SB Nation - Thomas Greiss

San Jose Sharks 2010 Olympic Hockey Preview: Part Two

Mr. Plank — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 23:01:53 -0000

Imagine a gold medal game on a frozen pond-- of course it would never get past the IIHF competition committee, but I'll be damned if it wouldn't be one helluva experience.

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The 2010 Games in Vancouver are fast approaching, with final rosters set to be announced in late December. SB Nation has been running a network wide preview series chronicling the likelihood of individual players making their respective country's roster, and pocket aces dropped today-- it's Fear The Fin's turn to make our grand entrance onto the big stage.

As I see it, the San Jose Sharks have a couple locks and a smorgasbord of remaining hopefuls that boast a myriad of different skills; these hopefuls will either need to elevate or hold their current level of play in order to make their inclusion later this month the right choice for their country.

Make the jump for evaluations of Greiss, Boyle, Pavelski, and Murray.

PACK YOUR BAGS, JACK

Thomas Greiss, Team Germany

#1 / Goalie / San Jose Sharks

Height: 6-1

Weight: 200

Born: Jan 29, 1986

	GP	MIN	W	L	T	EGA	GA	GAA	SA	SV	SV%	SO
2009 - Thomas Greiss	6	286	3	2			14	2.94	143	129	.902	0

Although Thomas Greiss has seen all of four starts for the San Jose Sharks this season, Germany's pool of available goaltenders makes it a near certainty that Thomas Greiss will start in net for his national team, with former San Jose Shark Dimitri Patzold making a bid for the backup role.

Germany will have a tough time competing with the Big Seven, and the lack of a relatively strong defensive core could highlight Greiss' tendency to heavily challenge shooters and sometimes find himself out of position for the follow up opportunity. The hope is that the move from a six team two pool format into a four team three pool format (with all teams advancing to single elimination) can give Team Germany an opportunity to get hot at the right moment and do some damage.

Unfortunately, that doesn't look very likely.

*****

ON THE FRINGE

What a show

Dan Boyle, Team Canada

#22 / Defenseman / San Jose Sharks

Height: 5-11

Weight: 190

Born: Jul 12, 1976

	GP	G	A	P	+/-	PIM	PPG	SHG	GWG	GTG	SOG	PCT
2009 - Dan Boyle	29	6	18	24	4	20	3	0	1	0	69	8.7

Boyle is an interesting case when it comes to Team Canada, and although he is one of the best offensive defenseman in the game today, you have to wonder how they are going to approach the blueline. There's a lot of firepower amongst the forwards; it stands to reason they're considering putting a little extra muscle in the defensive zone because of it. I wouldn't call San Jose's number one defenseman a slouch in his own end by any means, but he's definitely no world beater-- do you go with a guy whose skating ability could elicit a tear from even the notoriously callous Scott Stevens, or do you go with a guy who plays like the aforementioned wall of steel? It's a question that doesn't have a clear cut answer, but with Jay Bouwmeester, Scott Niedermayer, Chris Pronger, and Duncan Keith already locks for the team, the road to a starting spot in Vancouver for Boyle may not be as smooth as it currently seems.

That leaves us with two starting spots left on the roster. Drew Doughty has raised a lot of eyebrows around the league*, with some circles calling for him to make the team-- others have Seabrook penciled in to play with Keith considering the familiarity they have with one another-- this could pay off dividends since the teams have a very short time to practice together.

*We're talking Patrick Marleau eyebrows here.

Beyond that you have Shea Weber, Robyn Regehr, and Dan Boyle. Regehr may warrant some attention as he and Bouwmeester could be considered in the same boat as Keith-Seabrook. Dion Phaneuf probably has some supporters somewhere, but I'd be very surprised if he is even getting a second look from the Canadian brass-- very subpar in the defensive zone, and although an Olympic team won't be hampered by his overpaid contract, taking a flyer on him based off reputation alone is not a recipe for success.

So where does that leave us? With five worthy defensemen fighting over two starting spots and the healthy scratch. If I'm Steve Yzerman I take Weber, Seabrook, and Boyle, with Seabrook pairing with fellow Blackhawk Duncan Keith, Pronger and Niedermayer obviously going together, and Weber/Boyle pairing with Bouwmeester depending on the night. It gives you a good combination of firepower throughout your pairings, and anchors one of the lines with a great defensive defenseman.

No matter which way you cut it, Canada is stacked in this department. Here's to Dan Boyle getting cracking the first Olympic roster of his career without the whole team alternate situation rearing it's head again.

Joe Pavelski, Team USA

#8 / Center / San Jose Sharks

Height: 5-11

Weight: 195

Born: Jul 11, 1984

	GP	G	A	P	+/-	PIM	PPG	SHG	GWG	GTG	SOG	PCT
2009 - Joe Pavelski	14	3	9	12	8	8	1	0	0	0	49	6.1

Joe Pavelski runs into the same situation as Dan Boyle to a degree in that the Americans, while not nearly as deep as the Canadians, do boast a decent crop of forwards that can put the puck in the net. That being said, he impressed a lot of folks during the orientation camp this summer and has played for head coach Ron Wilson before as well as playing against GM Brian Burke when he was with Anaheim. His injury to start the year didn't help his bid, but his noteworthy play after returning has proved that he is not hampered by any lingering issues in his foot.

Like Patrick Marleau, Joe Pavelski will be able to play an excellent two way game and help shore up the United States penalty kill. With Team USA mainstays Scott Gomez and Chris Drury having fairly porous outings this season, the opportunity is there for him to jump into the starting rotation as either a center, or play on the right wing. An enticing possibility would be for him to play with fellow American Ryan Kesler of the Vancouver Canucks in a shutdown role-- Team USA has very little hope of being able to outgun the likes of Russia, Canada, and Sweden once they advance out of pool play, and establishing a physical game with an influx of young players might be the best route to take considering the strength of the goaltending class and what's shaping up to be a surprisingly above average top six defensive unit.

Ron Wilson, as we are well aware of, has been known to favor a defensive style of play. Pavelski has been a winner at every level he's played at and can bring intangibles to the squad's run at avenging Salt Lake in 02. For that reason I think he gets the nod.

Just don't pencil him in quite yet.

Douglas Murray, Team Sweden

#3 / Defenseman / San Jose Sharks

Height: 6-3

Weight: 240

Born: Mar 12, 1980

	GP	G	A	P	+/-	PIM	PPG	SHG	GWG	GTG	SOG	PCT
2009 - Douglas Murray	28	1	3	4	4	31	0	0	0	0	25	4.0

Going into this season there was no indication Douglas Murray would be anything but a stretch when talking about a strong Swedish roster, but with Nicklas Lidstrom extending his blessing earlier this year (a blessing that must be akin to a kiss from the Pope), speculation on whether or not Murray would crack the starting lineup has ramped up considerably.

That being said, there's still a fair amount in his way.

Nicklas Lidstrom, Mattias Ohlund, and Alexander Edler are the locks here, and after that you get into some gray area-- Niklas Kronwall is currently out for 4-8 weeks with a sprained MCL in his left knee, and while that doesn't necessarily write him out of the top six for the Swedes, it does open up the playing field for some other notables to make their bid. On this short list we have Victor Hedman (whose inclusion would likely be welcomed by the country at large along with an opportunity to play with Lightning teammate Ohlund), Johnny Oduya (who has taken a step back in his game from last season, Anton Stralman (a member of the 2009 World Championship team who has played well this season with the Columbus Blue Jackets and could help quarterback the power play), along with numerous other notables from the NHL such as Tobias Enstrom, Nicklas Grossman, Jonathan Ericsson, among others. There's a slew of players from across the pond who I am admittedly not all too familiar with, but it's a deep class for the third best IIHF team going into the tournament.

There's three aspects of this year's Olympics that benefit Murray-- the aforementioned blessing from Lidstrom, the fact that his grandfather is a hero in Sweden for his international accomplishments, and the Games being played on an NHL sized rink. His physical play would be an asset in this arena, and as long as he is paired with an offensive minded defenseman, the hope is that they will be able to compliment each other such as the current pairing of Boyle-Murray has done for San Jose.

It's going to take one helluva performance to crack the top six, but I'm sure Murray will at least make the team as an alternate. Beyond that I'd have to chock this one up to a coin flip.

*****

Devin Setoguchi, Rob Blake, and Marc-Edouard Vlasic are three notable San Jose Sharks who will not be making the trip to Vancouver. If Setoguchi and Vlasic continue to progress and grow their games (in the defensive and physical categories respectively), a date in 2014 could be in the cards.

Until then, and until December, it's just going to be a game of wait and see.

Go ~~Sharks~~ Team USA.

Game Day Preview: San Jose Sharks @ Nashville Predators

Dirk Hoag — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 20:19:59 -0000

More photos » by George Nikitin - AP

The Predators and Sharks meet tonight in Nashville, in a rematch of last week's 4-3 win by San Jose.

Browse more photos »

Can the Nashville Predators avenge a disappointing last-minute loss in San Jose last week, as they host the Sharks at the Sommet Center this evening? Remember, there's no TV tonight (at all), but you still have time to get tickets - you can follow this link and use the special offer code "PREDS" to get discounted seats.

After the jump, let's take a look at how these two teams match up...

Meet the Enemy

You know 'em, you hate 'em, you're sick of looking up at 'em in the Western Conference standings - yes, it's the San Jose Sharks once again. At 14-4-4, the Sharks are cruising along atop the Pacific Division despite L.A.'s surprising start.

It looks like Devin Setoguchi and Brad Staubitz will both miss this one for the Sharks, which saps their depth up front a bit. The guys at Fear the Fin are focused on looking ahead, however, to the return of Torrey Mitchell, which is expected soon (but not tonight). David Pollak of the San Jose Mercury News projects their lines as follows:

Heatley-Thornton-Clowe
Malhotra-Marleau-Pavelski
Ortmeyer-Nichol-McGinn
McLaren-Couture-Ferriero

Meet the Good Guys

With Colin Wilson and Wade Belak day-to-day (and Wilson likely headed to the AHL for conditioning when he's ready), we're likely to see a similar lineup to Saturday's:

Forwards

Sullivan - Arnott - Dumont

Erat - Santorelli - Hornqvist

Ward - Legwand - Smithson

Thuresson - Goc - Tootoo

Defense

Suter - Weber

Bouillon - Klein

Hamhuis - Franson

The good news here is that the Preds seem to be getting solid play from all lines and defensive pairs, and have improved their record to 9-8-1 after a 3-6-1 start.

Keep an eye out for Patric Hornqvist, who hopes to impress Swedish Olympic coach Bengt-Ake Gustafson as he tours the NHL while deciding upon the roster for the Tre Kronors.

Even Strength Play

	5-on-5 Team Data from Behind the Net
Team	GP	GF	GA	GF/60	Shots For/60	Sht %	GA/60	Shots Ag/60	Save %	+/- per 60
San Jose	22	47	36	2.8	30.2	9.2	2.1	28.0	924	+0.6
Nashville	18	26	30	1.8	29.1	6.3	2.1	28.7	.926	-0.3

As daunting a challenge as this might appear, the numbers aren't quite so skewed as they were last week when the Preds visited San Jose. The biggest opportunity for Nashville still lies in that Shooting Percentage, which is 3rd-worst in the NHL during 5-on-5 play. As we all saw Saturday night, piling a ton of shots on net is fun, but putting them behind the goaltender is even better.

San Jose PP vs. Nashville PK

The loss of Setoguchi, who draws penalties like a magnet, is significant here; the Sharks boast a dangerous power play (25%, 4th in the NHL), and keeping them off the PP is critical for Nashville tonight. Following the morning skate today, Barry Trotz stressed the importance of staying out of the box and "checking with your feet", i.e. making sure that back-checking Preds work hard to keep pace with the San Jose forwards, and avoid situations where they have to hook or hold to slow an opponent up.

On the PK, however, the Preds continue making steady progress, having climbed now to 20th in the league with a 79% kill rate.

Nashville PP vs. San Jose PK

Not only do the Preds have an NHL-worst power play (11.6%), but the Sharks boast the league's best penalty kill at 87.8%.

Dare we hope for an anomaly tonight, and a Predators power play outburst?

Goaltending

Thomas Greiss gets the start again for the Sharks; against Nashville last week, he made 23 saves on 26 shots to earn the win.

Thomas Greiss

#1 / Goalie / San Jose Sharks

Height: 6-1

Weight: 200

Born: Jan 29, 1986

	GP	MIN	W	L			GA	GAA	SA	SV	SV%	SO
2009 - Thomas Greiss	3	147	2	1			5	2.04	73	68	.932	0

For the Predators, Pekka Rinne gets to follow up on his 22-save shutout of Montreal Saturday night. In two career games against the Sharks, he's 1-0-1 with a 1.92 GAA and .942 Save Percentage.

Pekka Rinne

#35 / Goalie / Nashville Predators

Height: 6-5

Weight: 206

Born: Nov 03, 1982

	GP	MIN	W	L			GA	GAA	SA	SV	SV%	SO
2009 - Pekka Rinne	11	590	6	4			23	2.34	272	249	.915	2

Summary

Having reversed a slow start with a 6-2 record in their last 8 games, a tough test begins tonight for the Preds against the top team in the West, and continues Thursday night when the East-leading Devils come to town. If the team plays anything like they did last week in San Jose, they should fare well here - especially now that the Sulivan-Arnott-Dumont line is reunited and creating dangerous scoring chances consistently.

It wouldn't hurt for Rinne to to rise up and steal a game for the team as well (especially since they gave him an easy time of it against Montreal Saturday night).

For further pre-game musings check out (from the San Jose side) Mike Chen at Battle of California, and for the good guys, Paul McCann and Preds On the Glass.

Lackluster Flyers fall to Sharks, 4-1

Travis Hughes — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 01:54:23 -0000

More photos » by Matt Slocum - AP

Browse more photos »

[Recap] - [Boxscore] - [Complete Coverage] - [SJ Reaction]

That wasn't pretty. The Philadelphia Flyers fell to the San Jose Sharks 4-1 tonight at the Wachovia Center in possibly the most boring hockey game we've seen all season. No flow, no rhythm, and an ugly Flyers loss leads to a short, boring game recap. Manny Malhotra scored two for San Jose while Jed Ortmayer and Dany Heatley added the other two. Darroll Powe scored the lone goal for Philadelphia, who put 38 shots on San Jose's Thomas Greiss. That hefty total doesn't tell half the story, though.

San Jose just had more jump than the Flyers. While the orange and black controlled the tempo in the first period, it's like they fell asleep for the rest of the game. That's simply inexcusable.
Give credit where credit is due: the Sharks defense just did their job and shut down the Flyers offense.
Thomas Greiss earned a victory tonight, outplaying Brian Boucher. He didn't play lights out hockey, but he certainly stifled the Flyers successfully for his first NHL win.
Boucher wasn't good, but he wasn't the reason the Flyers lost, either.
The pairing of Kimmo Timonen and Braydon Coburn were the reason the Flyers lost tonight. They were each a minus three tonight, although the numbers on the NHL game summary say they were on the ice for all four Sharks goals.
Danny Briere was physically abused like a dog at Michael Vick's house. Left and right, up and down, the Sharks just had their way with him. His lip was cut open on an uncalled high stick in the second period and that just seemed to frustrate him beyond belief. It definitely got him off of his game in the third.
The officiating was just atrocious both ways all night long, and that's as far as we'll take that.
As Ben Feldman lovingly pointed out in the comments, the faceoffs were terrible as usual.
The ice looked real bad, and the bounces definitely went in the Sharks favor for most of the evening. The first two Sharks goals were both converted following bad bounces.
The Flyers' fourth line of Darroll Powe, Mika Pyorala, and Dan Carcillo was maybe the only bright spot, but even they fell flat in the final two periods.
Why did Arron Asham only play eight minutes?
John Stevens again qualified his teams' performance post game by saying "I thought we did some good things" and that he "thought the guys played hard." Nobody else saw that, John.

Not the worst loss in the world, but there were certainly some problems tonight. Shake it off and win on the road in a much more important game Tuesday in Washington. After the jump, questions with answers and comment of the night.

Questions With Answers

The Sharks have got to be tired after this long road trip. Can the Flyers take advantage? They tried in the first period but couldn't take the lead. Perhaps that gave the Sharks some jump, but the Flyers failed to capitalize on any advantage they might've had.
Who has the advantage tonight, the Sharks offense or Brian Boucher? Well it's hard to tell. It definitely wasn't Boucher, but the three players who scored on him tonight weren't his teammates last year in San Jose.
Can the Flyers successfully stop Heatley, Thornton, and Marleau? All three players hit the score sheet.
Does Pronger continue to be the subject of recurring nightmares in San Jose? Pronger was even in 27 minutes of ice time. The man just does his job.

Comment of the Night

I was at a party at the Swedish embassy last night, and they had a big picture of Forsberg in a Flyers jersey on a wall of great Swedes.

>> Ben Rothenberg

Sharks Gameday: The Island Brought Us Here For A Purpose

Mr. Plank — Sat, 17 Oct 2009 10:00:19 -0000

	@ 4:00 PST
3-3-1, 7 points		0-1-3, 3 points
10th in Western Conference		13th in Eastern Conference

Television	CSN-CA
Radio	98.5 KFOX, Sjsharks.com
Antagonists	Lighthouse HockeyNYI Point Blank

The Sharks began their road trip by blowing more chunks than David Hasselhoff at an open bar. Do us all a favor and keep those BevSco spreadsheets handy- bench your Thursday night drink of choice and start anew.

Nabokov was crap. Absolute garbage. You really need to sit the guy an... wait, what? He actually played admirably and has been getting hung out to dry by the defense all season long? If you're calling for Nabokov's head right now go make yourself a strong Castrol cocktail. I know last year's playoff run still hurts, but at some point you need to forgive and forget. The fact of the matter is that those warts, while an eye-sore and big part of who you are now, don't mean you can't move on and start over. It's a new year. Dwelling on the past just ends up in a therapeutic bill longer than Clowe's scoreless streak. Nabokov has played great this entire year barring one miscue against the Kings. Mark it down.

That being said, I do hope we see Thomas Greiss at least twice this road trip, and tonight seems like a good place to start. Along with the compressed schedule this season, it's highly likely that Nabokov will play for Team Russia during the Vancouver Olympics in February. Riding him like like Wilson did in 07-08 makes no sense due to the end-to-end workload he will see throughout the course of this regular season:

Nabby dealt with some lower body injuries during pockets of last season, and his increasing age makes him more susceptible to that. I wouldn't mind somewhere in the GS range of 58-24 between the pipes. It's a damn near lock San Jose makes the playoffs, and testing out the pipeline can only improve Wilson's decision making in the future.

-"Heatley Finds A Home", September 12th

Please start Greiss tonight. I don't care if we're coming off a porous outing against the Washington Capitals and need a win to get this road trip on the rails. I don't care if he had a mediocre preseason and gave up one whale of a softie against the Kings. I really don't care. The kid needs reps, he needs an opportunity, he needs to establish some swagger at a position that requires it. He needs to be tested and prove to the organization that he is a reliable option during the course of the year. He needs a chance.

Give it to him.

Dany Heatley's hat trick was fun and all that, but I think Ferriero's last night was my favorite goal of the season. I know you don't care what kind of shit I do in my personal life*, but I watched that goal about seven times last night and couldn't help getting a chub. It's science.

*For example, I am currently taking the Sharks to the Cup with the offsides off and matching Andrea Bocelli's "Con te partirò" note for note.

Anyways, the video of the goal can be found here, but it cuts in halfway through and leaves out a bunch of important parts. Fortunately, that's why they pay me the big bucks. Click to enlarge:

Scott Nichol comes down to support Jason Demers, who is currently battling for a loose puck with Chris Clark. Nichol finishes his hit high on Clark which causes him to put his glove up to his mouth and try to draw a penalty instead of finishing the play. Demers sends the puck to Kent Huskins behind the net who, despite good pressure from a Washington forward, makes a smooth backhand breakout pass right on Ferriero's tape. Ferriero then hits a streaking Scott Nichol at center ice with a nice saucer feed of his own. He then proceeds to drive to the net like a man possessed.

Nichol enters the offensive zone, does an excellent job of creating space for himself while facing up to the middle of the zone to hit a trailer. Chris Clark doesn't bust his ass back because of the initial Nichol hit, Eric Fehr takes a page out of the Capitals playbook and doesn't backcheck, and guess who's all alone? Ferri-eri-eri-ooo. Roofs it, tie game, chubs city.

Goddamn poetry in motion. I'd appreciate a few more stanzas tonight boys.

Prediction: Sharks win 3-1. Goals by not Clowe, not Clowe, and not Clowe. Clowe does not score. I repeat, Clowe does not score.

Go Sharks.

Sharks Line-up For Tonight / Hodgson's Time To Shine

Sean Zandberg — Wed, 23 Sep 2009 20:12:43 -0000

From San Jose Mercury News, the Sharks will dress the following players:

Ferriero-Thornton-Setoguchi
Marleau-Pavelski-Clowe
McLaren-Malhotra-Ortmeyer
Shelley-Nichol-Staubitz

Murray-Demers
Joslin-Blake
Huskins-Callahan

Nabokov-Greiss

That Ben Ferriero guy on the top line has 2 goals and 1 assist in preseason for the Sharks. Keep an eye on him.

The Canucks' roster was posted below. This is Hodgson's big shot, as he will play on the top line (reportedly on the wing) with Burrows and Kesler.

Said Vigneault:

"He's more of an offensive type player, so we should try him on the power play and we should try him with players that have more than offensive capability," said head coach Alain Vigneault. "We'll give him that opportunity and we'll see what the young man can do."

TSN

Observations From Teal & White 2009

FTF Staff — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 14:08:28 -0000

Writing in the third person is always a bear when it comes to this whole "FTF Staff" business, so let's just cut the chatter and get to Plank and TCY's observations.

For those unaware of how Teal & White is set up, it's basically two 30 minute halves with a running clock. Both sides receive a seven minute power play session during the 60 minute session(teal in the first half, white in the second). Shifts take place as they would normally and everything else remains the same- basically a high profile scrimmage.
The team hopefuls saw a good amount of shifts, and that's going to be the general focus here- no need to drone on and on about guys everyone has seen over the last couple years.
Thomas Greiss didn't have a very good night. He only let in one goal (about a minute into the game), but was definitely fighting the puck on the majority of shots he faced. Not a whole lot of post to post quickness, and wasn't doing himself any favors with his stickwork either. Came out and misplayed a puck near the circles maybe 15 or so minutes in that nearly ended up in the back of the net, and was never able to help the breakout. Didn't like much of anything from him.
Tyson Sexsmith on the other hand had a very good night. Played all sixty minutes for the white squad, and seemed very comfortable back there. Utilized the pokecheck effectively and was very explosive when moving post to post. Butterfly city, which was a strange (and pleasantly surprising) site to see in net for San Jose. Another plus was his passing, he was deft with the puck and moved it up ice well.
Obviously goaltending is a fickle thing, and it's entirely possible Greiss was just simply off last night. Let's not rush to hasty conclusions here- it's only one scrimmage game. However, if the respective performances at T&W were a good indication of what to expect, it wouldn't be surprising to see Sexsmith (contingent upon him playing well in Worcester to start the year) get called up during the season for some starts, with Wilson utilizing their two-way contracts to make it work. He seems like the better netminder at this juncture.

The buzz surrounding Nick Petrecki is well-deserved, and he looks to be making a strong case for a starting role in San Jose. Picked his spots well when jumping into the play, and put one home top corner from the circles off a flubbed point shot by Pavelski. Very good positionally. Didn't see too much physicality from him, which is expected during an intersquad, but he obviously has no issues laying on the body. Really impressed.

The other young defensemen weren't as active, they were all pretty much silent on the night. Loprieno made some poor reads, Demers was basically invisible, and although Moore had some nice hits, they were dirtier than anything else (i.e. hit for the sake of hitting). Joslin was quiet, but he looked the most comfortable out there. That's pretty much been his MO. Last night was like last season, he didn't draw attention good or bad. He just played solid fundamental hockey.

The difference between Petrecki and Joslin is interesting, because it's pretty much the opposite of what we've been fed as they came up through the system. Petrecki was billed as a stay at home guy while Joslin was a powerplay QB who had a nice shot. Although Joslin got some good shots in on Statlock and Greiss, it was Petrecki who impressed with his offensive ability. He was out there for big minutes on the power play (which is to be expected when it's 7 minutes long), but he usually went out with the Marleau - Pavelski - Clowe line. He was moving around, distributing the puck well, and calling for shots from the point. Really mature for his age, even though he had trouble keeping the puck in the zone on occasion. Joslin impressed with his defensive acumen, which was much better than what we saw in the Calder Cup Playoffs, where he played horrible D. I think either one is a safe pick for the sixth D spot (Petrecki is our pick at this point), and the other should get playing time in the AHL as opposed to being scratched.

When his team went on the power play, Clowe was camped on the sideboards just like the end of last year. Pavelski was in front. Not sure what the coaching staff is thinking here. Hopefully he migrates to the more tumultuous waters in front of the net before visions of 07-08 Joe Thornton begin to crop up again.

Kent Huskins likes to jump into the play as we have mentioned before, and it's still uncertain how he and Boyle will fare (if that ends up being the pairing) considering they both seem to be cut from the same cloth. It may take them awhile to get acclimated together in order to reduce the amount of risks taken in the offensive zone.

Came in skeptical of Dandenault, didn't leave with anything that would cause a change of mind. Had some trouble with mobility on the blueline and finding shooting lanes, a definite no-no for a guy known for his offensive capabilities. Safe money is on him being released, unless they want to give one of Joslin/Petrecki playing time in Worcester. Then he's your likely scratch.

Frazer McLaren loved heading to the net, and got called for goaltender interference. Bogus call really, Greiss pushed out beyond his crease and initiated contact. Anyways, he was a noticeable presence for the majority of the night and could be shaping up to be an injury call up or even find his way onto the roster. Sported a whopper of black eye too. We'd like to give some props to mymclife here- she thought he would be a good fit all the way back in late April.

Best shift of the night came from McGinn, Couture, and Staubitz. They cycled the puck well and generated multiple scoring chances in the minute or so they spent in the attacking zone. Liked all three of those guys last night, especially McGinn. Looks like he'll have a solid year.

Focusing on Couture, he looks pretty solid out there. Had some skating issues (Yeah, we know it's been rehashed over and over, but he did have some problems changing direction to defend in the neutral zone), but impressed with his vision and passing. We were discussing that we'd be comfortable with him on the third line and chipping in some PK time. He picked pockets all night, and was solid behind the net. Although he didn't register a point (which will likely bring out the "Couture is a bust" birds again), he had one of the better games. Now that Malhotra is on the team, it's less likely that Couture will get a full time gig, even though he may deserve it. All in all, it's good that he will get some time to hone his skills in the AHL, but he looks like he's getting closer to a full time NHL gig.

At the end of the game Brian Boitano made an appearance for the shootout. Fans picked the players who would go, and while the wish of your humble authors to give Douglas Murray a chance never materialized, Jody Shelley got the nod and roofed one in the process. Rocket Richard potential right there.

The Event Staff handed out posters when you entered The Tank, and the joke around our section was that they photoshopped Marleau in at the last minute. There's two players in every corner except for his, with Patty sandwiched between Setoguchi and Blake.

Feel free to chime in with your own thoughts in the comments, and be sure to read idunno's Fanpost for more information.

Go Sharks.

Off the Post August 31st

Conico do Mayo Miracle — Mon, 31 Aug 2009 09:00:38 -0000

Welcome to Fear the Fin's Off the Post, in which we highlight some of the hockey stories circulating around the Interwebs.

Torrey Michell inks a three year deal at $1.36 M per.
Breakdown of the Ehrhoff & Lukowich trade for all those who were busy this weekend.
Could San Jose get Phil Kessel from the Boston Bruins? Stanley Cup of Chowder with your info.
Gotta love the reassurance from Mirtle on the Ehrhoff / Lukowich trade = "Ehrhoff is overrated in general and could cause some headaches for Canucks fans."
Die by the Blade wonders = Will the Ehrhoff / Luko trade somehow affect the Buffalo Sabres?
Steve at Leafs Hockey Analysis offers up some intriguing, if not entirely convincing, rosterbation involving Toronto and San Jose.
Thoughts on Dany Heatley the man, first from his hometown of Calgary, and then from our Thrashers brethren Bird Watchers Anonymous.

The Shark-killing dude behind the Brenden Morrow hat-trick is back and ready for action.

"Battle of California" takes on new meaning as RudyKelly wages unholy war on the new SBN Kings blogger - whoever that might be.

In case you missed it - Alex Tanguay is headed to the Tampa Bay Lightning. And in case you missed it - The French Connection 2 was nowhere near as good as the original.

Will Chris "Lady Byng" Pronger wear the "A" in Philadelphia?

Three interesting new articles on 3 former Sharks = Mike Grier, Brian Boucher, and (in case you've forgotten him) Steve Bernier.

I'm not saying Paul Kelly looks like SS officer Hans Landa... but I'm not NOT saying he does either. [UPDATE] = Kelly's ass got fired this morning.

A primer on Thomas Greiss, courtesy of Worcester.

If I knew Jay Woodcroft was in Russia the same time I was this summer, I would have at least bought him a couple vodka shots.

Warning - your retinas might malfunction after seeing this.

NOT HOCKEY = Roger Ebert deserves another Pulitzer for this blog entry on his victory over alcoholism.

Speaking of alcoholism - you may have already noticed, but a certain someone got a new moniker. Those that were there May 5th (a healthy - and surprisingly sober - lot of you) might get the reference.

Poll

He's probably going to hate me for putting this up, but FTF stalwart and all-around good guy Dave Valentine is going in for surgery tomorrow.

Get well soon, Dave!

70 votes

70 votes | Poll has closed

Back, meet corner.

That'll Cheech You — Thu, 16 Jul 2009 15:52:27 -0000

Well, we've been talking about this for months, so it really doesn't bear much repeating. However, I'm going to repeat it anyways, because it's summer, it's my blog (well, Planks blog, but he's nice enough to share) and this is really all we've got to talk about right now.

You can argue against the signing of Scott Nichol based on his skill, age, injury history, whatever. Same for Huskins. You could even make the case that the Rob Blake deal was evidence of poor decision making by the Sharks, or that they overpaid for Clowe. But, like it or not, those are the moves that have been made so far this year. No matter how much we bitch and moan, nothing changes.

Whats interesting to me though, is the timing of these deals. I was certain that the Sharks would make a trade before any free agents were added to the club, but as of this morning, no personell swaps have occured. I've talked before about how the Sharks' cap situation effectively eliminates their bargaining power on the trade market, and it seems as if I was right in that regard.

With the signing of Nichol (1 year, $750,000), the Sharks have just under $900,000 left to sign two forwards (including Mitchell, see below), which is a straight impossibility. That number is without the almost inevitable signing of Thomas Greiss (as it's really the only NHL job left for him), who made $725,000 last season and will make at least $750,000 next year. In addition, Torrey Mitchell still hasn't signed, and he'll probably looking for a contract in the $800K to $1MM range if he doesn't accept the Sharks' Qualifying Offer. Even if you think that Couture is ready for full NHL time, his deal pays him $875K annually, so there's not much relief there either. With the NHL minimum salary for the 2009-2010 season set at $500,000, the Sharks need to find at least $1.5 MM somewhere in order to sign Torrey Mitchell and either bring up Couture or sign a decent free agent. While this is good news insofar as it makes a trade a certainty, it doesn't do much to suggest that the Sharks will be any better this coming season.

Maybe that's too much to ask for, since the Sharks did win the President's Trophy in 2008-2009. However, after Doug Wilson all but guaranteed a new look for the team heading into next season, his strategy for the offseason has been interesting, to say the least. Yes, players weren't brought back. Yes, some harsh words and strong talk were thrown around. Yes, he signed a few guys. But the drastic makeover that the fans expected hasn't come yet, and the timing is way off.

Something will come though; a trade is going to have to be made. Cheechoo has been shopped, and offers have been made for Ehrhoff. However, as evidenced by the Chimera for Ehrhoff straight-up offer, the value for some of our players might not be as high as we think they should be. Three possible reasons:

1. Because we're in San Jose (a place where free agents apparently loathe coming to), we tend to overvalue our own players and have an unrealistic view of what return they should provide. For example, I thought that two picks (A late first and a second) or a young mid-six forward and a second round pick would be the return for Ehrhoff. That's obviously not the case.

2. The cap situation is well known by other teams, and they're exploiting the fact that the Sharks GM has backed himself into a corner. He HAS TO MAKE A TRADE, which again, limits his bargaining power.

3. The state of the economy is preventing teams from adding any additional payroll. However, the glut of spending at the start of free agency seems to suggest otherwise.

I'm thinking that all three of these things factor into the Sharks' current level of inactivity. I don't want to keep regurgitating old points, but it seems quite evident now that by waiting until now (or later) to make a deal, Doug Wilson has basically shot himself in the foot. If he could go back and do it all again, I'd like to think that he would have been more active at the draft, even if the return wasn't what he was expecting. It was probably a hell of alot better than the return he'll get now.

In addition, most all of the decent free agents have now left the market. There still are a few gems to be had (Taylor Pyatt, although, he'll probably command around $2.0MM after making $1.75MM last year), but most of the solid players have been snapped up. Joel Ward, for example, would have been a perfect fit for this team. He resigned with Nashville for $1.5MM over three years; this contract could have been offered by the Sharks with a trade of Cheechoo at the draft, and they still would be in a better financial situation than they are now.

Hell, maybe the return for Cheechoo at the time of the draft was a third round pick. Maybe it was a fourth. Perhaps Wilson didn't think that was a fair enough return for the former Rocket Richard Trophy winner. It's probably not. However, when you look at the big picture, you have to consider the cap flexibility gained from trading Cheechoo as something the other team is giving you in the deal. Would you trade Cheechoo for $3MM and a third? A fourth? A fifth? Any one of those deals is a steal. Because when you think of the possibility that the cap room could be used to sign, say, Ward and Travis Moen, the trade becomes Johnathan Cheechoo for Ward, Moen, and a pick (3rd/4th/5th, whatever). Would you do that deal? That's almost fleecing on a Thornton scale.

There's no guarantee that the players would sign, or if the contracts would be the same as the ones they inked with other teams, but I think you catch my drift.

So, the good news is a trade is coming. The bad news? We're most likely getting worked over in the process. The Sharks will contend next year, to be certain, but probably not at the level that they could have if Wilson could have pulled the trigger a little sooner.

2009 NHL Free Agency / Teams by Cap Space / Unsigned UFA's and RFA's

Robert L — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 19:19:41 -0000

This is a listing of NHL teams by order of remaining cap space as of July 4. The Islanders top the list with approximately $23M left to spend. The Sharks have just under $2M remaining. The list is helpful in determining which team are closest to filling out their 2009-10 lineup. As one can see, there is much work to be done at both ends of the spectrum. The numbers figures are based on totals given by NHL Numbers.com.

1 - New York Islanders: $23.265 (18)

UFA: Andy Hilbert C 28, Dean McAmmond C 36, Mike Sillinger C 38, Thomas Pock D 27, Yann Danis G 28, Joey MacDonald G 29.

RFA: Nate Thompson C 24, Jeremy Colliton C 24, Jamie Fraser D 23, Jack Hillen D 23.

2 - Phoenix Coyotes: $21.972 (18)

UFA: Brian McGrattan R 27, Dmitri Kalinin D 29, Ken Klee D 38.

RFA: Nigel Dawes L 24, Joakim Lindstrom C 25, Enver Lisin R 23, Scottie Upshall R 25, Daniel Winnik C 24, Keith Yandle D 22.

3 - Atlanta Thrashers: $19.599 (15)

RFA: Eric Perrin C 33.

UFA: Kari Lehtonen G 25, Colby Armstrong R 26, Jim Slater C 26, Boris Valabik D 23.

4 - Nashville Predators: $17.913 (16)

UFA: Radek Bonk C 33, Scott Nichol C 34, Greg de Vries D 36.

RFA: Ryan Jones R 25, Antti Pihlstrom L 24,.

5 - New York Rangers: $16.436 (13)

UFA: Blair Betts C 29, Mark Bell L 28, Patrick Rissmiller C 30, Paul Mara D 29, Derek Morris D 30.

RFA: Christopher Higgins R 26, Ryan Callahan R 24, Brandon Dubinsky C 23, Lauri Korpikoski L 22, Nikolai Zherdev L 24, Corey Potter D 25.

6 - Anaheim Ducks: $14.295 (17)

UFA: Rob Niedermayer F 34, Todd Marchant C 33, Francois Beauchemin D 29, Bret Hedican D 38.

RFA: James Wisniewski D 25.

7 - Tampa Bay Lightning: $14.295 (17)

UFA: Matt Pettinger L 28, Wade Brookbank L 31, Jason Ward R 30, Marek Malik D 34, Josef Melichar D 30, Cory Murphy D 31, Noah Welch D 26.

RFA: Martins Karsums R 23, Radek Smolenak L 22, Matt Lashoff D 22, Matt Smaby D 24, Mike Lundin D 24, Karri Ramo G 22, Mike McKenna G 26.

8 - Columbus Blue Jackets: $13.313 (20)

UFA: Chris Gratton C 33, Manny Malhotra C 29, Michael Peca C 35, Jason Williams C 28, Christian Backman D 29.

RFA: Jiri Novotny C 25, Marc Methot D 24, Ole-Kristian Tollefsen D 25.

9 - Dallas Stars: $13.193 (19)

UFA: Sergei Zubov D 38, Brendan Morrison C 33, Joel Lundqvist C 27, Mark Parrish R 32, Landon Wilson R 34, Tobias Stephan G 25, Darryl Sydor D 37.

RFA: Mark Fistric D 23.

10 - St. Louis Blues: $12.295 (22)

UFA: Trent Whitfield C 32, Dan Hinote R 32, Jay McKee D 31, Manny Legace G 36.

RFA: Brandon Crombeen R 23, Chris Porter C 25, Steve Regier L 24, Roman Polak D 23, Jeff Woywitka D 25, Marek Schwarz G 23.

11 - New Jersey Devils: $12.129

UFA: Brendan Shanahan L 40, Kevin Weekes G 34, Niclas Havelid D NJ.

RFA: Travis Zajac C 24.

12 - Toronto Maple Leafs: $12.022 (20)

UFA: Brad May L 37, Bates Battaglia L 33, Andre Deveaux C 25, Boyd Devereaux C 31, Jeff Hamilton C 31, Kris Newbury C 27, Ben Ondrus R 27, Jay Harrison D 26, Jamie Heward D 38, Martin Gerber G 34, Olaf Kolzig G 39, Curtis Joseph G 42.

RFA: Jeremy Williams R 25, Justin Pogge G 23, Jaime Sifers D 26, Ryan Hollweg C 26.

13 - Chicago Blackhawks: $11.797

UFA: Aaron Johnson D 26.

RFA: Cam Barker D 23, Troy Brouwer R 23, Ben Eager L 25, Colin Fraser C 24, Kris Versteeg R 23.

14 - Colorado Avalanche: $11.654 (15)

UFA: Joe Sakic F 39, Ben Guite R 30, Brian Willsie R 31, Andrew Raycroft G 29.

RFA: Kyle Cumiskey D 22, David Jones R 24, Cody McCormick C 26.

15 - Montreal Canadiens: $10.454 (16)

UFA: Alexei Kovalev F 36, Saku Koivu C 34, Alex Tanguay L 29, Robert Lang C 38, Mathieu Schneider D 40, Tom Kostopoulos R 30, Mathieu Dandenault D 33, Patrice Brisebois D 38, Francis Bouillon D 33, Marc Denis G 31.

RFA: Tomas Plekanec C 26, Matt D'Agostini R 22, Guillaume Latendresse R 22, Kyle Chipchura C 23, Gregory Stewart L 23.

16 - Los Angeles Kings: $10.285 (21)

UFA: Derek Armstrong F 36, Denis Gauthier D 32, Kyle Calder L 30.

RFA: Jack Johnson D 22, Teddy Purcell R 23.

17 - Washington Capitals: $9.720 (15)

UFA: Viktor Kozlov C 34, Alexandre Giroux C 28, Bryan Helmer D 26, Brent Johnson G 32.

RFA: Jeff Schultz D 23, Shaone Morrisonn D 26, Milan Jurcina D 26, Eric Fehr R 23, Boyd Gordon R 25.

18 - Buffalo Sabres: $8.976 (16)

UFA: Matt Ellis L 24, Dominic Moore C 28, Andrew Peters L 29, Teppo Numminen D 40, Maxim Afinogeno F 29,

RFA: Andrej Sekera D 23, Drew Stafford R 23, Clarke MacArthur L 24, Patrick Kaleta R 23.

19 - Florida Panthers: $8.405 (18)

UFA: Ville Peltonen L 36, Richard Zednik L 33, Jassen Cullimore D 36, Nick Boynton D 30.

RFA: Anthony Stewart C 24, Steve Eminger D 25, Tanner Glass L 25.

20 - Carolina Hurricanes: $8.083 (18)

UFA: Ryan Bayda L 28, Dennis Seidenberg D 27.

RFA: Tuomo Ruutu C 26, Anton Babchuk D 25.

21 - Vancouver Canucks: $7.282 (18)

UFA: Mats Sundin C 38, Jason Krog C 33, Rob Davison D 29, Ossi Vaananen D 28, Curtis Sanford G 29, Michel Ouellet R 27.

RFA: Shane O' Brien D 25. Kyle Wellwood C 26, Jannik Hansen R 23.

22 - Minnesota Wild: $6.296 (20)

UFA: Stephane Veilleux L 27, Krys Kolanos C 27, Marc-Andre Bergeron D 28, Kurtis Foster D 27, Martin Skoula D 29.

RFA: Dan Fritsche C 23, Benoit Pouliot L 22, Kyle Brodziak C 25, Josh Harding G 25.

23 - Edmonton Oilers: $6.404 (20)

UFA: Ales Kotalik R 30, Dany Sabourin G 28.

RFA: Liam Reddox L 23, Gilbert Brule C 22, Ryan Potulny C 24, Rob Schremp C 22, Denis Grebeshkov D 25, Ladislav Smid D 23.

24 - Detroit Red Wings: $5.554 (16)

UFA: Darren McCarty R 37, Aaron Downey R 34, Chris Chelios D 47.

RFA: Jiri Hudler C 25, Ville Leino L 25.

25 - Boston Bruins: $5.340 (18)

UFA: Stephane Yelle F 35, P.J. Axelsson L 34, Manny Fernandez G 34.

RFA: Phil Kessel F 21, Matt Hunwick D 24.

26 - Ottawa Senators: $4.649 (22)

UFA: Mike Comrie C 28.

RFA: Brendan Bell D 26, Brian Elliott G 24.

27 - Pittsburgh Penguins: $3.137 (19)

UFA: Mike Zigomanis C 28, James Connor L 26, Miroslav Satan L 34, Petr Sykora R 32, Janne Pesonen L 27, Philippe Boucher D 36.

RFA: Paul Bissonnette R 24, Tim Wallace R 24, Ben Lovejoy D 25, John Curry G 25.

28 - Calgary Flames: $3.053 (19)

UFA: Todd Bertuzzi R 34, Andre Roy R 34, Rhett Warrener D 33.

RFA: Dustin Boyd C 22.

29 - Philadelphia Flyers: $2.125 (20)

UFA: Josh Gratton L 26, Boyd Kane L 31, Andrew Alberts D 28, Lasse Kukkonen D 27, Martin Biron G 31, Antero Niittymaki G 29.

RFA: Jared Ross C 26, Danny Syvret D 24.

30 - San Jose Sharks: $1.774 (16)

UFA: Claude Lemieux R 43, Jeremy Roenick C 39, Tom Cavanagh R 27, Alexei Semenov D 28, Mike Grier R 34, Marcel Goc C 25, Tomas Plihal L 26, Lukas Kaspar L 23.

RFA: Torrey Mitchell C 24, Thomas Greiss G 23, Brad Staubitz R 24.

Fuzzy Math... maybe?

Mr. Plank — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 14:05:55 -0000

This serves as a companion to this post- I'm trying to crunch the numbers right now, and needed to put it on ~~paper~~ the internet for the sake of my mental health.

Here's where we are starting off today, July 2nd:

5.3 M in cap space, six forwards and a backup goaltender need to be signed.

If we're assuming McGinn will crack the roster, that brings us to 4.3 (his cap hit is .997). When mentioning Boucher's departure, David Pollak of Working The Corners stated, "All that presumes, of course, [is] that the Sharks see Gustavsson or Thomas Greiss as their likely back-up this fall." [link]. For the sake of discussion, either goaltender's cap hit will be estimated at $.800 M.

$3.5 M in cap space, five forwards need to be signed.

Once Ryane Clowe's reported deal is cleared with league offices, I assume he will make somewhere in that range. Let's slot him at $3.0 M per year. [Plank Edit: Clowe re-signs for "north" $3.5 M per year- numbers in this post are updated under the assumption it is worth $3.5]

$0.0 M in cap space, four forwards need to be signed.

Not much to play with here, to say the very least. A list of potential trade prospects and their cap numbers:

Jonathan Cheechoo (3.0), Milan Michalek (4.3), Christian Ehrhoff (3.1), Brad Lukowich (1.57), Patrick Marleau (6.3), Douglas Murray (2.5), Evgeni Nabokov (5.38)

Let's engage in a rousing game of hypotheticals for a moment:

Cheechoo, Michalek, Ehrhoff, and Lukowich are moved. After those deals occur, the Sharks are left with roughly $11.97 M in cap room. In order to fill out the roster, San Jose must bring in six forwards and two defensemen. That is $1.5 M per player.
Nabokov, Cheechoo, and Lukowich are moved. After those deals occur, the Sharks are left with roughly $9.95 M in cap room. In order to fill out the roster, San Jose must bring in five forwards, one defenseman, and one goaltender (presumably a starter). That is $1.42 M per player.
Marleau, Lukowich, and Michalek are moved. After those deals occur, the Sharks are left with roughly $12.17 M in cap room. In order to fill out the roster, San Jose must bring in six forwards and one defenseman. That is $1.74 M per player.

Essentially, what these numbers are saying is the available space is minimal at best, and therefore a) trade value of all of these players could decrease once opposing GM's realize the cap complications b) it may not matter because the Sharks must take less net salary in a deal to fill the roster and c) expecting a fair return (let alone an upgrade) in a trade is not a guarantee.

Furthermore, d) San Jose may be renamed Worcester next season with the influx of minor leaguers being called up e) our free agency targets are going to have to be in the sub 2.00 range and f) Nabokov and Marleau are definitely not off the table, regardless of whether or not it is in the best interest of the organization's on-ice product.

Other Notes: As mentioned before, Lukowich is where this needs to begin- you can't be paying above $1.5 M for a healthy scratch blueliner... Torrey Mitchell must be re-signed... 2008-2009 was the first season the organization spent to the salary cap maximum... Setoguchi, Pavelski, Marleau, and Nabokov will be free agents next offseason, with Seto and Pavs due for raises... the salary cap is predicted to drop for 2010-2011... We looked at the cap earlier this season, but may have underestimated it... grumble grumble...

We haven't hit critical mass just yet- San Jose is still a playoff team. However, expecting that at the end of this month we will have improved the roster from last year's version may be a bit of a pipe dream. Doug Wilson is going to have to get pretty creative for that to happen.

Here's to hope.

Go Sharks.

SB Nation - Thomas Greiss

San Jose Sharks 2010 Olympic Hockey Preview: Part Two

Thomas Greiss, Team Germany

#1 / Goalie / San Jose Sharks

Dan Boyle, Team Canada

#22 / Defenseman / San Jose Sharks

Joe Pavelski, Team USA

#8 / Center / San Jose Sharks

Douglas Murray, Team Sweden

#3 / Defenseman / San Jose Sharks

Game Day Preview: San Jose Sharks @ Nashville Predators

Meet the Enemy

Meet the Good Guys

Even Strength Play

San Jose PP vs. Nashville PK

Nashville PP vs. San Jose PK

Goaltending

Thomas Greiss

#1 / Goalie / San Jose Sharks

Pekka Rinne

#35 / Goalie / Nashville Predators

Summary

Lackluster Flyers fall to Sharks, 4-1

Sharks Gameday: The Island Brought Us Here For A Purpose

@

Television

CSN-CA

Radio

98.5 KFOX, Sjsharks.com

Antagonists

Lighthouse HockeyNYI Point Blank

Sharks Line-up For Tonight / Hodgson's Time To Shine

Observations From Teal & White 2009

Off the Post August 31st

He's probably going to hate me for putting this up, but FTF stalwart and all-around good guy Dave Valentine is going in for surgery tomorrow.

Get well soon, Dave!

Back, meet corner.

2009 NHL Free Agency / Teams by Cap Space / Unsigned UFA's and RFA's

Fuzzy Math... maybe?