It's the last issue of LCS Hockey, the coolest Internet
hockey site in the world. And, so here's the coolest
things that have happened since you last heard from
yours truly:
* I'm unemployed - That's a "severance package" type
of cool.
* I'm going on a long vacation - That's a "spend the
severance package" type of cool.
* I'm going around the world - That's an international
type of cool.
* I'm enjoying my time off - That's just plain cool.
* I'm proud to have been associated with LCS Hockey -
That's a most excellent type of cool.
So dude, summarize the Sharks Season...
The Sharks season can be divided into five parts:
* The typical start to a Sharks season
* Brantt and K-yuk's call up starts the revival
* That damn road trip
* Peaking at the right time with Vinny
* Playoffs
Great Expectations - Not!!
The Sharks began the season with high hopes. Free agent
Gary Suter was brought in to jump start the traditionally
weak Sharks power play. Steve Shields would provide the
solid backup goaltending to Mike Vernon. Bob Rouse would
provide the solid experience on defense. And a host of
other gritty players such as Ron Stern would give coach
Darryl Sutter his team from day one.
Yawn - It's Your Typical Early Season Blahs
And typically, things unraveled before the season started.
Gary Suter was lost for the whole season. Owen Nolan, Jeff
Friesen, Mike Rathje and Mike Ricci held out for most of
training camp. Andrei Zyuzin and some of the other kids
expected to make the team played poorly in preseason. And
the Sharks played their first two games in Japan, which set
the stage for a "ready made" excuse for a bad start.
The Sharks won only one game in October, and only four games
in November. The Sharks were dead last, and to make things
worse, the team "forced" Bernie Nicholls to retire, which
was a bush-league thing to do, even if Bernie wasn't the same
player he used to be. The team pretty much was sleepwalking
through the games, and the fans were getting restless.
Instant Energy from Brantt and K-yuk
The "going nowhere" season turned on December 12th, with the
arrivals of Brantt Myhres and Alex Korolyuk from the Kentucky
farm team. Brantt provided the heavyweight fighter the Sharks
had been lacking, and became a firm fan favorite. Alex became
the speedy, skill player the Sharks had not seen in a long
while. Their arrival led to a 5-5-3 record in December, with
key victories both at home and on the road.
In January, the good play continued with an extended home
stand. Included were wins against Pittsburgh and New Jersey,
but in typical Sharks fashion, losses against expansion
Nashville and the woefully inept New York Islanders. The Sharks
began to sneak up the standings, and the fans were enjoying
the hard work of the gritty team. The team finished 5-5-4 for
the month.
Real World, Road Rules, Road Trip????
In February, the NHL schedule sent the Sharks away for 11 out
of 14 games, the killer part being the 10 straight away games
from February 4-20. The Sharks had forced their
way into playoff contention, and most pundits figured getting eight
points out of a possible 20 would be a major accomplishment. The
Sharks got nine, including a sequence of four consecutive wins in
Phoenix, Chicago, St. Louis and Tampa. It could have been more, but
they lost tough games against Buffalo and Phoenix.
Vinny Damphousse - Acquisition par excellence
A strong early March home stand yielded eight out of 10 points, with
very satisfying wins against Phoenix, Detroit, Ottawa and Florida.
Then, while on a five-game road trip which saw the disappearance of
Andrei Zyuzin, the Sharks traded for Vinny Damphousse, who
instantly provided the experience, skill and leadership for the
stretch run. Joe Murphy (of all people!) got hot, as did Alex
Korolyuk and Jeff Friesen. The team played their best hockey all
year, and clinched the seventh playoff spot.
Playoffs - Another First Round Exit
Against the Colorado Avalanche, the Sharks lost the first two
games, won the next two and lost the next two. In the four losses,
the Sharks could have won two if their scoring had not deserted
them at the wrong time. Overall, the Sharks played tough, and in
the end, it was the talent level that made the difference. The
Sharks could look back at the season with pride, considering
their horrendous start, and the way that they hung tough and
came together as a team.
Cool vs. Not Cool Moments
* Cool - The stellar play of the goalie tandem of Steve Shields
and Mike Vernon. When the defense didn't play well, the two
masked men kept the Sharks in a majority of games.
* Not Cool - Joe Murphy claiming to be a solid player like
Mark Recchi and wanting a similar contract that Recchi signed
with Philly. And to top it off, complaining about the lack of
respect and willingness to walk out at the end of the season.
As we said in a previous issue, "Na na na na, na na na na, hey
hey hey, goodbye..."
* Cool - Trading for Vinny Damphousse, and then signing him to
a long-term contract before the free-agent deadline. This was
a clear sign to us long-suffering Sharks fans that the team
was willing to spend money on an impact player.
* Not Cool - Increased ticket prices after a playoff year. In
fact, it's almost as certain as life, death and taxes!!
* Cool - Brantt Myhres as enforcer, going after anybody who
went after the Sharks players. Especially entertaining during
the blowout games (when the Sharks were losing REAL BAD).
* Not Cool - Guys being paid a lot of money who didn't play a lot
(see Murray Craven, Stephane Matteau, Shawn Burr, and especially,
Gary Suter).
* Cool - Alex "K-yuk" Korolyuk. By far the most exciting player
on the Sharks (apologies to the Jeff Friesen fans), he brought
a rare combination of skill, flair, and guts to an otherwise
predictable defensive team.
* Not Cool - As much as the fans appreciate the hard work, the
team has way too many people fitting in the grinder category
(Craven, Matteau, Burr, Lowry, Stern, Skalde, Craig ...), and
coach Sutter's love for playing them.
* Cool - The development of the kids, especially Patrick Marleau,
Marco Sturm, Alex Korolyuk, and Andy Sutton.
* Not Cool - the AWOL of Andrei Zyuzin. Fortunately, everything
worked out in the end, but Andrei's future with the Sharks is
still very much up in the air.
* Cool - Owen Nolan leading like a true captain.
* Not Cool - The botched retirement of Bernie Nicholls. Sharks
management, hang your heads in shame.
* Cool - Billy Houlder's numerous game-winning goals.
* Not Cool - Sharkie getting stuck in mid-air prior to the
Red Wings game and holding up the start for 20 minutes.
* Cool - seeing soccer buds Bonnie and Michele at almost
every game.
* Not Cool - Those really pitiful fan contests at the Tank.
* Cool - Jeff Norton, D-man, top playoff point-getter.
* Not Cool - Not televising all Sharks games.
* Cool - Alex Korolyuk head-to-head with Paul Kariya.
* Not Cool - No More LCS Hockey.
Team MVP: And the winner is...
|
Steve Shields
by Meredith Martini
|
Team MVP goes to the goalie tandem of Mike Vernon and Steve
Shields. I also considered Alex Korolyuk, Jeff Friesen, Owen
Nolan, Billy Houlder, Mike Ricci, Marco Sturm and Marcus
Ragnarsson, but it really was an easy choice in the end. If
you suffered through watching as many games as I did, you'll
notice that the goalies kept the team in more than 70% of the
games that they either won, tied, or lost by a single goal.
Without them, there would be no playoff spot. Vernie played
solidly as usual, and Stevie Shields played spectacularly down
the stretch, as well as when Vernie had a day off. Congrats
to the dynamic duo.
Surprise of the Season:
Alex Korolyuk started the season down in Kentucky. He'd been
up and down the previous year, and nothing in training camp
suggested that he'd have a solid future in the NHL. Hard work
down in Kentucky, and a couple of injuries later, Alex was
recalled in December and made an impact that was pleasantly
surprising.
A combination of skill (not seen since Viktor Kozlov left),
grit (not seen since Igor Larionov left), and flair (not seen
since Sergei Makarov left) made him a fan favorite quickly.
And more importantly, it made Coach Sutter (himself not exactly
a big fan of European players) a true believer. Whether it
was setting up goals, passing, taking the hits in the corners,
or getting the opposition to take a penalty, Alex was an
impact player on whatever line he played on.
For those of you who don't remember, we call him K-yuk here
because my friend Michele said that his more popular nickname,
Korky, sounds wimpy, and that K-yuk sounds grittier. K-yuk
it is, for the surprise of the season.
Disappointments (Sigh.....):
* Losing Gary Suter. The power play struggled the entire year.
* Not giving more chances to Steve Guolla, Andrei Zyuzin, and
the other kids, and relying too much on the vets.
* Sixth highest payroll - Finished in 15th spot.
* The trap, and the lack of scoring in the NHL.
* Dean Lombardi still as Sharks GM.
Tee time (A.K.A. Off-Season) Changes:
The biggest news so far this off-season was indeed signing
Vinny Damphousse to a multi-year contract before he had the
option of becoming a free agent. Why would Vinny sign here?
He indicated the team's positive direction, the development
of the kids, the tight-knit group of players, and the good
atmosphere. He also neglected to mention the fact that the
press here isn't as rabid as in hockey meccas such as
Detroit, Philly, and especially Montreal, so this place is
like a walk in the park compared to Montreal.
Joe Murphy looks to be gone, and rumors had Ronnie Stern
re-signing with Calgary. Dave Lowry might retire, and chances
are that Steve Guolla and Shawn Burr may be elsewhere. Ron
Sutter may also look to retire. Jeff Norton may be too
expensive to keep, although the team wants him back.
As for the kids, look for Scott Hannan, Brad Stuart and some
of the Kentucky kids to have a shot at making the team next
year. Andrei Zyuzin's situation is also interesting, and it's
up to the team to figure out if he was getting bad advice from
a suspicious character or he's a head case. Of course, you'll
see more of Andy Sutton, Shawn Heins and possibly goalie
John Nabokov. Add that to the core kids (K-yuk, Marco Sturm
and Patrick Marleau) and you got one hell of a nucleus.
If Gary Suter recovers completely, Bryan Marchment returns to
play a full season, and Bob Rouse doesn't get overused, then
the Sharks defense will be even better. Sign Jeff Norton, and
the Sharks are in business.
Awards, awards and more awards:
The Brendan Ayala Award for the most consistent player all year
goes to Ronnie Stern. Ronnie played each game with the same
hustle and consistency and effort. Yes, he gave up the cheap
penalty here and there, but the man came to play every night.
And speaking of grinders...
Since the Sharks had grinders galore, we felt the need to have
an award just for the grinders. And so we present to you:
The Emily Ayala Award for the best grinder among the group goes
to Dave Lowry. Ronnie was more consistent, but Dave Lowry made
the most impact in his limited playing opportunities. Also, the
ultimate team player who chipped in with some offense. And
speaking of offense...
The Natalie Yeh Award for the offensive player of the year goes
to Jeff Friesen, who led the team in scoring despite the
limited offensive talent surrounding him. Plus his improvement
playing two-way hockey made coach Sutter play him in every possible
scenario down the stretch except playing defenseman. And speaking
of defense...
The Johnny Stuart Award for the defensive player of the year goes
to Billy Houlder. Billy played solid all year, and
surprisingly led the team in game-winning goals and points. Billy
was the best D-man all year, period. And speaking of the best...
The Morgan Stuart Award for the best player while I've been an
LCS Hockey correspondent goes to K-yuk. I've already
mentioned why in this article and in previous articles, and I'll
say it again, He da man!!!
Kudos Time...
Thanks to all of you who provided feedback about my articles.
I hope you enjoyed reading them as much as I enjoyed writing
about them. Special thanks go to Bonnie and Michele for providing
some wonderful wacky insights. And special thanks too for Todd,
Arlen, and Lou for getting me interested in hockey in the first
place, and becoming a hockey fan.
In closing....
I'd like to thank Michael Dell, Jim Iovino and the rest of the
LCS Hockey staff for the opportunity to have been a member of
the LCS Hockey family. This was the first, and probably my last
foray into sports writing, and I've enjoyed every minute of it.
It's a pity that LCS won't continue, but as in life, nothing
stays the same, and when it's time to move on, it's time to
move on. Good luck to the LCS Staff in their future endeavors
and thanks again for the opportunity.
P.S. Go Sharks, Go Clash, Go Dweebs, Go Moovers, Go out and
change the world....
