The Sharks played their best game of possession hockey I've seen this year. Granted I haven't been able to watch a whole lot of games, but they looked very strong on the puck and in the corners. It just didn't translate into shots on net in the first. They had several great chances, but the puck seemed to skip over every Shark stick in those situations. The Sharks looked quick on the Power Play, and I am guessing they will get one later on tonight they way it is looking right now. The period was also incredibly physical. Vlasic nailed a King behind the Sharks net, and the Kings made Couture's like very difficult, nailing him in the boards several times. The second Couture hit gave way to a Sharks PP, but once again they could not score. 

The second was characterized by both teams really opening up the offense. After twelve combined shots in the first, the two teams nearly doubled it with twenty-three in the second. The checking was still up and both teams finally got on the board. Couture's goal was an absolute beauty. His one-timer from the high slot area was a snipe with an incredible release. Benn Ferriero is playing the best hockey I have seen from him. He is showing speed I have not seen from him yet, and he is getting into the right positions on the ice to make plays. It is exactly what we need to see from him since Havlat will be out at least 6 weeks. The Kings tied it up with a minute left in the period, following a cross-ice pass to Mike Richards on the PP.

Finally, the third was more of the same. Hard-hitting, fast, playoff style hockey. Both teams had their chances, and both Niemi and Quick rose to the challenge. Vlasic continued one of the strongest games of his season, and he rightfully finished with the first star of the game. The intensity continued into overtime and then into the shoot-out. Clowe scored the only goal, using Quick's own knowledge of his Clowe against him.

That was the most entertaining game of the year in my opinion. Yes, even better than the game against the Lightning on Wednesday. Both teams brought it, there were plenty of chances on net, and both goalies brought their A+ game. The Sharks still have a handful of games in hand on most teams in the league, so hopefully they will finish this home stretch with 45 points.

Quick Hits

-Since when did Curtis Brown get on the Sharks intermission report!?! I still want Mark Smith back. He can play me sweet guitar tunes while I figure out whether the Stars or not. 

Hopefully I won't be alone this time, as I currently help run the We Like Sharkz Facebook Page. Link here. I will be attempting to get a couple more writers on the site while I, along side writing, would be the editor of the blog as well. 

Tonight marked my first regular-season visit to the Tank this year. College in the middle of butt-fuck no-where (Merced) tends to inhibit your ability to attend a game. I was impressed with the play of the team for the most part, as they did a fairly good job on the penalty kill. That was one of the key things I looked for, and I think my lack of things to say about it is good. The power play looked better (after the crowd gave them the boos they deserved) and Patty slipped in an easy game-winning goal thanks to two great individual efforts. Jamie McGinn has kept growing as a player ever since it seemed he came out of his cocoon in the playoffs last year. He has been skating hard into the corners and winning the puck battles, which led to the power play goal tonight. 

Marty Havlat had a roller coaster of a game, scoring a beautiful goal in the first, then taking two back-to-back penalties in the second. He was not able to finish his ride sadly, as he injured himself getting onto the ice. Yes, Havlat looked to injure his knee attempting to get over the boards, and was unable to put any pressure on his leg. Any long-term injury turns the Havlat-Heatley trade into our worst possible scenario because as everyone has seen, Heatley has helped lead the Wild into the lead of the Western Conference. Let's just hope he gets better soon. 

Off topic, I was finally able to try out Amici's pizza in the HP. I didn't mind it, but my dad hated it. D+ from him.

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The comeback of the man who's lost his fighting touch and the man who was suppose to replace him(until this guy came along) coming back, both Demers and McLaren were sent back down. I get mixed feelings with that, because I want to see Jay Leach play because we are paying him for virtually nothing. However, I REALLY REALLY like Frazer. He doesn't make the stupid mistakes that Staubitz makes, and he is just a better player overall while still being a bruiser out there.

Other than that, it is late.

I've decided that the french fries are the only thing I'm getting at the HP from now on. And if I ever find that booth with the sundays.

Some bad news is that I read that Boyle was hurt with 5 seconds left. Boyle has quietly turned into my favorite player on the Sharks, behind Nabokov and McGinn. The guy really does everything, putting up big minutes and making big plays. The ultimate D-man. Hopefully he isn't out that long.

Other than that, nothing really on my mind right now.

Oh yea, went to the game versus the Kings...didn't get chicken strips.

Other than that I don't have much to say, other than the fact that the HP Pavilion's Chicken Strips are not good.

My ratings go like this right now.

1. Denny's

2. Elephant Bar

3. HP Pavilion

Gotta step up your game HP.

In other news, I hurt my back, which is one of the reasons this blog is coming late.

I didn't watch the Calgary-San Jose game, I was busy last night, but I heard that Kipper played on his head to keep San Jose from scoring. Sometimes a goaltender just beats you.

On the topic of that 4th line, I'm liking the slow improvement in ice time for the two returnees. Hopefully they keep progressing and get to a point where McLellan can put them on the ice and not have to worry.

Frazer McLaren scored. I like him, he has the look of a hockey player and he fights well. Good 4th line player. His line included Torrey Mitchell and Devin Setoguchi, so I'm sure that helped. Smart move by McLellan by the way. Ease these two back into the game and don't risk injury. Makes sense after what happened last year.

1 for 5 on the PP, which is ok. Both Randy and Drew raped the fact that the 1st PP was getting to showy. I get it. I read the blog already, you've said it all game, just shut up and let them do their thing. It works. Oh but wait...they simplified and scored their only PP goal. Well fuck me. Whatever, just keep scoring goals.

Lastly, Evgeni Nabokov is awesome. He made some great saves, and kept the lead for the Sharks in the early 3rd, when I thought VanCity would tie it up. Just another reason he should be rated a 120 in NHL 10.

Did I mention the chicken strips at Elephant Bar aren't very good. They are very low on my list of Chicken Strips.

On the bright side, Marleau played a hell of a game when it seemed no one else would. The former captain(how many times have you heard that) got a hat trick, which is the Sharks 3rd of the season. Ryan Clowe got the Sharks other goal, and he has 15 points in the last 14 games. I like that. You know what else I like? The return of Torrey Mitchell. 108 games since his last regular season game, and I didn't really notice him on the ice. Don't know if that is a good thing or a bad thing. He only was on the ice for 6:30 minutes; expect more playing time as Todd learns to trust him.

Not much else to say about this game. The Sharks got lucky. After playing a horrible game in their own zone, they were saved by Marleau and were able to pull it out in the shoot-out. Next up on the Canadian trip is Vancouver on Sunday.

I haven't completely watched the game, because my friend loves Man vs. Food; but all I've seen is Sharks turnovers. They can't keep the puck out of their own zone, even if they are on the PP. Absolutely embarrassing.

Now the Sharks put Greiss in, even though it hasn't all been Nabby's fault. It's pretty much been 3 breakaway goals IIRC.

Let's see how this 3rd goes.

He won't produce many points, although I was slightly surprised with his 08 playoff points in Portland(1+12=13 in 18). He's fought 12 times since 04-05, so he'll protect his teammates when he has too, but it's not a common thing. With only 18 games of NHL experience, I think San Jose will see very little of this guy, and he was brought in for depth in Worcester.

Danny Groulx:

This 28 year old looks to be more depth for Worcester defensively. He hasn't played a game in the NHL, and that will probably look to continue. I don't see him playing in San Jose. He did put up 40 points last season for Rockford, but he hasn't done anything special since his days in the QMJHL.

Dwight Helminen:

With Dwight here we have a player who will probably spend half of the year in Worcester and half of the year in SJ. He has numbers in the AHL that say he should be semi-productive in the NHL, but in 23 games in Carolina he only had 2 points. I'd like to see Todd McLellan give him some top-6 forward time when he does play in SJ to just see if he can find some chemistry with some top line players. He seems to consistently put up what seems to be a little less that a PPG in each league that he has played for, and maybe he can find that in SJ. Extremely wishful thinking, but hey...

Jed Ortmeyer:

Jed will probably see the most playing time with SJ, after playing in the AHL most of last year after a knee injury. Not much of a scorer. At all. He'll be a pure energy player in the bottom-6. He came back from a blood clot in the brain several years ago, so he's tough. Other than that he seems to be a vanilla 3rd to 4th line player. He'll be 31 by the time the season starts, so he is one of the older players on the Sharks. We will see what he can do once the season roles around.