On February 11th. the Sharks will host The Washington Capitals
to wrap a quick 3 game home stand and your pal Ian is going to be Breaking It
Down! This is your semi regular
officially unofficial game preview post that gives you some quick numbers and
my opinions on not only our Sharks but their opponent of the night.
Know Your Team - The San Jose Sharks
Current Record (W-L-OTL): 28-20-7, 63 Points and 3rd in
the Pacific Division
Last 10 Games: 4-4-2
Power Play: 20.6% (8th.)
Penalty Kill: 81.5% (16th.)
Current Streak: Lost last 2 games
Notes: Sharks have a losing record vs. The Eastern
Conference with an 8-10-2 record.
Know Your Enemy - The Washington Capitals
Current Record: (W-L-OTL): 29-16-10, 66 Points and 4th in
the Metropolitan Division
Last 10 Games: 4-4-2
Power Play: 23.1% (4th.)
Penalty Kill: 80.4% (19rd.)
Current Streak: Lost their last game
Notes: The Capitols have the second best win percentage
in the league (.833) when scoring first.
Ian Breaks Down The Capitals: How a year changes things,
last year the Metro Division was the joke of the league being commonly referred
to as the Meh-tro Division but this year thanks in part to a healthy John
Taveras, A Rangers team basically picking up where they left off last year and
an always good regular season Penguins team it has regained a little respect.
Now granted the bottom of the pile isn't all that impressive either division in
the east but it's no longer the point dispenser it was last year. The capitols have winning record in their
division picking up a 14-4-4 record. The goal scoring for the cap's is a little
top heavy with Ovechkin and Backstrom who sadly has to live in his shadow doing
most of the heavy lifting this year with contributions from Brouwer and Johansson.
On the blue line when people think offence the first name that comes to
their head is probably Mike Green but the answer to that question has been John
Carlson who has helped make the blue line not only deep but dangerous on
multiple pairings. It should also come
as no surprise with offensive weapons on the blue line with Alex Ovechkin up
front that this is the 4th best power play in the NHL so the Sharks would be
wise to play a disciplined game. In the
net tonight for the Capitals will be Braden Holtby who has a a 1-1-0 record
with a 4.49 GAA and a .872 SV% in his career against the Sharks, but this is
nothing to get too excited about because of the extremely small sample size.
Ian Breaks Down The Sharks: The sharks are like a jet missing an engine,
they are not in a full tailspin but it's not exactly a smooth flight right now
either. The Injury bug has definitely
taken its toll on the Sharks who have not won in Vlasic's absence. I'm not sure what lines the Sharks plan on
rolling out tonight I assume other than a change in the bottom 6 we will
probably see more of the same especially on defense. I hope that Tennyson continues to eat into
Hannans minutes. Niemi will start
tonight, in the previous meeting between these teams he allowed 5 goals... he
has to be much better tonight if the Sharks are going to win some games. I could go on about how the Sharks are in a
tough spot and you could agree or disagree with me based on the amount of teal
tint in your glasses but I'm going to dedicate some time to one of my favorite
Sharks to ever don teal, Evgeni Nabokov.
While not all my feelings for Nabby are positive and I think the Sharks
moved on at the right time but that said the press conference today got me
right in the feels. It was especially
hard when he talked about not winning the cup.
I can't imagine what it would be like to stand there knowing that you
would never compete for something you played 14 years for. Hopefully he gets
into the organization in some form and wins the cup as an executive but I think
that would be a small consolation for such a competator not winning it as a
player. I'm really happy that he was
able to retire a Shark and as much as it would have pulled on the heart strings
to see him between the pipes one last time I'm glad I don't have to eat paper
on YouTube.
MAIL BAG
Q: Ian, how does a Canadian in Ontario become a Sharks
fan?
A: Awesome question and one I get a lot, especially from
people around me. When I started to
really care about hockey I was a Habs fan because my dad was a Habs fan and
never really questioned it. My dad would
always tell me the stories of the glory days of the habs but I either wasn't
alive or was too young to remember much.
So when the Sharks get announced as a new team coming into the league I
think it's awesome because one teal jersey and a Shark bitting a hockey stick
is pretty bad ass when you're 11 and I'd be able to see everything they did. So I hopped on the bandwagon but still cheered
for both teams. I knew I was a Sharks
fan for good when the Canadiens won their last Stanely Cup in 1993, I was happy
that they won but it didn't excite me the same way the Baker goal against
Detroit did. Other things that helped my
fandom was the fact I had one of those old monster satellite dishes so when I
was up late enough I'd watch games but followed them mostly though morning
highlights on TSN Sports Centre (than known as Sports Desk) in the morning
before school.
My Prediction: Nabby has to relieve both Niemi and
Stalock and does not allow any goals in a 11-4 Sharks loss.
Remember if you have a question you would like me to
answer in the Breaking It Down blog please e-mail me at
ian.blogs.sharks@gmail.com and if you want to read previous blogs please check
out http://ianblogssharks.blogspot.ca
What are your thoughts on tonight's game?
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