Fun Weekend, but not for the slumping Sharks

Had a great weekend, despite the fact that the Sharks managed to drop another game to a Pacific-division opponent. Completely folded up the tent in a 6-2 loss to Phoenix. Nabokov was pulled after the first two goals. The question is, did the Sharks pull him because his groin is still less than 100%, or is Nabby falling out of favor? Nabokov said that he felt fine, and felt he was seeing the puck ok. Remember, I posited not so long ago that the Sharks could trade Nabokov for a blueliner. Unless the Sharks know something I don't, I beseech them to do something fast, if they in fact have playoff aspirations. If we manage to lose to Dallas tonight, then get spanked by the Ducks again on February 1 and 4, we'll be pretty well screwed. And that's not just me being pessimistic- the Sharks are bad on the road (9-14-2) and just got shut out by the Ducks last week.

Tonight the Sharks are at Dallas (1-2 this season), in another critical game. I hope the Sharks actually play with some urgency this time.

By the way, found out today I share the same birthday as the current Senior Vice President and Director of Hockey Operations for the NHL as well as both Joey Fatone and Nick Carter. Not really something to brag about.

Video Clips of Great Goals

Maybe I'm behind the times a bit here, but I just discovered youtube.com. People can upload video clips, and you can just do a keyword search to find interesting stuff. Everything from home videos to SNL skits to movie previews. I decided I'd search and amass some great goals that I remember, in no particular order:

• Marek Malik's shootout goal this year. Who knew a D-man would have a move like that?
  
• The legendary scoop shot from behind the goal in a Michigan game. If you don't know immediately what this is, then it's imperative you watch the video.
  
• A great Mario Lemieux moment. Mario has a pass right to him, an open shot at the net, and instead of shooting, completely lets it go by him to Kariya, who scores.
• Ovechkin's acrobatic behind-the-head-one-handed-lying-on-his-back thing. I think there's a healthy dose of luck invovled with this one, but it's still pretty spectacular.
• A cool compilation in an unknown language. A top 10 highlight reel. Contains one of my favorites- Owen Nolan calling his shot in the All-Star game. Big Onions.
  

I wish they had Stevie Y's 1996 blue-line slap shot against the Blues in double OT to win it, but I can't find it. Drop me a line if you have the video.

Hockey and Steroids

Time to weigh in on the whole steriods thing, and I'll mention the Bryan Berard case specifically at the end. First off, a quote from Terry Frei in ESPN:

No way. Not in this sport.

For one thing, taking to the ice with a juiced-up body isn't a significant advantage -- or any advantage at all -- for the most part, and it even can be counterproductive, given the strain skating puts on the muscles.

I hope this is a joke, but reading the rest of the article, it's clear it's meant seriously. Now I ain't no doctor (but I'm married to a nurse) but even this feeble engineer's brain can contemplate that PEDs (performance enhancing drugs) can be advantageous in hockey. Take me, for example. I'm a skinny bastard, about 5-11, 155 lbs. If I dedicated my life to hockey, and depended on it for my living, and I needed to gain 25 pounds, PEDs could help me do that with a lot less effort than going to Gold's for 4 hours a day. Would I be "juiced up"? Certainly. Would I look like Lou Ferrigno? No. I'm sure I could 'roid it up until I was 240, but that wouldn't help me play hockey much, would it? I hope Mr. Frei isn't implying that once you take steriods, you suddenly turn into some muscle-laden meathead. Steroids help you gain muscle when you work out. Change the workout, change the results.

I had to search around the web for about 45 seconds before I found Ryan Franklin. Franklin was suspended by Major League Baseball for steroid use, and is 6-3, 190 lbs. That's not real big, but can anyone argue that 6-3, 190 is worse than 6-3, 180 if you play a pro sport?

On to Bryan Berard. He tested positive, but as the AP story says:

The test the 28-year-old Berard failed wasn't part of the NHL's new testing program that began Sunday, so he will not be subject to league discipline.

To me this makes sense, done deal. You can't just apply rules after the fact.

It's hard for me to work up righteous indignation about the steriods thing, regardless of the sport. I think the basis behind all the uproar is some delusional idea that sports (especially baseball) stay constant over time, only the players change. Maybe it works a little bit for baseball, but other sports it's pretty ridiculous. No NFL lineman in the 1960's would even get a tryout today- they're all too small. You can be a 6-9 point guard in the NBA. Let's face it, the players today are better, more prepared, than players of eons past. Trancendental talent can transcend time, but in general, players are just better.

And part of being better is having more tools and knowledge of training. Like it or not, that includes steriods. It's these guys' very livelihood to be better, faster, stronger, than the other guy. There will always be someone willing to sacrifice long-term health for short-term success. I have very little faith that the cutting-edge testing methods will outpace cutting-edge chemicals. There's just too much money in the chemicals.

The Pacific vs. other divisions

Tom Benjamin has a great post about the records of the different divisions and conferences on his blog. Funny, I was thinking the same thing a couple of days ago when I was examining the standings. Tom does things in his posting like compile the overall record of each division, and the number of points amassed on average per game.

I did one other calculation, which only further confirms what Tom has said, with a little wrinkle. I generated the standard deviation of each division, which indicates the amount that data is spread in a sample. In simple terms, it tells you how far apart the rich and poor are. Not only does the Northwest have the highest average point total, it also has the lowest standard deviation, which means that all the teams are good, and close to each other.

• Northwest: 58.6 AVG, 4.15 STD
  
• Northeast: 56.4 AVG, 9.6 STD
• Pacific: 56.6 AVG, 7.3 STD
• Atlantic: 52.8, 14.5 STD
• Southeast: 52.6, 12.3 STD
• Midwest: 48.4, 18.2 STD
  

The Pacific, while having roughly the same average points as the Northeast, have a lower standard deviation. I would argue that this makes the Pacific a tougher division than the Northeast. The Sharks have to play the same teams on average that the Northeast does, but the worst teams are better. The Sharks don't have a Toronto or Montreal playing badly right now (despite Jan Bulis' 4 goals last night). All the teams in the Pacific are tough, and all have 50 points or more. Since the schedule is very division-heavy, this is an important factor; each team plays all the other teams in the division 8 times each during the regular season.

This sheds some new light on Detroit and Nashville, currently tied with 68 points, leading the West. The other three teams in the Midwest are Chicago, Columbus, and St. Louis, 3 of the 4 worst teams in the NHL. Detroit is 13-1 against these teams so far this season! Since Detroit and Nashville have the luxury of playing these bad teams 24 times during the season, it's little wonder why their records are so good. It's not their fault they have to play against bad teams, but it might be a harbinger of an early-round upset in the playoffs. Maybe a 1994-esque upset for the Sharks?

Sharks Own the Kings, and Power Play Stats Fun

Sharks won again last night against the Kings, 4-1. The Kings have only won one of the last 11 games versus the Sharks, we OWN 'em. The Sharks scored twice on the power play, which sounds good, but it was out of 11 chances, a 18.2% rate. Interesting notes:

• Right now the Sharks have the median power play, 16th out of 30 teams, converting at 17.5%.
  
• They are still below average, the average power play conversion rate is 17.56%.
  
• Don't like statistics? Too bad.
  
• The standard deviation of PP% is 2.71, which means that Detroit (25%) is 2.75 standard deviations above the mean.
  
• Chicago has the worst PP% at 12.9%, but are only 1.71 STD below the mean.
  

What does this all mean (haha)? That's the Sharks' power play is decidedly mediocre. And that Detroit's power play is 'more good' than Chicago's is bad, and that's saying a lot.

Mario Lemieux

Mario Lemieux announced his retirement today. He had an injury-plagued career for the Pittsburg Penguins, but still managed to tally 690 goals in only 915 NHL games. He won Stanley Cups in 1991 and 1992, and was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1997, after his 1st retirement, when he had Hodgkin's disease.

He was a hell of a deceptive player, possessing huge size and reach, and I can't recall seeing him ever skate super-hard. Not that that is a dig- he had a mesmerizing flow to his game, and perhaps the best hands of any big man in NHL history.

So the question that Barry Melrose and Darren Pang answered today on Sportscenter is, where does he rank? Is he better than Gretzky?

It ain't even close. Gretzky is clearly better. He had a longer career, more points, more records, more trophys, more Cups. Gretz had 10 Hart trophies (MVP). Mario had 2. The one argument I heard when Mario retired the first time is that Mario averaged more points per game than Gretzky- 2.00 (1494 points in 745 games), which was unprecedented in the NHL. But Mario at that point did not suffer the inevitable trailoff that players do when they get into their mid 30s. Those stats are 1984 through 1997- 12 seasons. Let's look at Gretzky's first 12 seasons in the NHL- 1979 through 1992. That's 2142 points in 925 games, for a 2.31 points per game average. Still think there's an argument here? Gretzky had a longer career, and a longer and higher peak.

The real question is where Mario ranks in the annals of the all time greats. To make a baseball analogy, it's a Sandy Koufax problem. What do you do with a guy who didn't have longevity, but a short-lived brilliance? In my mind, peak production counts, but so does longevity. There's also the inevitable stickiness of comparing players in different eras. How do you compare Lemieux with Howe or Richard? Richard had more points. The best thing about sports is arguing about stuff, so here's my top 5 skaters in order:

1. Wayne Gretzky. No comparison. I don't know if there's every been a player in a major sport that's been more dominant during his career than Wayne.
2. Gordie Howe. 25 years in the NHL counts for something, along with being #2 in all time goals. More points, trophies, and Cups than Lemieux. And I don't count that whole "played in 12 different decades" farce he conducted in the 70's, 80's and 90's.
   
3. Bobby Orr. Indisputably the best defensemen of all time, and revolutionized the defensive position. Suprisingly, he played in fewer games than Mario, but still won more Harts, along with 8 straight Norris trophies (best defenseman).
4. Mario Lemieux. Tough one between him and Orr. Managed to win 2 Hart trophies even though he played in the Gretzky era.
   
5. Maurice "The Rocket" Richard. First 50 goal scorer, and in a time where scoring 40 was amazing.
   

Comments are enabled, so let the flames begin.

What's a few months between friends?

Ok, so I've been terribly derelict in my blogging duties. It's certainly not attributable to my lack of hockey fandom, as I've watched more games this season than any other. Since we are at about the halfway point of the season (Sharks are 3 games past at the time of this writing), let me give my Sharks roundup for the first half:

Offense:
There's no doubt in my mind that the Thornton trade made the Sharks a helluva lot better, and quickly. The line was until recently Thornton, Cheechoo, and Ekman, and whenever they've been on the ice, they've pretty well dictated play. Cheechoo has since been moved (demoted?) to the Marleau line, but I think he'll be back. And while I think that Marleau has the ability to be a first-line center, matching up against the opponents' best defensive pair rendered him not completely useless, but certainly mediocre. Marleau centering the second line provides the Sharks with maybe the best 1-2 center combination in the league. Although admittedly Alyn McAuley had a career year last year, he seems largely ineffective this year, and would be my biggest offensive disappointment. I didn't get to see him play much in Toronto, and perhaps he's just assumed his old form. Mark Smith's grittiness and good wrist shot has been a nice surprise.

Defense:
Clearly the weakest aspect of the Sharks right now. Tom Preissing, who has the best +/- on the team (+12) is back, but has been out recently with injury. Scott Hannan was near the bottom of the league in +/- for the first quarter of the season, but is now at a more reasonable level (-3). The Sharks miss Mike Rathje more than they thought they would, and trading Brad Stuart didn't help. The defensive corps is just too inexperienced in my view to lead the Sharks deep in the playoffs, and maybe to the playoffs at all. Ehrhoff, Fahey, Gorges, Murray, and Preissing all have 100 games or less of NHL experience. Davison has only 110 games. Scott Hannan and Kyle McLaren, while probably top-4 defensemen on nearly any NHL team, are not enough.

Special Teams:
The power play was the worst aspect of the Sharks' game early in the season, and the most positively affected by the Thornton trade. Putting Marleau at the point on the power play has also helped. The Sharks were in the last 3 or 4 teams in the entire NHL for PP% in November, and now they are middle of the pack. The last few games the Sharks have taken too many penalties, which completely cost them one game (Phoenix) and almost another (LA). Giving up 5-on-3 advantages for one minute or more is bad news when your kill is in the bottom half of the league.

Goaltending:
Traditionally one of the Sharks' biggest strengths, but injuries have hurt. Both Nabokov and Toskala missed quite a big of time, but we got to see Nolan Schaefer step up in late October (5-1, 1.88 GAA). Both Nabby and Toskala have been a little shaky, but they've both turned in good quality starts in January. I'm not concerned.

Looking Forward:
The Sharks might make the playoffs with their current roster, but given the quality of the West right now, it'll be a tough battle. They've been bad against division opponents, and continuing this trend will certainly eliminate a lot of hope in January; they play 4 more division games, and 4 in February. Unless they are much better than .500 in those 8 games, they'll be pretty much out of the playoff picture by the Olympic break. Since Nabby will be an unrestricted free agent next year, and both Schaefer and Dmitri Patzhold are playing well in the minors, look for the Sharks to deal him for a good stay-at-home defensemen in the next month. Names I've seen so far are Brendan Witt, Martin Skoula, and Eric Weinrich. Since Skoula is on the Stars now, and Turco is playing so well, I'm pretty sure that won't happen. Doug Wilson will not make the "Kipper to Calgary for a bag of pucks" mistake again. I'm hoping the Sharks don't trade a quality goalie like Nabokov for a solid defenseman in the twilight of his career, like Brian Leetch or Sergei Gonchar.

Sharks Lose Opener 3-2 to Nashville

I was pretty surprised, Nashville has got some jump in 'em. The Kariya-Erat-Legwand thing was going pretty good. Turns out DirecTV doesn't have Fox Sports as part of the package, so I frantically ran around trying to figure out if I should get Center Ice, or just the Sports package, and then if I can even get the Sharks games without the Sports package if I have Center Ice, blah blah blah. So I didn't get to TiVo the game until the second period. I formed my own opinion during the game, but this article in the Mercury sums it up pretty well.

• The power play sucked (0 for 6). They have some of the fastest players in the NHL, and the Sharks were doing the ol' dump-and-chase for many of their power plays. I have no idea why.
  
• They didn't tighten up too well in the third. They had a 2-1 lead, and ended up losing. Bad times.

Hard to see the Sharks lose like that on the first game of the season. Next two games are at Chicago and at St. Louis, and I hope the Sharks come back for the home opener 2-1. Both of those teams are very beatable- neither should make the playoffs.

Pumped? Hell Yes!

Today's games:

Montreal at Boston

NY Islanders at Buffalo

NY Rangers at Philadelphia

Columbus at Washington

Atlanta at Florida

St. Louis at Detroit

Pittsburgh at New Jersey

Carolina at Tampa Bay

Ottawa at Toronto

San Jose at Nashville

Anaheim at Chicago

Los Angeles at Dallas

Calgary at Minnesota

Colorado at Edmonton

Phoenix at Vancouver

I'm pumped for the season. I've read the previews in Hockey News, on ESPN.com, and in ESPN the Magazine (which I'll vent about later), I've drafted my fantasy team, I've pored over the Sharks website for news and information. Maybe this will be the least-watched, least-cared-about, and most-ridiculed hockey season ever. But I don't care. I'm a hockey fan, dammit, and I'm going to feed my puck habit any way I can.

Hockey Night

ESPN.com - NHL Index: "ESPNEWS is your one-stop location for NHL coverage this season, starting Thursday with Hockey Night. Get in-progress and postgame highlights along with Mr. Mullet himself, Barry Melrose."
NHL Tonight may be gone, and ESPN may not be televising games any more, but perhaps this is a palatable substitute.

Fantasy Fantastic

I love fantasy hockey. It's a great excuse to follow a whole bunch of players you've either know only peripherally, or never heard of at all. In my case, I've been following the NHL long enough to recognize most names, but every now and again I'm surprised by a good performer I've never heard of. Either way, you (well, I) end up spending way too much time debating the relative worth of Daniel Sedin vs. Craig Conroy vs. John Madden. Great time sink! We had our fantasy draft last night at my place, and here's my draft in order:

1. Marcus Naslund
2. Tomas Vokoun
3. Pavel Datsyuk
4. Rick Nash
5. John Grahame
6. Martin Havlat
7. Wade Redden
8. Mike Modano
9. Richard Zednik
10. Mathieu Schneider
11. Matt Barnaby
12. Gary Roberts
13. Mattias Ohlund
14. Adam Foote
15. Chris Simon
16. Jay Bouwmeester

An ok draft, I guess. I'm happy with getting Modano and Foote when I did. Today I dropped Chris Simon and picked up Ty Conklin, because I needed another goalie. So now I have vested interest in a number of teams I would normally ignore- Montreal, Florida, Columbus, and Tampa Bay. And I drafted no Sharks! Marco Sturm is available on waivers though, might be a good pickup...

The lull before the... um... bigger lull

Not much going on in the NHL the past few days. A couple of big signings- Eric Lindros to the Leafs and Joe Thornton resigned with the Bruins for 3 years. The Sharks? The only news in the past week really is that they resigned Tom Preissing and Wayne Primeau for two years each. Not exactly a blockbuster. I'd bet 90% or more of hardcore hockey fans couldn't identify either player if they ran into them on the street, and they were wearing shirts that said "Hi, My Name is Tom Preissing/Wayne Primeau".

So what do we do now? Wait for training camp I guess.

Sharks Preseason Schedule Released

1. 9/18 - Los Angeles at San Jose, 5 p.m.
   
2. 9/21 - San Jose at Anaheim, 7:30 p.m.
3. 9/23 - San Jose at Vancouver, 7 p.m.
4. 9/25 - Anaheim at San Jose, 5 p.m.
5. 9/27 - San Jose at Los Angeles, 7:30 p.m.
6. 9/28 - San Jose at Phoenix, 7 p.m.
7. 9/30 - Phoenix at San Jose, 7:30 p.m.

All times PDT. That's 40 days, 1 hour, 20 minutes and counting...

Yes, I am that desperate

I'm so desperate for Sharks and NHL news that I've taken to combing ESPN and Hockey News articles looking for any mention of the Sharks. Please tell me Doug Wilson is actually trying to earn his paycheck! Latest news? Paul Kariya is talking to the Oilers, but the Sharks are talking to him too. The article says Kariya is in touch with the Kings as well. I think the Oilers and Kings should be disqualified because they've already signed so many free agents. If that makes me sound like I'm bitter, it's because I am.

Hypothetical

Let's talk about a certain player, call him Player N. Player N is a big time NHL player, with several Stanley Cup wins. He is being courted by many teams around the NHL, including his current team. The Sharks, having made no moves at all in free agency, are in the sweepstakes. However, the Sharks, for no reason I can fathom, have apparently not pursued any other free agents in the market. The Sharks watch them being picked up one by one. Holik, Amonte, McCarty, Gonchar, Hatcher, Rathje. The Sharks still wait. Aucoin, Demitra, Leetch, Modano are gone. The Sharks don't make a peep. They want Player N. The problem? Player N wants to play with his friggin brother. This is not exactly breaking news. It was a big story two years ago when the Devils met the Ducks in the Stanley Cup finals.

Now the Sharks really look foolish. At the beginning of this free agent flurry (not Fleury), the Sharks didn't do squat, and then they run after a player they have virtually no chance of signing, missing out on a truckload of good players that have been traded or signed by other teams in the West. Now the Ducks are better.Calgary got Darren McCarty and Tony Amonte. The Oilers got Chris Pronger and Michael Peca. Dallas resigned Mike Modano. Vancouver got Markus Naslund back. The Kings signed Pavol Demitra, and now Jeremy Roenick is there too. The Sharks? All they've done is manage to lose one of their big 4 defensemen, Mike Rathje. I guess it could be worse. He could have gotten picked up by the Coyotes.

Later, Rat

Well, the first news involving a Sharks player appeared, and it ain't good. There's a lot of news out there. On the defensement front, it's gotten a bit thinner. Adam Foote, Adrian Aucoin, Sandis Ozolinsh are all off the market. D men left? Neidermeyer and Gonchar are the only two I can name off the top of my head, unless we want to give Marcus Ragnarsson another spin (no thanks). The Sharks better get moving. Demitra just went. Naslund and Forsberg are still out there. Will they sit on what they have, or watch the Kings and Anaheim get better?

Still waiting for the floodgates to open

I wonder what the teams are waiting for. So far, only the Flyers and Wings have released players. LeClair and Amonte from the Flyers, Derian Hatcher, Darren McCarty, and Ray Whitney from the Wings. What, no Bobby Holik? No Owen Nolan? The deadline is Saturday...

Let the free agent frenzy begin

Well, another good column by King Kaufman about hockey. He mentions lower ticket prices, and I'm all for that. However, I feel like I'm on the other end of the spectrum. I'll pay the same price, or maybe even a bit more to see pro hockey again. I sure hope the Sharks season ticket base is smaller this year- get out fair-weather fans! The Sharks could be real contenders this year, and they are in good salary cap position.

However, they need to sign their free agents. Rathje, Marleau, Stuart, and Sturm are restricted free agents, and need to be signed. Ricci and Damphousse are already gone. Maybe the Sharks will be in the running for a big free agent forward. Rumors have already begun about Owen Nolan to return to SJ, where he still lives. I say sign 'em, but not for anything close to what he was making in Toronto. His back is too rickety for the Sharks to lean on him hard. Holik is probably the biggest name available, and the Sharks could use a center. Glen Murray is available, but I think he'll sign again with the B's, or go back to the Kings. Pavol Demitra would be a great pickup too. The real crown jewel would be Markus Naslund from Vancouver.

Team by team breakdown on ESPN here.

Deal is almost done

Well, the NHL deal is almost done, and not too many people care. I suppose I'll have to take back my last post, in which I opined that the players realize that the owners really are losing money, and decided to give even more. After reading King's column, I have to agree with King. The players did a full and total capitulation. They reduced their salaries, they agreed to a hard cap, something they said they never would, and the owners got more favorable arbitration rules.

I, for one, am excited. Am I happy that the owners managed to win a long labor strike yet again (NFL in late 80's comes to mind)? Not particularly. But I can't say that a $36M salary cap affects my life any differently than a $49M salary cap. I just want to watch hockey. And being in Sharks territory, there ain't a whole lot of alternatives to the Sharks pro-hockey-wise.

I just can't seem to scare up any righteous indignation about this thing. I don't view pro hockey as a right, a right that was carelessly and ruthlessly taken away by rich white men looking to gain more money from other rich (mostly white) men. I view it as a great sport to watch and play, and I'll watch it and play it whenever I can. It's not a public utility. I can appreciate that some (ok, lots) of tax dollars were spent to keeps teams around, in the form of new arenas and tax breaks. And maybe that's where the indignation should be coming from, if it exists. Let's make that a lesson. The NHL wants to run their business with leadpipe cruelty and mercenary sensibility; we should guard our tax dollars with the same attitude. No more arena subsidies. No more tax breaks. If my beloved Sharks move to Ames or Boise or Minneapolis because San Jose won't cough up some millions, I'll get over it. I'll still watch the games on TV. Or not. As Jerry Seinfeld said, when you're rooting for the home team you're essentially rooting for laundry.

Who's the man?

Not to brag or anything, but it looks like my way of handling the new economic landscape of the NHL has gained a little traction. A per-team cap in the $22M to $36M range. This tells me two things. One, the players really want to get a deal done. Two, the accounting discussions they've have recently have opened their eyes a little bit. If you remember, the discussions in February stalled after the owners offered $42.5M, and the players would only go down to $49M. What's changed? Maybe the players are starting to realize that the very future of the league is in jeopardy, and the new numbers released by the owners confirm the Leavitt report as more than a PR document. There's still a ways to go- more negotiations on arbitration and free agency, perhaps the players decided to go further on the cap in order to get more in those areas.