McLellan Should Be Commended For Injury Management

by Mr. Plank on Jan 15, 2010 3:00 AM PST in Coaching From The Couch

Heading into this season there were some concerns about Todd McLellan's ability to effectively manage his resources-- in his inaugural year behind the Sharks bench, key players were overplayed down the stretch, a decision that eventually contributed to the Sharks bowing out in six games to the Anaheim Ducks. Riddled with injuries in the second half of the season, McLellan allowed Evgeni Nabokov to dictate his own starts even though he was dealing with recurring hip issues, Iron Man Joe Thornton saw his ice time increase in the midst of a groin problem, and Patrick Marleau was saddled with heavy PK minutes with a tweaked knee. These coaching decisions came to a head for Marleau in the playoffs when, despite scoring two game winning goals for San Jose (a testament to his resiliency as a player, as well as a precursor to his resiliency as a human being after being viciously thrown under the bus this offseason), it was apparent that he was not functioning at the level he was capable of. Evgeni Nabokov also struggled mightily, posting a .890 SV%, the vast majority of these goals coming of the five hole variety-- a cardinal sin for professional goaltenders.

Thankfully, it seems as if McLellan has learned from these mistakes.

Between allowing Joe Pavelski, Devin Setoguchi, Jed Ortmeyer, Rob Blake, and Torrey Mitchell (among others) ample time to rehabilitate, you'd be hard pressed to find a case where a player has returned at much less than full-strength, dealing with the same ailments that put them on the sidelines in the first place.

The most recent example would be Sharks forward Manny Malhotra. Out for the previous six games of action, Malhotra returned last night to skate with linemates Scott Nichol and Jed Ortmeyer. Despite a 2-1 loss to the Boston Bruins in the shootout, the line did an excellent job throwing their weight around on the forecheck, cycling down low, generating scoring opportunities, and keeping puck carriers to the outside in the defensive end. It was a typical night for the trio-- even the harshest critic would find it hard to cite a shift where it looked as if they were overmatched. Malhotra was a big part of that, pumping five shots towards the net (with three of them turned away by Tim Thomas, who looked excellent) and logging 15:46 of ice time.

While the high number of minutes Evgeni Nabokov and Dan Boyle have seen this season should be of concern to Sharks fans since both players will be attending the Winter Olympics in February, McLellan has found a groove when it comes to injury management in 2009-2010. And while the jury isn't out quite yet considering there remains a healthy chunk of games left to play, his track record thus far indicates that a conservative approach is one that he has adopted-- even if achieving the league's best record could be placed in jeopardy.

McLellan already has one of those on his head coaching resume; this year, he'll be under even more pressure to add a different, and more elusive, award. Continuing to effectively protect his assets will put him one step closer to achieving that goal.

So far, so good.

Go Sharks.

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I agree with you for the most part, but I can’t help thinking some of Seto’s woes may be due to the fact he’s not fully back, or came back early from his injury. But that’s rampant speculation.

I believe the real proof in the roster management pudding will be Nabby. I’m not happy with the number of starts he’s gotten so far, with more sure to come in the Olympics. Why not Greiss last night? He better play on Saturday. The Sharks have gotten themselves into a place where they have to re-sign Nabby, because they just don’t have enough information on other goaltenders in the organization. And I think McLellan deserves some of that blame.

by mepex on Jan 15, 2010 8:11 AM PST reply actions

It’s difficult to say what has hampered Setoguchi since he returned, but I don’t think it’s an injury— he’s looked better the last few games and had his opportunities. Thomas’ save last night (in the first?) wasn’t robbery persay, but only a few goaltenders in the league are as active as he is with the stick. Once the first one finds the back of the net for Gooch I think you see the dominoes start to fall.

The piece tried to focus on solely injury management, and while I completely agree with McLellan’s poor handling of Nabokov*, I’m done harping on it until February as I mentioned before. Starting to drive me up the wall.

*A quote that really put a bur in my britches in the last two weeks was one from McLellan, who said something along the lines of, “We tried to rest Nabokov last season and that didn’t work, so now we’re going to ride him because he seems to play better when he’s getting a ton of starts.” No idea why he thinks that is an effective solution in an Olympic year.

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by Mr. Plank on Jan 15, 2010 1:33 PM PST up reply actions

Seto

I wonder how much of this is the ego hit of not being on the first line.

He has shown incredible ability to fit into that spot but he is not Captain Marleau or Heater. Getting bumped after doing so well has to be as damaging as injury.

I agree that the Olympics, plus the compressed schedule is going to haunt some of the Sharks big stars. Not sure how I feel about blaming McLellan about starting a stud goalie a lot. Seems to me that the biggest names in the crease get played a ton and win in the playoffs because the get played a ton and are reliable. Any stats on goalie games played for cup finalists over the last decade or so with a miles traveled qualifier?

Christmas is for shopping and the shopping god is everything. -MGB-

by Aero72 on Jan 15, 2010 9:11 AM PST reply actions

I’m planning on writing a piece during the Olympics that deals with that very situation (as McLellan’s handling of Nabokov and Boyle after February will be very important considering the amount of ice time they’ve received this year), but just briefly glancing at the numbers it seems as if the vast majority of starters didn’t receive over much over 60 starts.

It’s an issue that has bugged me for a long time, but as I mentioned in that secondary scoring piece you alluded to below, I’m done banging that drum for a long time. Only so many times you can hammer on a point before you drive yourself bonkers.

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by Mr. Plank on Jan 15, 2010 1:25 PM PST up reply actions

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Plank, Just read the post on 13th about splitting the top two lines…and Yeah, what you said!

Christmas is for shopping and the shopping god is everything. -MGB-

by Aero72 on Jan 15, 2010 9:17 AM PST reply actions

New Guys

Some of the players that Doug Wilson brought in over the offseason really help to spread the minutes around. Guys like Manny Malhotra, Scott Nichol and Jed Ortmeyer are all good guys to have in the game when the Sharks are protecting their lead (which seems to be about 95%) of the games.

Last year, I got the distinct impression that he didnt feel like he could trust anyone aside from the big boys… this year seems like a different story.

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by Matt Reitz on Jan 15, 2010 4:39 PM PST reply actions

I agree that McLellan and the organization as a whole has been a whole lot better about taking the cautious route with injuries than last year. That being said, the timing of some of last year’s injuries (Marleau in particular) was unfortunate. Would you have rather they benched Marleau in the first round of the playoffs? Sometimes timing dictates playing someone a wee bit ahead of schedule.

This early in the year, though, its definately a good call to see the Sharks being handled with care. And let’s cross our fingers that everyone stays relatively healthy down the stretch post-Olympics.

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by ZeroIndulgence on Jan 15, 2010 8:13 PM PST via mobile reply actions

Nabby Playing To Much??

Is Nabby going to play 70 games, the olympics and then the playoffs at 35?? I think that is asking an awful lot of Nabby both physical and mentally..

What happens if he fails again in the playoffs?? Does this look familiar??

by The Sear on Jan 15, 2010 11:35 PM PST reply actions

I think Greiss will get more starts leading up to the Olympics and after.

I think in the week or so leading up, they should evenly split the load so Greiss can still get in some work before the Olympics as well.

Proud member of the "Don't Trade Marleau" club.
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by SharksFanEst.1994 on Jan 15, 2010 11:49 PM PST up reply actions

I doubt that

There has been nothing to indicate they’ll start playing Greiss more. This wasn’t even the first back to back this year where Nabby has gotten both starts.

I just don’t like this path. Look at all the other teams that ride their goalie all year long lately. Kipper, Luongo, Nabokov, Lunqvist, etc. All these guys get tons of starts and are lucky if they make it out of the first round.

by Evilducks on Jan 16, 2010 2:00 AM PST up reply actions

If McLellan is smart he will start giving Greiss more and more starts so Nabby is as fresh as possible.

Proud member of the "Don't Trade Marleau" club.
Fear the Fin: Where Sharks Fans Aren't Like Other Sharks Fans.

by SharksFanEst.1994 on Jan 16, 2010 10:39 AM PST up reply actions

Brodeur...?

That guy is older than Nabby, has started over 70 games per season virtually every year for the past decade, and is one of the best playoff performers ever.

Nabby has not started an inordinate amount of games compared to other contending playoff teams. Brodeur, Fleury, Kipper, Bryzgalov, Quick, and Luongo all have also played over 40 games, and they’re all on playoff teams. I really don’t buy the argument that Nabby needs to play less, when he’s not playing more than any other #1 goalie in the league (including the reigning cup champion).

The “Olympic year” doesn’t float for me either. If the Olympics were in DirkDirkistan, or somewhere halfway across the globe, you might have a point. But they’re in Vancouver, might as well be across the street. I, for one, would RATHER my starting goalie be getting 2 weeks of meaningful, competitive gameplay than have a 2 week vacation in the middle of the season.

by BillytheSid on Jan 16, 2010 12:19 PM PST reply actions