San Jose Sharks

[MXHockey]

They also seem to be playing better since Havlat returned.

[tgraveline]

That second line does well when Havlat is healthy. He brings speed they don't always have and Wingels has speed and he's been doing a lot with the opportunity he's getting right now.

As for Pavelski, he's too good to continue to let you down. He's been relegated to third line duty at times, but he'll probably end up back on the 1st line at some point here.

[cdubb]

Yah I've had Niemi all season. Faltered along with rest of team last month or so, but wih those 2 SHO is the number one overall player (not just goalie) in my fantrax league.

Also traded for Burns, Boyle and Marleau at deadline hoping SJ might turn it around, looking good so far.

[tgraveline]

They have too much talent to stay down for long. THey're still a team that will give any team they play a rough time in the playoffs. They won't lose easily. With the way teams like the Blues,Ducks, and Detroit are playing right now, watch them jump up to like 4th or 5th in the Western conference by the end of the season. Maybe even higher, but I don't see the Ducks staying down for long.

[tgraveline]

Handzus is officially dealt to the Blackhawks for SJs 4th round pick coming back. So that's nice. Plus, Handzus was terrible both years in SJ. So glad they even got a 4th rounder for him. This sheds some salary for this year as the Sharks start working on getting their ducks in a row for next season.

CLowe rumors are going crazy. Well they were this morning, now it's the lull before the nes breaks out. Curious to see if the Sharks make Clowe a healthy scratch tonight. If so, expect something by the end of the night or early next morning.

I'm actually excited for once about the Sharks. I've been ticked about how DW has handled things and wanted him to retool this team quicker. The only bummer is they haven't tried to move a guy like Marleau. I think he would be the best player to move. He or Boyle. I'd rather keep Boyle, but This team does need a 'refresh' (one of DW's words). I just don't see Marleau willing to waive is clause. Oh well, I guess we'll deal with that.

[tgraveline]

So the Sharks have shipped out Clowe, Handzus, and Murray and brought in, Hannan and Raffi Torres.

The Raffi Torres one hurts me as a fan emotionally. I hate that guy more than just about any player in the league. Mark that, none do I hate more. Yet, the plus side is he can't hurt our players this coming playoffs, but he can hurt them with reckless play. I just hope he plays a clean game come the playoffs and then we see him go. Now if the Sharks do somehow make it to the conference finals or beyond, I'll rewrite my story as he'll be a factor in that. He is a game changer. The question is, is it for the better or not?

Overall, I like what DW did and I'm excited for this years draft. I was curious if they were going to ship out Boyle for a nice large return. Instead, Boyle scored one of the best goals of the season last night by undressing Ryan Suter on a 5-on-3. Beautiful!

[tgraveline]

Lost in all the trade deadline clamor, the Sharks resigned Matt Irwin for 2 seasons. He was set to be a UFA. Apparently the first year he gets paid 900k and the second is 1.1, I think, with an average cap hit of 1 million. So not too shabby for the young guy who turned heads with his solid play. Really helps that he plays with Boyle on the top pair. The Sharks continue to draft and bring guys up well who turn out to be better than expected.

[chuckcouples]

Where does Justin Braun fit on the team's depth chart right now? Where do you see him fitting next season?

[Pengwin7]

Interesting non-hockey note.

I'm looking over the Sharks homepage right now on NHL.com.
It appears that Couture, Burns, Galiardi, and Demers were hanging out last night... likely in Detroit... with JP Arencibia (Jays catcher).

Couture tweeted "You are such a stud JP Arencibia".

What's the connection between JP and Couture?
tg?
Anybody?

Sounds interesting.

[doulos]

Blue Jays do a winter tour these days. They have for the last 2-3 years. He became friends with a few of those guys during the Winter Tour I believe. Could be wrong though.

[Pengwin7]

Blue Jays do a winter tour these days. They have for the last 2-3 years. He became friends with a few of those guys during the Winter Tour I believe. Could be wrong though.

I did a web search.
Apparently Couture (Guelph native) is a Jays fan and apparently the Jays are pretty good about letting the players in the lockerroom if they are in town at the same time.

Couture has known Arencibia for at least a couple years.
This article goes back to summer 2011.
http://www.therecord.com/sports/loca...t-charity-game

[doulos]

There ya go. Google beats human every time.

[tgraveline]

Couture is a huge Blue Jays fan. He watches games religiously and he tweets players all the time.

I just hope that Couture hanging out with the other Sharks players the other night gets them back on track. The team sucks on the road. We'll see if they can pull off a win tonight. I might catch some of it.

Oh and to answer the question on Braun- He's going to be in the bottom 4 of the defensive chart, unless they want him to switch with Irwin at some point. I think he may have spent some time with Vlasic on the 2nd pairing. From the one of the games I watched recently, I loved his compete. In his own corner he kept his wheels moving and worked hard till he got the puck out of the zone. I was very impressed with that one play. He has the ability to put in some offense, but won't ever do more than Vlasic for awhile, unless Boyle gets traded in the offseason. If Boyle goes, then the whole ladder gets redone and I have no idea how that would shake out with Burns playing so much better as a forward right now. That would leave them Irwin, Demers, Braun, Vlasic, Stuart, and Tennyson. That's Stuart being the oldest, then Vlasic who's still young, but very solid, and a bunch of guys who've been on the bubble until recently due to the depth at Defense. Tennyson would probably then be on the PP then (which I actually saw he was on PP1, don't know if he still is).

[tgraveline]

Didn't see last nights game against Detroit or was it wednesday night? I forget, but either way, Couture's goal was off-the-charts awesome!

Glad they found a way to win on the road, even if it had to be in the shootout. At this point, I'll take any road win they get as a positive sign. Just hope they can do it again in their next game. Next game is in Dallas. Would be good to get the win there as they are close to getting home ice advantage over LA if they do.

[tgraveline]

Sharks won agains the Wild 6-1 last night. It was expected to be a pretty heated game since their last meeting from a week or so was fairly chippy.

The end result is that Almost all the lines got on the scoresheet. Rolling with 3 scoring lines has been very effective. I think it might actually be a huge plus for them in the playoffs and right now, I think they have a shot at winning.

They're scoring, their defense is doing better than expected, they're getting great goaltending, and thats all at the individual level. I'm just impressed with what I'm seeing and honestly, I wouldn't be shocked if they came out of the West. There are teams that will have something to say about that, but this might actually be the year. It would be unexpected, but why not now? Chicago is doing great and I don't think they would roll over, but something in my gut tells me things are going to be different this year and I don't know why that is.

So feel free to say no or I told you so after the playoffs, but right now, I think the Sharks will make the Cup Finals. I can't explain it, but I did just try.