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Around SBN: Vogelsong Remains the Same, Melky Gets Another Three Hits

Poseypavelski

mymclife

Dec 19, 2008 May 27, 2012 90 20355

Majoring in Communication at USC
Disney enthusiast
Weekend web and graphic designer
Twitter: @mymclife

a fan of

San Jose Sharks National Hockey League Team

San Francisco Giants Major League Baseball Team

USC Trojans NCAA Men's Football Division 1A Team

San Francisco 49ers National Football League Team

USC Trojans NCAA Men's Basketball Division 1 Team

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Patrick Marleau or a young Alex Trebek? The world may never know. [Image source]

4 days ago Poseypavelski_tiny mymclife 12 comments 2 recs

Fear The Fin History of the Rosters: Eastern Conference Finals

With the New York Rangers's 2-1 win over the Washington Capitals on Saturday night, the Conference finals match--ups were set. There would be a Pacific Division showdown in the West, and an Atlantic Division showdown in the East. While the Pacific Division's success was a bit of a surprise, the Atlantic Division was arguably the best in hockey, so it makes sense that the Eastern Conference's Stanley Cup representative would come from there.

So the Eastern Conference Finals features the New York Rangers and the New Jersey Devils, who beat the Philadelphia Flyers in five games. This is not the first time the Eastern Conference finals was an Atlantic Division match-up; it last happened in 2008 with the Penguins and Flyers. This is not even the first time these two teams have met in the Eastern Conference Finals, with the last time occurring in 1994. You might remember that year as the year Messier cried and Vancouver rioted the first time (I don't, but I was three - and here's the obligatory pause when you feel old).

Just like my previous article about the Western Conference Finals rosters, the purpose of this article is to examine how these two Atlantic Division teams built their rosters in order to be more successful than 13 other teams in their conference. I always find cool pieces of trivia when I do these - Pat Falloon still affects the Sharks' roster! - which is why I continue to create these charts far past the point of sanity.

Below are the charts for both the New Jersey Devils and New York Rangers. As before, I only included players who have played a playoff game due to the "Black Ace" phenomenon. Unlike before, there's actually an appearance by a backup goalie. Hello, Johan Hedberg!

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I admit, I don't know much about the New York area. My knowledge comes almost entirely from Friends, the Real Housewives of New York/New Jersey, and this gif. But what I do know is that New York teams are notorious for signing all the free agents, and these charts do not disagree with that stereotype. Both teams love free agents and hate trades (the Los Angeles Kings are clutching their chest right now). The one difference between the two is their treatment of draft picks.

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10 comments  |  3 recs | 

Fear The Fin History of the Rosters: Western Conference Finals

Going into the playoffs this year, all the talk was about how dominant the Central division was (outside of Columbus), and how it was certain that two of the four teams (still excluding Columbus) would meet up in the Western Conference Finals. Well, look who's laughing now. Not the Central division, that's for sure. And Sharks fans. Definitely not Sharks fans.

After the Los Angeles Kings swept the St. Louis Blues and the Phoenix Coyotes beat the Nashville Predators in five games, the Western Conference Finals became an all-Pacific Division Conference Finals, the first time it has happened since the Pacific Division was formed. The Pacific Division in the conference finals is not exactly a rare occurrence - 2009 was the only year since 2003 that did not have a Pacific Division team playing for the chance to play for the Cup - but it's still notable.

But the reason of this article is not to extol the virtues of playing in the Pacific Division, but rather to examine how those two Pacific Division teams built their rosters so that one of them will be playing for the Stanley Cup. For the past two years, I've been examining how the San Jose Sharks roster has come together, through draft picks, trades, and free agent signings. Due to the Sharks' unfortunate early exit from the playoffs, and because I'm actually fascinated by this sort of thing, I decided to branch out and do roster charts for the two teams that are where the Sharks have been the past two years.

Below are the charts for both the Los Angeles Kings and the Phoenix Coyotes. Normally, I would pull the rosters off the official site rosters, but due to the "Black Ace" phenomenon, I decided to stick with only the players that have played in a playoff game. So sorry Jonathan Bernier and Jason LaBarbera, in the words of Heidi Klum, you are out.

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The Los Angeles Kings and the Phoenix Coyotes illustrated the tale of two methods of building rosters. The Kings are firm believers in trade first, ask questions later. And once the questions are asked, the answer is always trade. The Coyotes, on the other hand, prefer to sign free agents or retain their original draft picks.

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29 comments  |  3 recs | 

McCovey Chronicles History of the San Francisco Giants Roster

As you all know by now, I am a San Jose Sharks fan. And as you probably should know, I am one of the writers at the SBN Sharks blog, Fear the Fin. One of my favorite (and most time-consuming) pieces that I write is a roster history, that is, a detailed look at the draft picks, trades, and signings that eventually led to the roster that we see today. I debuted this concept two seasons ago for the 2009-10 roster, and then improved upon it for the 2010-11 roster (in case you were curious about how the Sharks roster was made).

With the regular season approaching for the Giants, a thought came to me - why can't I do the same thing for the San Francisco Giants? Sure, the rosters are bigger, but that shouldn't be too hard, right? Turns out it was even easier than expected, so instead of simply doing this year's roster as of last night, I've also done the 2010 roster, since 2010 kind of rocked. They're color-coded and everything!

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21 comments  |  8 recs | 

Fear The Fin Sharks Gameday: Thoroughly Confounded

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5:00 PST
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33-24-9, 75 points 33-25-10, 76 points
8th in Western Conference
7th in Western Conference

Television
CSN-CA (HD)
Radio
98.5 KFOX, Sjsharks.com
Antagonists
Five For Howling
Ice Chips

The Phoenix Coyotes are a confounding team. They started winning after they were put into bankruptcy and fired the long-established coach (albeit the coach was Wayne Gretzky, who was as bad at coaching as he was good at hockey). They push for a playoff spot despite having a payroll in the bottom third of the league. And they've stayed owner-less for three seasons now, perpetually on the brink of relocation but never actually going anywhere. It's like they've somehow managed to turn down into up in Glendale, Arizona.

So, in honor of this thoroughly confounding team, here is a list of other things that are quite confounding:

  • The Sharks' season started out with a game opening night, a week-long break, and then three games in four nights.
  • There is a seven hole system for goalies all set up, yet the only one that people ever use is the five hole.
  • Cell phone voice mail systems that have "send a fax" as an option.
  • The Sharks had a nine game road trip in sixteen days with three back-to-backs. Still don't understand that.
  • Colin White.
  • The Dark Knight did not get nominated for Best Picture in 2009.
  • Jack-in-the-Box's taco promotion at HP Pavilion.
  • Those people who wear Giants hats in Dodgers colors or vice versa.
  • Los Angeles traffic jams at 11:30pm.
  • Vesa Toskala was a serious contender for the starting goaltender job in San Jose.
  • The Columbus Blue Jackets, Boston Red Sox, and Chicago White Sox are all teams named after articles of clothing.
  • There were two different Canadian Football League teams who had the name Rough Riders at the same time.

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57 comments  |  3 recs | 

Fear The Fin Sharks fail to score one Moore time, fall 3-2

Justin Peters became the first Carolina goalie aside from starter Cam Ward to win in 41 games as the Carolina Hurricanes beat the San Jose Sharks 3-2 in a game that wasn't even that close until the third period.

The Sharks were on a second half of a back-to-back and, due to some San Francisco-like fog, were stuck traveling to Raleigh the day of the game. While that's no excuse for professionals, it certainly did not help the Sharks any, and travel fatigue was readily apparent throughout most of the first and the entire second period.

It was the first period that ultimately killed the Sharks, even though they were able to even up the score later on. They fell behind early after Jeff Skinner banked a pass off of Dan Boyle's skate that ended up behind a helpless Thomas Greiss. Just three minutes later, the other 19-year-old on the Hurricanes Justin Faulk made it 2-0 as he converted a pretty tic-tac-toe passing play with Jamie McGinn in the box for roughing.

In a "let's all feel old" moment of the day, Jeff Skinner and Justin Faulk have never been alive during a time when the San Jose Sharks did not exist. Their combined age also makes them younger than Teemu Selanne, Nicklas Lidstrom, Johan Hedberg, Jaromir Jagr and Ray Whitney. I am older than they are.

Now that we all feel good and creaky, let's get back to hockey. The Hurricanes got their second power play of the night after Greiss was whistled for a rare goalie hook, but failed to capitalize. A successful kill spurred the Sharks, giving them the most offensive pressure of the game thus far. Torrey Mitchell had a great chance at one of his signature highlight reel goals, but fanned on the puck.

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48 comments  | 

During pre-season, some of the San Jose Sharks went to the Spin-A-Yarn restaurant in Fremont for a taping of Gordon Ramsey's Kitchen Nightmares. Last night, the episode finally aired. And as a reluctant avid viewer of Kitchen Nightmares, I can say that the Sharks got more air time and importance given to them than other big names that have appeared on the show.

Link is to the Hulu stream, which will be available for non-plus subscribers in a week. If you don't care about the show other than just seeing the Sharks, skip to around 35 minutes in.

4 months ago Poseypavelski_tiny mymclife 13 comments

Fear The Fin Sharks Gameday: Hot and Hotterer

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7:30 PST
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21-15-2, 44 points 22-11-4, 48 points
9th in Eastern Conference 3rd in Western Conference

Television
CSN-CA (HD)
Radio
98.5 KFOX, Sjsharks.com
Antagonists
Japers Rink
Washington Post

The Washington Capitals are inextricably linked with the San Jose Sharks. And it’s not solely their NHL-record 17 game losing streaks during the 1974-75 and 1992-93 seasons respectively, although that does strengthen the bond of solidarity between the teams. It’s because both teams – and both teams’ captains – have been labeled as incurable playoff chokers, destined to dominate the regular season and consistently fall short in the playoffs.

For the past four seasons, both teams have won their divisions. Both teams have won a President’s Trophy for the best team in the regular season as well. Each has a roster filled with high-class talent and depth that many teams could only dream of. Yet, neither team has made it to the Stanley Cup Finals. The two captains – Joe Thornton and Alexander Ovechkin – have been accused of lacking heart as if they were that girl on Grey’s Anatomy a few years ago, who literally had no heart. Ovechkin because he’s Russian, and Thornton because he scored no points in a playoff series when he played with broken ribs.

Thus, the teams have become descriptors of each other; San Jose is "the Caps of the West" and Washington is "the Sharks of the East." And despite recent efforts by the Sharks in particular, neither team will fully shake their reputation until they win the Stanley Cup, and their captain is named the Conn Smythe winner. Really, the only differences between the teams are that the Sharks don’t draft Russians and the Capitals are deemed worthy to play in Winter Classics.

As with the Sharks, expectations are high for the Capitals during the regular season. The fans do not hope for a playoff berth, but expect one. After started the season off hot with a seven game win streak, the Capitals posted a 5-9-1 record that included listless play from their stars. Despite accruing a record that San Jose’s opponent on Thursday would gladly take, the Capitals fired head coach Bruce Boudreau four years and six days after he was first hired.

Hired in his place was Dale Hunter, former coach of the London Knights of the Ontario Hockey League, in a move that was seen as inevitable by many of their fans. While the last coach the Capitals hired mid-season drastically improved their play and won the Jack Adams as coach of the year, Hunter seems to only improve their record minimally. With Boudreau behind the bench, the Capitals went 12-9-1, on pace for 93 points. Since Hunter took over, they have gone 9-6-1, on pace for 97 points. Both totals would have been good enough for a playoff spot in the Eastern Conference last season, although neither would have afforded them home ice.

But perhaps most important to the Capitals, Alex Ovechkin has started playing like Alex Ovechkin again; that is, playing with his trademark goal-scoring enthusiasm that has been lacking since last season.

The Sharks and Capitals have only played each other 29 times, with the Sharks by far dominating the match-up. The Sharks have gone 19-9-1 against the Capitals, good for their third-best winning percentage against any NHL team. On the Capitals’ side of things, they have only done worse against the now-defunct Cleveland Barons. The Capitals have not won in San Jose since October 30, 1993 – the first month of play in what is now known as HP Pavilion.

But just because history is on the Sharks’ side doesn’t mean this is a game they should win – if hockey followed history, the Montreal Canadiens would have won a Cup this past decade, and we all know that didn’t happen. Not only is Ovechkin playing like Ovechkin, but Nicklas Backstrom and enigmatic Russian* Alex Semin look to return from injury against the Sharks, and the Capitals are on a five game winning streak.

*When talking about Alexander Semin, writers are required to use the phrase "enigmatic Russian." It’s in a pamphlet that’s sent out every year.

Prediction: Sharks win 5-2. Goals by Pavelski, Wingels, Couture, Burns, and McGinn, all on the power play. Penalty kill goes 5-for-5 as Douglas Murray remembers how much fun it is for him to play against Ovechkin.

42 comments  | 

It has come out today that the NHLPA has refused to agree with the realignment proposal the NHL had come up with earlier in the season. This means that there will be no realignment next season, and the current division and playoff format will remain.

As this is the final season of the current CBA, I would guess that the NHLPA would like realignment to be in the discussion of the next CBA, or is using it as a bargaining chip of some sort. Of course, it could just mean they disagree with the return to divisional playoffs, unequal conference sizes, increased travel for the Eastern teams, or the issue of the Florida teams in the same conference as the Northeastern teams.

5 months ago Poseypavelski_tiny mymclife 28 comments

Fear The Fin Sharks Beat LA 2-1 in the Shootout

For one night, the San Jose Sharks and the Los Angeles Kings were transported back to last April. Both teams played as if they were back in the first round of the Western Conference Quarterfinals, going all-out in one of the hardest-fought contests of the year. If not for the shootout, it could have been mistaken for a playoff game.

The puck drop was instantly met with a chant of "BEAT LA," one that only grew louder as the night went on. With the traditional hatred between the Bay Area and Southland as well as last year’s playoff series, the Tank denizens were not going to miss out on that chant.

All night the second line was buzzing, led by a red-hot Logan Couture. Fitting, then, that they got the game’s first goal. Midway through the second period, Couture battled along the boards by the benches to get the puck in the Kings’ zone. After a shot on net, Patrick Marleau batted the puck to Ryane Clowe. Clowe dished it to a waiting Couture, who one-timed it over Jonathan Quick’s shoulder for his team-leading 15th goal of the season.

However, the Kings answered back in the second with just over a minute left in the period. After a questionable interference call on Logan Couture drawn by noted embellisher Dustin Brown, Mike Richards was left undefended by the face-off circle and shot it past Niemi.

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50 comments  | 

Many of you have already seen this, but here's the annual San Jose Sharks holiday video. I must say, it's fabulous!

6 months ago Poseypavelski_tiny mymclife 34 comments 1 recs

Fear The Fin Fear the FAQ 2011-12

It's that time of the year again. When people stop going outside because hey, the Sharks game is on. As with every season, there are new fans that decide to take the Sharks out for a spin, seeing what it's like to cheer for a team that unabashedly embraces the color teal. As someone who has been born and raised on the Sharks, I gotta say, it's pretty fun. Every season, there are also fans who have watched the Sharks and know the Sharks, but they are new to the Fear the Fin community. This FAQ is for both groups; what it may lack in actual hockey terminology it makes up for in comprehensiveness with regards to slang and inside jokes/memes that populate the comments section. No longer do you have to wonder what Grier's First Law is, or why people seem to keep reminding others that Ian White doesn't play for the Sharks anymore. Enjoy!

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64 comments  |  11 recs | 

Fear The Fin Sharks lose most boring game of the year, must rebound quickly against the Blackhawks

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4:00 PST

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15-10-1, 31 points 17-8-4, 38 points
8th in Western Conference 2nd in Western Conference
Television
NHLN-CA
CSN-CA (HD)
Radio
98.5 KFOX, Sjsharks.com
Antagonists
Second City Hockey
Hockee Night

Huh, um, er, what? I’m sorry, did I fall asleep? My bad. In my defense, I only got 12 hours of sleep and only drank one cup of coffee before the game. You can’t expect me to be able to stay awake through Saturday night’s game on that.

The game between the Sharks and Blues has to be one of the most uneventful sports contests this season. Both Antti Niemi and Brian Elliot played well, although neither was tested all that much; there were only 43 shots on goal total, with many coming while Niemi was pulled for an extra skater. Both teams played well defensively, with most if not all of the scoring chances failing to generate the second or third chances that goals tend to come from.

This was a game that put the "special" back into "special teams" – there were eleven penalties called, and only one goal scored. The 30th ranked St. Louis Blues power play battled the 30th ranked San Jose Sharks penalty kill, and although the Sharks managed to kill 4 of 5 penalties, the one failed kill turned out to win the war. Todd McLellan had a big hand in one of the kills. Initially, it looked as though the Blues scored while on the 5-on-3, meaning the Sharks still had the remaining 1:26 of their second penalty to kill. McLellan successfully argued that the Blues scored after that penalty expired, making it a 5-on-4 goal and wiping out that extra penalty time.

But the story of the night – if you could call it that – was the Sharks’ absolutely horrid power play. After not registering a shot during the 1:50 5-on-3 against the Dallas Stars on Thursday, the Sharks managed to only get one shot total on their six power plays, a Patrick Marleau shot on the fourth power play of the night. The first three power plays, the Blues actually generated better scoring chances than the Sharks did. Perhaps the only thing more pathetic than San Jose's power play was the Blues' attempts at an empty net goal, but it was close.

The one positive from the game is that the Sharks managed to improve their penalty kill from the 30th-ranked 73.9% to 28th-ranked 74.4%.

It was an utterly boring game. And, as my notes on the game mainly consisted of, "Sharks penalty. Penalty killed. Blues penalty. Penalty killed..." and so on, I reached out to twitter via the hashtag #thingsmoreexcitingthantheSharksBluesgame. Best ones below:

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165 comments  | 

Fear The Fin Turnovers prove costly as Sharks lose 5-3

YOU get a turnover! And YOU get a turnover! And YOU get a turnover! TURNOVERS FOR EVERYONE!

If I was a writer who liked to use clichés, I would say that the San Jose Sharks tonight had more turnovers than your local bakery. However, I am not. So I will merely say that the Sharks turned the puck over to the Florida Panthers 32 times tonight, either through their own giveaways (of which there were 17) or the Panthers’ takeaways (15). The Sharks, on the other hand, were the beneficiaries of only 13 giveaways and 3 takeaways.

Tonight saw a very unusual game played by the Sharks, but it was also a familiar one. For the first time this season, the Sharks lost a game in which they scored first. It was also the first time they lost a game in which they had a lead after the first period. It marked the first time Brent Burns took a penalty as a Shark. It was the first time the Sharks have lost a game in which Jamie McGinn scored. It was also a rare game where their worst period was the second period, as they were outscored 3-0 during that frame.

But, as has become familiar among Sharks fans, there was a lack of urgency on the ice. Passes were not being completed, and some that were attempted were ill-advised (such as Joe Thornton gaining the zone, stopping a foot from the blue line, and attempting to pass to Pavelski up the middle – only dumb luck prevent that from being an odd man rush the other way). The penalty kill was less than stellar, allowing two of the five goals and going 1-for-3.

Dan Boyle had another forgetful game, taking the first penalty that led to a Florida goal. Boyle is now second on the Sharks in penalty minutes behind Ryane Clowe with 34 PIMs, and if you exclude fighting majors, Boyle leads the team. A lazy turnover by Boyle also led to Florida’s fourth goal, a shorthanded one by Jack Skille that bounced off of Boyle’s stick and Demers’s skate past Thomas Greiss.

Outside of the final goal, all the goals the Panthers scored came off of bad mistakes by the defensemen. Douglas Murray interfered with Greiss’s glove, Colin White had a horrible giveaway deep in his own zone to Marco Sturm, Brent Burns turns it over on the blue line, and the aforementioned Boyle gaffe. All six defensemen were on the ice for at least one goal against tonight, and all six also played a hand in that goal against. It was an all-around horrible effort by them.

Thomas Greiss began the game decently, but his game decayed as the play went on. He attempted a poke check on Marco Sturm that missed and led to the second tying goal. And to erase any benefit of the doubt, he allowed an unscreened shot from the point by Kulikov to squeeze through his arm for the final score of the game.

There was a scary moment early in the second. Martin Havlat was checked to the ice. While attempting to get up, Sean Bergenheim was about to collide with Havlat and jumped to avoid running into him. However, Bergenheim's knee collided with the back of Havlat's head, driving it into the ice. Havlat was down for a few seconds, but went back to the bench and appeared to be just fine, even contributing to a great scoring chance his next shift.

There were a few bright spots. The reunited second line of Clowe-Couture-Havlat continues to produce, with Couture potting two of the three goals scored by the Sharks tonight, as well as generating plenty of other great chances throughout the game. Joe Pavelski somehow failed to score on what seemed like a dozen great chances. Jamie McGinn proved again why he’s such a cult favorite. The forwards, as a whole, did not play all that badly.

The Sharks have not won against the Florida Panthers since October 31, 2006 (h/t to idunno723). They did not even come close to breaking that streak tonight.

97 comments  | 

Fear The Fin December OT Thread

Ahhh, December. That time of the year when you start hearing Christmas songs everywhere glorifying snow and fires in the fireplace and being cold. Wait, start? I mean continue after the whole holiday season started back in September when I saw Target put out their Christmas decoration stock while shopping for school supplies.

Anyways, now is the time as a native Californian when I start to wonder, as I walk down the street in flip flops and a tshirt while basking in the 80 degree weather, if I'd prefer actual winter weather. Like, with snow. I know, I know, a foreign concept to many California natives (as I've been constantly told on Twitter by non-Californians). But just use that as a conversation starter: does it still feel like it's winter despite not really having any characteristics of the traditional winter?

Also, I have to go back to my favorite part of the holiday season: the endless playing of Christmas songs. Few holidays have quite the same relationship with commercial music as Christmas does, which means usually a handful of artists release Christmas albums every year. My fav Christmas album is by Logan Couture's bff, the Biebs.* What are your favorite Christmas songs? I mean, Mariah Carey's All I Want For Christmas Is You is a classic, as is Brenda Lee's Rockin' Around The Christmas Tree. Others that get me into the Christmas mood are Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy and Home Alone's theme.

*Not really. To the fav album thing, not about Couture and Bieber being BFFs. Because they probably are.

I know these things usually talk about the latest video games that are coming out, but I'm still working on beating Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2 on Dreamcast, so I'll leave that to the comments.

One last thing that's completely unrelated so is perfect for the OT thread. This has been making the rounds on Facebook among my friends, and I wanted to share. I mean, I'll probably take this part down later after the whole 50-0 afterglow has died down, but that's not going to happen for a while. Edit: Yeah, nope, still awesome.

73 comments  |  5 recs | 

Fear The Fin "That's a hot pickle!" Vlasic, Sharks beat Red Wings 5-2

"He’s an offensive defenseman now."

Marc-Edouard Vlasic has long been touted by us at Fear the Fin for his near-perfect positioning and great defensive game. However, as Joe Thornton commented during a post-game interview, Vlasic’s offensive abilities were on display tonight. The normally defensive defenseman scored a goal and added three assists in a four-point night, a career high and a first for a Shark defenseman since Rob Blake.

Interestingly enough, it was eight years and day ago that the Sharks traded Miika Kiprusoff for a second round pick – the second round pick that was used to draft Marc-Edouard Vlasic.

The first period started just as the game against Phoenix six days prior left off – the Sharks couldn’t even get the puck past the red line, much less set up a cycle in the offensive zone. The Red Wings dominated the period, out-shooting the Sharks 17-6 and drawing two penalties. However, the Sharks exited the period tied with Detroit, 1-1.

Detroit’s first goal came on the power play, breaking the Sharks’ streak of eight straight penalties killed and the Wings’ streak of 0-for-16 on the power play. As Tomas Holmstrom screened Niemi, Niklas Kronwall’s shot bounced off of Dan Boyle and behind Niemi. As with most goals that deflect off of players, there was little Niemi could do about it.

However, with 11.1 seconds left in the first period, with Jason Demers off for his second penalty of the period, Vlasic dumped the puck in, which landed behind the goal line and outside of the trapezoid. Joe Thornton retrieved the puck while Kronwall peeled off, and centered it to a waiting Joe Pavelski in the slot, who did what he usually does and buried it behind Jimmy Howard.

 

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57 comments  | 

Fear The Fin Sharks fall victim to a Predators comeback, lose 4-3 in OT

Niemi admits that trying to catch the puck with his blocker probably wasn't one of his best ideas.

A team has a strong first period where they outshoot their opposition by a wide margin, a second period where the pressure still is favoring that team but the other team is doing better, and a third period where they blow it, allowing the other team to ultimately win post-regulation.

Tonight’s game was a familiar sight for Sharks fans; what the Penguins went through on Thursday against the Sharks, the Sharks went through tonight against the Predators. The Sharks, after a strong first and a lead going into the third period, lost 4-3 in overtime to the Nashville Predators.

The first period was the antithesis of Thurday's first period; the Sharks absolutely controlled the play, ultimately taking 19 shots to the Predators' 7. The start of the period was a bit more even - each team had three shots in the first five minutes of play - but the Sharks were the ones with better chances. 

Logan Couture started off what would be an excellent offensive game for him with a beauty of a pass to Dan Boyle, who was streaking into the slot and redirected the pass towards the net. Pekka Rinne did what Pekka Rinne does and saved the shot with his blocker. 

Joe Pavelski was also an offensive force tonight after suffering from the flu for the past two days, beginning with a shot off a pass from Joe Thornton that Rinne manages to cover up. He also drew the first penalty of the game, a hook from Mike Fisher.

The first period also featured an excellent defensive play by Justin Braun, who had to cover his defensive partner Colin White after White fell down at the point while attempting to shoot the puck while under pressure from a Predator. Braun effectively defended the charging Predators player, taking the puck away and not allowing him to get more than five feet past the Sharks’ own blue line. It’s further evolution of Braun as a good young defenseman, as he makes a case every game why he should not be sent down to Worcester.

However, despite the Sharks’ exceptionally strong play, they exit the period tied with the Predators with goose eggs all around, largely due to Rinne’s soon-to-be $7 million saves. 

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56 comments  | 

Fear The Fin Game Thread: Sharks @ Ducks

Enjoy.

809 comments  | 

In case you missed it last night, here's Ryane Clowe in the broadcast booth with Mike Krukow and Duane Kuiper during the third inning of the San Francisco Giants game.

Some interesting things discussed, such as shift lengths, the team he currently dislikes (SPOILER! It's Vancouver), and hockey injuries compared to baseball injuries.

8 months ago Poseypavelski_tiny mymclife 23 comments

Last night, Sharks defensemen Brent Burns (@Burnzie88) invited his followers on Twitter to join him on a bike ride Saturday morning at 10am. Yes, all of them. This includes you.

All interested are to meet up at Mike's Bikes in Los Gatos at 10am on September 10. The current plan is to bike up Highway 9 to Saratoga.

And Brent Burns continues on his (rather successful) quest to make himself a fan favorite before he even plays a single game in teal.

9 months ago Poseypavelski_tiny mymclife 26 comments

Fear The Fin History of the Sharks Roster

Last year, I debuted the concept of a visual roster history - an ancestry chart of all the roster moves that the Sharks have made that directly affected the current roster. It's easy enough to find information about player trades or signings, but draft pick trades? Or a series of trades? Pretty much impossible. Oh, the information is out there - otherwise I wouldn't be writing this article - but it's not in one brightly-colored family tree-esque graphic on your favorite Sharks blog (especially if your favorite Sharks blog is not this one). 

And without further ado, here is the Roster Tree. Click on it for the full-size image (which is insanely big, so ye be warned, smart phone users and those with slow internet connections). 


Sharksrostertree11122_medium

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I recommend giving the post a read just for the anecdote about Clowe and Kesler (as well as more detail about when each injury happened), but here's the injury report:

Jason Demers - high ankle sprain
Scott Nichol - laceration above the knee
Dany Heatley - broken hand, high ankle injury
Ryane Clowe - shoulder separation
Dan Boyle - damaged MCL
Logan Couture - broken nose
Joe Pavelski - ankle injury
Joe Thornton - broken pinkie, wrist problem, shoulder separation

I think I speak for everyone when I say, "Ouch."

about 1 year ago Poseypavelski_tiny mymclife 66 comments 2 recs

Fear The Fin Playing in a Women's Hockey Tournament


Besides being the dedicated gamethread opener for Fear the Fin, I am also the first line right winger for USC's women's club hockey team. Last weekend, we traveled to Vancouver for a three day tournament. While this has nothing to do with the playoffs, we'd thought it be neat to show the women's side of things, as well as the hockey madness in Vancouver. Enjoy!

There is nothing like playing in a weekend hockey tournament. Teams come from all over – local, a few hours away, sometimes even from a different country. The skill levels vary widely, as do the sizes of the teams. Teams play multiple games in a day, a necessity due to the short length of the tournament. You’re tired, thirsty, and your legs are burning from skating as hard and as fast as you can. In the days after the tournament, a flight of stairs seems like Everest. You have large bruises and pulled muscles in places that you didn’t even know existed. It’s the greatest feeling in the world.

Over last weekend, the University of Southern California women’s club ice hockey team traveled to Vancouver to finish out our season in a three day tournament.  We went into the tournament undefeated – our record was a whopping 1-0-0, with the lone game being a 5-1 victory a few months before. Our record after the tournament was 2-2-0.

Wice, as it is known among the players, has traditionally been a small team. Established in 2001, the team has had fewer than 10 players in each of its seasons until this year – still more than any other women’s college team in California, by virtue of being the only one. Unlike the men’s team at USC, Wice does not require tryouts to make the team – if you want to play, you’re in, regardless of skating ability or familiarity with the game. So on one hand, the team has players like Captain Cayley Tullman and Alternate Captain Alice Bitzer, who have been playing hockey for years, including high-level high school hockey. On the other, there are players such as myself, who could count on one hand the number of times they’ve skated before joining the team.

This year, the interest in Wice exploded. The team now has 22 players, most of whom have never played hockey before. For women’s hockey – especially for club hockey or even rec league hockey – that’s an extremely large team. The referees, linesmen, and even opposing teams were often in disbelief at how large our team was, and that all but one of the players were undergrad. With all the new players, Wice is like an expansion team in the NHL – we’ve just started icing a full team and earning respect, but there’s still improvement to be had.

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Fear The Fin Sharks Gameday: Playing It Out

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7:00 PST
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47-24-9, 103 points 42-25-13, 97 points
2nd in Western Conference
6th in Western Conference

 

Television
CSN-CA+ (HD)
Radio
98.5 KFOX, Sjsharks.com
Antagonists
Five For Howling
Ice Chips

At this point in the season, there isn't much to play for. The Sharks have clinched home ice and the second or third seed. There is little point of trying to position the team into a higher seed for a potentially better match-up; the Western Conference has been so strong this year, any playoff team is a very good team. There's a potential that a team could get 97 points and miss the playoffs, that's how strong the Western Conference has been this year. As it stands now, the Sharks would be facing the Ducks in a re-match of the infamous 2009 playoff series that resulted in the Sharks losing 12 of their players in the following off-season (off the top of my head: Brian Boucher, Christian Ehrhoff, Milan Michalek, Jonathan Cheechoo, Marcel Goc, Tomas Plihal, Mike Grier, Jeremy Roenick, Travis Moen, Brad Lukowich, Claude Lemieux, and Alexei Semenov). But there's the potential the Sharks could face the Dallas Stars, Chicago Blackhawks, Nashville Predators, or tonight's opponent, the Phoenix Coyotes.

The Phoenix Coyotes can still potentially miss the playoffs. If they are swept by the Sharks in this home-and-home with every team below them earning points, and the Dallas Stars get two non-shootout wins, Dallas will have the same number of points and the wins tiebreaker. If they get one point, they are in. Thus, the Coyotes should be coming out, raring to go. Or, at the very least, they will play for overtime. Either way, this series means much more to them than it does to us.

There is a bit of intrigue left in the season for the Sharks, mostly individual accomplishments. Joe Thornton is still looking for his 1000th point. With the speculation by David Pollak that Thornton is injured (backed up by his greatly reduced ice time against Anaheim and his lack of faceoffs taken in the past several games), I would guess that the only reason that Thornton has been playing is to get that 1000th point. Of course, it could be a product of his (in)famous willingness to play through any and all injuries. Joe Pavelski, on the other hand, is one goal away from getting 20 goals on the year, which would make him the seventh 20-goal-scorer on the Sharks this season, which would be a Sharks franchise record. Logan Couture is still chasing Jeff Skinner for the rookie scoring lead, trailing by five points. While Couture is a better two-way player than Skinner, that he is trailing in points while being older hurts his Calder campaign, so narrowing that gap will help his case.

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Fear The Fin Gameday Thread: Sharks @ Ducks


San Jose Sharks @ Anaheim Ducks

Apr 6, 2011 7:00 PM PDT
Honda Center
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Complete Coverage >


 

Ducks, uh, what's that word again? Oh yeah, suck.

Jumbo looking for #1000. Pavelski looking for goal #20. Let's do it.

870 comments  | 

Fear The Fin Gameday Thread: Kings @ Sharks



Los Angeles Kings @ San Jose Sharks

Apr 4, 2011 7:00 PM PDT
HP Pavilion
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Complete Coverage >


 

BEAT LA! BEAT LA! BEAT LA!

...Please.

921 comments  | 

Fear The Fin Gameday Thread: Ducks @ Sharks

 


 


 

Did you hear? Ducks suck.

472 comments  | 

Iplaymysportsonicegrass

Recently there's been talk about hockey fan superiority complexes; i.e. if you haven't been a fan for a long time, you're not a real fan. Now what stereotypical group of people does that immediately bring to mind? Hipsters. Dirty, dirty hipsters.

Thus, the Hipster Hockey Fan meme generator was created. So have at it, folks. Best image gets internet points.

about 1 year ago Poseypavelski_tiny mymclife 89 comments 8 recs

Fear The Fin Gameday Thread: Flames @ Sharks


Next Game

Calgary Flames
@ San Jose Sharks

Wednesday, Mar 23, 2011, 7:00 PM PDT
HP Pavilion

Sharks Gameday: Familiar Waters
FTF Podcast 7: Our Podcast be Droppin'

Complete Coverage >


 

Have some #sharkblood LIKE A BOSS

686 comments  | 

Fear The Fin Gameday Thread: Wild @ Sharks



 

I don't know about anyone else, but I , for one, was not born to be wild.

607 comments  |