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Posts Tagged ‘Jason Demers’
The San Jose Sharks have some major house cleaning to do in the offseason. After what will be another disappointing exit in the playoffs. Is it time for the Sharks to rebuild after finishing the past two seasons with the best record in the Western Conference?
At this point the answer to that question is a no, but there are players that the Sharks need to get rid of and there are some players the Sharks need to keep. Against Chicago the Sharks showed exactly what there issues are lack of scoring depth, lack of defense, lack of aggressiveness, and bad mistakes.
Addressing the lack of scoring first. In the series Patrick Marleau has scored five goals against Chicago out of the total of seven the Sharks have scored. That’s 71 percent of the goals scored for the Sharks.
Jason Demers and Logan Couture are the only other Sharks to score a goal in the series.
That means this offseason the team must address. Adding Dany Heatley in the offseason didn’t help in the playoffs. Joe Thornton is his usual self. Joe Palveski after his torrid start of the playoffs has disappeared, Ryane Clowe is nowhere to be found, and Dan Boyle hasn’t been effective offensively.
What should the Sharks do in order to improve the offense? The first thing the Sharks need to do is trade Joe Thornton. He’s one of the best playmakers in the league in the regular season and there will be teams that will love to have him.
In order for the Sharks to benefit the most from a trade is that they need to bring in an offensive minded defensemen and another scorer in a trade with Thornton.
Danny Heatley has all but disappeared in the playoffs. Part of that was due to an injury that happened in the Colorado series. The Sharks need to keep Heatley because he is not at 100 percent right now.
There’s a lingering question about if this will be the last season in San Jose for Marleau, but with the way he has played against the Blackhawks with five goals, including a short-handed goal, he needs to be re-signed—there’s no question about it.
Joe Pavleski, with his series in Colorado, proved what he can do once he gets into a zone. He tied his career high this season with 25 goals and with him moving up with a trade of Thornton he could become that much more dangerous centering a line with Heatley and Marleau.
Devin Setoguchi needs to stay as well. Among the better goal scorers on the team he offers the best speed besides Marleau.
Logan Couture, Torrie Mitchell, and Dwight Helminen need to spend time with the Sharks. In the Colorado series Helminen played extremely well and it was disappointing that the Sharks did not put him in the lineup especially after losing the first two games to the Blackhawks. Couture looks promising, and Mitchell offers speed that the Sharks lack.
Another Shark that needs to be traded is Ryane Clowe. He had a career high in points this year with 57, but hasn’t made a mark in the playoffs. The Sharks could use Clowe as trade bait in a Thornton trade or in a separate trade, but they again could use him to acquire a defensemen.
As mentioned previously the Sharks need to bring in another defenseman that has offensive capabilities. Three sharks defensemen really have their job secure rookie Jason Demers who has shown he could be an offensive force, Dan Boyle, and Douglas Murray.
Rob Blake needs to retire his unforced errors are getting old. Mark-Edouard Vlasic can be used as trade bait as well. Niclas Wallin needs to go as well hardly an impressive pickup at the trade deadline this year. Vlasic and Wallin can be used in trades for the Sharks. Kent Huskins needs to be released he doesn’t offer anything defensively.
Against the Blackhawks the Sharks defense flat out stunk. A majority of the goals scored were because of the lack of effort and miscues by the defense. Instead of making the play to get the puck out of the zone, they’d keep it for too long and have the puck taken away.
Since the Sharks were not able to clear the puck out of the zone it many cases it made Evgeni Nabokov have to work hard. When the goalie is pretty much the only defense being offered, that’s not a good sign for a team and it pretty much explains why the Sharks got swept by the Blackhawks.
This goals along with my last point. The Sharks mistakes hurt them. In the third period of today’s game Heatley took a slashing penalty, which led to the game-winning goal. In game three Logan Couture took a slashing penalty which led to a Blackhawks goal.
In that game as well when the Blackhawks got the game winning goal the Sharks were too busy trying to be cute with the puck that it allowed for the Blackhawks to easily get the puck back get it to the middle of the ice for and another easy goal for the Blackhawks.
Nabokov on the play was busy trying to see what the Sharks defensemen were going to do behind the net and instead of getting the puck and shooting it out, the Blackhawks forced a turnover and that’s how they managed to score.
There is some blame to go on Nabokov because in that game he did let in a soft short handed goal. In game two he let in a long soft shot as well, but most of the blame goes squarely on the defense.
Nabokov is still one of the best goalies in the NHL there is no reason for the Sharks not to extend his contract for another couple of years. What the Sharks must do though is not play him nearly every game during the season, so Thomas Greiss can be groomed to succeed him.
In other words for the Sharks to have a successful 2010-2011 season the Sharks need to trade Thornton, trade Clowe, trade Vlasic, let Blake retire, release Huskins, and release Wallin.
What the Sharks get in return for these trades are a center to anchor the second line as Pavelski moves up to the first line, offensive minded defensemen that have the ability to squeeze in, and utilize some of the youth the Sharks have specifically in Demers, Helminen, and Couture.
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Blackhawks Key to Victory: Stay Disciplined
18, May 2010Is it possible to get through this without using the phrase “standing on his head”? Oh well, guess not.
Even though it’s the most abused cliche this side of “throwing someone under the bus”, most would agree that after witnessing Antti Niemi’s performance Sunday afternoon, it is actually warranted here.
That is, unless you’re a member of the [...]
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- Tags: 30 Team Series, Antti Niemi, Around the League, Brent Seabrook, Brent Sopel, By Teams, Central, Chicago Blackhawks, Devin Setoguchi, Jason Demers, Joe Pavelski, Joe Thornton, Marian Hossa, nhl, NHLHS Features, Niklas Hjalmarsson, Pacific, Patrick Marleau, Patrick Sharp, Playoff Coverage, San Jose Sharks, Western Conference, Western Conference Finals
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The San Jose Sharks lost Game One because the Chicago Blackhawks dominated the tempo, the hitting, AND the score sheet.
Where did I get this interesting factoid?
NBC’s coverage of Game One, and the Chicago Sun Times, of course!
This morning, I woke up literally and figuratively as a SAN JOSE Shark fan, a.k.a “TibKid”, and developed a more realistic analysis.
Let’s take each point and consider:
TEMPO
The Sharks were able to get 44 shots on Nemo, Chicago’s tender. (This does not include Jumbo and Heater’s whiffs in the last minute.)
The Blackhawks must have been fist-pumping to the tempo so frequently that they neglected to play defense. Yes, CHI’s cycle got effective in the third period. But, the Sharks had solid shifts throughout the game (from Manny Mol, Scotty Nic, and Torrey M. to name a few extras) that tilted the ice towards Captain Nemo’s net.
HITS
The Hawks “imposed their physicality” on the Sharks by rendering two more hits against the Men of Teal. Hardly, a dominating number considering the Sharks were on the power play for 10 minutes (when crushing the opponent is not a tactic.)
There is NO doubt, the Hawks bring physicality to every shift. But, to portray the Sharks as chickens to the Hawks’ hawks is just bad journalism.
SCORE
The Hawks won 2-1. They scored once more than the Sharks/Tibs, and that matters most.
Was it a 7-1 domination like we saw in Game Four at the Joe in Round Two? I won’t honor that question with an answer.
Simply put, the Tibs need to light the lamp. On many occasions, they were inches away from success. Unfortunately, playoff hockey is a game of inches.
Kudos to the Hawks on making the plays necessary to win the game.
My Key Stat
Giveaways: Sharks 20, Hawks 9.
Blame it on the rust, rest, or rink…it doesn’t really matter.
The Tibs had 11 more unforced errors, a lar-gin (combo of “large” and “margin”) of error upon which championship teams are NOT made.
What Would Ryane Clowe Do ? (WWRCD )
San Jose Shark Fans aren’t throwing in their white towel because they ask themselves a simple question: “What Would Ryane Clowe Do?”
To illustrate this process, Would Ryane Clowe:
1. agonize over the score sheet
2. read the blogs until his eyes bled (self-offense intended)
3. foul a pair of shorts over a 2-1 loss?
The answer is NO. The Tealed Pride of Newfoundland will bring intensity, grit, and skill to every shift in the Game Two.
Just like I will and hopefully…so will you.
Go TIBS !!!
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On Sunday, game one of the Western Conference Finals featured two of the NHL’s most prolific offenses, though the real matchup was between netminders, Antti Niemi (Chicago) and Evgeni Nabokov. A sign of things to come in such a competitive series.
Chicago took a 1-0 series lead at the HP Pavilion on behalf of Niemi, who had 44 saves and one goal against for the second seeded Blackhawks, despite the Sharks’ five power plays. Jason Demers had the only goal for San Jose, his first of the playoffs, while right winger Dustin Byfuglien and Patrick Sharp scored for Chicago.
At the start of the 2010 playoffs, the Sharks’ 30-year-old center, Joe Thornton, was the victim of intense ridicule for his slow start and “lack of leadership” against their first round matchup against the Colorado Avalanche, in which he had no goals and a plus/minus rating of -4.
Of late however, Thornton has once again reemerged into the media spotlight with a strong outing in the 4-1 series win against the Detroit Red Wings, where he had eight points in five games.
Part of one of the best one-two punches in the NHL, line two center Joe Pavelski has also been strong for the Sharks, becoming their premier goal scorer in the playoffs. He leads the team in points (15) and goals (9).
Though Pavelski and Thornton have been the Sharks’ main source of scoring so far in the playoffs, they will not be the reason that San Jose advances to the Stanley Cup Finals.
Before the start of game one, Niemi and Nabokov had nearly identical save percentages in the playoffs, with .909 and .907 respectively, while each face their most challenging opposing offenses thus far.
After the first period, it was apparent that the victory of game one would come down to the goaltending, with Niemi having the clear upper hand with multiple jaw-dropping saves throughout the game.
Nabokov faces the wrath of a fast, freewheeling offense in Chicago, led by captain Jonathan Toewes, who leads the league with 21 points in the playoffs. In order to stop the strong combination of Patrick Kane, Sharp, and Toewes, Nabokov will have no room for error for the rest of the series.
In the regular season, Nabokov once again solidified himself as a top netminder in the league, going 44-16 in 71 starts—one win away from the league lead, held by Martin Brodeur.
With Thornton’s unpredictable participation offensively, and the majority of the goal scoring responsibilities falling on the shoulders of Pavelski, Nabokov will be forced to command a team starving for strong leadership and stability.
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