Invasion of the Body Snatchers...
OK, who is this team and what did you do to the real Sharks? It's a
question fans, coaches, and most of all, opposing teams are asking
right now. Where are the Sharks of October and November? It seems
that after a two-month warmup, the Sharks are ready. Ready for
what? The playoffs.
Two months ago, all SJ fans were lamenting the lame beginning of yet
another season of poor hockey. The Sharks annual October curse took
hold and held on till mid November. The Sharks went 1-6-2 in October
and 4-5-3 in November for a total of five wins in 21 contests. The
team that looked so good on paper looked like junk on the ice. For
the first time, calls began to come for Sutter's head. Sutter had
never before come into question as a cause for the team's woes, but
now everyone was suspect. Again, the paper tiger looked too good to
be playing this bad. For not the first time, calls were again issued
for Lombardi's head.
Then came December. The low point of last year, this December proved
to be different. The Sharks pulled off a .500 month going 5-5-3
against teams like Dallas (0-1-1), Detroit (tie) and Philly (tie).
They put together a five-game unbeaten streak and a four-game win
streak (first time in three years for that stat). They also began to
come together as a team.
January is the first month of .500+ hockey for the team. And there
are several reasons why. First has to be Joe Murphy. Your humble
reporter has liked this guy from the first time he saw him in teal.
True, he hadn't produced a lot, but he still liked him. Murphy's
currently tied with Marco Sturm and Jeff Friesen for most goals at
11. Next has to be the play of Owen Nolan. True again, your humble
reporter would have traded him for a better seat earlier in the
season, but that 'C' has really fired the boy up. Sutter has been a
Nolan supporter all year, but all of the sudden, here he comes.
Owen has six goals and is hitting everything on the ice. He was at
his call-the-shot best against LA on the 11th as he chose out Ian
Laperriere and then laid him out. If you didn't see it, you can't
appreciate it. But it sure was pretty. Right there with Nolan and
Murphy has to be Mike Ricci. For the past three weeks he has played
his best hockey since coming to the Sharks. Ricci has 9 points in
just the past 10 games.
At the forefront as well has to be both the D of SJ and the men in
the net, Steve Shields and Mike Vernon. In December, there were
posts on Sharks boards about trading Vernon. Calls about his age
and speed. Those critics have been silenced. Vernie recorded his
8th shutout as a Sharks and 20th of his career against LA and never
looked cooler or better. Sure, there were some tense times the
first seven minutes of the first period, but not a mistake or a
mis-cue after. Bill Houlder, often the best blueliner the Sharks
have, is paired up with Bryan Marchment and is currently a +7 with
19 points. Houlder is -- when he's on his game -- simply great.
He's a master at breaking up 2 on 1 rushes and seldom makes
mistakes. He also leads the teams' D with those numbers. Speaking
of Mush, he also got in his first of the year just before being
sidelined. To stiffen the bent but not broken line, Sutter brought
up Sutton and paired him with Rathje, creating the 'Twin Towers'
(6'4" and 6'5"), a pairing that has done well against the Sabres
and excellent against LA.
We could play in the stats for a while and impress ourselves with
the GA for January -- and December for that matter -- or the
increase in the scoring. But those only count if the W-L column is
showing W's. And so far in January, it is.
All-Star Alert...
Of course Jeffy's going...Uh, no he isn't. Must be Owen then. Nope.
Mush? Uh-uh. It's Marco Sturm who was named to the World Team
reserve this week. After his first NHL hat trick and a five-point
game against Edmonton earlier this month, now he's an all-star. Way
to go, Marco!
Insult and Injury...
With the much-anticipated Gary Suter out of the lineup for the
remainder of the year, the blue line is being defended by the
aforementioned Bill Houlder, Rathje, Sutton, Norton, Rags and Bryan
Marchment. Or it was. Against Nashville, Mush sustained a shoulder
separation needing surgery and at least six weeks of healing.
Scott Stevens isn't the first guy you'd think of when looking for a
class-less act, but that's what he was against SJ. After taking a
hit from Myhres, he suggested that Brantt go out and take one
himself. Myhres is a recovering alcoholic and the little ditty from
Stevens paints him in a bad light. Stevens suggested he go and get
another beer. Real sportsmanship, Scott. Just wait till the 18th
when you're the reason Brantt's howling on his way to the sin bin.
Better hope you're not on a stretcher.
To make matters worse, Paul Kruse first lost a bout with Brantt and
gave the same kind of gesture. Myhres didn't see it but did hear
about it. Kruse isn't a class-act anyway, so he doesn't lose the
points like Stevens did. Besides, he did get his bell rung.
Are suspensions the way to go here? Last year, with some racial name
calling, suspension was the path the NHL took for punishment. A
better idea might be to turn the ref's head when the two meet again.
Let Brantt take his own style of punishment and see what gestures
Stevens and Kruse are making then. My guess? It'll be the call for
help off the ice. OWWWWWWWW!
Game Results:
Since the last issue, San Jose has fought 10 battles, 5 wins, 2
losses and 3 ties. The first win was against Edmonton two days
before Christmas. Marco Sturm recorded his first hat trick and
garnered five points in the process, having a hand in all five
goals the Sharks scored. Sturm had never had more than two points
in any game till then. Little known is the fact that SJ traded down
in '96 to get the German winger and there were times where it
appeared that was a mistake. No longer.
Next up on the hit list was Vancouver. Messier and Company came into
SJ on a less than fast roll and left even slower. Steve Shields got
his first regular season shutout and his second win of the season
after 16 days of watching Vernie in net. Patrick Marleau (who is
having a tough sophomore year) and Mike Ricci scored, giving SJ it's
first four-game win streak in three years. It also was the 11 games
in a row where the Sharks held the other team to two or less goals.
Philly was next and this was a game the Sharks should have won.
Lindros was incredible (as always) but even he couldn't boost the
Flyers to a win. San Jose extended the two goals or less to 12
games and tied the Flyers in a 1-1 battle that saw Joe Murphy score
the only Sharks goal. In overtime, Houlder missed a shot hitting
the crossbar in a game that hit more crossbars than Owen Nolan did
all last year.
Arguably the Sharks worst effort to date this season was against LA
on the 30th. It started out bad and just got worse. Vernon allowed
5 goals in the game and SJ suffered its first defeat in 7 games.
They also blew that two goals or less deal. SJ had given up only
seven goals in eight games prior to this one. Kind of made up for
that, huh?
The day after New Year's saw the return of the New York Islanders.
After the embarrassing 1-0 loss to them in December, San Jose went
to an early 2-0 lead. A 2-0 lead is the worst thing in the world
for SJ. It almost always assures a loss. True to form, the Sharks
gave up their lead and went into overtime tied at 3. Marco Sturm
came alive again in highlight-film fashion scoring the game winner
1:47 into overtime, giving SJ its first OT win this season.
What is it with the NY Rangers? In franchise history, the Sharks
have never beat the Rangers in regular season. And they wouldn't
this time, either. The Sharks looked to win early in the game and
once again had the two-goal lead. With Shields in net, San Jose
then quickly dissolved and basically let NY win as they allowed
four unanswered goals. I hate 2-0 leads! By the way, the Sharks
have managed two ties in the 15 meetings.
The New Jersey Devils -- the 'Beast from the East' -- are another
team the Sharks have had difficulty beating in their short history.
And this night proved to be no different. Nolan, Murphy and Friesen
all saw the back of the net allowing SJ to at least pull a point
out of the game. Hey, they didn't blow a two-goal lead, though.
San Jose had already lost to Nashville twice this year already and
were looking to even things up. A scoreless first led to a
three-goal San Jose second. Murphy, Granato and Mush all found the
back of the net giving SJ a one goal lead going into the third.
Nashville tied it up before Ronnie Stern put it in to seal the win.
Dominik Hasek and the Buffalo Sabres sauntered into the Tank liked
they owned the place. Too bad for them Steve Shields had been
watching his mentor during those years in Buffalo. It was Shields
vs Hasek in a(nother) blown two-goal lead that resulted in a tie.
The point tied SJ with LA for the final playoff spot in the West.
Then on to LA. After the last meeting in which the Kings spanked the
Sharks, the Fish were looking for a bit of payback. And they got it
with a 4-0 shutout in which Vernon would earn his third shutout of
the season and Murphy would tie Friesen and Sturm for most goals. Not
to mention the fact that SJ would now have sole possession of the
eighth spot.
