Marleau and Niemi spoil former Sharks' return, win 3-1

he sounded so sad, but that he was trying so hard not to. I felt really bad and awkward after that interview, and I wasn’t even involved with it. I wonder how Brody felt having to ask those questions.

backstrom had his stick there too, but it deflected off the D-man’s stick

From where I was sitting in the Tank, I thought Backtsrom made one of those "Save of the Year’ saves, but the Sharks never even got a shot on net for it and since they didn’t show a replay, I couldn’t figure out why…They finally showed a replay and yeah, turns out, the puck never got to him.

just to post stuff?

/sarcasm

Post-games go up whenever we finish them. Only gamedays and features go up at 3.

Of Demers second year in the league. Remember how we all thought he looked like a solid defensemen for about 3 months last year, way beyond his years?

Don’t forget about Science, I know Brauny is the new hotness around here and he’s certainly earned his ice time, but Demers had some great stretches too and will need to get back in the lineup at some point.

Andy Samberg from SNL, if you look at him just right. Dude has really picked it up too. And Mitchell did look pretty good last night, especially on that play where he “drew a straight line from the corner to the crease” and got a scoring chance with a nifty puck handling move. Lower lines are starting to get their stuff together it looks like.

No reason to take him out of the lineup right now while he’s burning. Do feel bad for Demers, though. All this press box time cannot be good for his continued development.

Mitchell and McGinn both have looked pretty darned good lately…in that they (and Handzus) have been tenacious on the forecheck, have good puck possession, and are passing to one another pretty well. If either of them could actually figure out how to tickle the twine consistently, our scoring depth issues would get a major improvement. We’ll see how they evolve.

Niemi was Niemi. I thought the one goal he did give up was weak and he was way, way off his line. But he didn’t lose the game for us this time, and that’s really all I can ask from him. The Sharks did a good job protecting him and making sure he didn’t have to make saves.

He’s been very good – he was good when he was in the NHL last year as well. His game reminds me a lot of Rob Blake (the old Rob Blake that played for the Sharks, not the in his prime Blake) in that he always seems to be in the right position, uses his D partner very well, has a very good first pass and a consistently gets his shots through to the net.

Demers definitely needs to get some playing time, but it shouldn’t be at the expense of Braun.

I don’t know if it’s his feet or his mind that have caught up with the NHL game (though I tend to think the mind was already pretty close). His positioning has been excellent and he’s reading plays well. And I’m glad they put him with Vlasic. While Vlasic/Burns is a great pair, Vlasic/Braun has some serious shutdown potential and Braun peppers the net enough that Vlasic doesn’t have to worry about offense.

Like a lot of others, I want to see Demers back, though. I think splitting up White and Braun is a good first step to that, because it makes it easier to potentially slot Demers in with someone else (though I don’t think he’s ready to carry the defensive load for Burns). Maybe Braun will end up with Burns and Demers can reunite with Vlasic sometime in the not too distant future.

Probably just bandwagon/new fans. I still love me some Heater.

Booing Heatley was absolutely moronic

I’m guessing it’s because he took a bit of a cheapshot on Boyle when he got that interference penalty, but still i think it was dumb that they booed him every time he touched the puck.

It seemed like most people were cheering for him but the morons booing were just super loud.

It made me sad.

The reaction was okay I guess. At the first commercial break, they showed Seto on the jumbotron first- big applause. Then Heater- mostly applause but not as loud. Then they showed Staubitz and no one really cared.

Then when Heatley got the penalty, everyone thought it was Koivu so they were cheering for the PP. Then they showed Heatley’s face on the jumbotron and some people boo’d him. Not because he took the penalty though, because it’s Heatley. Some boos every time he touched the puck too. Sad

Having Braun and Demers is going to be wonderful in the seasons to come. Remember, White and Vandermeer only have one year contracts (and they’re old).

Why the hate for Heatley if you don’t mind me asking?

Heatley is the Wild’s points leader. He is playing well for them so I thought he might score.

It’s one thing to not like him on your team, but it’s another thing to boo him every time he gets the puck. I didn’t hear anyone booing Huskins every time he got the puck when we played St. Louis, and i doubt many people liked Huskins all that much.

I don’t think even our most hated players (Corey Perry and Mike Ribeiro for example) get booed as much as Heatley did, and that’s silly.

Heatley liked San Jose; he liked the city, the fans, and the team. Heatley tried his best to do well here but he had injuries that held him back, and still he played through those injuries like a champ because he wanted to help the team as much as he could (though i think it might’ve been best if he just sat out and recuperated). So there just isn’t any reason to boo Heatley at all.

Now Brian Campbell, fuck that guy. BOOOOoooOOooo!!!

every player you don’t like or whose style of hockey you don’t like?

I highly doubt it.