Gorges gone, Rivet in.

Well, all the Gorges-haters on Chompboard will be happy. Josh and a 1st round pick left for Montreal while Craig Rivet and a 2008 5th round draft pick will make their way through immigration to California. Rivet has spent his 12 years in the league with the Canadiens and now finds himself the oldest player on his new team. A major reason the Sharks acquired him. Many believed his teammate, Sourey, would be a Shark, but the names being tossed around for him (Carle, Pavelski, etc.) were not about to be traded by GM Doug Wilson. Hopefully Rivet's leadership will strengthen the D-line and provide the much needed depth on the blueline. While he may not have the stats the Sheldon Souray holds, he does (apparently) have the leadership. What remains to be seen is how far he can help the Sharks go in the playoffs. (Also, will he stay after the season, or is this an expensive rental player?)

Sharks go up in Flames

I missed the first 10 minutes of the game...came home from dinner to find the Sharks down 2-0. Saw some signs of Shark-life near the end of the period and cheered when they finally made it on the board. But what the heck happened? We scored 4 goals in the 2nd, only to have Calgary score 2 themselves, leaving us tied at the 2nd break. When the 3rd started, I though the Sharks still had a chance. Believe they were still on a powerplay. But a defensive breakdown by Murray put the Flames up by one and they never looked back. The Sharks outplayed them for much of the game, but too many defensive and goalie miscues broke their backs. Nabby, I love ya man, but that was a lousy time to have a bad game. And the D - just showed their youth.

Sharks Win! (Finally)

Finally, the Sharks won, though they sure didn't make it easy on themselves. I recorded the game since I had to work past the 4 p.m. pst starting time. I got home with less than an hour left on the recording to go, but resisted the urge to watch the last 30 minutes. Finally, I sat down to watch the TSN (Centre Ice) telecast.

The game had a nice flow to it as the commentators continuously remarked upon throughout the broadcast. They had been in Washington for three days so many of the comments were about the Caps and Ovechkin. And, after the Sharks went down by 2 goals in the middle of the 2nd, it seemed like much would be said about the Caps. The breakdown by the D from clearing the puck from our zone allowed those goals, but it seemed they got their act together eventually.

For once, the Sharks gritted it out, helped a lot by the hard-hitting play of Bernier, Murray, and McClaren. Grier got things going when the Caps D helped out by taking out one of their own players, resulting in SJ getting a 3-on-1 opportunity and actually cashing in on it thanks to a great pass from Grier to Rissmiller.

Hannon shutdown Ovechkin for most of the game, not allowing him many scoring or even shooting opportunities. ( I can't recall if he was on the ice when AO finally got a shot on goal in the 3rd). Carle was able to cash in on a 3rd rebound attempt as Cheechoo wacked away at the goalies pads, tying the game up. A later penalty gave the Caps a chance to win the game during a power play but Nabby and the PK did a great job of preventing this.

We went to OT and still, Nabby didn't crack. Unfortunately, neither did Johnson, so to the shoot-out we would go. The only positive was the Caps were 1-7 on the year in shootouts. Of course the Sharks were 0-1 (and sucked last year too). But, Coach Wilson was laughing as he handed the shootout sheet to the refs, giving Clowe, Pavelski, and Cheechoo the opportunity to win the game. Nabby let in the first goal, did a great poke-check on Ovechkin to prevent the 2nd and cut off the corner for to prevent the 3rd attempt (with some assistance by the post). Meanwhile, Clowe missed, but Pavelski and Cheechoo put it in, giving Cheech the gamewinning goal. The team then mobbed Nabby who finally had a shoot-out win.

It was the first time in a long time that I'd seen Hannan play some great defensive hockey. It was the first time in a long time that I saw a Sharks team that didn't give up when they couldn't seem to put a puck past the netminder. It was the first time in a long time that saw a team with some grit put it to use, banging their bodies around on the forecheck and controlling the puck in the offensive zone. There is still work to be done - the TSN commentators mentioned several times about Sharks players yelling at each other in confusion on the bench and the D had some problems figuring out their changes. But hopefully this win, along with the return of some needed players, will help bring this team back together.

Sharks Woes....Hope they end tonight

Well, the Sharks haven't been able to win lately: 3 losses in a row. The lines have been looking mighty thin thanks to injury and illness. The players on the ice have looked listless at times and I sure haven't seen much hustle (other then Grier). Let's hope tonight the Sharks figure out a way to beat Ovechkin and get the much needed win. I'd hate to see Dallas overtake the Sharks for 2nd in the Pacific Division.

What do the Sharks need to win the Cup?

So, we're on the final stretch toward the playoffs. I've read a variety of hockey analyst's suggestions for what each team needs to go for the cup. One, on the Globe and Mail, suggests the Sharks don't necessarily have to trade for anything and have great depth. Fans on one boardsight would strongly suggest the Sharks need a veteran D-man to come in and lead the way. What is your opinion or comments?

I think that if the Sharks play the way they did at the beginning of the year, and some players like Cheechoo and Michalek get their scoring touch back, the Sharks will be contenders. I think some veteran defensive presence would be a help, but for all those saying the Sharks D could not keep up this year due to their youth, we're still no 2 in the league for GAA, and that isn't just our goalies keeping us in the game.

I grant you that there have been some major defensive lapses in the game lately, see the Dallas and Ducks games. This definately has to be solved if the Sharks plan to go far in the playoffs. Some of these most likely have to do with the young d-men who are still adjusting to the NHL grind. But even the veterans and the forwards are showing lapses of concentration and judgement. If the team can get their focus back, and keep it, they should go far. If they don't, I don't expect much come playoff time. Just my opinion mind you.

Sharks & Ducks

Well, Tuesday night the Ducks made their way to Northern California where, in the 2nd period, they quickly set up several scores to go up 6-1. San Jose would eventually score 3 more times to close the gap but the final shorthanded, empty net score by Getzlaf led to the Ducks win over a Sharks team that frankly, didn't deserve it. I was nervous before this game, wondering much like Ron Wilson, how the Sharks last week could go from playing great to just plain "awful" within a 48 hour period. At least I was sitting at a bar in Dana Point, sipping a Guinness to deaden the pain somewhat, while watching the Ducks skate to victory. (And frankly, it was one time I was very happy to have few fellow hockey fans around, as I figure they would most likely be Ducks fans...luckily, I ran into a fellow SJ fan and I was hanging out with a Buffalo fan). I did see a few things during the game that gave me some hope for the future though, especially Cheechoo's 2 goals. However, in my opinion, Toskala did not play well, regardless of the defensive slip-ups.

So, that left my sojourn to the former Pond, now known as "The Honda Center." I was still nervous as both teams made the southern trek for this game, but held out hope for the "good" SJ team to show. I even wore my Marleau sweater and faced the slightly obnoxious Ducks fans. (Most were ok, but the guy who kept saying "Visa" for "Vesa" should figure out which is a credit card). Anyway, sitting in the section directly above the visiting goal for periods 1 & 3, I had a great view of the Cheechoo goal that took over a minute and a half to get posted. That was one I thought I saw but couldn't figure out why the lamp didn't light while play continued on. Oh well, at least it was figured out. Things were continuing to look ok, though the quick up and down led to some scary moments, though at time, exciting play. The nervousness returned when the Ducks killed the 1:55 min 5-3 penalty kill and increased greatly when Selanne scored to tie it up. Then, shortly after, thanks to the recent track record, I held out little hope for the Sharks to win when Thornton, Shawn, not Joe, scored to put the Ducks up by one just 43 seconds or so into the 3rd. I mean, I felt the momentum shift. That goal, to me, was just symptomatic of the defensive problems that have led to the recent slump by the Sharks. Hannan made a careless play and next thing you know, we're down to the top team in the Pacific division. Let me tell you, the young kid and fellow Sharks fan sitting in front of me, and I were pretty deflated at that point. But, the Sharks decided to show a little resiliency and Vlasic made a great shot toward the net that Michalek deflected in to bring us Sharks fans to our feet. Man, what a silence in that arena expect for the pockets of Sharks fans cheering. But, my nerves took another hit when Rissmiller dumped the puck over the glass while clearing it, to give the Ducks the last minute on the power play. Thank God the Tiburones held on, but man, are my nerves shot from that game!

Sharks seeing Stars

So, I make my way up to San Jose for the game. My cousin and I get our food, our beer, and sit down to enjoy a good game. We watch the Sharks work just hard enough for a 2-0 lead. Think they could hold it? First, a shot goes past Toskala's glove, letting the Stars close within 1. Then, with like 2.2 seconds left, the Sharks couldn't get the damn puck out of the defensive zone and what happens? Dallas scores. The team that "doesn't do overtime," and hadn't in what, 48 games, did. And, after a scoreless overtime period, ends up in the shootout - something our team just plain can't do. Clowe and Pavelski did their part, but Toskala wasn't able to stop one goal and the three Dallas players all scored. Thanks to large parts of lack-luster effort, the Sharks let this game slip away. How disappointing.