Haha! Great post. Definitely spot on(well, I'd imagine worded differently but whatever).
Personally, I think that they should give Greiss a bunch of games in a healthy split between him and nabby(maybe 65-35 until the olympics) to keep nabby fresh so that the olympics schedule won't mess him up too much. San Jose management is high on Greiss, high enough to say he could be a starter on some NHL teams(I recall an article with pretty much that exact quote last year) so that's why they didn't sign an experienced backup.
Anywho, once the olympics are over, depending on the outcome, either give Nabby the reigns and rest him on back to backs, or let Greiss start a couple of games going forth in the same split as before, but give Nabby a lot more starts down the stretch. That way he's fully prepped, not worn out, and will likely have played around 60 games in the season when all is said and done. A fresh goalie in the playoffs is better than a tired goalie(I recall another article, I think it was here, discussing the amount of games played by Cup winning goalies in the past and it was rare for any to have played over 65 games or something). Also, a goalie on a hot tear down the stretch is better than one who's been swamped with games and has his momentum sapped by necessary spot starts to rest him up.
I remember the ferocity Nabokov played with after Warren Strelow died, in the '07 playoffs, and if it weren't for arguably the most embarassing post-season play in Sharks history from the rest of the squad(not to mention Coach Wilson getting thoroughly outcoached at every step by babcock), Nabby would at least have a conference final to show for it and likely more due to his remarkable play that year. Even in the '07-'08 playoffs, he was stellar. People make him out to be a dog in the playoffs, and it's true that he'll let in a softie(it rarely happens, but it happens), but he's made saves that he had no business making, and his epic faceoff against Turco in the 07-08 playoffs was proof enough for me that he's clutch.
Any talk about trading him would be foolish. Sure, there are other goalies I might prefer to have on San Jose right now but I can count them on one hand.
If Wilson wants to address the problem with the Sharks, he needs to look at a few things:
-Intensity. There's always been a lack of intensity in the modern day San Jose Sharks. Ever since Vinnie Damphousse left the team, it's been running on embers. Marleau is a solid captain, and I'm ok with him losing his C if he's given an A and Boyle given a C. Still though, they need a guy(or a group) to get them fired up. They need to stop giving canned remarks about them being fine with their ability to perform and not worrying about themselves going forth in the playoffs. They need to be less casual and more like #4 on this list, or the '96-'97 Dallas Stars or Craig Conroy or Ovie here or even Jagr's post-game honesty here. EVERY post-season it's always "Well, we lost *enter number of games here* but we're still in it, we're confident we can pull it around, we're not the same as we were before and we'll pull through". People with fire like Derek Roy, or whatnot. People who aren't totally placid. They have that in Mitchell, and Roenick was like that too(Grier had an edge too but he left, and Goc had huge post-season work ethic but was let go).
Logan Couture, from what I've seen of his play, might have a bit of that. They should have drafted Michael Latta, I think he'll be one of those 3rd line post-season types that put it all out there and get results.
But I've ranted off-topic completely. Sorry :P
ANYWHO, with rest and a less strenous schedule, I can see Nabby shining in the playoffs again this up-coming post-season if the Sharks make it. Worst comes to worst they end up as underdogs and they lose the pressure of being the favourite, and lose the excuse of that false superiority over their opponents.
Nabby would benefit from having a team that fully cared as much as he does, and in return they'd have a better mindset going forward. Strangely enough, I'm somewhat looking forward to seeing how it all turns out, instead of my usual dread. XD
ZFHL
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Ovechkin-Couture-Kovalchuk
Benn-Ott-Eriksson
Halischuk-Berglund-S.Thornton
Bowman-Legwand-Mitchell
Faulk-Orlov
Martin-Y.Weber
Wilson-Smid
Niemi
Butler,Horak,Nodl,Omark,Bartulis, Carson,Demers,Staios,Garon,Schneider
PROSPECTS
Nyquist,Bennett,Guptill,Haula,Knight, Kristo,Ranford,Rieder,Sundher,Barberio
Dumoulin,Deslauriers,Janosik,Klefbom
Ness,Sproul,Vatanen,Poulin
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Originally Posted by GoalieGuild
