Teal Tinted Glasses #1
Thursday, March 26, 2015
Tuesday, March 17, 2015
The Good, The Bad and The Ugly! - Mar 17th. 2015
Now it's time for the article that is never there when
you need it most, San Jose lost a very important game to the Jets and your pal
Ian is going to tell you how he saw it. It's
the post game, The Good, The Bad and The Ugly!
The Good: If this article had accompanying audio you'd
hear crickets. Honestly there really
wasn't any positives to take away from this game, they got beat in pretty much
every standard statistical category and on the scoreboard. Pavelski had 2 goals so I guess that is nice.
The Bad: One thing
that people may cling to from this game is that the Sharks put 40 shots on
goal, but a lot of those shots came when the game was well out of reach and
were mostly low percentage shots from the parameter. They got out hit, out
hustled and outclassed by a Jets team that has badly stumbled without Byfuglien
but tonight instead of looking like a team that was hanging on for dear life
they looked confident and outworked what should have been a far more desperate
San Jose team.
The Ugly: Antti
Niemi was awful allowing 3 goals on 8 shots in what was a must win game for the
Sharks, I get that Mueller's stumble really opened the floodgates against the
Blackhawks but obviously Hannan-Burns is not the solution. Aside from that one play Mueller has looked
like a different player in a good way of late.
I'm not saying that Mueller in wins us the game but Hannan was dreadful
tonight. While on the topic of defense
Irwin - Burns has actually been a good pair, why break that up. Special teams were a joke, the power play was
nowhere to be found and the penalty kill allowed 2 of the first 3 goals. This game was over half way through the first
period, it was never even close.
Final Thoughts: In every game where the Sharks had an
opportunity to take points from a team above them during the playoffs they have
failed to do so. Jamie Baker pointed out
tonight that with a win tonight as well as victories instead of losses to
Vancouver and Calgary the Sharks would be in the playoffs, and that's really
the Sharks season in a nutshell when they needed to buckle down and go they
could only do it for a few games here and there and when they need to win most
they fall through. Now the playoff hope
isn't totally dead the Sharks can still make the playoffs if they can somehow
string together 10 wins in their next 12 but even that isn't a guarantee as
with loses like this the amount of out of town scoreboard we still need. I could rant about this game for hours but we
all know where we are, we all know how we got here so really how much more is
there to say?
Remember if you have a question you would like me to
answer in a future article please e-mail me at ian.blogs.sharks@gmail.com,
unless you ask I will not post who asked the question so don't worry about how
stupid you think the question may be because to me there is no such thing.
Remember you can read all my articles at RSENReport.com
Follow me on Twitter: @IanBlogsSharks
BONUS VIDEO
Breaking It Down! - Mar 17th. 2015
On March 17th. 2015 the Sharks will visit the Winnipeg Jets and your pal Ian is going to be Breaking It Down! This is your preview where I hope to give you some insight and opinions on not only our Sharks but their opponent of the night.
Know Your Team - The San Jose Sharks
Current Record (W-L-OTL): 34-27-8, 72 Points and 5th in
the Pacific Division
Last 10 Games: 5-5-0
Power Play: 22.0% (5th.)
Penalty Kill: 79.5% (24th.)
Current Streak: Lost 1
Notes: SportsClubStats.com has our current chance to make
the playoffs at 17.7%
Know Your Enemy - The Winnipeg Jets
Current Record: (W-L-OTL): 34-23-12, 80 Points and 5th in
the Central Division
Last 10 Games: 4-4-2
Power Play: 18.0% (17th.)
Penalty Kill: 81.0% (19th.)
Current Streak: Won 1
Notes: SportsClubStats.com has the jets current chance to
make the playoffs at 46.4%
Ian Breaks Down The Jets: The Jets have had a lot of significant
players injured at the worst possible time as they try to get into the playoffs
for the first time since the team moved to Winnipeg from Atlanta. It's
important to note this is a team that has battled injuries all year but had not
lost Dustin Byfuglien for any period of time and they are a different team with
him out of the lineup. By the time they
take the ice against the visiting Sharks though they could see reinforcements
not only by Bufuglien but also Tyler Myers who they got in the Evander Kane
block buster trade earlier in the year. The Jets currently hold the final wild
card spot and are in a dog fight with the Los Angeles Kings to keep it, who
unfortunately for the Jets have the superior ROW count. Starting against the
Sharks will likely be Michael Hutchinson who has lost his only start against the Sharks
allowing 3 goals but has put up an impressive 20-9-5 record with a 2.41 GAA and
a .913 SV% and is a big reason with the Jets are in the hunt. Alternately we
may see Ondrej Pavelec who in my opinion maybe the worst starting
goalie in the NHL. His record against
team teal is 1-3-0 with a 2.20 GAA and .926 SV% which actually isn't bad considering
the 4 game sample size.
Ian Breaks Down The Sharks: While the Sharks could lose 3
more games before they are really out of the hunt this is a must win game. In order to make it into the playoffs they
will have to leap frog 2 teams and there may not be a lower hanging fruit than
the Jets depending on what reinforcements they get tonight. The Sharks are in a tough battle for a
playoff spot, while Minnesota (83 pts, 86.6%) and Vancouver (82 pts, 94.0%) look
pretty out of reach for now Calgary (81 pts, 86.7%), Los Angeles (79 pts, 66.6%)
and the aforementioned Jets (80 pts, 46.4%) are still theoretically catch-able. The Sharks probably shouldn't ignore the threat of a resurgent Colorado (75 pts, 2.2%). A win in this game not only
closes the gap on the Jets but lets them regain some ground they lost because
of the loss to the Blackhawks. While
this game alone won't cost the Sharks the season a loss will significantly hurt
their already slim playoff hopes. It
appears that a recent war of words between Doug Wilson and Joe Thornton has
been ended with a phone call between not only the 2 parties involved but a separate
call from owner Hasso Plattner. Although
this will be all they talk about while the Sharks make their way through
Western Canada I don't think there is anything left to see here until the
off season. I expect that it will be will
be Antti Niemi in goal for San Jose who in his career against the Jets has put
up a mediocre 3-2-1 Record with a 2.95 GAA and a .897 SV%. Niemi is coming off a tough loss to the
Blackhawks that he will need to put behind him and return to the goaltending
that won the Sharks games against Pittsburgh and Nashville.
My Prediction: Sharks get back on track with a huge win to open their road trip.
You can read all my articles at: RSENReport.com
Saturday, March 14, 2015
The Good, The Bad and The Ugly! - Mar 14th. 2015
San Jose suffered a frustrating 6-2 loss to the Chicago Blackhawks and your pal Ian is going to tell you how he saw it. It's the post game, The Good, The Bad and The Ugly!
The Good: Honestly I really thought the sharks had a good
chance to win the game through two periods of play, they dominated on the shot
clock putting 26 shots on goal in those periods as well as laid out a ton of
hits and had their opportunities to win the game unfortunately Corey Crawford
was on his game tonight. He wasn't
perfect though as Rookie Melkar Karlsson continues to impress notching his
12th. and Joe Thornton was able to get a goal off a deflection and I thought
the Hawks were lucky to leave enter the 2nd intermission with a tie. Sharks for what felt like the hundredth game
in a row had a goal called back. It was
not a perfect game for the Sharks to that point but one that should have been
good enough to gut out a win against a very good Blackhawks team.
The Bad: Power
play only hit one of their 4 opportunities while the penalty kill was only
successful half the time, the Sharks need to tighten up their special teams if
they are going to somehow find themselves playing in April. On the first Chicago goal Braun needs to be
more aggressive, I thought he backed off to much forcing Niemi to make a
difficult save that gave him no chance to control the rebound and because of
Brauns passiveness Sharp didn't have to fight at all for the rebound and put it
passed an out of position Niemi. While
Nemo has had better games that goal is on Braun as Niemi made the initial save. Mirco Mueller took a stumble that took away
from what was another good game by the rookie defenseman.
The Ugly: There is no excuse for the 3rd period the
Sharks played after dominating on the shot clock they allowed a tough goal and
then spent a great deal of the rest of the period killing penalty after
penalty, which was not successful enough when it was all said and done the
Sharks let the game get away from them while the 'Hawks scored 4 unanswered
goals. Someone mentioned it was like the
Sharks put the entire month of February and I couldn't agree more. After solid efforts against the Penguins and
Predators if the Sharks are on the outside looking in they can look back at
this game as when the train really slid off the tracks.
Final Thoughts: Sharks have been dealt a crappy hand by
the out of town scoreboard but they have not done enough to help themselves
either, while the previous two games were some of the most enjoyable Sharks
hockey I have watched all year it comes as a small consolation when the final
home stand record is 2-2-0, The Sharks now head out on the road on a trip that
will literally make or break their season. With the night games still in progress the
Sharks are left with a 15% chance at the playoffs, more trouble from the out of
town scoreboard it gets worse. With 4 more regulation losses this season is
over.
Remember if you have a question you would like me to
answer in a future article please e-mail me at ian.blogs.sharks@gmail.com,
unless you ask I will not post who asked the question so don't worry about how
stupid you think the question may be because to me there is no such thing.
Be sure to check out my work at its new home: http://rsenreport.com
Bonus Video
Friday, March 13, 2015
Hot Take Alert - Jumbo vs. Wilson
Today a report by the always great David Pollak of the
San Jose Mercury news reported that there is a war of words between Sharks general
manager and former captain and with all due respects to Patrick Marleau the
greatest player to ever don the teal jersey former captain Joe Thornton. As
Pollak reports when asked about removing the captaincy from Joe Thornton , Doug
Wilson replied:
"He cares
about the game so much. The reason we took the 'C' off him . . . Joe carries
the weight of the team on his shoulders and he's got such a big heart that when
stress comes on him he lashes out at people," Wilson said, "and it
kind of impacts them. The pressure and stress, I felt, was getting to
Joe," the general manager continued. "And I sat him down and said we
need other players to step up and share this. He got it. He didn't like it, but
he got it and he understood it."
When Pollak asked for Thornton's response to the story Thornton
said the following:
"I think Doug
just needs to shut his mouth," Thornton said after his team's morning
practice. "I think that's the bottom line.
All I've got to say is I've been here every day working hard. I haven't
taken a sabbatical. He just needs to stop lying, shut his mouth."
Harsh words for sure and obvious friction between the two
parties that we have not really seen since the off season I personally thought
Thornton had handled the demotion very well as this is the first we have heard
about it for some time.
So what is my take on all this?
First I think it was a mistake to remove the C from Thornton
to begin with. I never bought into the idea he was burdened by the captaincy based
on his play or by the reports around the team.
Where Patrick Marleau really responded well to no longer being the
captain, Thornton has still been one of the best players on the ice for the
Sharks period. That being said as stated above I thought Thornton handled the
demotion well and I don't really pin the woes of the Sharks season on the lack
of one guy wearing a felt letter, this team frankly has bigger issues.
Back in the offseason after the collapse of against the
Los Angeles Kings I thought Doug Wilson was kind of erratic in his message that
he claims was very clear from the beginning.
One thing I have always credited Wilson for was the ability to say a
bunch of things without saying anything at all.
However I do have to tip my hat off to him for facing the fan base like
he did last night and answering questions very candidly. My take on the Sharks based on what I have
read and listened too is that in the offseason was that Wilson thought he could
probably get a real rebuild going by trying to make the Thornton and Marleau
uncomfortable letting them know what the plan was more kids in the lineup
seeing if they wanted to go somewhere to win in an overreaction to the LA
series. When it became clear that
neither wanted to move he changed the script accordingly and here we are. Now that's pure speculation on my part but
does it really sound that farfetched?
So where does this leave the Sharks?
Thursday, March 12, 2015
Breaking It Down! - Mar 12th. 2015
On Thursday March 12th. the Sharks will host the
Nashville Predators and your pal Ian is going to be Breaking It Down! This is your preview where I hope to give you
some insight and opinions on not only our Sharks but their opponent of the
night.
Know Your Team - The San Jose Sharks
Current Record (W-L-OTL): 33-26-8, 74 Points and 5th in
the Pacific Division
Last 10 Games: 4-6-0
Power Play: 21.5% (5th.)
Penalty Kill: 79.9% (23rd.)
Current Streak: Won 1
Notes: SportsClubStats.com has our current chance to make
the playoffs at 17.7%
Know Your Enemy - The Nashville Predators
Current Record: (W-L-OTL): 42-19-7, 91 Points and 1st in
the Central Division
Last 10 Games: 3-6-1
Power Play: 16.1% (26th.)
Penalty Kill: 81.6% (16th.)
Current Streak: Won 1
Notes: Nashville has lost 6 of their last 7.
Ian Breaks Down The Predators: The Predators have had a tough go as of late
dropping 6 in a row before finally beating the lowly Arizona Coyotes in
overtime. Is this the point where they
turn it around or does the skid continue, that's the question the Sharks find
themselves asking. Despite the recent
woes of this team the Sharks can't take anything for granted in this one as they
were soundly beaten by the Predators back in February. It
would basically be impossible for the Predators to fall out of contention at
this rate but that does not mean that they want to throw to many more games
away and back into the playoffs. Expect them to come out hard trying to get to
Niemi early. Starting in goal tonight is
of course stone cold shark killer Pekka Rinne who sports a 8-4-4 record with a
1.88 GAA and unbelievable 9.45 SV% against the Sharks over his career.
Ian Breaks Down The Sharks: The Sharks returned to the
win column against a very good Pittsburgh team on the back of another solid
effort by Antti Niemi is this enough to see him in teal next year? I'm not holding my breath. Due to a lack of
help on the out of town scoreboard The Sharks (17.7%) have failed to really
make up any ground on the outside looking in Kings (66.6%) while trying to
catch Calgary (86.7%) for the final divisional playoff spot. The final wild card seed is starting to look
obtainable as the Jets (46.4%) are having a tough go of late. Matt Irwin is out tonight and as of this writing
nothing points to Fedun drawing into the lineup, expect to see the same lineup
and defensive pairs as the last few games. In their last meeting against the
Predators the Sharks best players were anything but, however I expect a better
game from team teal tonight as all games are basically a must win. Antti Niemi will get the call in goal tonight
and will need to be on his game because Nashville has allowed the 5th fewest
goals in the league so the Sharks can't expect to score themselves out of
problems. Niemi has a mediocre 7-6-3
record with a 2.13 GAA and a .918 SV% vs the Predators in his career. Finally the PK was really good in the game
against the Penguins but the power play was dreadful the Sharks need to try and
take advantage of the Predators 16th. ranked penalty kill if given the
opportunity to do so and that means actually getting shots on goal.
My Prediction: Sharks win a tight scoring game to keep
the playoff hopes alive.
Remember if you have a question you would like me to
answer in a future article please e-mail me at ian.blogs.sharks@gmail.com,
unless you ask I will not post who asked the question so don't worry about how
stupid you think the question may be because to me there is no such thing.
If you want to read previous articles/blogs please check
out http://ianblogssharks.blogspot.ca
Follow me on Twitter: @IanBlogsSharks
What are your thoughts on this upcoming game?
Monday, March 9, 2015
Breaking It Down! - Mar 9th. 2015
On March 9th. 2015 the Sharks will host the Pittsburgh
Penguins and your pal Ian is going to be Breaking It Down! This is your preview where I hope to give you
some insight and opinions on not only our Sharks but their opponent of the
night.
Know Your Team - The San Jose Sharks
Current Record (W-L-OTL): 32-26-8, 72 Points and 5th in
the Pacific Division
Last 10 Games: 4-6-0
Power Play: 21.8% (5th.)
Penalty Kill: 79.6% (25th.)
Current Streak: Lost 1
Notes: SportsClubStats.com has our current chance to make
the playoffs at 15.9%
Know Your Enemy - The Pittsburgh Penguins
Current Record: (W-L-OTL): 38-18-9, 85 Points and 3rd in
the Metropolitan Division
Last 10 Games: 6-3-1
Power Play: 20.4% (7th.)
Penalty Kill: 85.4% (5th.)
Current Streak: Won 2
Notes: The Penguins are 14-5-2 against the Western Conference
as well as 7-2-0 against the Pacific Division.
Ian Breaks Down The Penguins: The Pittsburgh Penguins are in the playoffs
the only mystery for them at this point is who will they play against. A perennial playoff team the Penguins are
lead by on the greatest players to ever lace up skates in Sydney Crosby (21 Goals
, 45 Assists) and Evgeni Malkin (28 Goals, 39 Assists) is no slouch either.
They one of the best special teams units in the league so the Sharks will have
to move the puck well on the power play and avoid being put on the penalty kill
too often. Starting in goal for Pittsburgh
is Marc-Andre Fleury who's career numbers in 6 games against the Sharks are a
record of 2-2-2 with a 2.51 GAA and .932 SV%.
Ian Breaks Down The Sharks: As far as success of the team
goes my start at RSEN probably has not come at the greatest time, the Sharks
playoff hopes are incredibly bleak right now as the teams that the Sharks are
in contention with have made the most of their schedules thus far. Currently sitting in playoff positions are
the Vancouver Canucks (78 pts. 92.2%), Calgary Flames (77 pts. 82.9%) who
occupy the final two divisional seeds which I thought may be the only way the
Sharks get in, this is looking like a daunting task at this point. The wild
card seeds are owned by the central divisions Minnesota Wild (79 pts 82.6%) and
the Winnipeg Jets (78 pts. 62.7%). Also outside of the playoffs with a real
chance of finding their way in is the Los Angeles Kings (75 pts. 58.1%) unless
a couple of these teams go on a massive slide the Sharks fate may be all but
sealed. So what can the Sharks do at
this point? Simple, they have to win
games and hope the out of town scoreboard works in their favour. It appears there will be no lineup changes
for the Sharks from their game in Vancouver so expect the Hannan - Burns
defensive disaster to continue as Irwin continues to sit out day to day. Starting goaltender should come as no surprise
as Antti Niemi will man the pipes for the Sharks.
My Prediction: Sharks eat Penguins it's how the food
chain works.
Remember if you have a question you would like me to
answer in a future article please e-mail me at ian.blogs.sharks@gmail.com,
unless you ask I will not post who asked the question so don't worry about how
stupid you think the question may be because to me there is no such thing.
If you want to read previous articles/blogs please check
out http://ianblogssharks.blogspot.ca
Follow me on Twitter: @IanBlogsSharks
What are your thoughts on this upcoming game?
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