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Gameday Thread: Panthers @ Sharks
by Mr. Plank on Mar 13, 2010 12:45 PM PST
34 comments
Bada bing. Bada boom.
Go Sharks.
34 comments | 0 recs
Sharks Gameday: Is Tomas Vokoun criminally underrated?
by Mr. Plank on Mar 12, 2010 9:39 PM PST
in Gamedays
36 comments
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@1:00 PM PST |
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| 27-29-10, 64 points | 43-14-9, 95 points |
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| 12th in Eastern Conference |
1st in Western Conference |
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CSN-CA+
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Back by popular demand, it's the obligatory "Goaltender with a question mark in the headline" article that have been making the rounds on Fear The Fin this week. On the docket today is one of the elite goaltenders in the NHL, Tomas Vokoun, who will face off against the Sharks today.
Vokoun has played for two franchises during the course of his 11 year professional career. These franchises, the Nashville Predators and Florida Panthers, have had a history of attendance issues and been largely ignored by the mainstream media. This is not to say that they are franchises that should be relocated to Winnipeg at the drop of the hat-- after all, Florida looks to be locked into Sunrise for the foreseeable future, and reports out of Nashville indicate the team will be there for at least two more seasons. Both organizations have done a fine job of expanding their fanbase and generating interest in their respective clubs despite cries from some in the Canadian media for relocation.
However, this is to say that Vokoun has not had the opportunity to prove himself in a premier hockey market that would elevate his presence, despite being the most consistent and successful goaltenders since the NHL lockout:
This is while playing behind some of the worst defenses in terms of SA/60 over the course of this five season data range.
36 comments | 0 recs |
Sharks score six goals in the third, Pavelski soaks panties faster than a firehose
by Mr. Plank on Mar 11, 2010 10:48 PM PST
in Gamedays Review
59 comments
It was one of those nights that make you question your sexuality.
Heavily outplayed from the outset of the game the San Jose Sharks kept up their comeback ways, roaring back in the third period to defeat the Nashville Predators. Joe Pavelski was the man of the hour, notching four points in the final frame to extend the winning streak to three.
With the game tied at four, Manny Malhotra made a great play to keep the puck deep, sealing off the boards as Nashville attempted to clear out of the zone. The puck bounced to Joe Pavelski at the bottom of the circle, and in a move that brought back lucid memories of his overtime goal against Dallas two years ago, Pavelski took the puck across the zone, waited out Dan Ellis, and rifled the puck gloveside high to put the Sharks up 5-4.
Following a JP Dumont tally that tied the score at five, Scott Nichol made a nice breakout pass to Pavelski, who entered the zone on the rush. Ryan Suter made a good play to pressure him above the circles, but one titillating spin move from the depths of hell later, Ellis was a five hole late and a few bucks short. That shot, a lock to be played on the HP Pavilion Jumbotron for years to come, proved to be the game winner.
Patrick Marleau also scored his fortieth goal in the season, the first time he has done so in his career. He joins Owen Nolan (44, 1999-2000) and Jonathan Cheechoo (56, 2005-2006) as the only San Jose Sharks to reach that milestone in franchise history.
59 comments | 0 recs |
Sharks Gameday: Pick your Poison
by That'll Cheech You on Mar 11, 2010 3:00 AM PST
in Gamedays
245 comments
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@7:30 PM PST |
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| 36-25-5, 77 points | 42-14-9, 93 points |
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| 7th in Western Conference |
1st in Western Conference |
Television |
NHLN-CA, CSN-CA+
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As Plank explored yesterday, this 8 day stretch is going to be difficult. Three of the Sharks next six games are against playoff teams, and four are against teams which are currently fighting for their playoff lives.
The first of these games comes against a team that has given the Sharks relative headaches all year. Not migraines, but definitely a few Tylenol worth. The Nashville Predators have played some hotly contested games against San Jose so far this season, staring with a 4-3 squeaker in San Jose where the Sharks came out on top. Interestingly enough, the next two games against the Predators were decided by a 4-3 score as well; Nashville won at home on November 10th, followed by a San Jose Sharks win in Nashville on February 6th. So, although the Sharks have a 2-1-0 record against the Predators this season, they've only outscored them 11-10.
Why have the Predators given the Sharks so much trouble? Well, they fit the bill of the type of team that gives Sharks problems. They have a solid defensive unit, an industrious group of forwards, and a forecheck that disrupts the Sharks ability to move the puck up on the rush. Other teams like the Predators? Think Columbus, Phoenix, and St. Louis. While these are teams the Sharks should beat consistently, their style of play usually results in a closer game than expected.
Still, the Predators remain my preferred first round opponent.
245 comments | 0 recs |
Dark days? What do you know about dark days?
by Mr. Plank on Mar 10, 2010 9:06 PM PST
in Fear The Fin News
33 comments
These were the darkest days I have ever known.
33 comments | 0 recs
Road trip photos
Plank wanted me to do a full front page post, but since my life's been busy as hell, this (very belated) fanshot will have to do. Toronto, Nashville, and Dallas are all in there - Hockey Hall of Fame pics to come soon.
Also, if anyone's going to the Avs game in Denver on April 4th, hit me up - I'll be there, en route to Jamaica (seriously).
Big Week Ahead!
by Mr. Plank on Mar 9, 2010 10:17 PM PST
272 comments
And so it begins.
The faces of hockey fans across the country have begun to change. Sunken eye sockets pay homage to Trevor Reznik, filled with pain and exhaustion-- others glow like the urine of a cow residing in Chernobyl, full of hope and faith.
Like a Duraflame log, we crackle with excitement. Like a dog's log, others crumble with the stink of a lost season.
But never mind those weary souls. This next week is a huge one for San Jose, filled with opponents who are in the midst of fighting for a postseason berth in the ever-tight Western Conference. It's a time to establish some momentum heading into The Months That Shall Not Be Named, as well as send some messages in the event that the Sharks do meet one of these squads in April.
Desperation. It's a clever word, one used rather ambiguously by sports broadcasters and coaching staff to explain victories at this time of year. Team X was desperate and therefore won the game. Does this hold weight? Maybe, maybe not. But no matter where you end up on the totem pole of attributing results to emotional intangibles, the fact remains that the next nine days are booked with Western Conference teams who are on the bubble in one form or another. And bubble boys usually get pissed when you come into their house and try to dictate how the game will be played.
For the record, it's Moops.
Nashville at home tomorrow, a throwaway in terms of relative importance against Florida on Saturday. The Preds have one of the better bluelines and creepier coaches in the West, so a tight-checking affair will likely be on the docket. They have managed to hold on to a bottom seed for awhile now, and will be looking to gain some breathing room when the pressure really starts to crank up two weeks from now.
Then the Sharks hit a nice lil' roadie, four games against four teams that need points. Anaheim and Dallas have struggled since the Olympics ended and have begun to fall out of striking distance of the top eight-- while the game against San Jose may not effectively put their seasons in the morgue, it's at the point where it will put them on some very serious life support. Huge games for both clubs, even if they manage to reel off a set of wins until then.
If San Jose takes two points against Anaheim on Sunday, they will have won every single game against the Ducks this year. While this may not be an effective remedy to forget what happened in April of 2009 ("That's what crack pipes are for Jimmy"), it would go a long way towards helping me stop throwing feces filled balloons into the street from my roof. It's a win-win for everyone, really.
Following the division rivals, San Jose tees off against Calgary and Vancouver. The Flames are in the eight seed by a point right now, while the Canucks are battling Colorado for the Northwest title. Again, same situation. Desperate teams looking for any standings points they can get.
Now this isn't the only big stretch San Jose is going to undergo until April-- there are a lot of potential Western Conference playoff teams still left on the schedule. However, with the Sharks currently sporting a spiffy pair of Captain Comeback underpants, it will be a good test to see if they can start making some noise early in the first period and establish a rhythm through sixty minutes.
Furthermore, as the games left to be played begin to dwindle down, the playoff picture will become much clearer-- right now, multiple teams are left with varying chances of breaking into the playoffs, and that is the silver lining for San Jose. Each opposing team is going to be functioning at their full potential. There should be no reason that the Sharks catch one of them sleepwalking through a tilt.
As always, Sports Club Stats is a great resource at this time of year for checking up on who might end up where.
Man your battlestations bitches-- the playoff push is on.
Go Sharks.
272 comments | 0 recs |
Will Evgeni Nabokov Save or Condemn the Sharks?
by Ivano27 on Mar 9, 2010 10:00 AM PST
152 comments
Yesterday Plank presented us with a statistical breakdown of Nabby's career with San Jose Sharks. In his article he argued that perhaps Evgeni Nabokov is getting too many starts this season which may negatively impact his post season form. Not only that, in his follow up piece Plank argued that Nabokov actually was not that much better than his backups over the course of his stint with the Sharks, and that should impact his upcoming contract negotiations this summer. Hockey of course is not a game of numbers, but the identified patterns can still leave one wondering about whether we should be excited or depressed about the approaching playoffs. Today we'll discuss Nabokov one more time, but from a slightly different perspective.
Let's go back a couple of weeks ago, when Team Russia was facing Team Canada in the quarter-final game of the Winter Olympics in Vancouver. Among other things, that game was supposed to give us a preview of what to expect from Nabby in this post season. I do not need to remind you how it all ended, but we can all agree that it left more questions than answers about what to expect from Nabby this spring. The Hockey News even claim the Sharks are lacking clutch goaltending, as they approach playoffs.
Is there any hope for the Sharks in the coming weeks between the pipes, as the regular season is drawing to an end? Or should the Sharks fans not set their expectations too high, remembering the heartbreaks of the past few years? In my view, we do have a hope, based on Nabby's three historical performances.
1. Nabokov's Career with Dynamo Moscow. Before he moved to the States Nabokov made his name as a 20 year old playing for the best Russian hockey club at the time Dynamo Moscow (a club that over the past couple of decades produced such hockey talents as Alexei Yashin, Alexei Zhamnov, Sergei Gonchar, Maxim Afinogenov, Pavel Datsyuk and Alex Ovechkin - just to name a few). Nabokov's stats for Dynamo were more then respectable - in 90 regular season games spanned over three seasons he posted 2.01 GAA (with 7 SOs), and in 25 playoff games he posted 2.15 GAA. A less known fact is that Nabby won MHL Cup with Dynamo in 1995 and was named the most valuable player of the tournament (an equivalent of NHL's Conn Smythe trophy). I watched two of the final games of that series against Lada in person, and Nabokov was playing as good as I've ever seen him play during his long hockey career, including posting a shutout in the Game 5 of the final (at the time, the final was played as a best of five format) as Dynamo sealed the win. A year later, Nabokov went on to win another MHL Cup, this time splitting the time between the pipes with another goaltender, but still only allowing 7 goals in 6 playoff games. He was a clutch player then, but this was 15 years ago, so let's cite more recent examples.
152 comments | 0 recs |
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Pacific Standings
| GP | W | L | OTL | PT | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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San Jose
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66 | 43 | 14 | 9 | 95 |
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Phoenix
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67 | 40 | 22 | 5 | 85 |
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Los Angeles
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67 | 40 | 22 | 5 | 85 |
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Dallas
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67 | 29 | 25 | 13 | 71 |
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Anaheim
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67 | 30 | 29 | 8 | 68 |
(updated 3.13.2010 at 5:06 AM PST)
Sharks Schedule
Next 5 Games
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Florida
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Sat 03/13 | 1:00 PM PST |
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@
Anaheim
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Sun 03/14 | 5:00 PM PDT |
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@
Dallas
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Tue 03/16 | 5:30 PM PDT |
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@
Vancouver
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Thu 03/18 | 7:00 PM PDT |
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@
Calgary
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Fri 03/19 | 6:00 PM PDT |
Last 5 Games
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Nashville
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Thu 03/11 | W 8 - 5 |
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Columbus
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Sat 03/06 | W 2 - 1 |
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Montreal
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Thu 03/04 | W 3 - 2 |
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New Jersey
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Tue 03/02 | L 3 - 4 |
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@
Buffalo
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Sat 02/13 | L 1 - 3 |
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