and he’s been good. He seems to have finally settled into being “mediocre” which is at least something. And he has been playing okay since the Olympic break… I can’t help but wonder if he suffered during the lockout last year somehow. But Nabokov hasn’t been Mr. Brilliant since his first couple of years in the league and I think with Toskala playing well lately and an impressive if little-seen netminder waiting down in the minors for his second chance, Nabby is going to have to find a way to rise above. Contract or no contract.
Ville Nieminen: Nieminen is an odd player. A checking line guy that has some finesse; a winger that acts like a d-man; a brute that shows some surprising grace on occasion. It’s fairly obvious that the Wilsons got Nieminen to put some grit out there in case of a playoff berth but he seems to have had a positive impact in the race to get there as well. Surprisingly his career numbers aren’t much to look at, but he’s got a noticeable work ethic that shows up on the forecheck, backcheck and work down low that could make all the difference in a tough final nine games.
Scott Parker: Like Nieminen and Murray, The Sheriff is a relic of a game gone by. Sad or not, hockey has moved on and this isn’t Scott Parker’s game anymore. I don’t mind having Parker on the team but if you watched him take a miserable penalty on Saturday night and get moded into a one-sided roughing penalty for trying to pick a fight it’s hard not to think of him as a liability, especially down the stretch. The Sharks could have used his gut and heart-on-the-sleeve style early in the season when they were slumping badly but at this stage of the game they need clean play and solid skills, not goons. If Parker can learn to adapt and use his abilities to lead the charge in playing a physical game (the Sharks are 500 times better when they play tight, physical hockey) without taking a bunch of idiot penalties in the process he’s going to be a huge asset. If he can’t do it without constantly putting the Sharks down a man, he’s got to be out of a job.
Tom Preissing: The Sharks best offensive threat from the blue line has started to come into his own late in the season, finding the back of the net more regularly and (importantly) at opportune times. I’d still like to see the Sharks rely a bit less on the long shot from the point on the power play but if they have to go that route at least send it Preissing’s way. If the Sharks only got to keep two defensemen from this year’s team, I’d let them all loose save Priessing and Hannan.
Patrick Rissmiller: Yet another young offensive player who hasn’t had enough time to really get over the learning curve of the NHL transition. Time will tell if he’s got what it takes but so far I haven’t seen much to really complain about.
Mark Smith: It’s a crying shame that Mark Smith doesn’t have more skill than he does. If guys like Stevenson, Michalek and Goc worked half as hard as Smith does they’d all be 25+ goal scorers. I absolutely love watching Smith play. He tries so hard and you can just tell he’s only where he is in the league because he simply never gives up. Of course this means he’s got to do a lot of compensating for his lack of raw ability so he ends up in the penalty box a lot. But he plays with heart and mind so usually I don’t mind the penalty minutes. When you consider that comparable role players like Sean Avery have more than twice as many PIMs than Smith (the most penalized Shark), you realize that we’re lucky to have Smith doing what he does.
Grant Stevenson: I was hoping for a bit more from Stevenson this year. Maybe it was just that with so many rookies on the team I had to pick one that I thought might come out of nowhere and have a spectacular year. Well that didn’t happen and honestly Stevenson has quite underwhelmed me. I hope he gets better but even if he did so on some other team, I wouldn’t be all broken up about it.
Joe Thornton: The Sharks needed a superstar. Granted, it could have been Marleau. He’s got the stuff to put up 100 points. But Marleau isn’t there yet. You know the difference between Thornton and Marleau? Thornton was ready for the NHL faster. I guess that’s why he was picked first and Marleau was chosen second. So the Sharks got both. They had to give up some fan favorites like Sturm and Stuart, but look what they got in return. 57 assists. 16 goals. +21. My only concern about big Joe is that he’s so good that sometimes the other players look to him too much to bail them out of a jam. I’ve mentioned this before but Thornton is enough of a threat to other teams just being an option, if he becomes the Sharks’ only option, the team is going to be easy to beat. Also I’ve noticed during the last few games (in which the Sharks have been in something of a slump not coincidentally) that Thornton has started to almost have too much confidence, giving up odd man rushes or breakaways due to trying to do too much by himself. Maybe he’s buying into his own hype, maybe he’s just getting too much pressure from other teams that don’t want to fall victim to the Thornton/Cheechoo machine, whatever it is he’ll need to straighten it all out if the Sharks want to make the playoffs this year. And no matter what he’ll have to keep bringing it full on next year or the Sharks are (ahem) dead in the water.
Scott Thornton: I can’t believe this guy is still on the team. Repeat after me Mr. Wilson: “I must trade Scott Thornton. I must trade Scott Thornton.” 19 points in 63 games with a -10 and 75 PIM? Buh-bye.
Vesa Toskala: I’ve been down on Toskala in the past. I’m not here to repent or try to kiss up now. I’ll grant you that he’s been the guy during this last push for a playoff spot. But is that really that he’s been spectacular or that Nabokov has been stunningly so-so? Okay, Defensive Player of the Week is good, but Toskala still makes me nervous because he doesn’t make routine stops, he always seems to fight the puck. Honestly, I don’t care as long as he wins. At this point in the season he’s beating Nabokov in virtually every non-cumulative stat category and I guess that’s why he keeps getting the nod. I still think it wouldn’t be a crime to trade him off for some added depth in the offense or bundle him with Scott Thornton for a big name defender like a Visnovsky, but I’m not sad to see him still here. Competition is good, and hopefully it will make Nabokov rise above. Then again, we’ve gambled on him before and lost Kiprusoff in the process so maybe I’m suggesting we make the same mistakes again.
Ron Wilson: Whenever a team does poorly people look at the coach. Whenever a team does really, really well, the coach gets some credit. When a team could be great but is underachieving, it seems like no one really thinks about the coach. I think Wilson did a bang-up job when he first stepped in for ~~Beaker~~ Sutter. He cleaned up the penalty kill first thing. But what’s up now? The Sharks penalty kill has flat out sucked most of the year. Their power play is streaky at best and Wilson can’t seem to decide if having Marleau on the point is a good idea or not. They’ve lost so many opportunities on failed 5-on-3 advantages that it simply can’t be all the players’ fault. I suspect—and this is only speculation—that Wilson is too nice of a guy. He seems to only get heated at the refs. Where’s the fire for the players that act like turds on ice? I want to see him up in the grill of a guy like Goc when he’s out there fumbling around, staring at the hot dog vendor. I want him to flat out bench a guy like Fahey when he lets a winger draw him into a bad penalty. Instead he seems oddly indifferent to his own players and that concerns me. I’ll be the first to take it all back if the Sharks pull it together but as a team they’ve been inconsistent enough and slumped often enough in critical portions of the season that some of the blame has to be levelled at the coaching staff for not making these players aware of what they’re capable of and inspiring them to live up to those expectations. I’m certainly not suggesting it’s time to start thinking about a leadership change, but I think the talent is there or nearly there, the front office seems to have a clear picture of what they want to do and the only thing that’s lacking is the day-in-day-out execution on the ice. It’s something to keep in mind.