The Good, The Bad and The Ugly! - Mar 29th. 2015

San Jose came up shorter than a fruit fly's entire lifespan 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:  The Sharks really came out after the Penguins in the second period after being kind of sleepy in the first, yes they did outshoot their opponent in that period but the play was mostly pushed by the Penguins who had quality scoring chances and goals while the Sharks were forced to shoot low percentage shots from the perimeter. The Sharks were sparked to life by their 4th line who got them on the board and really got the momentum in full gear for the team.  Logan Couture has a little streak going right now adding the game tying goal for the Sharks. 

The Bad:  The Sharks penalty kill was victimized by a what I must admit was a nice feed by Crosby that Stalock had little chance on as the defense was out of place.  I thought Fedun looked alright but the penalty that lead to that second penguins goal was ill timed and the only real thing that I thought was problematic with his game.  Stalock was good but not great, probably should have had the first goal and the shootout was not his greatest moment although facing those shooters is a job that I don't envy.  I'm genuinely curious to see if this is the last time we see him this season or if he and Niemi split time down the stretch.

The Ugly:  Sharks power play went 1/5 and while that one goal did tie the game and make the overtime possible not capitalizing on a 4 on 3 for 4 minutes probably gave them the fate they deserved.  Ben smith only won 33% of his draws and Chris Tierney only won 44% of his as well.

Final Thoughts: The cards were pretty stacked against the Sharks coming into this game in all aspects while the idea of the Sharks running the table and pushing into the playoffs is a nice one the odds of them doing so and getting in where slim and the odds of them running the table at all even slimmer. The Sharks are still not sure of the status of Marc Edouard Vlasic and Mirco Mueller unknown until they return to San Jose to have them re-evaluated the sharks put out a thin blue line that didn't really embarrass themselves.  I thought Fedun was ok, nothing special but filled in nicely on a pairing with Irwin.  So where does this leave the Sharks? Well they finished the road trip with a 3-3-1 record. In my opinion the bell tolled on the season long ago while not mathematically out the odds of them making the playoffs are less than 2%.  Even running the table with what seems possible with a soft schedule of non-playoff teams not counting the season finale against the Kings would leave them with 95 points and that most likely leave us with a 25% chance of it being good enough to get in.  So while I'm glad the Sharks didn't completely roll over most of their recent games have been too little to late.

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 all my latest work check out http://RSENReport.com

Follow me on Twitter: @IanBlogsSharks

Sharks News and Notes! Mar. 27th 2015

Just a recap of some Sharks news that has happened over the last few days with some thoughts to go with them.

The Sharks signed Swedish Defenseman Joakim Ryan to a 2 year entry level deal. He previously played for Cornell University where he put up 19 Goals, and 59 Assists in 123 career games and was a 2012 draft pick (7th round, 198th overall) of the Sharks. This is what Hockey’s Future says about Ryan in their talent analysis:

Joakim Ryan is an undersized defenseman with incredible powers to his legs and a good offensive arsenal. He reads the play well and his shot is hard enough and low to the ice that it can be very deceptive for goaltenders. Given his size, defense will always be somewhat of a struggle. Right now he copes to the situation by utilizing his speed, but for him to succeed at the professional level, he will need to bulk up considerably otherwise he could only be considered a powerplay specialist.

My Thoughts: I have never seen him play with my own eyes but like the idea of him. I’d be curious to see how he pans out in the AHL.

The Sharks also signed Canadian goaltender Joel Rumpel out of the University of Wisconsin who although put up some mediocre numbers this year with a 4-23-4 record with a GAA of 3.49 and a .902 SV% behind what was a pretty bad Wisconsin team had put up decent a decent .929 SV% the two seasons prior.

My Thoughts: The Sharks goaltending depth is pretty terrible with JP Anderson potentially seeing his last contract from Team Teal this seems like a low risk move that could lead to high reward at least at the AHL level.

Sharks Defenseman Mirco Mueller missed the end of Thursday night’s game against the Red Wings after blocking a shot. Reports say his arm was in a sling and his wrist heavily bandaged after the game and today coach Todd McLellan announced the Muller would out indefinitely and will be re-evaluated after the road trip concludes.

My thoughts: I really thought Mirco has played a much better game since he returned after a long exile to the press box so it’s unfortunate to see him get hurt when he would have probably seen action until the end of the season. However the Sharks should let him heal to 100% as there is no reason to bring him back early. I wonder if this is a new injury or a re-aggravated injury suffered at the World Jr. Tournament. This will draw Matt Irwin back into the lineup. If they don’t call anyone up I hope they put Dillon with Hannan while using Irwin and Burns again.

Tomorrow the Sharks play an early game against the Philadelphia Flyers at 1pm local (10am Pacific). Both teams are all but mathematically eliminated from the playoffs at this point so I’m curious to see what kind of game it ends up being. Alex Stalock will get the start in goal for the Sharks in what may be his final start of the season if they choose to keep playing Niemi playoff chances be damned. I don’t think the sharks were wrong to ride Niemi like they had since Stalock got the shutout in his last start as you ride your starter in these situations especially if you didn’t trade him because the guys wanted him here. I know there are some who criticize the coaching staff for the Niemi starts but I feel this is just people talking with the benefit of hindsight and had Stalock gotten more starts would complain that Niemi being our starter should have been in net the whole time. A real lose/lose for the coaching staff. I personally would like to see Stalock get some more starts because I doubt Niemi is here next year.

I along with 2 other Shark fans recently started a new podcast called Teal Tinted Glasses if you would like to check it out please do so here:

http://ttgpodcast.blogspot.ca/2015/03/teal-tinted-glasses-episode-1.html

We will have it on all your favourite pod-catchers sooner than later.

Teal Tinted Glasses Podcast #1

Teal Tinted Glasses #1

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.

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.

You can read all my articles at: RSENReport.com

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

Follow me on Twitter: @IanBlogsSharks

Bonus Video

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?

This is probably a distraction the Sharks didn't need as they try to keep their still slim (23.9%) playoff hopes alive.  How big is the rift between these two guys?  Most of us will never know for sure but they will have to at least co-exist until the offseason.  Now I don't see Doug Wilson being at any risk regardless of how the season pans out so the question will be can Joe Thornton put this behind him for the benefit of the team?  I for one hope so.  The one thing I do know when it comes to Joe Thornton is that when he is obviously angry he is a monster on the ice so after tomorrow maybe we will all be saying well played Doug Wilson, well played. 

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?

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?

The Good The Bad and The Ugly! - Mar 7th. 2015

Now it's time for the post that missed the open net.  It's your IanBlogsSharks official post game wrap up. It is also the officially unofficial post game blog for anywhere else it ends up.  It's The Good, The Bad and The Ugly!  Sharks lost an important game against the Vancouver Canucks and your pal Ian is going to tell you how he saw it.

The Good: The Sharks for the most part in my opinion played a pretty good game, they didn't come out flat despite the time off which was very important, they got out to a lead and took advantage of mistakes by the Canucks. They took care of business in the faceoff circle, they blocked shots and for most of the game kept the turnovers down to a minimum.  Karlsson has been a resurgent force for the Sharks and is starting to earn that time line time.  Joe Thornton who will of course be blamed for everything played another great game in a 2 point effort.  The Sharks did a good job in the turn over department giving up most of their turnovers at the end of the game when you have to make higher risk plays to get back in it.

The Bad: I thought Marleau had a bad game tonight, yes he missed the open net but that happens to a lot of people.  It would have changed the game but that's not why he is here.  I'm not sure what happened tonight because Marleau has been quietly good the last few games but TMac seems to agree with me as he sent him down the line up during the game.  Hannan and Burns were a disaster, I never thought I'd miss Matt Irwin.  Niemi wasn't terrible but he wasn't lights out good either.  

The Ugly: The officiating tonight was a joke, now I know I'm usually the guy that comes out and says look how the Sharks played before we talk about the refs and we still need to do that don't get me wrong because the Sharks are not without blame for this loss and I really don't have any doubt that the last potential goal ever crossed the line but the Sharks got victimized by some frankly brutal calls including the no goal intent to blow BS.  Also the Canucks turned over the puck 24 times and didn't pay for it nearly enough.  And a two many men with an empty net.... holy cow.

Final Thoughts: Ian's Bullshit Numbers™ has reduced the Sharks chances of making the playoffs to 15%, the Sharks have received no help from the out of town scoreboard and now have refused to help themselves. This loss against Vancouver really hurts badly and is a game we might look back to if things don't go our way.  The Sharks have to win games, moral victories don't add points to the standings and that's all that matters.

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, 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 blogs please check out http://ianblogssharks.blogspot.ca

Follow me on Twitter @IanBlogsSharks

BONUS VIDEO!!!

Breaking It Down! - Mar 7th. 2015

On March 7th. 2015 the Sharks will host the Vancouver Canucks and your pal Ian is going to be Breaking It Down!  This is your official game preview blog of IanBlogsSharks.blogspot.ca as well as the officially unofficial game preview post for anywhere else it finds itself posted. Its purpose is to give 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): 32-25-8, 72 Points and 5th in the Pacific Division

Last 10 Games: 4-5-1

Power Play: 21.5% (5th.)

Penalty Kill: 79.6% (25th.)

Current Streak: Won 2

Notes: SportsClubStats.com has our current chance to make the playoffs at 26.6%

Know Your Enemy - The Vancouver Canucks

Current Record: (W-L-OTL): 36-24-4, 76 Points and 2nd in the Pacific Division

Last 10 Games: 5-4-1

Power Play: 17.8% (19th.)

Penalty Kill: 85.9% (3rd.)

Current Streak: Lost their last 3 previous game in a shootout.

Notes: SportsClubStats.com has seen Vancouver's chance to make the playoff drop from around 95% to 86.2%.

Ian Breaks Down The Canucks:  The Vancouver Canucks are the only team in the playoff push to see their chances of making the playoffs actually fall which is of no surprise because of their regulation loss to the San Jose Sharks and their shootout loss to Arizona on the awesome space coyote night.  The Canucks have seen some reinforcements on the injury front as Burrows, Edler and Kassian have returned to their lineup however they are still missing Richardson, Tanev, Bieksa and starting goaltender Ryan Miller, if you're wondering why the Canucks have started a slight slide backwards look no further than that.  Eddie Lack will likely get the start who's only career action against the Sharks was in relief of Markstrom earlier in the week where he allowed 1 goal on 24 shots.  The Canucks penalty kill also got beaten up by the Sharks last game but it's one of the best in the league so the Sharks will need to rely on their 5 on 5 scoring just as much as they lean on their 5th best power play.

Ian Breaks Down The Sharks: So the Sharks are coming of a pretty lengthy break with obviously has its positives and takeaways.  The positives are that they should be rested and most of the other teams have used up their games in hand on team teal, the negatives are that since the Sharks have played last the teams they are in the hunt with for playoff spot (Wild 90.3%, Canucks 86.2%, Flames 82.8% and Los Angeles 61.5%) have earned all but 3 possible points up for grabs making the Sharks (26.6%) path to the playoffs that much harder.  The Sharks although should be rested but have to avoid starting the game with any rust.  The Sharks open a 4 game home stand tonight that will also feature 3 other all but guaranteed to make the playoffs in the Pittsburgh Penguins, Nashville Predators and Chicago Blackhawks this home stand will not end our playoff push either way but as the Sharks only have 7 home games remaining they need to make the most of them.  Important areas of focus tonight for the Sharks will be the faceoff circle where the Canucks dominated them in their last meeting this can't happen again, also they are probably not going to get spotted a 3 goal lead in the first 4 shots like last time.  Expect Antti Niemi to get the start he has been good in the Sharks last 2 wins and that play must continue. 

Mail Bag:

Q: Ian, when Slava Voynov was charged with assault on his partner the league suspended him indefinitely while Mike Ribeiro is being sued for sexual assault and still gets to play.  What's the deal? Is it because Ribeiro is Canadian and Voynov is Russian?

A: Good question, First thing I need to get out of the way is that while the hockey media or at least certain members of it (Don Cherry, Mike Milbury for example) really like to take shots at non-North American players the league itself is pretty consistent in dealing with all players when it comes to discipline if you look at nationality at home so I don't think this is the good old boys club looking out for the Canadian guy.  The biggest difference between these 2 cases is the fact that one is a criminal charge where Voynov was arrested and pending a criminal court case where he could do real time and be deported where the Ribeiro case is a civil suit which boils down to a more he said, she said that will most likely be settled out of court without an admission of guilt.   If this was a criminal case where there the DA felt they had sufficient evidence to go to trial I have no doubt in my mind Ribeiro is suspended pending the outcome of the trial much like Slava Voynov is today.

Hope that answers your question.

My Prediction: Sharks come out flatter than a pancake but prevail because letting the Canucks go up on them by 6 points is not an option.

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, 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 blogs please check out http://ianblogssharks.blogspot.ca

Follow me on Twitter: @IanBlogsSharks

What are your thoughts on this upcoming game?

Ian Rambles about the Sharks

I talk about the playoff push and remaining games on the schedule.

Special Announcement

I'll be jumping on Sports Midweek Madness to talk some Sharks tonight.

http://www.blogtalkradio.com/ssdradio/2015/03/05/sports-midweek-madness

For those that missed it follow the above link I'm on at the 13:00 minute mark.

Ian Rambles About The Sharks - Mar 3rd. 2015

Ian does a video version of The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly!

Breaking It Down! - Mar 3rd. 2015

On March 3rd the Sharks will visit The Vancouver Canucks and your pal Ian is going to be Breaking It Down!  This is your official game preview blog of IanBlogsSharks.blogspot.ca as well as the officially unofficial game preview post for anywhere else it finds itself posted. Its purpose is to give 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): 31-24-8, 70 Points and 5th in the Pacific Division

Last 10 Games: 3-6-1

Power Play: 21.0% (8th.)

Penalty Kill: 81.9% (14th.)

Current Streak: Won 1

Notes: http://www.sportsclubstats.com/NHL.html has the Sharks odds of making the playoffs at 24.5% up 7.1% from before their victory over the Montreal Canadiens.

Know Your Enemy - The Vancouver Canucks

Current Record: (W-L-OTL): 36-23-3, 75 Points and 2nd in the Pacific Division

Last 10 Games: 7-3-0

Power Play: 13.3% (28th.)

Penalty Kill: 79.7% (23rd.)

Current Streak: Lost 1

Notes: Vancouver is almost certain to be in sporting a 96.1% chance of seeing post season action.

Ian Breaks Down The Canucks:  It's the battle of the western conference playoff pretenders as I feel like these teams are not built to go very far if they both in fact get in.  The Canucks had a pretty quiet trade deadline picking up flames prospect Sven Baertschi for a 2nd round pick showing that they are still commited to a rebuild although they might be slightly ahead of schedule.  Fortunately for the Sharks although the Canucks may not be caught in the standings when it's all said and done they are pretty injury rattled missing starting goaltender Ryan Miller, Alex Burrows and Kevin Bieksa among other regular roster players.  The Canucks are going with once highly touted prospect Jacob Marksrtom tonight who will be seeing his first bit of NHL action.  His career NHL numbers are 12-27-5 record with a 3.19 GAA and a .896 SV% most of which was on a bad Florida Team who tried to rush his development a few times.  Still despite that I think Markstrom is incredibly overrated as he has done well in the AHL but can't seem to convert that to an NHL game.  Although at 25 may be too soon to call his career dead.

Ian Breaks Down The Sharks: The sharks are playing their second game in two nights and coming off a big win over the Montreal Canadiens, was this a statement win or just another win in a sea of losses?  That's what we all hope to get the answer to tonight hoping that last night was the start of a push.  Currently the Sharks are tied for 2nd in the pacific with the Calgary Flames (65.4%) and the Los Angeles Kings (55.9%) both of whom are also in action tonight.  So that I'm sure begs the question if we are tied why are the Kings and Flames sitting with better percentages to make the playoffs?  The answer to that is twofold first the Sharks have played two more games than the Flames and Kings so if all 3 teams went the rest of the year without losing a game the Sharks run out of road first and the Kings and Flames would finish 4 points ahead.  The other reason is that despite playing fewer games the Flames are already beating is in the ROW (Regulation and Overtime Win) Column which is the first tie breaker and the Kings although having one fewer ROW have the games in hand.  Ben Smith had an outstanding debut for the Sharks which made everyone forget that DW probably got less than most expected for the assets he parted with but it looks like at least in one game that this is one deal he might have hit out of the park.  Sharks are going to have to come out strong playing their second games in back to backs and Antti Niemi needs to be sharp.  The Sharks need to try to get to Jacob Markstrom who is playing in his first NHL contest this year early and often.

My Prediction: I hate when the sharks play un-established goaltenders, but they win this game because they have too.

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, 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 blogs please check out http://ianblogssharks.blogspot.ca

Follow me on Twitter: @IanBlogsSharks

What are your thoughts on this upcoming game?

Ian Rambles About the Sharks! - Feb 2nd. 2015

Ian rambles on about the Sharks 4-0 win over Montreal

Hot Take Alert! - Mar 2nd. 2015

This is a special hot take alert a blog that is filled with my random thoughts on some random topic today's random topic is the Sharks Trade Deadline!

So another trade deadline has come and gone and it went pretty much how I expected it go for Team Teal.  I know the end results does not make everyone happy and I get it from both sides, we have 2 years left of Marleau and Thornton and the Sharks are doing nothing to build a winning team around them after last year's playoff collapse that really seemed to just crush the mind of Doug Wilson.  That said the Sharks are on a path now, and to me it's an important one.  We might all want Thronton or at least Marleau to retire in teal but who here really expects them both be here when their current contracts run dry... not me, especially if Doug Wilson is still at the helm.  So the sharks having one of their worst seasons in recent memory continued to do minor moves and sell of some assets and I'll give you a quick rundown of the week with my thoughts on all the moves.

Aaron Dell signed to a 2 way deal

Nothing should really be read into this news, as well as he has done in the Woo I don't really know if he is an NHL backup to be honest, to me this is a guy who is going to spend most of his time with the AHL team and be used as an emergency call up to keep the bench warm if necessary. 

Tye McGinn on waivers, claimed by Arizona: I never thought Tye McGinn was that special just a competent 4th round energy guy who is a dime a dozen in this league.  No issues with this move. No grade.

Grade: A, It's a solid signing for the AHL team.

James Sheppard to the New York Rangers for a 4th round pick.

Sheppard was the first domino to fall in the UFA selloff I really thought (and this will be a trend) that he could have fetched us a 3rd.  Sharks retain some salary but since I didn't expect any big moves to follow and this to be the start of the sale I had no issue with it.  It's better to get that 4th round pick than nothing when he left July 1st.  The only thing that really bothers me about this deal is the reasoning was given that they wanted to see Hertl at centre... Hertl is not playing center tonight.  Also Sheppard was better on  the wing... I was much more ok with this before DW started talking.

Grade: C-, It was a C+ before DW had to ruin it by talking.

Freddie Hamilton goes to Colorado for Karl Stollery

Hockey's Future's Talent Analysis: Stollery is a late bloomer who is just coming into his own after four years of NCAA hockey. He plays a solid defensive game with few mistakes and can produce in the offensive end as well.

Well I don't know much about the Stollery looks like 30 point defensemen in the AHL, limited NHL time, can he turn into something I'm not sure... could be a nice piece for the Woo's playoff push though.  Hamilton didn't really impress in his NHL auditions and the Sharks moved on.

Grade:  B, If nothing else it's a good move for the AHL club.

Sharks get Ben Smith and a Conditional 7th rounder for Andrew Desjardins

I personally will miss Desi a lot, I thought he was a good 4th line center that was always anchored down by garbage that was put on his wings.  The Sharks get Ben Smith who sounds like a good bottom six penalty killer and the outrage by Hawks fans make this deal something I'm looking forward to seeing play out as much as I'll miss Desi.

Grade: B+, Hawks fans were pissed about this move before they knew what was coming their way I think that speaks volumes about the guy we picked up.

Tyler Kennedy to the Islanders for a conditional 7th round pick.

If the Islanders make the playoffs and TK plays 50% if the games we get a 3rd round pick.  Personally I really thought TK would fetch a better price especially out east.  He's a guy I had much higher hopes for but could never stay out of TMac's dog house or healthy and was never as effective as I thought he might be in Teal.

Grade: F, While guys like Joe Pavelski were drafted in the 7th round I think DW could have done better here.

None of these moves make the Sharks immediately better, some of the returns where pretty bad, overall an expected but not exceptional draft day.

Overall Grade: C- Doug Wilson did what a GM in our situation probably should have done but in a barely passable manor.

Your thoughts?

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, 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 blogs please check out http://ianblogssharks.blogspot.ca

Follow me on Twitter: @IanBlogsSharks

Breaking It Down! - Mar 2nd. 2015

On March 2nd the Sharks will host The Montreal Canadiens and your pal Ian is going to be Breaking It Down!  This is your official game preview blog of IanBlogsSharks.blogspot.ca as well as the officially unofficial game preview post for anywhere else it finds itself posted. Its purpose is to give 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): 30-25-8, 68 Points and 5th in the Pacific Division

Last 10 Games: 2-7-1

Power Play: 20.9% (7th.)

Penalty Kill: 79.5% (25th.)

Current Streak: Lost 3

Notes: According to sportsclubstats.com the Sharks currently have a 17.7% chance of making it into the playoffs, a win tonight would definitely increase those odds.

Know Your Enemy - The Montreal Canadiens

Current Record: (W-L-OTL): 41-16-5, 87 Points and 1st. in the Atlantic Division

Last 10 Games: 7-1-2

Power Play: 16.5% (25th.)

Penalty Kill: 88.2% (2nd.)

Current Streak: Won 4

Notes: Carey Price has not allowed more than 2 goals since basically the stone age at this point.

Ian Breaks Down The Canadiens:  Montreal is on their way to another promising playoff push. The east is as wide open as ever this year and I wouldn't be surprised to see the Canadians representing the east when the finals finally hit.  If they can hold off the Lightning to remain fist in the Atlantic their path gets even easier.  The Sharks are in super tough here, the Habs have done pretty much nothing but win and Carey Price has been nothing short of outstanding with a 1.18 GAA and 9.56 SV% going 9-0-1 in his last 10 starts.  However his record at SAP center is not good with a record of 0-2-1 and 3.95 GAA so if you're looking for a silver lining that's it.  The Habs made some moves of their own picking up Jeff Petry from the Oilers to add to a defence corps that already features the great PK Subban.  Other aquisitions included former Shark Torrey Mitchell.

Ian Breaks Down The Sharks:  What shape are the Sharks in?  I guess that depends on how full or empty your cup is.  On one side of the coin the Sharks are a mere 2 points out of the last divisional playoff seed and a matchup with Vancouver who is in my opinion a playoff pretender their competition is an on again off again Los Angeles Kings team who have cooled off a bit after an 8 game surge that included the victory over the Sharks at Levis, the Flames who lost captain and stud defenceman Mark Girodano which is a huge blow to them as they have gone on a 3 game slide. Sneaking into the 3rd seed though may be the Sharks only option to make it as the wild card seeds are quickly becoming out of reach.  To make the playoffs the estimate is the Sharks would have to go 13-6 over their next 19 games.  Here is where the cup gets half empty, the Sharks need to actually win games and that has been a tough thing for the Sharks to find over the last month. The out of town score board has put the Sharks back within striking distance the question now is can the Sharks help themselves.  As expected (at least by me anyway), the Sharks did a lot of subtracting today without much addition I will break down today in another blog as I wait for the game to start but half glass empty shows the Sharks are not interested in a playoff push and are committed to the re-*today's buzzword*ing.  In the net tonight is Alex Stalock leaving Niemi to face the Canucks on the second half of a back to back tomorrow night.  This will probably be one of the last starts Stalock will probably see until he makes his last appearance at the end of the month.  Stalock is 5-7-1 with a 2.85 GAA and a .900 SV% a tough year for him for sure.

Mail Bag:

Q: Ian can you please explain a conditional draft pick?

A: Sure, a conditional draft pick is a draft pick that has a condition or trigger, for example Tyler Kennedy was traded for a conditional 3rd round pick, from what I read and I have not had the time to confirm but the condition is that the Islanders have to make the finals and TK must have played 50% of the games. Otherwise it becomes a 7th round pick. Also sometimes a conditional pick could be the team picking the year that the other team gets to use it (usually in a 2-3 year window).  I hope this explains conditional draft picks.

My Prediction: Sharks win and the Doug Wilson acolytes sacrifice me to the hockey gods in my sleep.

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, 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 blogs please check out http://ianblogssharks.blogspot.ca

What are your thoughts on this upcoming game?

Ian Rambles About The Sharks - Mar 1st. 2015