Jim Vandermeer probably didn't have the season he'd like to have had with the San Jose Sharks.

It's not really his fault, either.

Playing on a blueline that was congested with seven players to start the season, and eventually eight guys with the recall of Justin Braun in late October, Vandermeer struggled to find any consistent playing time throughout the entirety of his 2011-2012 season.

Vandermeer missed 20 games throughout December and January with a hand injury. His most active month of game action was February when he played 8 games, the catalyst for that spike in ice time being Douglas Murray's adam's apple injury.

All in all he played a total of 25 games this season, averaged 9:59 in ice time, and didn't really make much of an impact on the team. In fact, he played a good amount of those games as a fourth line forward, a position that isn't really suited to his skill set.

Vandermeer kind of reminds me of Alexei Semenov now that I think about it.

He's a player who is fine in a depth defenseman role but isn't going to swing the pendulum too much in either direction, a guy who the coaching staff used as a forward despite he hasn't really played there at the NHL level, a guy who brings that defensive defenseman skill set to the table and can provide acceptable minutes for a team when injuries hit.

Vandermeer does a helluva lot in the community, is a good guy to be around, and wore the "A" in Edmonton. He has leadership qualities that his teammates and organization undoubtedly appreciate and will drop the gloves every now and then to settle the tempo and give his team a boost.

But on the wrong end of 30, coupled with a disappointing season from the Sharks as a whole, it's hard to expect that Vandermeer will return to San Jose next season.

Changes are coming. It's a long shot Vandermeer survives those changes.

Defensive defenseman are a commodity that becomes especially important towards the deadline when teams are fighting the injury bug and looking for guys to come in and patch some holes. Vandermeer still has value in this League for a team looking to round out their defensive core, even if that team isn't San Jose, and even if he'll be one of the many players of this ilk that will probably still be looking for a home in early August.

Contract Status: Vandermeer is currently a UFA. He signed a one-year contract worth $1.0 MM last offseason.

The Vote: Rate Vandermeer below on a scale of 1-10 based on his performance relative to his potential and your expectations for the season.

If he had the best year you could have imagined him having, give him a 10; if he more or less played as you expected he would, give him a 5 or a 6; if he had the worst year you could have imagined him having, give him a 1.

After the Kings won another road game last night, bringing their record to 5-0 away from Staples Center this postseason, I thought about a lot of things.

I thought about how physics says Jonathan Quick's groin should have fallen apart two years ago because no human being should be able to take away the bottom of the net that quickly. I thought about how LA's bad luck all season was finally coming around. I thought about how sneaky (in a good way, mind you) Ken Hitchcock was to buy an extra timeout when he pulled Brian Elliot, put in Jake Allen and then put Elliot back in like a minute and a half later. I thought about Willie Mitchell because he's fucking awesome. I thought about how important Alex Pietrangelo is to the Blues and how losing him to injury hurts them in so many aspects of the game. I thought about Los Angeles holding St. Louis to 0 for 9 on the power play, which included a lengthy 5v3.

Yeah, I thought about that last one a lot.

But the first thing I thought about when Los Angeles put up a four spot in the first period was Kent Huskins.

Why? Because Kent Huskins is a guy who knows how to win.

"What the hell are you talking about Plank?" says the dumbfounded Sharks fan who never let Huskins live down a mistake he made in a preseason game or something like that. "Huskins is a depth defenseman whose quality of competition and CORSI numbers are pedestrian at best. He sees bottom six minutes, and while I'll admit his down to earth attitude and occasional end to end rush make him a decent enough player to have around on a roster, what has FTF come to if you're writing an article about him in the middle of a second round that he's watched from the press box? The guy cracked into the NHL at the age of 27 for heaven's sake!"

Nay I say to you good sir. Nay I say! For you have let your knowledge of advanced statistics and "context" blind you to what lies in front of you, clear as the twinkle Kent Huskins ever-caring eyes. You come to me with your scientific validity, spout well-reasoned arguments about "regression to the mean" and "shot quality", but never once do you dare enter the lair of the Huskinator.

Because just like opposing team's scoring opportunities, when you enter the lair of the Huskinator your argument prepares to die.

Because Kent Huskins is the best damn defenseman in the NHL at suppressing opponent's shooting percentages.

Well wouldja look at that.

Good ol' Kent Huskins, the man who toiled away in the AHL for five seasons before making the big show, sure has a knack for keeping the puck out of the net. He's strong as the average American male, about as quick as your uncle Jack who used to run track in high school, and oftentimes will burn his tongue when he eats soup too quickly.

But I'll be damned if he doesn't do one helluva job keeping the puck out of the net every time he's out on the ice*.

*Among others, George Parros is another guy who bucks the trend of SV% when on the ice. If Kent Huskins grew a mustache I wouldn't be surprised if he didn't give up an even strength goal against the rest of his career.

Two young San Jose Sharks defensemen are about to get some recognition.

Both Marc-Edouard Vlasic and Justin Braun will play for Team Canada and Team USA at the upcoming 2012 IIHF World Championships, which will be held from May 4-20 in Helsinki, Finland and Stockholm, Sweden. Vlasic has had previous experience at the World Championships, but this will be Braun's first appearance as a member of the US National Team.

It's hard to think of Vlasic as a veteran player considering he's only 25 years old, but ever since cracking the Sharks roster at 19 years old in 2006-2007 he's made huge strides every single season in the defensive end of the ice. Commonly tasked against opposing team's top players and thrown into integral defensive situations, Vlasic has logged at least the second highest amount of ice time on the blueline since his second NHL season. Those trends stayed consistent this year where he led all players in even strength and shorthanded minutes. Furthermore, his advanced metrics have always proven that trust was well-placed and well-deserved, with this season being another extremely solid year for Vlasic by the advanced numbers.

Justin Braun's 2011-2012 campaign should garner just as much praise if not more, for the sole reason that Vlasic is a known commodity whose defensive brilliance is expected. Coming into this season however Braun was a relative unknown-- his talent and potential was readily apparent during 2010-2011 of course, with Todd McLellan deploying him heavily in defensive situations which Braun handled quite well, but as is the case with so many young players it was hard to gauge exactly where he would fit in.

The roster was filled with 7 defenseman with more NHL experience. His defensive game needed more work. And there was a need for him to get game action instead of sitting in the press box.

Following training camp he was sent down to Worcester for more seasoning.

Braun was recalled on October 22 and never looked back.

Three weeks after his recall we looked at his season to date and found some very encouraging signs-- he was leading the blueline in some important metrics and had effectively played his way up from the minors to a starting role on what was then a Sharks team that was on pace to compete for the Presidents' Trophy (ah yes, those blissful days filled with hope...). At the end of the season Braun had played the fourth-highest amount of games amongst Sharks defenseman and surpassed just about every conceivable expectation we had for him coming into the year.

Although quality of competition obviously has to be taken into account (an area where he finished 5th on the team), consider this-- Justin Braun led the team in relative CORSI this season and had the toughest defensive zone starts on the team. What this means is that he was able to push the play in the right direction without the benefit of starting soft minutes in the offensive zone.

It's a testament to his skating ability and his passing ability. It's a testament to the coaching staff's trust in him to do the things that win hockey games.

With a spot on Team USA's roster, it looks like Braun is getting the attention he deserves.

NBC Sports Network will carry every Team USA game at the World Championships. A full schedule can be found here.

My favorite debate tactic is the one where you take a stance against an irrational opinion held by one person and blow it way out of proportion. All of a sudden everybody else feels this way except for you and some trusty friends, even if that couldn't be further from the truth.

You then proceed to rally like-minded individuals by appealing to their belief system (one you are already aware exists), paint a black vs. white scenario, and then absolutely batter the opposing argument by listing off rational responses to the initial opinion that was levied.

In other words, you establish yourself as a crusader for intellectual honesty when you're really just cherry-picking your spots to strike.

This works especially well in politics-- one member of whatever group will say something stupid as hell, and then everyone gets all jammed up and decrees that anyone who is affiliated with that member (however loosely) holds the same beliefs and therefore is just as dumb as the original person who said something asinine.

For example, one or two people will make a comment about something or other, and then someone will write something that starts like this (emphasis mine):

"There's been a lot of talk lately about [Hypothetical situation] being a direction that [Individual or Group] should head in. That's absolutely ludicrous for the following reasons:

• Example A of why this opinion is ludicrous
• Example B of why this opinion is ludicrous
• Example C of why this opinion is ludicrous

[Summation of why this is ludicrous, emphasize a lot of talk one more time; close with a witty remark]"

I wouldn't necessarily call it a straw-man argument although it has the same core function. The difference is that instead of misrepresenting your opponent's position (a straw-man) you don't misrepresent it at all. You focus intently on it, dissect it with aplomb, and address every single point he or she has made.

At this point you're a boss, and everybody knows it, and you know everybody knows it because you know how everybody is going to react. You're tapping into cultural capital, appealing to existing belief structures, and using facts or research to back your argument up.

Where the difference lies is how you amplify the magnitude of that opposing opinion. The key here is not to misrepresent the initial argument. As stated above, you handle your response with precision.

The key is to make that opposing opinion seem as as large as possible in scope. It could be one yahoo on Twitter or a blog or whatever but you'll be damned if that stops you from making a scene. It's time to retweet, repost, reply, and renounce everything that one innocuous comment floating in the depths of deep internet space stands for until your chubby little fingers go raw.

Your biggest asset (if you're trying to be a dick) is presenting the opposing opinion as one that a large amount of people hold. It's not about intellectual honesty at this point-- it's about making this appear as if the inmates are running the asylum, the world as we know it is coming to an end, it's a dog vs. dog race, and public opinion is split 50-50 on the issue. It's contentious. It's vicious. It's really happening.

In other words, things have to appear black or white.

And it's up to you to set the record straight.

Screaming "WHO'S COMING WITH ME!!!" is optional, but very effective.

Continue reading this post »

The saying "past performance does not guarantee future results" probably applies to this offseason in more ways than one.

You have the obvious tie-in with the Sharks playoff performance. After two straight Western Conference Finals appearances the Sharks put together their shortest playoff run in franchise history, ousted from the first round in five games by the St. Louis Blues.

And then you have what the question of what will happen in regards to free agency, trades, and decisions on other management personnel. Today we are going to look at decisions the organization has made in the past three seasons following a playoff exit in an attempt to gain a better understanding of what exactly might happen this offseason, but considering the extremely disappointing regular season the Sharks went through as well as how quickly they went out in the postseason, I really have no idea if this has much relevance.

In other words, I'm not sure how this offseason is going to play out.

Let's try and get a better understanding of what we may see:

2009-2010 Sharks Transactions

What Happened The Year Before: First Round loss to Anaheim (President's Trophy)

In via Trade: Dany Heatley, Niclas Wallin

In via Free Agency/Other: Scott Nichol, Manny Malhotra, Jed Ortmeyer, Jay Leach

Out via Trade: Milan Michalek, Jonathan Cheechoo, Christian Ehrhoff, Brad Lukowich

Out via Free Agency/Other: Mike Grier, Jeremy Roenick, Marcel Goc, Jody Shelley, Tomas Plihal, Claude Lemieux, Travis Moen, Alexei Semenov, Brian Boucher

Following what was probably the Sharks biggest playoff disappointment in franchise history, Sharks General Manager Doug Wilson retooled his lower lines with solid two-way forwards Scott Nichol and Manny Malhotra, bringing both prowess in the faceoff dot and penalty killing abilities into the fold. The Sharks added extra depth with Jed Ortmeyer and Jay Leach via free agency and waivers respectively, and relied largely on young players like Logan Couture, Devin Setoguchi, and a recently rehabbed Torrey Mitchell to help fill the holes left by the vast sum of departed forwards.

Dany Heatley was that offseason's only major acquisition, acquired in early September in a blockbuster trade with the Ottawa Senators for mercurial left winger Milan Michalek and a declining Jonathan Cheechoo. While not directly involved in the deal, Christian Ehrhoff's departure from San Jose was likely made to clear cap space for Heatley. At the deadline, the Sharks acquired Niclas Wallin.

The Sharks would go on to the Western Conference Finals where they were swept by the Chicago Blackhawks.

What We Learned: The Sharks aren't afraid to make a blockbuster move (evidenced by the acquisition of Dany Heatley), but aren't exactly interested in fulfilling the media's fascination with "blowing it up" either. The vast majority of the acquisitions and replacements that offseason were of the third/fourth line variety, with the majority of the shake up coming in the bottom six.

Continue reading this post »

With 8 minutes and 43 seconds left on the clock the Sharks appeared to be headed to a game six at HP Pavilion.

45 seconds later, after Niemi's lone mistake of the night and a deflection off the stick of David Perron found twine, the Sharks were headed to an early first round exit.

Sum of all fears right now.

Let's hit the bullets:

• A first round loss in five games (the Sharks shortest playoff run in history as a matter of fact) is not good enough for the players, organization, or fans. Having said that, as we said from the outset of this series, the Blues were a better team up and down the lineup. Everything the Sharks do well the Blues do just a little better. Therefore, as much as this loss stings the nostrils, it was something I think many of us could see coming. In the postseason, teams lose to better teams. The Blues are the better team than the Sharks. This makes the loss understandable.
• Having said that, the fact that the Sharks had to sneak into the postseason during the final two weeks, and end up with the 7th seed, is what sets this apart as something that is acceptable. Sure all season long we tallied up how San Jose was a better team than what their record indicated, and how either statistical variance, luck, or whatever you want to call it played a role in their struggles, but at the end of the day the 7th seed was something that proved to be the backbreaker. The Sharks put themselves in a position where they had to play the best team in the Western Conference in the first round by virtue of their regular season performance.
• I think that should be the key takeaway out of this abbreviated playoff run.
• Joe Thornton is an amazing hockey player, an amazing Captain, and an amazing leader. I'm glad that the bullshit narrative of him being a playoff no-show is even being questioned in the media because he was flat out phenomenal this series and has been for the last three postseasons.
• The penalty kill has to be addressed this offseason, both in terms of personnel and strategy. Ranking in the bottom third for the last two seasons is unacceptable. As The Neutral has covered in his excellent scoring chance posts, this series was extremely tight at even strength. The difference was special teams, and with the Sharks losing both games three and four due to this differential, it's clear that is the biggest issue that needs to be addressed.
• We say this every year and every year it is forgotten and ignored. So what the hell, we'll walk down this road again. The players care about this loss more than you will ever understand. Any idea to the contrary is a sterling reminder of your lack of basic cognitive ability.
• One thing that is going to get lost in the sea of defeat, but I think is extremely relevant, is how an early first round loss effects the team's financial outlook. As we've seen from Forbes annual roundup of NHL teams, the Sharks operate in the middle part of the League. Playoff revenues are a big factor for all NHL teams, and while I can't say with any certainty how this actually effects the Sharks ability to spend to the cap, you have to assume it will play a factor. The fact that San Jose only got two home games this postseason could play a role in their offseason moves from a financial standpoint, not just a competitive one. I have no idea if it will but it is something to keep an eye out for.
• This offseason is going to be, how do you say it, interesting.
• Congratulations to the St. Louis Blues organization on the series victory, and a shout out to our friends across the way at St. Louis Gametime. A lot of good folks involved over there, and despite the sting of an early defeat, you have to tip their cap to them and wish them luck the rest of the way. We've had nothing but great interactions with them and I'm glad that both sides were able to handle themselves with dignity and class.

Thanks again for another great season Fear The Fin. I can't say enough about the writers on our staff, from Matt to The Neutral Snark SD to Jon to Ann. Furthermore, special thanks to the moderators (who are probably going to be extremely busy in the next 24 hours 24 days)-- idunno, Elvis, and Nael are the unsung heroes around here and deserve just as much praise as anyone on the writing staff.

It's a long road ahead this offseason.

But until next time...

Go Sharks.

These are dark days my friends.

When Matt Taylor, whose 1000 word treatise after game one galvanized the masses and brought hope to this little corner of the internet, writes a gameday that sounds like a letter from his deathbed you know you're in trouble.

When the San Jose Sharks, whose consecutive playoff streak spans the last eight seasons, feel a little jittery before a game five you know things are dire.

When the St. Louis Blues, whose 30-6-5 home record this season was second in the NHL, get a chance to secure their first playoff series victory in a decade you know things are going to be difficult.

That's the situation we find ourselves in tonight.

But this situation is one which presents a unique opportunity.

Tonight, ladies and gentleman, tonight is the chance to drag this series kicking and screaming back to HP Pavilion for a pivotal game six that will introduce a peculiar set of circumstances into the playoff formula. A place of refuge, where the thunderous bass and intimidating fog that settles throughout the pregame ceremony plants that tiny seed of doubt in the hearts and minds of the blue note. A place where, as Blues Head Coach Ken Hitchcock mentioned in the aftermath of game four, "has been a graveyard for so many teams this time of year." A place where an opportunity to catch a flight back to St. Louis with the wind behind your back is just 60 minutes away.

There will be time for I told you so's, awkward autopsies, and deeper analysis all summer if this goal is not obtained.

But tonight is not about that. Do not concern yourselves with it. Pay the Reaper no mind. He is irrelevant as he waits in the shadows, twiddling his thumbs while the fat lady readies her pipes.

Tonight is about finding a moment you can rally behind, whether that be a hit, a goal, a save. It is about not just finding a way, but understanding that one way is the only road in which your legs will find willing to walk.

Bring this shit back to San Jose.

Because then things get interesting.

Three seasons ago the Pittsburgh Penguins and Detroit Red Wings traded Stanley Cup victories.

Tonight they attempt to stave off early elimination in the first round.

Goaltending has led both teams to this point although the underlying factors have been different-- Pittsburgh's Marc-Andre Fleury has had a nightmare first round while Pekka Rinne has been a nightmare for the Wings. Detroit outplayed Nashville for the vast majority of games 3 and 4 but walked away empty handed, failing to win in the same arena where they set the record for consecutive home wins earlier this year.

Was Pittsbrugh's 10 goal outburst in game four a sign of things to come? Or was it just delaying the inevitable?

Can the Red Wings finally solve the unsolvable Rinne? Or will the aging Red Wings bow out earlier than expected for the third straight year, this time in the opening round?

We find out tonight.

The first line of Joe Thornton, Joe Pavelski, and Logan Couture was phenomenal tonight. Niemi stopped everything he could see. And the Sharks turned in what was probably their best overall effort of the series when it came down to possession time at 5v5.

But once again it was the St. Louis Blues who walked away the victors, taking a 3-1 series lead back to St. Louis for what will officially be a must-win early in the first round.

Brian Elliot made 24 saves in the victory while BJ Crombeen and Andy McDonald added tallies for the Blues. Joe Thornton made things interesting late in the game when he sent a nice wrister past Elliot with 1:07 left on the clock, well deserved considering the tremendous effort from him and his linemates, but for the second straight game it wasn't enough.

The Blues came out of the gate hard but San Jose received the first Grade A scoring chance of the night when Brent Burns found a streaking Logan Couture with a beautiful breakout pass out of his own zone. It sprung Logan Couture all alone with speed, but Couture's deke and backhand attempt was answered by Brian Elliot with equal aplomb.

The Sharks couldn't find a way to clear their zone a couple shifts later however, leading to a goal against and yet another first period deficit. About five San Jose Sharks were unable to clear the zone with any gusto in back to back shifts, leading to a slam dunk chance in the low slot. BJ Crombeen snapped one past Niemi to make it 1-0 St. Louis as Patrik Berglund and David Perron picked up assists on the play

San Jose answered in pace but not on the scoreboard when Kevin Shattenkirk went to the box for holding-- San Jose's power play generated some solid chances off shots from Logan Couture and the ensuing rebound opportunity from Pavelski, but nothing came of it when Elliot made a nice set of back to back stops.

The first line looked solid in the first period, generating four of the Sharks seven shots on net (Couture 3, Pavelski 1), but San Jose entered the first intermission with a 1-0 deficit.

A high-sticking penalty assessed to Scott Nichol led to the Sharks second straight power play of the night and for the second straight time they looked solid with the man advantage. That crisp puck movement led to an excellent chance at the midway point. Joe Thornton put one on the tape of Pavelski as he cut into the slot but the ensuing opportunity was squashed by Elliot.

After St. Louis hit the post on the power play (whew!) both teams traded power play opportunities. The Sharks strong puck movement and ability to get to the front of the net to pounce on rebound opportunities was readily apparent but the end result was growing familiar-- despite an open net looming, yet another top-notch Pavelski PP scoring chance somehow found a way to defiantly stay out of the net.

Martin Havlat's slash towards the tail end of the man advantage led to some 4v4, which in turn led a Blues power play, which in turn led to a feeling of dread, which in turn led to a successful kill.

Pins and needles baby.

San Jose was strong throughout the second period. However, despite all the offensive zone time amassed, they carried a mere 16 shots into the third period. Credit St. Louis for getting into shooting lanes high in the zone-- they held San Jose's blueline without a single shot through two periods and forced the Sharks to work the puck down low where battles along the boards were in heavy supply.

Continue reading this post »

The top line has put on an absolute show tonight for the San Jose Sharks. They've carried the play in just about every way possible, generating oodles and oodles of offensive zone time and scoring opportunities off the stick of Joe Pavelski and Logan Couture.

Equally good has been Blues goaltender Brian Elliot however, whose 16 saves thus far have kept his team in the lead heading into the second intermission.

You get the feeling that St. Louis is beginning to bend, but it's going to be up to San Jose to get him to break-- despite carrying the play for much of this game at even strength outside of the first 8 minutes or so of the game, San Jose has only managed to total 16 shots on net.

Credit St. Louis for getting into shooting lanes high in the zone-- they've held San Jose's blueline without a single shot thus far and turned the Sharks offensive attack into a one-dimensional monster that is forced to attack down low.

Thankfully for the Sharks the top line looks ready to break open at any moment. They'd be well-suited to do it in the third period, because a loss tonight would be devastating.

Twenty minutes to get things back on track.

Some line changes may be horizon tonight for the Sharks as Michal Handzus and Brad Winchester are expected to be in for Dominic Moore and TJ Galiardi.

Antti Niemi and Brian Elliot will be in net. Thomas Greiss and Jake Allen (filling in for the injured Jaroslav Halak) will be serving the backup roles.

Some other news and notes to tide you over before game 4 gets underway:

• Sharks Head Coach Todd McLellan on the possible additions of Handzus and Winchester: "We're looking for a little more sustained offensive zone time in 5-on-5 situations".
• Joe Thornton is expected to take regular shifts on the penalty kill tonight; Mark Purdy of the San Jose Mercury News looks at that addition.
• Kevin Kurz of CSN's Sharks Talk reports that the Blues lineup will likely remain the same.
• David Pollak and Mark Emmons team up to discuss the importance of tonight's game.
• St. Louis Today on how Alex Pietrangelo and Kevin Shattenkirk have excelled this postseason for the Blues.
• What to watch for during tonight's game four action.

Puck drops at 7:37.

@ 7:30 PST

In what is essentially a must-win game tonight at HP Pavilion the San Jose Sharks will attempt to crack a stifling St. Louis Blues defense by injecting some fresh bodies into the lineup and taking the line blender out for a little spin.

Here's David Pollak of Working The Corners on what may happen tonight.

Emphasis on the may, because as everyone should be aware of, the playoffs aren't exactly the time of year when information flows freely.

That said, the news of the day was Michal Handzus centering the third line and Brad Winchester at left wing on the fourth. If they play in Game 4, it’ll be the first playoff action for both. Dropped to a fifth line — and presumably the press box if McLellan doesn’t mix things up again — were Dominic Moore and TJ Galiardi.

The top two lines also had new looks, so here’s how things shaped up at the morning skate:

Couture-Thornton-Pavelski

Clowe-Marleau-Havlat

Winnik-Handzus-Mitchell

Winchester-Desjardins-Wingels

>> Working The Corners

There's been a lot of talk about how Patrick Marleau seems to be more engaged when he's at center. Ignoring the last four seasons where he's been the fourth-highest goal scorer in the NHL playing on Thornton's wing, there's maybe some validity to that-- centerman have much more defensive responsibility than forwards, handle the puck more often, and are forced to make more plays throughout the course of the game. As The Neutral pointed in his scoring chance roundup following game three, Marleau has yet to record an even strength scoring chance off his stick this series. Anything to get him going in the right direction should be seen as a positive at this point.

In regards to the addition of Handzus and Winchester in replacement of Galiardi and Moore, there's a few tidbits that are worth noting-- both add size but reduce the bottom six's speed, which probably doesn't give San Jose any advantage in breaking cleanly through the neutral zone. Handzus has been a negative possession player this season (last on the team by a long shot), which means that if we're going by the numbers it's not a decision that is necessarily being made to push the puck towards the offensive zone. What it does give San Jose is some bigger bodies that can stand in front of the net and give Elliot more trouble reading shots from the point-- I assume that is going to be their primary role tonight.

On a side note it always feels funny to talk about line combinations. Sure that's part of the business of blogging, but it's hard to ignore the feeling that maybe the head coach has a better read on the situation than I do from way out wherever I sit.

Continue reading this post »

The first round of the NHL playoffs have been one of the most brutal I can remember following the lockout.

It seems like every night we're treated to another questionable hit, another opportunity to cringe. As the media runs yet another story about the unfettered ferociousness of the game of hockey, and coaches like Todd McLellan talk about the borderline chaos running rampant, we sit back and watch another little piece of mayhem unfold in the first NHL postseason to have every game carried on national TV.

Hockey has always been a physical game. It has always been a contact sport. It has been that way for decades and will be for decades more. The way skill and physicality come together in harmony is probably the biggest reason why you're even reading this today, and that blurred line is a huge part of the reason why it makes hockey the best game on Earth.

But if you think it's too dangerous now, I can assure you it is only going to get worse.

It has a little to do with the players not respecting one another anymore. I think that line of thinking was never particularly true anyways-- there's a pretty strong argument to be made that respect for opponents has actually improved in the last decade. And sure you have inconsistency in officiating, alleged double standards when applying suspensions to star vs. non-star players, and the age old debate on whether fighting has a role in the game or not. You can rifle through that list until your fingers turn raw, but I'm not sure it's going to get you anywhere.

Because when it comes down to it, there's a dirty little secret we all seem to forget whenever we bring up these hits that cause injury.

The players are much faster than they were ten years ago.

That's it. With more speed comes bigger collisions. With bigger collisions comes more potential for injury. And with more potential for injury you get more, well, injuries. It's not hard to see the correlation here, and while it might be simplifying things a bit and ignoring some of the predatory hits we've seen this postseason, it really is that simple.

Continue reading this post »

Some pivotal games on the docket around the League tonight.

Both Florida and Phoenix will attempt to wrestle back home-ice advantage on the road against New Jersey and Chicago respectively. Detroit will try to hold off a Nashville team that, despite getting outshot 43-22 in game three, rode physical freak Pekka Rinne to a victory. They have a chance to take a commanding 3-1 series lead tonight against a team that many pegged as a Stanley Cup contender at the outset of the postseason.

Can Detroit avoid joining the likes of Vancouver and Pittsburgh as teams who are one loss away from having their season ended in the first round? Can Chicago continue to deliver in the dying seconds of the third period against a Phoenix team that may be playing without star goaltender Mike Smith? And can you, oh dedicated playoff fan, avoid taking a nap during a Florida-New Jersey game that probably ranks below American Idol in terms of viewing desirability?

Those questions all get answered tonight:

Enjoy the action.

The Sharks headed into tonight's game with home-ice advantage due to their double overtime victory in game one against St. Louis.

They left the building without it.

St. Louis found twine four times, including a trio on the powerplay, to win 4-3 and take a 2-1 lead in the first round series.

Things got started off with a bang as Douglas Murray absolutely flattened TJ Oshie after the opening whistle but the pace settled down immediately afterward. Some sparse chances for both clubs were dispersed throughout the opening eight minutes, with the Blues cleaning up the neutral zone and giving San Jose hell coming out of their zone, but an interference call on Carlo Colaiacovo sent San Jose to their first power play of the night.

On the power play San Jose generated some very good chances, the most notable of which when Barret Jackman tried to clear the puck up the middle of the zone. A strong forecheck from the Sharks led to a turnover to the stick of Dan Boyle, who wasted no time swinging it down to Martin Havlat at the end line. The centering pass did not produce anything however, and after a solid save from Brian Elliot on Boyle later in the frame, the Sharks power play ended without a tally.

Following a Tommy Wingels stick up in the grill of Alex Pietrangelo in the offensive zone the Blues headed to the man advantage and an eventual one goal lead. Carlo Colaiacovo's initial shot from the point found iron, but with the Sharks desperately trying to clear the crease in front of Niemi, Patrik Berglund snuck in behind and tapped one into the empty net.

The Sharks struck soon afterwards.

After a pretty harmless dump in from Joe Thornton bounced in and out of the glove of Kris Russell, Sharks defenseman Brent Burns who was joining the rush pounced. Taking the puck from the right side to the backhand he sent a screamer past Brian Elliot for an early goal of the postseason contender, knotting the game at one apiece and rendering the first goal of the game impotent.

Unfortunately for San Jose, Burns' tally received the same impotency treatment less than a minute into the second period.

Continue reading this post »

After what looked like a momentum changing goal from Brent Burns at the end of the first period, Andy McDonald and Jason Arnott get on the board for St. Louis in the second period to throw a second straight two goal deficit at San Jose heading into the final frame.

The Sharks will have 1:40 left to kill off a Daniel Winnik penalty that saw him board Carlo Colaiacovo.

For San Jose, whose PK struggles from the regular season have begun to bleed into the postseason, killing this opening man advantage will be crucial. Following that it's a matter of generating some better zone possession-- with many of San Jose's chances coming off the rush tonight, and Brian Elliot content to make the first stop and squash any rebound opportunities, it's a matter of grinding the puck down low and winning those board battles that are in short supply against a team as strong as St. Louis down low.

Twenty minutes to get two.

Hell, let's shoot for three and see what happens.

The Sharks have scored 3, 2, 1, and 0 (x3) goals against the St. Louis Blues this season.

The Blues have scored 4, 3 (x3), 2, and 1 goals against the Sharks this season.

I think it's safe to say tonight should be another low scoring game, but as soon as you say something like that things tend to get away on you. I remember last postseason heading into game three against the Los Angeles Kings everyone was talking about another 2-1 game and all of a sudden San Jose drops a five spot in the second period and ends up winning 6-5 in overtime. There's no method to the madness this time of year.

At any rate, another huge game at HP Pavilion tonight. San Jose got the road split we all said was going to be important and now have the opportunity to take advantage of home ice.

Some news and notes to tide you over before puck drop:

• The Sharks will wear their Black Armor jerseys at home this entire postseason. Adjust your game wear accordingly.
• Antti Niemi will face Brian Elliot tonight, with Thomas Greiss and Jake Allen serving as the backups.
• Eric Lindquist takes you in the game within the game and asks the question-- how will game 3 play out after the fireworks on Saturday?
• Kevin Kurz of CSN's Sharks Talk blog breaks down what to watch for tonight.
• Sharks Head Coach Todd McLellan has hinted at lineup changes for game three, but according to David Pollak of Working The Corners, McLellan is not giving away any particulars.
• Blues Head Coach Ken Hitchcock is in the same boat-- according to Pierre Lebrun of ESPN Chris Stewart will be in tonight for the Blues, but he's not telling anyone in the media who Stewart will replace.
• The always excellent Elliote Friedman was on Puck Daddy Radio today.
• Dan O'Neill of St. Louis Today looks at the series thus far.

Puck drops at 7:07 PM.

@ 7:00 PST

After all of the fireworks at the end of game two (which has ended up looking like a meeting at a nun convent following the mayhem in Philadelphia yesterday), it seems like there's about two ways tonight is going to go-- it's either an up-tempo war of epic proportions with Patrick Marleau dropping the gloves three times throughout the night, or it ends up a tight-checking affair with your standard post-whistle scrums and nothing more.

A lot of times after a finish like that you'll expect some fireworks, and a lot of times the pace will settle down in the first period and end up looking like nothing happened. It's funny how hockey works sometimes.

As both Todd McLellan and Blues Head Coach Ken Hitchcock told David Pollak of Working The Corners yesterday, moving on is in the best interest of both clubs:

"It doesn’t matter whether I’m OK with that or not," McLellan said of no disciplinary action by the league. (Remember, McLellan was particularly livid about the punch Moore took.) "Decisions have been made and we have to move on."

Added Hitchcock: "It’s yesterday’s news. All this stuff about message-sending, it never works anyway. This time of year there’s only one payback. Win the hockey game. There’s no retribution other than play to win."

>> Working The Corners

If you're looking for one last look at the fights please click here.

Brian Elliot is expected to be in net for the Blues tonight, and while Halak travelled with the team, it looks like Jake Allen will serve the backup role as Halak's health is still in question. But for all those licking their chops at getting a shot at the backup goalie, rest assured Elliot has been just as good as Halak this season if not a little superior-- Elliot led the League in SV% this season with a .940 SV% and actually set a modern day record in the GAA department, posting a 1.56 GAA.

Getting to those high percentage areas to beat Elliot will be huge for San Jose tonight, something they've done in fits and spurts throughout the series but not with any real consistency. The good news is that as we covered during Saturday's game preview (as well in our scoring chance roundups), San Jose has done a pretty good job of limiting St. Louis' chances as well-- both games thus far have been fairly low-event affairs. It speaks to both the defensive quality of these two clubs as well as their rosters being built in a "meat and potatoes" mold, where board play and grinding it out in the corners is an area where they thrive.

In other words, thus far this series has played out like a Jody Shelley fight-- seventeen sweater jabs with the left hand to soften them up, and then a couple right hooks at the end to complete the takedown.

Continue reading this post »

Playoff games get better and better the deeper it goes because there's so much on the line in the latter rounds, but from an excitement standpoint there is probably nothing better than the first round. The way the field gets weeded down from 16 to 8, the upsets that happen every night, the electricity in the buildings, the ability to read as much content as you want from blogs and the MSM across North America. Everyone is dialed in right now.

But the best part of the postseason has to be days like today. Four games on a Sunday, your final day of the weekend booked solid from 9 AM to 10 PM. There's really nothing like it, and whether you're nursing a hangover after a Sharks loss or enjoying the day with your friends and family, this is the kind of day when you realize how blessed you are to be a fan of this wonderful game.

Here's the schedule:

The Flyers and Kings could really cost some people in playoff pools big coin today.

Enjoy the action.

Between the bench malfunction early in the first period, Patrick Marleau getting engaged in post-whistle scrums, Joe Pavelski dropping the gloves with Kris Russell, Barret Jackman running over Jaroslav Halak to knock him out of the game, and the symphony of punches that played both teams out of the building following the final whistle, it's safe to say tonight was an interesting one.

Things got interesting early, as an own-goal proved to be the game winner for St. Louis, who evened the series at one with a 3-0 shutout victory over San Jose.

A mere 1:31 into the game a shot from Vladimir Sobotka off the rush squeaked through Niemi, fluttering into the crease. With the Blues crashing the net defenseman Marc-Edouard Vlasic, who is the guy you want to make a play in that situation 99% of the time, attempted to clear the puck out of danger. Unfortunately for Vlasic it was that 1% when you would have preferred someone else, as his backhanded clear went right into the open net to give St. Louis a 1-0 lead.

Both teams traded individual power play chances later in the frame, with the Sharks floundering and the Blues putting on immense pressure respectively. Antti Niemi made some excellent saves during the Sharks kill, knocking aside 5 shots to keep San Jose within a goal heading into intermission.

Goal against aside the Sharks probably had their best periods of the series thus far. Pavelski rang one off the crossbar and the Sharks carried the play at even strength, generating healthy offensive zone time and breaking into the zone cleanly and effectively. Packaging that performance over the course of 60 minutes would have been ideal, as the Blues were on their heels for the vast majority of the frame.

In the second period the script got flipped.

St. Louis came out and ran the Sharks ragged throughout the entire frame, outshooting the Sharks 11-3 at the halfway mark and 17-10 overall. Antti Niemi held the fort for San Jose for as long as he could with a little help from his posts, as both Sobotka and Steen ramped one off the iron, but the Blues would eventually capitalize despite Niemi's excellence.

At the 13:49 mark San Jose looked like they had T.J. Oshie handled off the rush, but a brilliant individual effort from the 25 year old right winger turned the Sharks inside out and back inside again. After Oshie slipped a Jason Demers check along the boards he proceeded to dangle around both Patrick Marleau and Joe Pavelski on his way to open ice.

The ensuing backhand pass through the box wasn't as pretty but it was just as effective. David Backes received the feed in his wheelhouse and slammed one past a helpless Niemi to give St. Louis a commanding 2-0 lead.

Continue reading this post »

After their best period of the series the Sharks came out in the second and have trouble generating much of anything offensively.

Vladimir Sobotka and David Backes have both of the Blues goals, with assists coming from Marc-Edouard Vlasic off an unfortunate bounce and TJ Oshie off a tremendous individual effort respectively.

Zone penetration is going to be essential this period for San Jose, who did an excellent job of it in the first but a very poor job of it in the second. The Blues are going to be sitting back on that lead like they are wont to do, making getting clean breaks into the zone especially difficult.

Win tonight after a second period like that and all the momentum in the world is in your hands. Lose tonight and we've got the dogfight we expected out of this Blues team.

Twenty minutes to get two.

No lineup changes expected for San Jose tonight. Antti Niemi getting the call in net.

• Ken Hitchcock talks to David Pollak of Working The Corners about the lineup changes he'll be making tonight as well as the fact that everyone in the League knew San Jose was going to ramp things up for the postseason.
• Recall his comments earlier this year when he praised the Sharks roster and the crowd at HP Pavilion. Two classy coaches taking part in this series.
• Puck Daddy talks about adjustments being made in the middle of playoff series'.
• Courtesy of sjsharks.com, here's a pregame video with Logan Couture and others.
• We dropped the ball on Thursday when the game thread ballooned up to 2K+ comments without a new one. Won't happen again.

Puck drops at 4:37 PM.

@ 4:30 PST

The Sharks did a lot of things well on Thursday night in their double overtime victory, the most important of which was stealing a victory on the road. Taking a 1-0 series lead at this stage is far from a guarantee of future success, but as Matt said yesterday morning, no matter what happens tonight the fact is that San Jose will at the very least tied heading back home to San Jose. That's a huge win for a club that struggled against the Blues during the regular season, and is a textbook example of what you want to do as the road team-- put the pressure on the home ice club as early as possible.

It doesn't hurt to get greedy this time of year though, which means tonight is a great opportunity to bust out the good luck wooly mammoth tusks.

There's a ton of other positives from game one as well-- the Sharks beat the Blues at their own game. Antti Niemi was phenomenal and won the goaltending battle, the Sharks managed to come back in the third period against a team that usually locks it down in that final frame, and Martin Havlat continued to be a big time playoff player.

He's fifth highest NHLer in playoff points per game since the lockout in case you haven't heard.

Another thing San Jose did very well during game one was get into the Blues shooting lanes, forcing them to either dump the puck along the boards or just toss the puck to the net from the point. The Blues had a ton of zone time, which isn't what the Sharks want to happen every single night they're out there, but if you're going to be in the defensive zone more often throughout the game then keeping the team to the outside is the best way to do it.

San Jose blocked 19 shots in total in game one. They've been pretty damn good at doing this throughout the season as well, finishing 5th in the League in raw blocked shots.

As we looked at last postseason however, merely totaling up blocked shots and calling it a day isn't a good indicator of how good a team is at that important skill:

But in order to put this in context and attempt to see how good a team truly is at blocking shots, there needs to be context. As we mentioned above, teams who give up a wealth of shots on net probably shouldn't be considered as "good" at blocking shots as a team who keeps their goaltender from having to make a slew of saves-- time spent in the defensive zone is not an effective use of a team's capabilities after all, primarily because with it comes risk of a goal against.

Broken down by a percentage of shots on net we can better understand a team's ability to make a difference when blocking shots; in other words, it allows us to see which team is really frustrating opposing team's by restricting their opportunities to score goals.

>> "The San Jose Sharks Are Paying The Price"

Since this postseason is far too young to look at the numbers and establish any sort of meaning, let's see how San Jose fared during the regular season.

As it turns out, they were pretty damn good at it. Second in the NHL in fact:

Now this isn't the end-all be all of success, nor am I suggesting that allowing teams to pummel shots into your shin pads all night is a great way to win a hockey game-- you obviously want to push the pace offensively as much as you can. The fact that the Islanders and Canadiens both made this list shows that it's not exactly the best metric at determining who wins hockey games.

But there are the little things that go a long way this time of year. It's glorified for a reason.

And San Jose has shown the ability to do just that.

Continue reading this post »

All season long Sharks Head Coach Todd McLellan has spoken about what he calls "the race to three", or the importance of scoring three goals before an opposing team does.

The NHL is a "3-2 League"-- with so much parity across teams, and the abilities of those teams to scout opponents reaching unprecedented heights with the rise of advanced statistics and easy access to video due to technological advancements, games are going to be tight right down to the wire.

That's especially true in the Stanley Cup playoffs. Weaker teams are weeded out, the competition becomes fiercer, and coaches are able to compose a much firmer gameplan to beat an opposing team instead of just adding a few wrinkles here and there for a one and done regular season game.

This postseason, the "race to three" has produced results in line with what we would expect-- teams are 5-1-1 this year when they win the race to three, with only the Philadelphia Flyers (who staged a three goal comeback to win 4-3 in overtime on Wednesday) and the Boston Bruins (who won 1-0 in overtime yesterday) picking up victories without hitting that three goal mark before their opponents.

In other words, the correlation with winning has always been strong for teams who score three goals (more goals lead to more wins after all), and it's safe to expect more of that tonight.

The game of the night for me has to be Los Angeles and Vancouver-- sure it will be interesting to see Pittsburgh's response after their meltdown in game one, and the fallout from Shea Weber's smash of Henrik Zetterberg on Wednesday is bound to add some intrigue, but I thought Los Angeles handled Vancouver pretty exceptionally during game one in their ability to carry the play and keep the Canucks to the outside for the majority of the night.

One game in is way too early to think an upset is imminent of course, but Los Angeles has the exact same opportunity San Jose will have on Saturday-- take a 2-0 lead in the series heading back to home ice. With Daniel Sedin projected to miss another game with concussion symptoms the Canucks are going to have their work cut out for them.

Enjoy the action.

No word on health, scratches, or the starting lineup heading into tonight-- par for the course this time of year-- but one thing we can be certain of is tonight's starting goaltenders.

Antti Niemi will be in net for San Jose while Jaroslav Halak will get the call for St. Louis.

Something we haven't talked about in an official capacity as of late is the similarity of both the Blues Andy McDonald and the Sharks Martin Havlat, both in the sense of historical trends, seasons to date, and their playing styles.

Both McDonald and Havlat have struggled with injuries throughout this season. Both have struggled with injuries throughout their career. Both bring a distinct and rich blend of playmaking, smooth skating, and creativity to the ice. And both are standouts from their roster counterparts in that they do things a lot of players on these respective rosters don't necessarily do.

The San Jose Sharks and St. Louis Blues are teams built in the meat and potatoes mold for the most part-- strong, physical teams who can grind with the best of them. There is speed and creativity dispersed throughout both lineups of course, but Havlat and McDonald stand out as two players who do it better than the rest.

It's not essential for either to outplay the other, nor is it anything other than a unique storyline of two guys who have had similar career paths and play a similar game. But in the postseason we're always trying to put two and two together to make five, and I think that the play of both Havlat and McDonald could be an interesting subplot in a series that probably has too many of them to count.

Some assorted links to tide you over before game one (game one!) finally gets underway:

• David Pollak of Working The Corners talks about Perron-Thornton, the first ten minutes, and some ex-Sharks making an appearance in the series.
• Ray Ratto of CSN's Sharks Talk looks at the lineup changes that could happen and how Head Coach Todd McLellan has been recovering from his concussion.
• Kevin Kurz of CSN's Sharks Talk breaks down what to watch for tonight.
• Plenty of talk about the Blues inexperience potentially playing a factor; Tom Timmerman of St. Louis Today looks at that angle from both sides.
• The always excellent Jeremy Rutherford says Brian Elliot will be the backup, drops the goods on the Blues starting lineup, and covers some more odds and ends.

Puck drops at 4:37 PM.

@ 4:30 PST

Over the course of the last three days we've ran through some significant aspects to this series. They are as follows:

• Fourth line Storylines: How Andrew Desjardins and Scott Nichol have fared this season.
• Possession Numbers In The Last 15 Games: How the Blues and Sharks have played heading into the postseason.
• Sharks Performance Against the Western Elite: How the Sharks have played against Vancouver, Detroit, Los Angeles, Chicago, and St. Louis.
• Sharks Forward Lines: How the Sharks forward lines look heading into this series.
• Head To Head Matchups: How the Sharks and Blues will deploy their lines with the last change.
• Keys To The Series: How the Sharks can defeat the Blues.
• Series Predictions: How we see things playing out over the next seven games.

And so it begins.

The time of year when bad Mexican food becomes a blessing as it gives you even more time to fart around on your smartphone at work. The time of year when significant others turn into ghosts, figments of a former life you slowly become unable to recognize. The time of year when looking like a degenerate is not just encouraged, it is celebrated. The more unkempt the more revered. This time of year man.

It's a drug.

Win tonight and you think you have the momentum, lose tonight and you're crunching the numbers over and over and over again trying to find the road map to get to four. And then no matter what happens, no matter how resounding the victory or soul crushing the defeat, in 24 hours it doesn't mean shit. Everything just evaporates and you start anew.

Playoff math. It's how our minds even got here. Sinful math, the ebb and flow that multiplies into something you can't even comprehend.

God save us all.

Prediction: Sharks win 3-1. Goals by Pavelski, Braun, and Couture.

1. Steal An Early Game On The Road

It doesn't need to be the first game, but it pretty much has to be one of the first two. A 2-0 series hole is a lot to climb out of and sets the table for what will undoubtedly be a pair of tough must-win games at HP Pavilion. We've crunched the numbers pretty heavily over the last couple days so let's go with the psychological route here-- two straight losses to this Blues team, bringing the Sharks overall record to 0-6 against them this year, is an element that compounds the already inherent difficulty of winning 4 out of your next 5.

As both Detroit and Chicago showed us last season it's hard to count any team out in the postseason even if a 3-0 series deficit is in play. The Sharks won't be toast if they drop the opening two, but they'll be in the toaster, and that makes this key enough to land in our number one spot.

In other words, "Just win the game!". Or something like that.

2. Fight off the forecheck with quick and intelligent reads from the first defenseman back.

The Blues come harder than just about every team in the League on the forecheck, throwing wave upon wave of forwards at the puck carrier deep in the zone. They do an excellent job of creating turnovers off of this aspect of their game, and a large reason as to why their possession numbers are so strong is because of how hard they make teams work for 200 feet.

One thing the Sharks have done very well at times throughout this season is get a quick release from the zone off a dumped puck. The first defenseman back will locate the puck and swing a quick pass up to a forward who is stationed along the side boards. The forward who receives the puck will then look middle far-side and locate a passing lane for a player that's begun to circle back around-- most forechecking teams in the NHL will pinch hard down the wall and force their opposition to use the middle of the ice, which makes this pass important in that it has to be right on the money and quick so you don't get tied up in a possession battle.

If that pass connects you have speed coming out of your zone and push opposing defenseman back. This gives you a better chance of making a clean zone entry. The Blues do an excellent job of limiting odd-man opportunities so there aren't going to be many of those available even with a perfect breakout, but beating the Blues forecheck consistently is a very good way to nullify what is one their strongest assets.

Where this play starts is with the first defenseman back who's retrieving the puck-- obviously you're going to want to see guys like Dan Boyle, Marc-Edouard Vlasic, and Brent Burns getting to these pucks first because they're some of the better puck movers on the team. It's going to be interesting to see how St. Louis goes after San Jose on the forecheck. I think it starts with him instructing his players to dump the puck to the side away from guys like Boyle.

A player like Douglas Murray is very strong on the puck, but that half a step he has behind Boyle means he's more liable to be hemmed down in a puck battle when the first Blues forechecker hits. This slows the Sharks breakout and turns the game more into the muckfest that St. Louis enjoys.

In a series like this, which is going to be filled with a lot of puck battles and tactical coaching battles, watching which side the Blues attack on the forecheck and how the Sharks adjust as it moves along is going to be exciting as hell to watch.

Continue reading this post »

The San Jose Sharks enter the postseason a forward group that should be considered one of the deepest units in the NHL.

The additions of Daniel Winnik, Dominic Moore, and TJ Galiardi at the deadline, coupled with the return of Martin Havlat from injury, have added to an already stellar top six filled with the likes of Joe Thornton, Patrick Marleau, Joe Pavelski, Logan Couture, and Ryane Clowe.

All four lines will have a role this postseason. The first and second line will be leaned on to do the heavy bulk of the scoring and do so against opposing team's top competition. The third line will be tasked with breaking the Blues stingy neutral zone play with their collective speed and provide energy to the lineup. And the fourth line, along with their defensive responsibility, will be asked to provide strong puck possession down low and work the puck up to the defenseman off that cycle, cashing in on any rebounds that will emanate therefrom.

Sharks Head Coach Todd McLellan isn't afraid to switch it up with his lines if things aren't working, but as of right now this is how things look to be shaping up heading into game one.

The Players: Joe Thornton, Patrick Marleau, Joe Pavelski

Scoring Threat Level: Ron Jeremy

The Skinny: Whenever a line features your best offensive players and your best defensive players you know it's going to be an absolute treat to watch. At even strength this trio is 1-2-3 in quality of competition and 1-2-5 in CORSI relative to their teammates. All of those gaudy possession numbers come along with 79 goals, 123 assists, and a combined +45.

To put it simply: They play the best, and consistently pummel the best, each and every night they hit the ice.

A big part of their success comes with their ability to create off the low cycle, an area of the game where all three players thrive. There's been too many times to count this year where Pavelski, Thornton, and Marleau put on an absolute show behind the net, with one player dropping the puck into a vacated area of the ice before a linemate makes a precise read and picks it up a stride and a half ahead of the defensive player. Puck goes to Jumbo, he slides a pass through a pinhole, and that red light thing happens.

Pretty, pretty, pretty red lights.

Key This Series: Outscore the Blues top line (what enlightening analysis!).

With all the talk about the Blues excellent possession metrics (and they undoubtedly are excellent), the fact remains that St. Louis doesn't have the thoroughbreds San Jose has at the top of the lineup. Sure they have a deep stable of reliable horses, but none that are able to consistently do what Pavelski, Thornton, and Marleau have done in regards to goal production this season.

If the Sharks are going to advance they're going to need some big games from this trio. And as all three have shown in previous runs to the Western Conference Finals, they are more than able to produce points when it counts.

The Players: Logan Couture, Ryane Clowe, Martin Havlat

Scoring Threat Level: Matt Taylor on prom night (he was the man in high school despite being a part of the Backstreet Boys official fan club)

The Skinny: Although San Jose's top line is undoubtedly their most effective line by every conceivable metric, the second line might be their most exciting to watch. Silky smooth Martin Havlat is no Datsyuk-esque magician (who is besides the man himself?), but he's about as close as it gets. A head bob here, a little shimmy shoulder shake whoopty whoop whoop what! there, and open ice lies ahead for him to work with. Ryane Clowe complements Havlat's style with excellent puck possession along the boards as well as an ability to provide some physical play in the corners, opening up the ice for his linemates to perform.

And then there's Logan Couture, a player who at the age of 23 years old has turned into a budding star in this League. He drives possession, skates very well for a player without blazing end to end speed, and much like Joe Pavelski always seems to find himself around the puck. Plus there's that wrist shot, which consistently is able to find top corner like it ain't no thang. Couture is a player who was physically targeted by the Los Angeles Kings in the final two games of the regular season for a specific reason-- he's a gamechanger, a crucial part of that second line, and a player who is able to beat teams at big moments.

Key This Series: Make the Blues struggle deciding who to send their best defensive unit out against.

It stands to assume that Couture, Havlat, and Co. will face the second toughest matchup against the Blues and avoid David Backes (much more on that from The Neutral tomorrow), and if Ken Hitchock is a master at anything it is locating his matchups. The last change at home is going to get him as much opportunity as possible to throw out his best defensive unit against Thornton, setting the stage for the second line to perform.

Another aspect of the Blues game is physicality, and much like Los Angeles, they'll probably target Logan Couture with hard checks. It's going to be important for Clowe to pick his spots defending him here, because as mediocre as St. Louis' power play is, the 29th ranked Sharks penalty kill had it's difficulty containing them during the season series.

Continue reading this post »