I could easily just copy and paste old stuff I wrote here to sum up tonight;s game. The Sharks has some dominant stretches, got soft as the game went on, had a horrible defensive breakdown, and ended up losing. At least it was late enough so they got a point. The Sharks will be facing tougher competition tomorrow and Monday night, so look for the inevitable breakdowns to happen sooner, and the losses to be more decisive.

Just kidding, but only half. The disappointment continues. The Sharks can’t catch a break right now. They did not play a bad game last night. Nabby had his worst game of the season so far, and he needs a bit of a rest. He’s spent the last two years trying to be the undisputed #1 again- now that he’s got it, he will not take himself out of the game or refuse a start. Look for Patzold to start Saturday or Monday against Phoenix.

Unlike my esteemed blog partner, I don’t believe a major shakeup is needed, trading Marleau, Cheechoo, or firing Ron Wilson. Although if Boston goes for that trade he proposed they should be contracted out of the league. Maybe that’s why he’s kicking ass at fantasy and I’m not.

It’s my belief that the Sharks need a relatively small catalyst to drive their recovery. With the face of the team being Patrick Marleau and Joe Thornton, two laid back guys, I think some passion, energy and emotion needs to be injected into the Sharks lineup. I wish JR could be that guy, and Lord knows he’s trying, but he just doesn’t get enough minutes to make it happen.

We need Sean Avery.

Well, somebody like Avery anyway. Not a star. A guy that talks trash on the ice, makes a pest of himself, and can contribute good minutes. Look at Detroit. They have at least three pests- Holmstrom, Maltby, and Draper all get under your skin. They can take the other team off of their game while inspiring their team to play harder.

With Clowe out, that role is not being filled. Bernier is playing tougher, but he’s not a pest, just a big guy. And it’s hard to be taken seriously when you’re talking trash with a French accent. What we don’t need is another silent leader. We need somebody to stir the pot, on and off the ice.

Letting Mark Smith go was a mistake. We need him back. Ian Laperriere, Raffi Torres, even Chris Simon. Ok, maybe not Chris Simon. But Darren McCarty.

Let’s not cram Joe and Patty into a box that says “VOCAL LEADER”. Forcing them into a role they are not suited to play is counterproductive and stupid. The captain doesn’t have to be the guy that makes all the speeches. Doug Wilson needs to give them room to create, the room to lead on the ice, knowing that somebody’s got their back.

How about our old nemesis, Brendan Witt? Scott Parker would have scaled the Eiffel Tower to get at that guy. That’s the guy we need.

I know we all have theories of what is wrong with out underachieving San Jose Sharks. I have preached patience at times. I have encouraged Dougie Wilson to explore a few trades. Is it the coaching? Is the biggest roster in size in the NHL smallest in heart? Is there a lack of a big time blueliner? Is the Captain to blame?

Take your pick – but there is something wrong in Teal Town. The boys played hard last night but some mental mistakes allowed two breakaway goals and Turco stood on his head, something every goalie from Aubin to Tim Thomas seems to do when the Sharks take the ice. So what do you do if you are Doug Wilson? You have to be racking your brain searching for an answer. While the season is not even 20% done, you have to be losing patience. I know the season ticket holders are, myself included. With reports of Neidermeyer now eyeing December for a return to the ice, the Sharks window of opportunity to grab the Pacific title by the horns is running out of time. So – what do you do?

Fire Ron Wilson? Make a major trade?

Most imporantly, it is a quesetion of philosophy. Doug Wilson has stated he admires the system that the Ottawa Senators have in place. They were patient with young players, allowed them to develop and made the major deal (Hossa for Heatley) that allowed them to take the next step. It looks like adding Joe Thornton is not going to be enough, Dougie. Here is my answer – this roster is flawed. We knew it during the offseason when Drury/Smyth/Souray/Redden all turned their backs on the Sharks. This team has too many duplicate players (Setoguchi/Cheechoo), too many big players who don’t use their size (Bernier/McLaren) and too many centers (Goc/Mitchell/Pavelski). A statement needs to be made to this team that management isn’t willing to wait and watch them flounder about. Marleau endured a painful offseason after a terrible playoff performance and how has he responded – with five points and a -4 rating. Trade Marleau – the Captain and the root of the emotional weakness of this team. He has a two year extension (very carefully constructed that he could be traded this year before his no trade clause takes effect). Trade him now and get new, veteran pieces – not young players for the future – but guys who can help NOW and change the landscape of this team. Get a back up for Nabby, who has never proved he can endure a full season as the #1.

To Boston: Patrick Marleau and Christian Ehrhoff
To San Jose: Glen Murray, Chuck Kobasew and Zdeno Chara

Time to Shake It Up!

Todd Bertuzzi, once a dominant force when he was with the Vancouver Canucks, now has completed his meteoric fall from grace. He had the tools to be a legendary power forward in this league, and then the whole Steve Moore thing happened. He sat out a long time, traded to Florida, sucked, traded to Detoit, sucked, signed with Anaheim, and sucked again.

For whatever reason, I knew that his hit on Moore was vicious and outside the bounds of the game, but it did have a hockey context- he was retaliating against Moore for a hit he put on Naslund some games before. Worthy of the suspension, worthy of scorn for his lack of control, but the sentiment wasn’t entirely out of place, though his methods were. Maybe there was something salvagable in Bert.

Now, that illusion has come to an end. In a true holiday spirit, Bertuzzi offered Moore $350K to settle his $15M lawsuit. Wow, Todd! 2.3% of the asking amount! How generous of you! You ended the guys career, he’s still experiencing symptoms, and you offer him 9% of your yearly salary. For this year only. Thank God next year you get to keep the whole $4M.

There is no longer any doubt that Todd Bertuzzi is a miserable human being on the short end of a disappointing hockey career. Sleep well with your millions, jagoff.

I found the Teal Spiel recording of the most recent show here. I encourage you to listen to all of it. If you just want to listen to the highlight of the show- me talking about Cheechoo – I ripped that part out and posted it here. Or maybe you can play it right now:

Maybe I was a bit manic, but it’s entertainment, baby! Gotta keep things hummin’ along.

I believe a Saturday evening AM radio show call counts as fame, so that’s what the title refers to.

So I discovered that finally, I get the NHL Network on DirecTV channel 215. I see it on the guide, I switch to it, and I see that there’s a show called Stanley Cup Summer. It’s about various Ducks players going to their hometowns and sharing the Cup with family and friends. Not exactly the kind of show I would want to watch, but it IS the first time I’m watching the hockey-only channel, so I figure I’ll give it a chance.

It’s one of those feel-good fluff shows, and they have pieces on Teemu Selanne and Sammy Pahlsson taking the Cup to Scandinavia (with graphics obviously created from Google Earth, which I found pretty funny). Then they switch to Chris Pronger, who took the Cup back to Ontario someplace to show his folks. They show him with a family friend who’s been stricken with cancer, and my heart goes a bit soft. A bit. Especially since he didn’t elbow her in the head, even though she was in a vulnerable position (a hospital bed in her living room).

But then this happens. He goes to a pediatric cancer ward in a local hospital to cheer up the kids. Here is my transcript directly from the show:

Chris Pronger (voiceover): You always wanna try and go see kids in the hospital… there’s not a lot of them in there but the ones that are in the cancer ward are going through a tough time. You want to bring a smile to their face.
Woman: Bill, do you want to introduce your granddaughter?
Bill: This is Taylor.
Chris Pronger: Ok.
Bill: My granddaugher.
Chris Pronger: Helloooo.
Bill: She’s a cancer survivor.
Chris Pronger: Perfect.

At this point I turn to my wife and said, “Did he just say ‘perfect’?” And then I laugh for about ten minutes.

Thanks NHL Network!

Yes, Virginia, there is a Sharks radio show. It’s called Teal Spiel, and it’s on 1220AM on Saturdays from 5 to 6:30pm. I just called in and ranted a bit about Cheech, but not in the way you’d expect. I learned about this from a Sharks message board called ChompBoard.com, and we happened to see this on the JumboTron last night. Serendipitous, doncha think?

Listen to the podcast if you get a chance. Don’t know when they post it, but I’m the second caller of the night, at the end of the second segment. Oh yeah, and when I said Marc Bergeron, I meant Marc Savard. I always get those two mixed up for some reason.

Last nights loss to the Kings was a heartbreaker. This was the chance for the boys to reign supreme in the Pacific and instead they laid an egg against a mediocre team with a has-been goalie who stood on his head. Disturbing. Change should be afoot for this team that seems lost right now.

If the Sharks lose tonight, could Ron Wilson be gone on Monday? Very possible.

If the Sharks lose tonight, could a major roster shake up been in the works? Very possible. It’s hard to put much stock into Eklund’s rumors, but his lead today of Toronto trading two veteran players to a team out West for a young forward and a young defensemen smells of San Jose being that other team. He also mentioned a player waiving a NTC. Ron Wilson’s obsession with a #1 defensemen has been well documented. Could this be McCabe for say Joe Pavelski and Christian Ehrhoff? Just a musing…With Kaspar/Mithcell/Setoguchi around and Bernier finally showing up to play – do we need Pavelski, who will be due for a raise as a RFA next year? We have Couture waiting in the wings as well. Ehrhoff, who is also due for a raise, is looking clueless lately and perhaps he should be moved while the value is still high. Signing Ozo to me means a defensemen is on the move. You don’t need Carle, Ehrhoff and Ozo – three duplicate guys who play a little soft and like to jump into the play.

But of course, the Sharks will win tonight – continuing their Jekyll and Hyde ways, and all changes could be off.

Just recently I found the Broadcaster’s Blog on the Sharks web site (now on the blogroll —>). The four Sharks broadcasters (Randy Hahn – TV play by play, Drew Remenda – TV color, Dan Rusanowsky – Radio play by play, and Jamie Baker – Radio color) are the contributors. It’s really a great inside look to the Sharks organization and players.

The latest entry from Randy Hahn claims that Ryane Clowe will be out for an extended period of time:

If you were to come up with a list of 5 players the Sharks could least afford to lose to injury, Ryan Clowe would have to be on that list. He scores, he checks, he fights and he can play on any one of four lines. He’s going to be out long term and others around him are going to have to figure out how to pick up the slack…

That hurts. Clowe, before he was injured, was the playing the type of style that I think the Sharks should be playing. The kind of style they played against the Stars. If it is as serious a knee injury as it sounds, he could be out the rest of the year.

I like that Bernier has found a little sandpaper to go with his game, and I hope he understands that this is a big opportunity for him to step up his game and fill a desperately needed role – a skilled player that won’t take shit from anyone. A player that leads the team in physicality, while still being disciplined.

There’s a quite fascinating article on Ron Wilson in the Mercury today, and his tendency to swap lines around. Other coaches- Dave Tippet from the Stars, Mike Babcock from the Red Wings, and Scotty Bowman, are also quoted.

I think these other coaches ain’t got nothing on Ron Wilson. He throws out so many different looks in a single game I bet the NHL scorekeepers curse his name. In the case of the Wings, Zetterberg and Datsyuk almost always play together on even-strength and the PP, and with the Stars, Brendan Morrow and Mike Ribiero are also paired. I can’t name a single offensive pairing that has really been consistent this entire year. Joe and Michalek would be the closest thing we got, but I can think of plenty of times they didn’t play together.

This quote from Wilson is particularly interesting:

I don’t have the time to wait for a guy to play well. It might take only one guy or two guys that can ruin everybody else’s effort by not being alert, by not being involved. Your job as a coach is to recognize that right off the bat. You go down and say it’s got to be better, then when it’s not that next shift or two – boom! – you change lines.

I’m no hockey coach, but I question the wisdom of this. Two bad shifts gets you demoted? What if you’ve been clicking with a player for the past two or three games- one bad period and you’re back to square one?

I’ve been playing hockey for over ten years now. There are players that I’ve played with for so long where I just know their style, and I know where they are going to be and what they are going to do without having to watch. We’re more than the sum of our parts. In my view, shuffling lines this readily stunts the ability of the players to form those kinds of relationships with other players. Gretz just knew where Kurri was going to be. Can Marleau say that about Torrey Mitchell? No matter- he’ll be playing with Marcel Goc tomorrow night.

He’s won over a thousand games as a head coach, so clearly Ron Wilson knows a little bit about coaching. But is this the right style for this group? Can’t you motivate players without flipping them around like a three card Monty game? Isn’t building confidence in your players also a worthy goal?