Here We Are Again

You know the feeling. It’s like getting punched in the gut or seeing your high school sweetheart sneak behind the gym to make out with that stoner guy who literally looks like he hasn’t taken a shower in two weeks. It’s the pain you feel when “your team” is eliminated from the playoffs before getting the chance to raise their finger and exclaim, accurately, ‘we’re number 1.’ It happened yet again to me this past weekend.

I know this is a baseball website, but I make no bones about my nearly lifelong connection with the San Jose Sharks. Year after year I buy into the hype, and season after season I end up having flashbacks to that time I caught Suzy making out with that dude on the blacktop.

Last season the Sharks won the President’s Trophy – awarded to the best team in the league (most points) – only to then fall in the first round to the Ducks. I was so distraught I almost turned in my pen after writing When is Enough, Enough? Eleven months later, I’m in the same spot once again.

The Sharks didn’t lose in the first round this time, or the second for that matter, as they lost in the third round – the Conference Finals – which they reached for only the second time in their history. There is some small satisfaction in that, but it rings pretty hollow at this point (you can read more about the battle with the Blackhawks in Frozen Pucks, Conference Finals). Still, much, much more was expected of this club.

* The Sharks led the Western Conference in points for the second straight season.

* They ranked first in the NHL in face-off winning percentage (55.6 percent), fourth in power-play efficiency (21.0) and fifth in the penalty kill (85.0).

* Joe Thornton was second in the NHL with 69 assists and eighth with 89 points.

* Patrick Marleau was fourth in goals scored with 44.

* Dany Heatley was 8th in the league in goals (39) and second in power-play tallies (18).

* Dan Boyle was fourth amongst blue liners with 58 points.

* Evgeni Nabokov was second in the league with 44 victories.

* They vanquished long-time nemesis Detroit in the second round of the playoffs.

But in the end, the results were no different then what we have seen from this club year after year.

In each of the past four years the Sharks have finished with at least 100 points, and in each of the past six years they have totaled at least 99 points as they have taken home four division titles. Still, they have never advanced to the Finals, never had a chance to hoist Lord Stanley’s Cup, and never fulfilled their destiny as one of the NHL’s great teams. I’ve tried to fight the prevalent perception in the national media that the Sharks are the NHL’s version of football’s Buffalo Bills (they lost in the Super Bowl 4-straight years from 1990-93) or baseball’s Atlanta Braves (to be fair the Braves did one title though they made the playoffs 14-straight years), but the fact is they are a great regular season team that can’t find a way to win a championship. They are a consistently good team that can never seem to raise their game to the level of greatness.

I don’t know what the Sharks need to do. They’ll probably lose Marleau and/or Nabokov, you can read move about that in the piece I linked to above, but much of the core will return (Thornton, Heatley, Boyle etc.). I’m certain we’ll hear a lot of tough words from the front office and a certain amount of player movement before next season begins, but in the end, will it matter? Are the Sharks destined to be the NHL version of the Cubs – a team that everyone desperately wants to love despite that little voice in the back of your head that says don’t buy into what your eyes are seeing because no matter how good things look sooner or later they club will break your heart? I desperately hope that isn’t the case, but with each passing year of regular season success followed by failure in the playoffs, I feel a growing kinship with those fans that have cheered their Cubbies on without ever once being able to say – we’re number one.

By Ray Flowers

Can it Get Any Worse?

I’m speechless.

Sports can break your heart worse than just about anything in life. Sports can ruin your day, your week, heck, they can crush your spirit completely. Last night the Sharks, and every person who cheers for the teal and black, suffered through the worst loss in the history of the team, and that is saying something for an organization that has suffered one playoff defeat after another – some being catastrophic in nature (for my take on last years epic playoff failure you can read When is Enough, Enough?). Here’s what happened lat night in Game 3 of the Sharks first round series with the Avalanche (the series was tied 1-1 going into the matchup).

The Sharks outshot the Avalanche 21-3 in the second period.
The Sharks outshot the Avalanche 21-4 in the third period.
The Sharks outshot the Avalanche 42-7 in the second and third periods.
The Sharks outshot the Avalanche 1-0 in OT, yet still lost the game.

How is that possible? In actuality the shot clock will say that the teams matched each other with one shot apiece in the overtime period, but the truth is that Sharks’ defensemen Dan Boyle, :51 seconds in the extra frame, accidently backhanded the puck past Evgeni Nabokov when he attempted a hard wrap around behind the net (after further review, it appears that an angle from a camera in Colorado shows that the puck did glance slightly off Ryan O’Reily’s stick). With that one errant shot of the puck the Sharks, in a game that they totally dominated, ended up losing 1-0.

This is the worst loss I have ever seen. More than that, it’s the worst loss I can recall ever hearing about in my 37 years on Earth. To completely dominate a game only to lose when your own player, your best defensemen mind you, accidently shoots a puck in his own net – catastrophic isn’t a strong enough word. It couldn’t have happened to a better guy either. Dan Boyle always stands up and is accountable for his mistakes. He talks openly and honestly to the press, never shying away from the painful truth, so it was no surprise to see him talk to the media almost immediately after the conclusion of the worst game of his life. His willingness to take responsibility for everything makes the stinging pain of this loss even harder to deal with since he is such a good guy.

So what do the Sharks do?

* They have outshot the Av’s a mindboggling 103 to 39 the past two games.

* They have scored three “own goals” in three games (the other two weren’t on shots like last night, but two pucks have gone in off of Sharks’ d-men Rob Blake and Marc-Edouard
Vlasic, the one off Blake being the deciding goal in the Game 1 loss). “We didn’t beat their goalie, we found a way to beat ours,” HC Todd McClellan said. “We’ve been beaten by some bad bounces

* They are behind 2-1 games to a team they were expected to beat by nearly ever expert in Hockey (the Sharks had the best record in the Western Conference which obviously makes the Avalanche the #8 seed).

Can the Sharks rebound from this loss? I don’t think a team, an organization, a fan base, can get any lower than this. Year upon year of disappointment was summed up expertly last night on one errant backhand pass that unfortunately is a microcosm of the history of the franchise, one filled with almost unsurpassed highs as well as crushing lows. Will the Sharks slink off meekly into the abyss or will they rally from this devastating loss to avenge themselves in the eyes of the hockey world that roundly regards them as papier-mâché champions? For once and for all, the Sharks will have the chance to prove to the world that they deserve respect and admiration for their determination, expertise and ability to rebound from catastrophic failure. Either that or it’s time for every Sharks fan in the world to pack their bags for the last time and move on from a franchise that breaks their hearts anew every year.

I mention the proverb that we have all heard at one time or another as it is one that the Sharks would do well to heed — it’s always darkest before the dawn.

By Ray Flowers

Sharks 2009 Wrap Up

Every once in a while I leave the diamond for the ice, and as we get ready to flip the old page on the calendar once again, I thought now would be a great time to review how my hometown team San Jose Sharks, are doing so far in 2009.

Overall, the Sharks are leading the Pacific Division with 47 points, the second best total in the Western Conference (the Blackhawks lead the way with 49 points). However, the club is just 4-3-3 in their last 10 games as they have struggled to win at home for the first time since Todd McLellan took over the club at the start of last season (they have still lost only two of 16 home games in regulation going 9-2-5 despite the recent rough stretch).

Now on to the player report cards.

Joe Thornton – Grade A: Leads the NHL with 39 assists and 48 points. He could shoot the puck more frequently, but why quibble with greatness?

Dany Heatley – A: Tied for fourth in the NHL with 21 goals, he is second with 10 on the power-play in his first season in SJ.

Patrick Marleau – A: Stripped of the captaincy, he has lit it up this season with 21 goals (tied with Dany H.) leading to 37 points in 35 games

Dan Boyle – A: A fiery leader, Boyle has been beat up all year but still has 29 points in 35 contests.

Scott Nichol – A: A putrid fantasy performer with only four points and a (-7), his effort has brought the right amount of spunk to a team in need of energy. He is also dynamic in the face-off circle with a 61.9 percent mark, the second best total in the league.

Ryane Clowe – B: Started out very slowly but rounding into shape nicely with 19 points in his last 21 games.

Evgeni Nabokov – B: The .920 save percentage is great, and the 2.35 GAA isn’t too shabby, but his 17-5-7 record could improve if he limited the cheap goals a bit more.

Joe Pavelski – B: Limited due to injury, “Little Joe” is death to goalies in the shootout and not to bad during the regular game either with 15 points and a +7 in 20 contests.

Manny Malhotra – B: Not much offense to speak of (13 points) but he was signed for his two-way play and face-off prowess.

Jason Demurs – B: An undrafted rookie, he has spent some time in the minors but he brings a nice right-handed shot to the power-play (13 points, six with the man advantage, in 28 games).

Douglass Murray – B: Seven points, +7 and 37 PIM. Those numbers don’t come close to striking the fear in opponent’s hearts like his thundering checks do.

Rob Blake – C: Hard to judge his first year effort at Sharks’ captain given injury, but his on ice production is down (2g, 6a, +2 in 24 games).

Devin Setoguchi – C: With nine goals in 23 games his scoring pace is that of a30-goal man over the course of a full season, but the young scoring star has only one goal in his last 11 games.

Marc-Edouard Vlasic – C: Rarely makes a mistake or gets caught of position while playing big minutes.

Kent Huskins – C: You don’t usually recognize that he has played, not necessarily a bad thing for a mostly stay at home defenseman.

Jed Ortmeyer -C: One of those grinders every successful teams need, Jed has chipped in four goals and four assists for the club.

No matter what the grade is for any of the players that I’ve mentioned, the only thing that matters in San Jose this year is getting a chance to win the cup. If the club fails to advance in the playoffs it won’t matter if every guy on this list ends the regular season with an “A” next to his name. This team will be judged by the number 16 – the total number of victories needed to hoist the cup.

By Ray Flowers

Consider Me Skeptical

Sometimes everything just clicks. You know, like when you swing the bat in that smooth arc, make contact with the ball, and literally don’t even fell anything other than a soft push back as the ball arches toward the seats. Or when you line up the guy with the ball and plant your facemask right in his gut as you can literally hear the wind shoot out of his lungs as you drive right through him on the tackle. It may not have all “clicked” Thursday night at the Shark Tank in San Jose, Evgeni Nabokov still needs to stop more pucks, but on the night that the Sharks raised the banner for their President’s Trophy award from last season (for most points in the league), an awful lot went right for the home town club.

For those of you who aren’t intimately schooled in the art of the Sharks, here is what has happened.

The Sharks have been tremendous regular season performers, highlighted by that President’s Trophy last season, but once the playoff roll around they have been perpetual underachievers, a storyline that I, depressingly, had to detail in a piece back in late April entitled When is Enough, Enough? Looking to change the culture of the team, the organization made a huge move this offseason sending fan favorite Jonathan Cheechoo and solid scoring winger Milan Michalek to the Senators in exchange for sniper Dany Heatley (you can read my thoughts on that deal in Heatley Finally Moved). For one night, it was the bestest move the team has made in team history, other than that little trade with Boston a few years back that netted some guy named Joe Thornton.

On Thursday night, the Columbus Blue Jackets felt the full brunt of how good this Heatley-Thornton team can be. The final score of 6-3 didn’t even remotely tell the story of the contest. After a couple of lackluster efforts the Sharks simply demolished the Jackets after spotting them a 1-0 lead, and at the center of nearly everything were the two superstars who combined for, sit down before you read on, three goals, five assists, and a +10 rating. Here is how it played out.

Heatley recorded a hat-trick, he also added an assist, on his way to becoming the first Sharks’ player in team history to record a hat-trick in his first home game. He also posted a Sharks’ record +6 on the night (tying Michael Sykora’s mark from 1996). Through four games he now has four goals and five assists.

Thornton recorded four assists and a +4 in the tilt to tie a Sharks record for helpers in game that he already holds. “My job is really easy,” said Thornton. “Just give it to Heater and Setoguchi.” Thornton now has eight assists in four games.

The third member of the line, Devin Setoguchi, had a hell of a game but no one really noticed (one goal, one assist), and blueliner Dan Boyle also had a goal and two assists in another fine outing by the alternate captain. As mentioned earlier, about the only “star” who didn’t have a great night was Evgeni Nabokov who had another ho-hum effort in which he stopped 24 of 27 shots. He has plenty of time to turn things around, and he surely will, but his work through four games has been spotty at best (3.68 GAA, .859 SV%).

But in the end this isn’t the Sharks blowing out of the water a team that they are clearly superior to. It isn’t about Joe Thornton, the best passer in the game, racking up another huge assist game, and it isn’t about Dany Heatley signaling to the faithful that he is indeed the real deal. None of this matters to me, and it shouldn’t matter to a single Sharks’ fan. The only thing that matters is the number 16 – the number of victories it takes to hoist the Stanley Cup. Regular season success is great, but we’ve seen it in these parts before. The time for moral victories is gone. It’s now time for this team to do some heavy lifting when it matters most, and that isn’t in October, it’s in June.

Until that happens, consider me nothing more than a slightly interested spectator.

By Ray Flowers

Sharks Still Circling

The Sharks almost gave me a heart attack in Game 3 of their first round matchup with the Ducks. Trailing two games to none, this after loosing both games on their home ice, the Sharks looked strong in vaulting to a 1-0 lead. Then the Ducks scored. Then the Sharks scored. Then the Ducks scored. Then the Sharks scored. Then the Ducks scored. Then, Patrick Marleau redirected a pass from Rob Blake into the net in the Sharks thrilling 4-3 victory over the Ducks to pull within one game, 2-1, in the best of seven series. Can the Sharks come all the way back to become one of the 13% of all teams that have lost the first two games of a playoff series to emerge victorious? Here are some key data points to consider.

The home team has never, not once in three games, actually had the lead.

First off, the Sharks scored on the power-play. After going 0-for-12 to start the playoffs to extend their recent power-play funk in the playoffs to an amazing 14-for-170 (8.2%), the Sharks finally scored on the power-play, twice in fact, including the game winner by Marleau. Obviously this bodes extremely well for the club moving forward.

Dan Boyle was a man who was possessed on Tuesday. He was hitting everything on ice, was pumping his fist with exuberance and was engaged in the physical aspect of the game from the drop of the first face-off. He also scored two points and dished off an assist. He truly was the first star in this outing, a great sign for a Sharks club that brought him in this off-season to be a difference maker. He was in Game 3.

Evgeni Nabokov has looked shaky all series, as evidenced by his .890 save percentage. He has looked completely lost on a few wrap around plays, and even kicked a puck in his own net in Game 3. He doesn’t have to be great for the Sharks to win, but he certainly needs to be better than average, something that he has not done thus far.

Joe Thornton is a (-1) and has just two assists in three games. Though it’s really unfair to call him a chocker, after all we are talking about a mere handful of playoff games here and there over the years, there is no disputing the fact that he needs to take his game to the next level in the playoffs to avoid being labeled as a great regular season performer. During the regular season he has 842 points in 836 games, that’s good for a point-per-game mark of 1.01. In the playoffs, his production dwindles to 50 points in 73 games, a mere 0.68 per game. It’s a bit unfair to Thornton given that he is a passer who needs others to come through for his points – perhaps the tight checking action of the playoffs means that Thornton just doesn’t have the openings he is used to finding during the regular season to get the puck to others – and for the Sharks to come all the way back against the Ducks Jumbo Joe will need to be the first star in at least one game, perhaps two, the rest of the way.

Patrick Marleau ended the regular season scoring just one point in five games as he struggled to find his game after missing some time (five games), in early April. As mentioned he scored the game winner in Game 3, his first point in three games. Unlike Thornton, he has shown up in playoffs past scoring 36 times in 89 games with a total of 25 of those goals coming in his last 53 games. He needs to come up big himself though as he has lit the lamp just eight times in his last 27 playoff games.

So can the Sharks come back? Certainly, though winning four of five games in the NHL is never easy, especially when you are facing a team filled with 12 skaters who won the Cup with the Ducks a few years ago. The old adage one game at a time certainly applies, and tonight step two in the 16 steps it takes to hoist the Cup will be the Sharks goal.