SB Nation - Douglas Murray

Sharks Considering Euro Trip

Mr. Plank — Fri, 18 Dec 2009 15:02:00 -0000

The NHL Board of Governors recently concluded their most recent meetings in Pebble Beach and Sharks President and Chief Executive Officer Greg Jamison acknowledged the possibility.

"We have been invited to go and we’re in the process of discussing it," said Jamison. "We’re optimistic we might do it."

- sjsharks.com

If one had to venture a guess, I'd say there's a very good chance the Sharks end up heading overseas to begin the 2010-2011 campaign. Everything but official.

And with that comes some opinions which run the gamut from positive to negative.

The travel issue is obviously at the forefront of the discussion here, and rightfully so-- San Jose is already one of the most travel burdened clubs in the NHL. Throwing in a trip to Europe, especially if the organization manages to make a deep run into the playoffs this season, will only compound those issues. Speaking to David Pollak of Working The Corners, Douglas Murray stated as much by saying, "Seeing how some teams have done with that whole travel and stuff, I don’t know if I’m excited about that part of it."

On the other end of the spectrum, of course, is the business side of operations. While traveling overseas results in a loss of one home game's worth of revenues and concessions, the potential expansion of a team's fanbase and establishment in new markets provide an opportunity for the brand to grow. Furthermore, foreign born-players such as the aforementioned Douglas Murray, are afforded the chance to play in front of their friends and family in what is likely the first (and last) time in their NHL careers. And then you have foreign fans, like current Fear The Fin reader Brit Shark, who won't have to wake up at 3 A.M. to catch a game.

Points Earned

Games	LAK 07-08	ANA 07-08	OTT 08-09	PIT 08-09	NYR 08-09	TBL 08-09
1-10	10	7	9	12	15	12
11-20	7	14	8	15	11	7
21-30	7	11	9	9	10	4
31-40	6	11	7	6	11	13
41-50	11	15	10	9	12	9
51-60	10	11	10	13	7	7
61-70	9	15	18	18	14	11
71-80	9	16	9	15	11	4
AVG.	8.625	12.5	10	12.125	11.375	8.375

Here's the table for all the NHL teams who went to Europe the last two complete seasons-- as with the graph, you can see that the middle of the season (around the 20-40 game mark) generally doesn't bode well for the worldwide travelers, as the increased mileage from earlier in the year starts to catch up to them.

When looking at the team's individual schedules, it was easy to see the struggles Anaheim, Los Angeles, and Ottawa went through immediately after returning to North America. Those were some of the worst, if not the worst, five game stretches during the entire season. No surprise considering time zone changes and bearing the brunt of travel compared to opponents, but it is definitely worth adding as a footnote to the midseason dry spell we see as well. On the other end of the spectrum are the New York Rangers, who played their best hockey upon immediate return.

One would think that a trip to Europe doesn't deserve the stigma it's currently garnered, what with the Pittsburgh Penguins playing in a Stanley Cup Final during 2008, shipping off to Stockholm, and then coming back to play in yet another Stanley Cup Final the following season (which they won). However, it's hard to make the case that there isn't potential harm to a team's on-ice performance, especially for a bubble team that cannot afford to start the season slow. The decreased practice time caused by the massive road trip also isn't helping matters.

At the end of the day, I find myself somewhere in the gooey middle, much like my feelings on the eight Sharks who have made a case to play for their country in the Olympic games-- if it doesn't happen there will be little complaint, but if it does, there's no reason to think that it will be the kiss of death.

We'll save that moniker for the month of May.

Go Sharks.

Rick Rypien

Hawerchuk — Fri, 11 Dec 2009 14:00:17 -0000

More photos » by Jimmy Jeong - AP

Vancouver Canucks' Rick Rypien punishes Edmonton Oilers' Zach Stortini during first period NHL hockey action in Edmonton on Monday, Oct. 19, 2009. (AP Photo/The Canadian Press, Jimmy Jeong)

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Every once in a while, you see an obvious innovation in a game that makes you wonder why it wasn't obvious to every single player. Rick Rypien of the Vancouver Canucks has brought one to NHL fighting: he actually protects his face while he's fighting. Most fighters in the NHL try to block head shots, but Rypien actually does a great job of it. The net result is that he dominates fighters who are way out of his weight class:

Date	Opponent	Ht	Wt	Dec
12/09/2009	Valabik	6-7	245	W	Video
11/22/2009	Eager	6-3	227	L	Video
11/14/2009	McLeod	6-2	210	W	Video
11/12/2009	May	6-1	220	W	Video
10/19/2009	Stortini	6-3	217	W	Video
10/16/2009	Prust	5-11	191	W	Video
10/7/2009	Gill	6-7	250	W	Video
9/24/2009	Carter	6-1	205	W	Video
9/14/2009	Reich	6-1	204	L	Video
9/14/2009	Sutton	6-6	245	W	Video
4/4/2009	Stortini	6-3	217	W	Video
4/2/2009	Brookbank	6-2	200	W	Video
10/11/2008	Prust	5-11	191	W	Video
10/2/2008	Moore	6-1	200	W	Video
9/28/2008	Sutherby	6-3	205	D	Video
3/17/2008	Carcillo	5-11	202	W	Video
3/4/2008	McLeod	6-2	210	W	Video
2/29/2008	Tollefson	6-2	211	W	Video
10/22/2007	Commodore	6-5	230	L	Video
10/15/2007	Murray	6-3	240	L	Video
12/2/2006	Laperriere	6-1	201	W	Video

	Average	6-2	215
	Rypien	5-11	184

Once you start clicking on those videos, you are almost certainly to waste half an hour of your day watching Rypien pummeling guys who had no idea what they were getting themselves into. In the 21 fights with footage, Rypien gets abused precisely once: when Douglas Murray pulled Rypien's sweater over his head over two years ago. In the last two years, Rypien has not had an NHL fight where he lost convincingly.

Now, Rypien has not yet fought any of the top ten heavyweights (based on the ELO analysis I did of the data on hockeyfights.com), mostly because he hasn't even played a full season in the NHL yet. But it's only a matter of time before he fights someone who also mops the floor with Zach Stortini - it will certainly be an epic battle, and if Rypien prevails, it will validate technical fighting and secure his reputation as an innovator in the NHL. Right up there with Jacques Plante, Bill Chadwick and Frank Zamboni...

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.

View full size photo »

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.

The Roots of Douglas Murray

Mr. Plank — Mon, 30 Nov 2009 11:31:00 -0000

More photos » by Jeff McIntosh - AP

(AP Photo/The Canadian Press, Jeff McIntosh)

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Received an interesting email over the weekend about Douglas Murray's grandfather that helps flesh out how our Swedish defenseman grew into his style of play.

Lars Bjorn was a hulking Swedish defenseman in the 1950s and 1960s. He was nicknamed "Lasse," Swedish for "menace," because he was never afraid to impose his physicality upon his opponent. He was fearless of any opponent, including the aggressive Canadians

Bjorn and defensive partner Roland Stotlz dominated the Swedish Elite League with Djurgarden for the better part of both decades, leading the team to 9 Swedish championships.

- Joe Pelletier, Greatest Hockey Legends

Murray is the most physical defenseman San Jose has had since Bryan Marchment, and it's no surprise that he is able to trace those ideals back to his grandfather. There has been countless times over the last four seasons where someone has tried to take a run at him in open ice only to end up with an excellent view of the rafters-- you'd be hard pressed to find a specific player who has knocked him off his skates twice throughout his career. In fact, you'd be hard pressed to find five different players who have done it once. And it looks like his grandfather played hockey the exact same way.

"Lasse" is currently 77 years old and was inducted into the International Ice Hockey Federation Hall of Fame in 1998. It would be interesting to see if Murray trained with his grandfather, or still talks to him about the finer points of the game-- something tells me there's a good chance this is the case considering the circumstances, and with Nicklas Lidstrom backing Murray's inclusion onto the Swedish roster for the upcoming Olympic games, hopefully Lars can give him a few pointers about the particulars of international play. Not that he's unfamiliar with the territory.

The full piece by Mr. Pelletier goes into more depth on Lars Bjorn, along with a great story about the time he had to sing the Swedish national anthem. Another family tie-in, this time with with Douglas' Uber Tap investment?

We're not ruling it out.

Shark Sandwich - Hawks 4, Sharks 3 (OT)

McClure — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 03:40:34 -0000

Eight of eight points against 3 top conference foes and one truculent opponent? Yeah, we'll take it. Tonight's win wasn't pretty, but an ugly win is still a win.

Things started off well enough with Brent Sopel (yes, BRENT SOPEL) notching his first of the year on a one time feed from Jordan Hendry who won the puck down low skating at forward tonight. Fresh call-up Bryan Bickell provided a nice screen on a shot that Evgeni Nabokov never saw. The Sharks answered later on in the period when dickweed Dany Heatley took a feed from Joe Thornton on a play that the Hawks should have cleared the zone on, but Jason Demers made a nice play to cut off Troy Brouwer receiving the exit pass.

Early in the second, we got to see the numbskullery we had been missing from Ben Eager, where he somehow managed to earn an extra two minute unsportsmanlike conduct penalty from his scrap with cro-magnon Douglas Murray. On the ensuing power play, the Sharks broke the Hawks streak of 18 straight penalties killed when Demers picked up a loose puck in the left circle on a broken play. It was a shot Huet did not get over to his post in time to cover. Forty-five seconds later, Patrick Marleau got a pass from Joe Pavelski in the slot, where he was left alone in a defensive breakdown, and was allowed to get two cracks at the net, the second of which he punched through. For the rest of the period, the ice was tilted in the Hawks favor. Patrick Kane picked a corner over Nabokov's glove to cut the deficit in half. With about a minute and a half to go, John Madden tied things up after skating through four Sharks to bury a rebound of a shot that was generated between he, Andrew Ladd, and Troy Brouwer. There was a scare in the middle of the frame when the puck squirted behind Huet and the Sharks had thought they had scored, but there was no indication on the ice, and the war room in Toronto determined no goal.

The third period was a rather tenative affair, with neither team generating much offensively, almost playing as if they were resigned to the fate of overtime as teams once did in the pre-lockout era. The Hawks ended things quickly with a great shift from Troy Brouwer and Jonathan Toews, who won the puck after hard work in behind the Shark net, with Toews finally able to slip it to a pinching Brent Seabrook who shot the puck through Nabokov for his second of the year, and second OT winner. Ballgame.

The Hawks were without the services of Kris Versteeg tonight, who was likely banged up after getting demolished by Jeff Finger on Friday night. Bryan "Don't Call me Travis" Bickell filled in admirably, and proving to be basically the left handed version of Troy Brouwer, which isn't a bad thing to be at this point.
Glad to see the Hawks hang tough and win over the top team in the league with basically half of their top 6 out for tonight's game (Bolland, Versteeg, Hossa).
Niklas Hjalmarsson continues to impress with his patience and smarts in his own end. As we've mentioned before here, and in the Indian, pay attention and marvel at his knack for absorbing a hit to make the correct pass. Additionally, he had a nice break up of a rush by dropping to a knee and taking away a passing lane.
Coach Q broke form and got way less matchup happy in the second period when the Hawks were down two goals, in an effort to generate some offense. Of course, with the score knotted in the third, John Madden once again resumed shadow detail on Thornton.
It wasn't Huet's best night, but he made a gigantic save on Scott Nichol in the waning seconds of regulation, so credit has to be given. All we as fans have asked from him is to just make the key save, and there was none bigger in the contest than that one.
The Hawks again limited one of the top offensive teams in the league to just 23 shots.
EDIT: John Madden was 9-0 on draws. The man love grows ever stronger.

Player of the Game

Though realistically, the honor should have gone to Patrick Marleau, who was everywhere tonight, you don't really think we'd pick someone from the other team, do you? So in that case, I'm going to go ahead and hand this out to Hammer, who was again rock solid tonight, in spite of being -1. Stats be damned, I know what I saw.

Turco's Stonewalling of Sharks Leads to Stars' Rally ; Shootout Win

Brandon Bibb — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 06:58:17 -0000

More photos » by Ben Margot - AP

about 1 month ago: San Jose Sharks' Dany Heatley, left, races to the puck in front of Dallas Stars goalie Marty Turco (35) during the second period of an NHL hockey game Thursday, Nov. 12, 2009, in San Jose, Calif. (AP Photo/Ben Margot)

Browse more photos »

It's late, so of course this recap is going to be brief.

But the number 1 star of the night was clearly Marty Turco. He kept the Stars in it having only allowed two second period goals from Dany Heatley and Ryan Clowe. He shined during the third period, particularly with the game on the line after a late Mike Modano slashing penalty put the Stars a man down.

But he saved his best stop of the game for the second round of the shootout. Dan Boyle executed a series of splendid dekes to get Turco out of position. Or so Boyle thought. When he went to backhand the puck and tuck it inside the near post and Turco, the Stars' netminder flopped onto his back and with a last minute desperation move, kept the puck out with his glove hand.

And after Ryan Vesce had made it five consecutive shooters from both teams to not dent the twine, Stephane Robidas finally notched the first shootout win of the season for the Stars with an absolutely sick snapshot over Evgeni Nabokov's left shoulder into the top corner of the net.

Other quick thoughts:

Once again, why doesn't the league use replay to correct mistakes on high sticking penalties? In the second period, they whistled Steve Ott off even though replays never conclusively showed he high sticked. Then in the third, Joe Pavelski was victimized when officials called him for high sticking James Neal, even though it was obvious that the Real Deal was the victim of some friendly fire from the stick blade of Nicklas Grossman.

The Sharks were able to take advantage of that phony call on Ott. But fortunately for the refs, the Stars weren't able to do anything with that late power play off the flat out bogus call on Joe Pavelski.
"Crankshaft" appears to be a very appropriate nickname for San Jose's Douglas Murray.
No doubt James Neal had a very strong game tonight for the Stars. And when he tries to take games by the bull horns like he did tonight, the Stars will be successful more nights than not.

But dare I suggest that if he continues to get chances in the shootout that he find another move since the one he has, while effective at beating goaltenders, keeps ringing the post?
Speaking of Neal, I thought it was somewhat fitting that his goal canceled out the fluky goal that Ryan Clowe scored. And it continued to be fitting when Mike Modano's blast canceled out Dany Heatley's snipe from close range.
Sure, San Jose deserved that 2-0 lead by virtue of their domination of the middle frame. But the first period was evenly played and the Stars dominated much of the third period and deserved to have this contest tied at 2-2 going into OT.
About that ugly 1 for 34 against San Jose's penalty kill dating back to last season. Yeah, might want to get that one sorted out at some point during the season series, Stars.

Not like they weren't getting chances. But like Razor mentioned, when they did get chances on the man advantage, those chances fizzled into nothing without Nabokov having to do much to thwart them.

At the very least, I want the Sharks' best penalty killer to actually be the best penalty killer if the Stars are to not score on the man advantage. That rarely happened last year. Or tonight for that matter.
Remember that point I made to Sevy two weeks ago about how good a job fighting does to bring closure to issues on the ice? Exhibit A from tonight's game certainly has to be Krys Barch's fight with Brad Staubitz.The Sharks' tough guy came in a little too late for the Stars' liking on Tom Wandell.

Barch challenged him to a round of fisticuffs, they settled right then and there. And you didn't hear another word about that hit for the rest of the game.
There's a part of me that actually feels sorry for San Jose. Because no matter what they accomplish during the regular season this year, nobody in the hockey world outside of San Jose will give a damn until about the Sharks until they at least advance to the Western Conference Finals. And for some, that might not even be enough.

The Defenseman Cometh

Mr. Plank — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 13:30:29 -0000

Fact: Crankshaft caused 72% of underwear accidents nation wide during the 08-09 season

Twelve game in the books for the San Jose Sharks, and a 7-4-1 overall record coming out of a six game road trip.

Not too shabby.

During the course of October, many questions have been raised about the performance of the team as a whole, but none more prevalent than the strength of the blueline. Without the luxury of available cap room, it's doubtful Doug Wilson pursues an upgrade via trade lest he sacrifice scoring depth amongst the forwards or deplete the strength of the organization's prospect pool. It is likely we will live and die with these band of brothers until the 2009-2010 season rings it's final bell.

Which begs the question- how good have they been thus far?

To start things off, let's take a look at the location of where the defenseman are starting their shifts following a whistle. While by no means a defining measurement of worth, it does provide us a glimpse into the mind of Todd McLellan- who does he trust the most in the defensive zone?

Even Strength Faceoff Locations

Player	GP	Defensive	Offensive	Differential	% Defensive
Vlasic	12	66	40	+26	62.26
Blake	12	62	41	+21	60.19
Demers	12	38	32	+6	54.29
Huskins	12	39	43	-4	47.56
Boyle	12	42	54	-12	43.75
Murray	11	35	48	-13	42.17

Takeaways: The Vlasic/Blake pairing takes a lot of draws in their own zone compared to the rest of the unit, while Boyle drags Murray along for those luscious offensive zone opportunities. Demers and Huskins fit right into the middle. It's safe to say that Vlasic/Blake are going to have fewer scoring opportunities than Boyle/Murray due to this role.

One thing that jumped out at me is the fact that McLellan has leaned heavily on the Vlasic/Blake pairing in the defensive zone, even with their less than impressive numbers thus far (more on that shortly). My guess is that he's locked into the notion that they are his shutdown pairing and is planning on giving them the benefit of the doubt for the time being. Is that the right decision? I'm not sure. The need to get Boyle a lot of looks in the attacking end is understandable, but McLellan is utilizing Murray in a highly offensive role directly off the draw the majority of his starts. Preseason hat-tricks notwithstanding, this goes against everything the Swedish behemoth stands for*.

*Namely liquefying bones and raising the dead from their graves.

If Blake/Vlasic are struggling at this point in the season why not ease off on the gas pedal and tap Boyle/Murray a bit more in front of Nabokov? Blake can still provide a big shot from the point to generate scoring opportunities in the offensive zone. You lose some defensive acumen with Boyle, but not a significant enough amount where you see the team as a whole take a huge dive- Murray's presence will help here. I think it's a strategy that needs to be explored until last year's shutdown pairing manages to find their game.

*****

Next up is even strength play. For a refresher course on the importance of this part of the game, or for those who are new to Fear The Fin, this article from last season should serve as a good place to get your feet wet.

Empty net goals have been discluded in both the GF and GA categories.

Even Strength +/-

Player	GP	EV TOI/G	GFON	GAON	GFON/60	GAON/60	EV DIF.
Demers	12	11.66	8	3	3.43	1.29	+2.14
Huskins	12	14.50	11	6	3.79	2.07	+1.72
Boyle	12	17.92	9	7	2.51	1.95	+0.56
Murray	11	15.88	8	8	2.75	2.75	0
Vlasic	12	17.50	7	12	2.00	3.42	-1.42
Blake	12	16.10	5	10	1.55	3.10	-1.55

Takeaways: Huskins and Demers have had the most success here, with the Sharks outscoring opponents at a much greater rate whenever they are on the ice at even strength. And, as expected, Blake and Vlasic have clearly had a great deal of trouble keeping pucks out of their own net.

Admittedly, I haven't been the biggest fan of Huskins the last couple months. From the initial signing to his porous play during the preseason, I've worried aloud about the defensive depth in San Jose and how it would affect the team's ability to win hockey games.

Turns out he and Demers have been a pleasant surprise. Yes, they have seen sheltered minutes. Yes, I would like to see Demers clear the puck up the boards more often as he's prone to force his breakout passes and turn over the puck in the center of the defensive zone. Yes, Huskins could stand to lay on the body around the net. However, these are minor gripes at best- as ElvisVF101 and Evilducks have noted, they aren't getting paid a monetary sum that would cause us to expect much more than what they have provided. And that's a real bright spot for a team who has struggled at times in the defensive zone.

At the heart of the issue lies Vlasic and Blake. If the Sharks want to do some legitimate damage this season, it's essential these guys get going. As mentioned above, I think relieving them of the lion's share of d-zone draws might be a good short term solution- give them an opportunity to put pucks on net and create offensively. Blake seems like he's been fighting to find shooting lanes, and he's lost a bit of lateral quickness when moving at the point. Some more time in the easy part of the ice may get that big shot back it's net nose.

*****

The last thing on the docket today is special teams play. Demers hasn't logged sufficient enough minutes per game on the PK to warrant consideration (0:14), and has thus been left out. On the PP side of the ice, Murray (0:05) and Huskins (0:15) are in the same boat.

Penalty Kill (4v5) Plus/Minus

Player	GP	SH TOI/G	GFON	GAON	GFON/60	GAON/60	SH DIF.
Huskins	12	1.17	0	0	0.00	0.00	0.00
Vlasic	12	3.19	1	2	1.57	3.13	-1.56
Blake	12	3.01	1	2	1.66	3.32	-1.66
Boyle	12	2.71	0	6	0.00	11.07	-11.07
Murray	11	2.48	0	6	0.00	13.19	-13.19

Power Play (5v4) Plus/Minus

Player	GP	PP TOI/G	GFON	GFON/60	PP DIF.
Vlasic	12	2.29	7	15.27	+15.27
Blake	12	2.15	6	13.96	+13.96
Demers	12	3.24	7	10.81	+10.81
Boyle	12	4.70	10	10.64	+10.64

Takeaways: It's hard to take too much stock into these numbers right now considering a fluke goal here or there can alter them quite a bit (with special teams time less frequent than even strength), but here's a few general observations:

Vlasic is giving up fewer goals per 60 minutes shorthanded than he is at even strength. Sample size is obviously a big factor here, but maybe McLellan should just have a forward cherry pick at the redline whenever he and Blake are on at evens.
Huskins hasn't been on the ice for a shorthanded goal against. He's gotten roughly two shifts a night, but that is still moderately impressive.
Boyle and Murray have been horrendous on the PK thus far. The average differential per sixty for defenseman who played at least 50 games and 1:30 per night last season was -5.54. They're both currently double that.
On the flip side, last year's defenseman who played at least 50 games and 1:30 per night on the power play were, on average, +5.66 per sixty minutes. All qualifying Sharks are at least close to double that.
If you expected Jason Demers to be second in PP time amongst defenseman before the season began you are either a pathological liar or related to Miss Cleo.
Towards the middle of last season teams began to pick up on what the Sharks wanted to do on the power play and started aggressive pressuring the puck-carrying blueliners. Might be repeating myself here, but I have been impressed with the defenseman's reads in these situations. They haven't forced many shots and therefore haven't had a problem with blocks above the circles turning into shorthanded opportunities going the other way.

*****

Inconsistent is the one word I would use to describe the Sharks blueline thus far, and hopefully they can use the two upcoming home dates to build on a good performance last night against Philadelphia. Even with a 7-4-1 record there's a lot of unanswered questions on how everything will eventually play out.

And I'm not expecting many concrete answers anytime soon.

Go Sharks.

Open-Ice Hits

Hawerchuk — Sun, 11 Oct 2009 23:45:56 -0000

More photos » by FRED CHARTRAND - AP

2 months ago: Ottawa Senators' Daniel Alfredsson, of Sweden, is hit by Atlanta Thrashers' Zack Bogosian (4) during the second period of an NHL hockey game in Ottawa on Saturday, Oct. 10, 2009. (AP Photo/The Canadian Press, Fred Chartrand)

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Most hits occur along the boards. No big surprise there. But how many hits is "most"? I classified any hit inside the red area below as an open-ice hit:

Approximately 75% of all hits occur within 10 feet of the net or the boards, while less than 5% happen in "open-ice." After the jump, the league leaders in open-ice hits...

This table includes both 2007-08 and 2008-09. There isn't much overlap between the two lists - the hitters are big defensemen and aggressive forwards; the guys who get hit include a lot more playmakers and scorers. I was surprised to see both Darcy Tucker and Sean Avery in the top 12 for taking hits - perhaps there are a lot of players in the league who are gunning for them in open ice.

Hit For	#	Hit Against	#
Dustin Brown	47	Alexander Ovechkin	46
Douglas Murray	39	Evgeni Malkin	37
Keith Ballard	33	Sidney Crosby	31
Alexander Ovechkin	30	Dustin Brown	26
Garnet Exelby	28	Derek Roy	22
Brooks Orpik	27	Ales Hemsky	21
Dion Phaneuf	27	Ryan Kesler	21
Cory Sarich	26	Tuomo Ruutu	21
James Wisniewski	25	Alexander Semin	20
David Backes	25	Valtteri Filppula	20
Toni Lydman	24	Darcy Tucker	19
Ed Jovanovski	23	Sean Avery	19
Niklas Kronwall	23	Scottie Upshall	19
Ruslan Salei	22	Matt Stajan	19
Chris Phillips	21	Brooks Laich	19
Dan Girardi	21	Loui Eriksson	19
Martin Hanzal	21	Chad LaRose	18
Dan Hamhuis	20	Mike Richards	18
Freddy Meyer	20	Devin Setoguchi	18
Ryan Malone	20	Alex Kovalev	17
Brent Seabrook	20	Corey Perry	17
Anton Volchenkov	19	Mikhail Grabovski	17
Shane Doan	18	Mike Ribeiro	16
Hal Gill	18	Erik Cole	16
Brendan Witt	18	Patrick O'Sullivan	16
Andreas Lilja	18	Maxime Talbot	16
Colton Orr	18
Steve Ott	18
Tuomo Ruutu	18

Sharks @ Coyotes Preview - Last Preseason Game Before the Real Deal

OdinMercer — Sat, 26 Sep 2009 22:04:44 -0000

More photos » by Matt York - AP

3 months ago: Phoenix Coyotes new head coach Dave Tippett addresses the media during a news conference on Thursday, Sept. 24, 2009 in Glendale, Ariz. He replaces Wayne Gretzky, who resigned earlier in the day after four seasons with the club. (AP Photo/Matt York)

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We get one game to see the sneak preview of the Dave Tippett Experience before it goes live for real. Luckily it's against an opponent that while skilled, we've had the number of over the last couple of years. The Sharks come into the game after blowing out the Ducks last night 6 - 0. With Douglas Murray of all players getting a Hat-Trick and a plus 5. Not entirely sure how that happened, but it looks like the Sharks now have some secondary scoring. On our end we're almost down to our opening night roster. In fact with Taylor Pyatt now out for at least the first few weeks tonight's lineup should be pretty much it minus one defenseman.

I'm just excited to see if there are any differences in how things are done in tonight's game as opposed to what we're used to. Should be a good matchup.

The Game is available on XTRA 910 AM here in the Valley

Players to watch: Daniel Winnik is probably playing for his spot right now as we have too many centers. Surprising to see MacLean out of the lineup.

Doug Murray coming off his big night against the Ducks. Not much rest, but gotta put a target on him as his confidence has to be through the roof today.

Coyotes Line up:

FORWARDS

Scottie Upshall - Matthew Lombardi - Peter Mueller
Shane Doan - Vernon Fiddler - Daniel Winnik
Petr Prucha - Martin Hanzal - Radim Vrbata
Lauri Korpikoski - Kevin Porter - Mikkel Boedker

DEFENSE
Kurt Sauer - Zbynek Michalek
Keith Yandle - Sami Lepisto
Jim Vandermeer - Adrian Aucoin

GOALTENDERS
Ilya Bryzgalov
Jason LaBarbera

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.