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

Is This It?

When the Sharks excited the playoffs last season in the first round, after the most successful season in franchise history in which the won the President’s Trophy awarded to the team with the best record in the league, the front office vowed that the culture of the team would change. Most assumed that would mean that a big ticket item would be brought in, Dany Heatley’s name being prominent amongst those mentioned, and many thought that the team would move parts such as deposed captain Patrick Marleau. Alas, we are mere weeks from the start of training camp and there has yet to be anything remotely approximating a culture shift in San Jose despite the trade today that sent Christian Ehrhoff and Brad Lukowich to the Vancouver Canucks for Patrick White and Daniel Rahimi. I know, earth shattering eh?

“This trade speaks to the confidence we have in the young players coming up through our system who have earned the right to compete for a spot on this team,” Sharks GM Doug Wilson said. “It also creates some flexibility in our team payroll for potential future transactions as the season progresses…”

White is a 20 year old center and a former first round draft pick who is currently skating with the University of Minnesota, while Rahimi is a blue liner who has been skating in the AHL for a couple of seasons. The Sharks, as mentioned, will be saving a few bucks as Ehrhoff is scheduled to make $6.2 million the next two seasons while Lukowich is set to make just over $1.5 million in the coming campaign.

The Sharks traded for Kent Huskins at the deadline last year and he should be able to replace the loss of stay at home defensemen Lukowich, but the loss of Ehrhoff will be harder to overcome. Though he often had no idea where his howitzer was going after firing the puck, Ehrhoff did a much better job putting the biscuit on net last season and the result was his most offensive season of his five year career, and I mean that in a good way as he recorded 42 points with 25 coming with the man-advantage.

Still, this deal is as much about what it wasn’t as what it was.

The Sharks saved some money and got two parts that might one day amount to something. At the same time this move certainly weakens the club at present, that is unless they use the extra salary cap space to bring in a top-6 forward. Heatley continues to say he wants out of Ottawa, and he and Joe Thornton have had success skating with each other in international play, so perhaps this move will accomplish the goal of bringing the sniper west to Silicon Valley. However, don’t go writing this down as a done deal by any means as one of the pieces often discussed in the potential Sharks-Senators deal was the now departed Christian Ehrhoff.

The Sharks need to do something. That much is clear. And while this may be the first step leading to the “real” move the club has been planning for months, if this is it, there are going to be plenty of disappointed fans at the Tank this season. Still, I’m willing to bet that Doug Wilson has something up his sleeve. Just read the following quote which was uttered in late April after the Sharks bowed out to the Ducks.

“Changes will be made,” Wilson said. “This is pro sports and winning is the only thing that matters…This organization will win and if unpleasant decisions have to be made, they will get made.”

By Ray Flowers

Two Down, Two to Go

I wanted to Twitter from the Sharks game tonight, but I remembered I don’t Twitter. So this will have to do. Here are some of my thoughts from the Sharks 3-2 OT winner over the Ducks in Game 5 (the Sharks now trail 3-2).

1- There is nothing like a playoff hockey game. If you have never been, do yourself a favor and go.

2- It’s about flippin’ time that Joe Thornton showed up. He scored a goal and added two assists for this first career three point playoff game.

3- There my be no place on Earth with more attractive mid-30′s women wearing tight jeans and heels than the “Tank” in San Jose. Mercy.

4- Patrick Marleau also showed up with an assist and the game winning goal.

5- The Sharks are two wins away from becoming just the 21st team in NHL history to lose the first two games of a seven game playoff series yet still game back to win. By the way, there have been 229 times a team has been down 0-2 in a seven game series.

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.