Sharks GM Wilson denies mishandling Burish situation posted by Sharks Fan

Sharks general manager Doug Wilson took issue with a report that Adam Burish was not properly informed of the team’s decision to place him on waivers, and that Wilson was telling coach Todd McLellan to scratch Burish from the active lineup in favor of younger players.

According to the report:

…Adam Burish was a healthy scratch a few games after not playing particularly well. He was told it was management’s decision, as they wanted to see young players like Barclay Goodrow and Chris Tierney play more.

That happens. In fact, it’s been an ongoing battle in San Jose with other players at various times. But in this case Burish wanted out. And GM Doug Wilson said he would oblige by finding a better situation for him.

The next day, Burish walked into the dressing room and his gear had been removed from the dressing room. Teammate Joe Pavelski, an old friend from their college days, told Burish he had been waived.

That’s not typical. Usually a coach or someone in management informs the player. But what happened was a disagreement between Wilson and coach Todd McLellan. The coach wanted to play Burish. The GM had other ideas and put him on waivers.

According to Wilson, however, Burish was informed of the Sharks’ decision by his agent Markus Lehto, who was kept in the loop during the process.

Lehto confirmed that Wilson told him of the team’s decision to put his client on waivers the day before doing so, and Lehto subsequently told Burish.

Devils centers lead 5-2 victory over San Jose Sharks posted by Devils Fan

Devils’ Mike Cammalleri scored his team-leading 15th goal of the season as the Devils went into the NHL All-Star break by defeating the San Jose Sharks, 5-2, Monday night at SAP Center.

The game was tied, 2-2, when Cammalleri scored on the power play at 14:45 of the second period. Travis Zajac and Jacob Josefson (shorthanded) added goals in the third.

The Devils finished the California trip 2-1-0 and are 4-2-1 in their last six games. Since the team's coaching change on Dec. 26, the Devils are 5-5-1.

Centers Cammalleri, Travis Zajac, Scott Gomez and Josefson all starred in the win.

Adam Henrique passed Jaromir Jagr for the Devils' scoring lead when he picked up assists on Cammalleri's power play goal and Josefson's shorthanded score. That gave Henrique 26 points in 40 games. Jagr has 25 points in 43 games.

A relentless Jordin Tootoo scored a goal in the first period on his third try from below the right hash marks.

The Devils did well in winning face-offs, led by Zajac and Josefson. Zajac and Josefson both also scored goals.

Tim Sestito was shaken up when he was elbowed his the head by Brent Burns in the second period. Sestito remained down for a time before going to the Devils' bench. There were boos from the crowd when Burns was issued a minor penalty for an illegal hit to the head.

Henrique took a tripping penalty and Jon Merrill followed him to the box with a hooking penalty, putting the Devils two men down for 2 seconds in the third period with the game still in the balance.

With two assists, Gomez has 466 points as a Devil. That ranks sixth on the team's all-time list behind Bobby Holik (472 points). Now the Devils look ahead to the all star break.

Kings descent continues as they lose key game vs. Flames posted by La Kings Fan

Once again the Los Angeles Kings came close, but their 2 to 1 overtime loss to the Calgary Flames was nevertheless a significant setback.

Going into tonight’s action, Los Angeles was just shy of a Wild Card spot. They were even with Calgary with 51 points in 45 contests, but the Flames were the ones holding onto a playoff spot thanks to the tiebreaker. The Kings squandered a golden opportunity to get back into a postseason position though, largely due to the efforts of Flames goaltender Joni Ortio.

The 23-year-old netminder was playing in his fourth game of the season as Karri Ramo is sidelined with an upper-body injury. Ortio kicked out 33 of 34 shots tonight, giving him a 1.23 GAA and .958 save percentage. At this rate it will be very tough for Calgary to send him down.

Kings goalie Jonathan Quick matched Ortio for most of the contest and it was Los Angeles’ Matt Greene that was able to strike first midway through the third period:

Sean Monahan, who scored the overtime game-winner against San Jose on Saturday, came up big again with the equalizer 3:32 minutes later:

Dennis Wideman found the back of the net at 4:08 of the overtime frame.

Calgary and Los Angeles are both scheduled to play on Wednesday (against Anaheim and San Jose respectively), so it is still possible for the Los Angeles Kings to enter the All-Star break in the second Wild Card position, but either way the team is in trouble. Los Angeles has won just two of its last 10 contests. The fact that the Kings have gotten five consolation points over that stretch has helped, but that only slowed the bleeding. They need something more. Much more.

The San Jose Sharks Strengths and Weaknesses and Stanley Cup Chances posted by Sharks Fan

The San Jose Sharks finished 5th overall in the league and made it to the first round of the playoffs. The team was just one game away from defeating defending champions Los Angeles kings, before they stopped them in the first round.

Key Departures

The team also lost one of the Key players Dan Boyle. The defenceman moved to the New York Rangers. The move left noticeable hole in the sharks defence. The team still has Marc-Edouard Vlasic and Alex Stalock who are good but have not been at their best in the recent past.

One major issue the team has had to deal with is relieving the captain and assistant captain off their titles. At the beginning of the off season, the General Manager Doug Wilson and coach Todd McLellan announced that Joe Thornton and Patrick Marleau were no longer captain and assistant captain respectively.

Joe Thornton and Patrick Marleau

Despite that the team went all the way to the playoffs, the management seemed no too pleased with the leadership of the two. An attempt to move Joe Thornton was stopped by a ‘no trade’ clause. The team will be preoccupied with trying to figure out what the next step will be as far as the two players are concerned.

The defence of the team is also another concern. They will need to fill the gap left by Dan Boyle. Relying on Alex Stalock hasn’t brought the expected results so far. If Alex Stalock improves his numbers however, he can be a real asset that can help fix the situation.

Conclusion

As the Sharks compete in the Pacific division, they are going to face teams that are more prepared than them. The issue of the captains needs to be resolved. In the light of these problems, the sharks will probably not perform as well as they did last season.

San Jose Signs Antero Niittymaki to a 2 year, $4M Contract posted by Jeff Ponder

San Jose got their starting netminder... sorta.

Antero Niitymaki, the former Flyer and Lightning goalie, has reached an agreement with the West Coast team.  But what does this mean for the Sharks?

The Finnish goaltender had a so-so season in 2009-10, finishing with a .909 save percentage and a 2.87 GAA in 49 games for the Lightning.  This is about what he has posted for the past couple of seasons.  He never seems to be a game-stealer, nor does he really ever cause your team to lose.  This may not be what the Sharks need.

After trading former starter Evgeni Nabokov's rights to Philadelphia and watching captain and star defenseman Rob Blake retire a few days ago, San Jose GM Doug Wilson had to make a move to improve defensively.  I doubt this is what most people have in mind when thinking about an improvement over Nabokov.  Niittymaki will play well enough for the Sharks to get victories, but he is far from being a top-goalie in the league.  All that the Sharks did now is give backup netminder Thomas Greiss hope of being a NHL starter next season. 

This looks like a reenactment of the Sharks' tandem of Nabokov and Vesa Toskala from a few years back.  The only difference is that its a tandem of backups instead of a tandem of game-savers.Continue reading "San Jose Signs Antero Niittymaki ..."

Free Agency Spoilers posted by Jeff Ponder

Time to jump on the bandwagon – I have compiled a list of what I think will happen in early July during the free-agent frenzy in the NHL.  Some are just thoughts to consider, but I have a few strong beliefs compiled in here as well.  But you really have to ponder over how often us hockey bloggers are actually correct.

-Ilya Kovalchuk is easily the biggest name available in this year's free-agency period.  Considering his rejection of a huge contract extension in Atlanta and his inability to move the Devils past the first round of the playoffs, Kovalchuk will most likely be playing in yet another new city.  This player thrives on open rink and finding holes, so expect him to stay in the high-flying East.  He will be getting a raise from his current $6.39 million/year salary, especially considering the Sharks just gave Patrick Marleau, a less-talented scoring forward, a contract worth $27.6 million spanning over four seasons. Teams will be reaching deep into their pocket books for this guy.  But don't take Kovalchuk's rejection to Atlanta personal; the guy wants to win.  Teams with cap room to spare and a will to capture hockey's holy grail will be the front-runner's for Kovalchuk's services.

Possible destinations:  Washington Capitals, Tampa Bay Lightning

-Evgeni Nabokov saw his contract traded to the Philadelphia Flyers on Saturday, ending his long-stint with the San Jose Sharks as their top netminder.  But will he sign with Philly?  As of Monday, Don Meehan, Nabokov's agent, said that the Flyers have made no progress in signing the goaltender.  His services would be an extraordinary help to the Flyers, despite Michael Leighton's superb job as the starter in the playoffs.  The Flyers did well with Leighton, but having a sure-fire number one goaltender will only bolster the high-powered roster.  I expect the Flyers to shed salary or work out a deal with Nabby now to put him in a Flyers uniform.  Maybe not today, maybe not even tomorrow, but Nabokov will be a Flyer to start the 2010-11 season.
Continue reading "Free Agency Spoilers"

Blackhawks Reach For the Cup posted by Richard Kagan

It's been a long time, since 1961, that the Chicago Blackhawks won the Stanley Cup, one of the most revered trophies in all of sport.  You start out in the late summer in training camp, go to pre-season in late September and start playing by mid October.  The season ends in April.  Then it's a second season of breathless, fast-paced, high energy hockey, the playoffs, which runs for eight weeks.  If your team wins the Stanley Cup, you truly earn it.

Chicago has a shot again.  The last time they were this close was in 1992.  But "Super Mario" played for Pittsburgh, and his will and play picked up the Penguins. 

The Hawks won yesterday's game 4-2.  They scored four straight goals to blow by a stubborn and pesky San Jose Sharks team.  They swept the Sharks in 4 games, but they were not easy wins.  Last year the Blackhawks lost to Detroit in the Conference Finals.  That playoff series gave this team a learning lesson that it took to heart.  And, it is paying off now.

Captain Jonathan Toews is a young man, but he's the captain of this young team.  John Madden was brought in to gave this team some seasoning.  He played for two Devils' teams that won the Stanley Cup.  Madden plays hard every shift he is on the ice.  The surprise of these playoffs has been the stellar goaltending of Antti Niemi and the key goals scored by lumbering Dustin Byfuglien.  Buff is big.  But his overtime goal in game 3 wasn't scored on bigness but stealth as he streaked toward San Jose's goals to get a great feed and scored quickly.  Hawks won a tough one.

A most unexpected return… posted by Andy Charles

While most of the hockey world was reading about Dany Heatley’s monster move to the San Jose Sharks last week, it became clear that a former NHL favorite was about to try his luck at an unlikely comeback.

No, it’s not Jeremy Roenick a month after his retirement, and it’s not Claude Lemieux at the age of about 80, but the man most opponents loved to hate and his fans loved to love, Theo Fleury.

Fleury is back at training camp with the Calgary Flames, apparently determined to have at least one more season back in the NHL to end his career on his own terms, not in the way it had previously looked like ending back in 2003 before the work stoppage.

His path back to the league was cleared last week when he was granted reinstatement after a meeting with Commissioner Gary Bettman, as he was still under indefinite suspension over substance abuse issues that dogged the years towards what had been assumed to be the end of his career.

Fleury’s last organized professional hockey came in Britain’s Elite League with the Belfast Giants, and as for much of his career he was a success, being named Player of the Year by the British Ice Hockey Writers’ Association. He piled up an amazing 74 points in only 34 games and unsurprising racked up 270 penalty minutes before leaving after complaining about the standard of refereeing.

But Calgary is where Fleury calls his hockey home, after 11 seasons with the Flames which included a Stanley Cup in his first season and two other campaigns where he scored more than 100 points and eight seasons with over 100 minutes in the penalty box.
Continue reading "A most unexpected return…"

The Drama is Over; Heatley Dealt to Sharks posted by Jeff Ponder

Ottawa hockey writers can finally take a small break from their hectic summer before the season starts.  Dany Heatley has officially been moved.

It was announced Saturday afternoon that after many talks with the San Jose Sharks, Heatley and a fifth round pick have been traded to the Sharks for right-winger Jonathan Cheechoo, left-winger Milan Michalek and a second round draft choice in 2010.

''I'm excited obviously, I'm excited to be a Shark,'' Heatley said. ''I want to thank everyone in Ottawa, the organization the fans, and the city. I had a great four years here (and) I'm happy to move on.''

The Sharks are happy to bring in the gifted goal scorer, after much publicity about how they would react to their first-round upset loss to the eighth-seeded Anaheim Ducks last season.  The Sharks have just recently addressed their problem, sending defensemen Christian Ehrhoff and Brad Lukowich to Vancouver for a few prospects and now bringing in Heatley to help the scoring from the wings.

While losing Michalek and Cheechoo has the potential to hurt the Sharks with scoring from the third and fourth lines, Heatley will add a powerful punch to an already strong first or second line.  Star center Joe Thornton has been the part of an ongoing experiment in San Jose which involves rotating different skaters on his line to find a good fit for the big center.  Thornton found chemistry with forward Patrick Marleau and winger Devin Setoguchi throughout different parts of last season, but this move allows Marleau to move back to his more-comfortable center position so that the Sharks can have a more balanced attack.  If Heatley can find chemistry with “Jumbo Joe,” hockey fans could be seeing the greatest duo in the league this season.
Continue reading "The Drama is Over; Heatley Dealt to Sharks"

A fond farewell to Roenick (mostly!) posted by Andy Charles

The National Hockey League lost one of its greatest recent players last week when Jeremy Roenick finally announced his retirement after a glorious 20-year career at the highest level.

Roenick is widely regarded as one of, if not the, best players to come out of the United States and should be a shoo-in for the Hockey Hall of Fame when his name appears on the ballot in a few years time.

The 39-year-old was not just a fine player, but one full of passion for the sport and he should have a job to walk into in some lucky organisation in the near future – most likely the Chicago Blackhawks where Roenick began his career.

Roenick recently admitted his one regret in hockey was leaving the Windy City in the first place, the move coming in a trade with the Phoenix Coyotes for Alexei Zhamnov and Craig Mills, and he is widely expected, according to hockey betting, to take on an ambassadorial role with the franchise fairly soon.

Sadly Roenick never tasted Stanley Cup glory, but he ends his career as the third highest US scorer in history, behind only Mike Modano and Keith Tkachuk, but his overall game and importance to the team he was on at the time increases his importance within the game.

Roenick scored 513 goals and added 703 assists for a total of 1,216 points with 1,463 penalty minutes in an amazing 1,363 regular-season games. He also contributed 122 playoff points and went to a couple of Olympic Games, winning a silver in 2002.

“Jeremy Roenick will be remembered as one of the most dynamic players to ever play in the NHL,” said San Jose Sharks General Manager Doug Wilson – the Sharks were the final stop on Roenick’s odyssey.

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