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Maybe the price wasn't right. Maybe Doug Wilson felt as if his team was as good as it was going to get. Maybe the fact that San Jose was at the upper limit of the salary cap hampered any potential move.

Whatever the case, the San Jose Sharks will enter the stretch run with the same roster they had yesterday.

Fear The Fin has advocated picking up a defenseman for the better part of the year. It is an issue for the team that I would have liked to have seen addressed as Evgeni Nabokov, in the midst of a Vezina-caliber season, has masked a lot of issues surrounding the unit as a whole. And with a poor Olympic outing from Nabokov now being thrown into the mix with his career playoff numbers, there is the distinct possibility that his play may not reach the level it was at before the break.

That being said, the team is still one of the favorites to make some noise in the Western Conference. As they were last season, as they have been since the lockout. A revamped third and fourth lines have done a good job of establishing a rhythm to the Sharks game, and has vastly improved the ability for role players to make an impact on games. Dany Heatley is a premier goal scorer who needs no introduction. Although Wilson did not make a splash today, the team is vastly different than the one who took the ice in April of last season.

And they are likely better.

The concerns are still there however; Niclas Wallin, brought in before the February trade freeze, does not seem to be the answer that can slide into the top four when Marc-Edouard Vlasic is healthy. The secondary scoring is still a potential issue, and although it has improved since I discussed it earlier this season, there is no telling how it will handle the rigors of playoff hockey when the skill level is much higher across the board.

San Jose has a .500 record against Western Conference playoff teams this season, discluding games that go the skills competition. That is an issue, and one that can no longer be addressed by bringing in non-organizational assets.

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More photos » Frank Franklin II - AP

Unrelated.

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It is my belief that Marc-Edouard Vlasic was injured during his last shift of the first period against the Chicago Blackhawks on Thursday, and Swisher's earlier source was correct-- it is a knee injury. How severe, I cannot say, but I am comfortable making that assertion due to the particulars of the play. What particulars you ask?

Let's hop in Fear The Fin's state-of-the-art War Room and find out. Apologies for the low quality of the pictures, as Photobooth can only go far in analyzing these types of things. If anyone has video of the last 1:15 of the first period against Chicago (likely someone with Gamecenter online who is familiar with uploading videos to Youtube), we would appreciate you providing a link in the comments section.

War Room, commence.

With 1:14 left in the third period, Vlasic takes the puck up the ice towards the Blackhawks zone. He eventually dumps it in, engaging with Blackhawks defenseman Niklas Hjalmarsson in the middle of the circle.

Hjalmarsson does what any defenseman worth his salt would do and runs a little casual interference on the forechecker. Unfortunately for Vlasic, he gets a case of Cheechooitis and spreads out his center of gravity when his legs get too wide. At this point, he's either hitting the ice or going along for whatever ride Hjalmarsson wants to take him on.

Pause for dramatic effect.

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More photos » Marcio Jose Sanchez - AP

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Following his first year as an NHL head coach, Todd McLellan was met with some criticism. Although he led his team to their best ever regular season record, the Sharks were quickly bounced from postseason contention by the 8th seeded Anaheim Ducks.

Because of this surprising and almost inexcusable playoff performance, fans and media members alike looked through the organization in order to place blame. Players were called out, the GM's deadline moves were picked apart, and the long standing captain lost his letter. Head coach Todd McLellan also saw unwanted time in the spotlight.

Looking back, the two main knocks on McLellan were his mishandling of players with injuries and his inability to adjust his game plan after the first two home losses to the Ducks. By the time McLellan got wise, it was too late.

However, signs point to improvement in both those areas. Plank has already applauded McLellan's handling of injuries to players like Devin Setoguchi, Joe Pavelski, Manny Malhotra, and Rob Blake. And, although the Sharks aren't nearly as dominant as they were just a year ago, McLellan's game strategy and game planning ability appear to have improved as well.

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Much to the detriment of my social standing throughout the years, I'm a big fan of now-defunct glam metal band The Darkness (and consequently, lead-singer Justin Hawkins' follow up project Hot Leg).

While some cite Hawkins' overzealous vocals as a dark reminder of the oversaturated and shameless fatuity that plagued the Sunset Strip throughout the 80's, it's hard to debate the honesty of his craft. Critics see him as nothing but a puppet in spandex, pandering to a crowd of aging and obviously inebriated has-beens hell bent on desperately clinging on the washed out memories of yesteryear, and yet it seems that this is nothing but an elaborate ruse, a commentary if you will, on the current state of society as a whole.

There's no need to develop a "revolutionary" image that changes the face of what is inherently a business, a business that will eventually box and package that very image into manageable portions until they are ready to be served at the dinner table after your hands are washed. Instead, the leopard leotards and shoulder length hair have become a buffer, not a selling point; those who don't desire to explore what, at face value, is a dying (dead?) breed of rock showmanship aren't invited to the party, a party that is, if one were to make egregiously bold comparisons, filled with such greats as Freddy Mercury and Eddie Van Halen.

It's a party that happened thirty years ago, but it's a party that never really died. And it's a party that never really will, even as it fritters away from the mainstream's consciousness into the warm arms of brothels and bars in Boondocks, USA.

The Darkness and Hot Leg may be shit or they may be gold; if nothing else, they're honest. It's cheap, it's crude, it's crass, it's carefree. But once you get past the price tag, you realize Hawkins is just here to play. And that's about as honest as it gets.

[Insert awkward transition into how Jay Leach exhibits the same characteristics as Hawkins in that once you look past the price tag he's honest and just here to play. The cleverly veiled song titles that aren't really about a woman he's in love with probably don't apply, but what are you going to do.]

As was briefly mentioned during the in-game thread yesterday, Jay Leach has slowly found his niche amongst a San Jose Sharks defensive unit that most have labeled a weak point for this team (don't forgot about the secondary scoring! Hello? Anybody?). While he's not going to go up against opposing team's top lines on a nightly basis like Marc-Edouard Vlasic, or bring the puck up on the rush like Dan Boyle, you'd be hard pressed to find another $243,750 defenseman in the league that, well who are we kidding, you just flat out would be hard pressed to find another $243,750 defenseman in the league period.

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More photos » Gerry Broome - AP

Sweeney Todd in business mode.

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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.

"For now I smell the rain, and with it pain."

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With a porous 1-2-3 start to December, the Sharks have had a whale of trouble finding the win column. Sure they've been picking up singles like David Duchovny before a big night on the town, but blown leads and uninspired play don't lead one to assume that those loser points can be seen as an efficacious remedy while this stretch eventually works itself out.

We'll have a quantitative look at some relevant statistics later this week. On the docket for today is just, well, whatever you want to call this. I call it the son of Jameson, and if that makes sense to you, then I consider you a dear friend.

• In general I think it's good practice to avoid falling back on the venerable criticism of "lacking effort" when examining a losing streak as it may not always apply, but if it's good enough for the Captain then I guess it's good enough for me. Whether or not we're dealing with the kickback of a heavy road schedule to start the year or a case of subconsciously resting on the laurels of that early season success, it's hard to assert and defend the notion that San Jose has come out to play for sixty minutes a night. There's been waves of good, and waves of opposing teams imposing themselves on the Sharks for extended chunks of time-- if we consider this team one of the theoretical top-dogs in the Western Conference (which we obviously do), that's not a bright spot.
• Joe Thornton is a world-class player, but his decision making with a minute remaining against Phoenix stuck out as a microcosm of the Sharks current ailments. Carrying the puck into the offensive zone he pulls up at the blueline, only to have the Phoenix defenseman do what any player worth a grain of salt would do-- pressure the puck carrier. Vulcanized rubber gets coughed up, cleared, and the Sharks don't have another chance the rest of the game. As much as the desire to hedge bets and state it's the product of a "puck-possesion" style, the fact of the matter is Thornton has to get that puck deep so the Sharks can use the extra man (Greiss was pulled around the 1:15 mark) to load up on bodies down low and win a puck battle. San Jose will never be able to emulate Detroit, at least with their current makeup of North American players. There's not nearly enough individual creativity on the roster to pull that style of play off. When the wins aren't coming you have to go back to the basics of a North-South game by chipping it in and engaging physically.
• I'm not saying San Jose is without talent-- that would be the worst idea since Stephenie Meyer began her literary career. What I am saying is that the Sharks, over an extended period of time, can't get away with making the cute play, especially when they're struggling to win hockey games. The way this team is constructed puts a heavy emphasis on the system, and they're going to live and die by that system. Cutting backdoor in the offensive zone, far-side wingers generating speed in the neutral zone, making sure the forwards are working hard to open a passing lane between the circles to receive a breakout pass in the defensive zone. With the exception of Joe Thornton (who is a non-shooting threat; keep that in mind when reading on), there's a lack of dynamic puck handling in close quarters. The only Sharks you're going to see make opposing skaters look like grocery sticks are Marleau and Boyle, and even then it's more a product of speed down the wing where the defenseman gets caught with a bad pivot. When's the last time you saw someone attempt to toe drag?
• In summation, get the fucking puck in deep.

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Greetings internet nerds! Here you will find links to the various pieces Mr. Plank and TCY put out over the course of the last twenty four hours detailing the remaining players left on San Jose's training camp roster. As one intent reader picked up on, the pairings we used in these articles were not our selections for the team, but instead were the lines McLellan rolled out against Phoenix in the final preseason game.

After the jump is our final roster- there you will find our proposed lines and defensive pairings. Sometime today David Pollak of Working The Corners will report the final cuts, and that information will be updated on the front page of this post. In fact, it's going to go right here ----> (my dream was always to become a link!)

[Editor's Note]: Dreams die obviously- Pollak reports that final cuts won't be made until Wednesday.

Thanks for reading. Enjoy.

• NHL Season Preview: 2009-2010 San Jose Sharks (Team Summary)
  
• Fringe Forwards (Mitchell, Shelley, Ferriero, Couture)
  
• Bottom Pairing and Defensive Depth (Huskins, Demers, Joslin, Moore, Petrecki, Callahan)
  
• Line Four (McLaren, Nichol, Staubitz)
  
• Line Three (McGinn, Malhotra, Ortmeyer)
• Goalies (Nabokov, Greiss, Stalock, Sexsmith)
• Top Four Defense (Boyle, Blake, Vlasic, Murray)
• Line Two (Marleau, Pavelski, Clowe)
• Line One (Heatley, Thornton, Setoguchi)

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The season is just around the corner (never really understood that phrasing, as time is linear and all), and we thought it would be great to give you a quick rundown on the roster, with a little blurb on each player. If you feel like we've covered this before, well, we have. But we're going to expand on it a little, include the stories that we've written on the players over the past year and give our input on what we expect next season. We don't know exactly how the lines will shake out yet, but here's what WTC gave us for Sunday's game against Phoenix.

Final cuts on Tuesday. God save us all.

Dany Heatley

#15 / Left Wing / San Jose Sharks

Height: 6-3

Weight: 220

Born: Jan 21, 1981

 

Previous FTF Coverage: Heatley finds a Home (Mr. Plank), Doug Wilson does it again; Dany Heatley is a Shark (TCY), The Morning After (Mr. Plank), Heatley Gate (One, Two) (Mr. Plank/TCY), Tick Tock (Mr. Plank), Is Dany Heatley worth the Headache? (TCY)

 

2008-2009 Stats (Ottawa Senators)

GP	G	A	PTS	+/-	PIM	SOG	SPCT	PPG	PPA	SHG	SHA	GWG	ATOI
82	39	33	72	-11	88	258	15.1	15	11	0	0	6	20:07

Our two cents:

Dany Heatley is a Shark? You would have thought that this would have gotten a little more media attention!

Truth is, we've beaten this trade to a soft, gooey pulp over the last few weeks. To save you the trauma of experiencing that again, we'll sum up. Heatley is one of the elite few pure goal scorers in the NHL. He's been dangerous his entire career, even without the help of an elite center. Now, with Joe Thornton lining up to his right, fans and media members alike are salivating over the possibility of a 50+ goal season.

Health is going to be a factor, but Dany Heatley has much to prove to himself and the NHL community. We're expecting good things from Heatley, and his  addition could be viewed as one of the biggest (if not the biggest) moves the Sharks have ever made. Until we see anything different, we're going to assume that the locker room issues died in Ottawa. He's a bonafide star, and San Jose is a forgiving town. It's about his play, from here on out.

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