The Sharks so far

[J0e Th0rnton]

Well. 13 games into the season, and some up's, downs.

Playing with two first lines and spreading time pretty evenly. 3rd line has more icetime as well. 4th line can juggle quite a bit depending on if John Scott is playing because they limit him to 5 minutes a game and it makes them ice their other forwards more and less balanced.

 

Joe Thornton: His usual self. Tilts the ice into the offensive zone and even on nights he does not show up on the scoresheet, gets praise from fans on opposing teams for how well he controls the game.

 

Joe Pavelski: Seems to be on the same level as he was last year. Him and Jumbo on a line.

 

Tomas Hertl: was playing on a line with those two, but was demoted last game. Seems snakebitten and is avoiding the front of the net where he scored most of his goals last season. of course, the day he was demoted, he went right into tose dirty areas and scored a goal!

 

Patrick Marleau: Speed and scoring, yes. But overall been disappointed with his game. Can be invisible and a pendulum.

 

Logan Couture: Started slow, but has done better. Problem is, with Nieto and Marleau on his line, he is often left in the dust because those two are the fastest on the team and he is the slowest forward in the top 6. Since moving Wingels to the line, it has helped.

 

Tommy Wingels: Earning that contract extention. Does it all. Leads the team in hits and goes into the dirty areas. Can play on any line and is good defensively.

 

Matt Nieto: His blazing speed works best with Marleau, but despite being moved down has been solid for the Sharks.

 

Rookies Chris Tierney and Barclay "Brocolli" Goodrow have both impressed me on the 3rd line. Not many points, but playing solid.

 

The bottom line revolves constantly. Burish, Brown, Scott, Desjardins, Sheppard, McGinn, Hayes. Desjardins is the only guy certain to stay as he is solid. Kennedy is on a conditioning stint in Worchester.

 

Ideally, my favorites on the 4th line have been Sheppard and Desjardins.

 

 

DEFENSE:

Vlasic: His usual brilliant defensive puck moving self.

Braun: Almost a copy of Vlasic, but on the right side. Why they are putting the two best defensive puck movers on the same pairing is beyond me though,

 

Burns: Has been a wrecking ball. He skates like the wind and still drives to the net like a power forward.

http://sports.yahoo.com/video/brent-burns-goal-semyon-varlamov-015416720.html

The man looked like a bowling ball there. His defense is not quite there with his offense, but clearly, moving him back was a good move.

 

Mueller: For a rookie, he is playing very very well. Defense first like Braun/Vlasic, but not as good obviously. But still miles better than the other two left D. Past his 10 game mark so its likely he stays.

 

Demers: Snakebitten, hesitant and just not as good as last year. Glad they gave him a bridge contract instead of a big extention like Braun's. How much of his production last season was a result of being Vlasic's partner and how much of his decline this season is a result of Irwin/Hannan? He has improved since the first few games, but is still......

 

Hannan: Ugh. He can still think and know where he needs to be, but his body won't get him there anymore. A Shame since he was once one of the best defensive Dmen. But with limited icetime on the bottom pair, he is okay.

 

Irwin: Ugh. Just ugh. The only thing NHL caliber with him is his shot. He can barely skate backwards and is incredibly easy to knock off balance. Positionally unsound. I'd be okay with him merely on the 2nd PP with limited ES time. if we did not have a logjam of bottom 6 forwards, i'd even say let him try out LW on the 4th line.

 

Niemi: Been solid. I still dislike him.

Stalock: been solid at times, then shaky.

[yave1964]

I gotta admit i have only watched parts of several Sharks games, other than the opener too late at night for me as you can tell by the fact that i am up and writing this in the morning at 5AM east coast time.

Anyway, Burns. Wow, it is almost as if you boys have 3 1/2 forwards, 1 1/2 d-men on the ice when he is out there. I saw him hustle behind the other teams net for a loose puck and throw it out front to I believe it was Marleau. I thought wow, when did they move him back to forward, but then i started counting and he was on defense.!

Yes, it is working quite well, almost as if he has something to prove. I thought his points would drop moving back exclusively to the blue line so i shied away a bit in fantasy hockey and missed out n him, to my regret. Nobody will ever confuse him with Bobby Orr moving down the ice but nearly a point a game and a plus player, what more could the Sharks have hoped for. I don't understand putting Mueller as his partner, that puts an awful lot of pressure on a rookie in the case of 2 on 1's coming back when he gets caught in deep but so far it is working quite nicely for you boys.

[J0e Th0rnton]

I gotta admit i have only watched parts of several Sharks games, other than the opener too late at night for me as you can tell by the fact that i am up and writing this in the morning at 5AM east coast time.

Anyway, Burns. Wow, it is almost as if you boys have 3 1/2 forwards, 1 1/2 d-men on the ice when he is out there. I saw him hustle behind the other teams net for a loose puck and throw it out front to I believe it was Marleau. I thought wow, when did they move him back to forward, but then i started counting and he was on defense.!

Yes, it is working quite well, almost as if he has something to prove. I thought his points would drop moving back exclusively to the blue line so i shied away a bit in fantasy hockey and missed out n him, to my regret. Nobody will ever confuse him with Bobby Orr moving down the ice but nearly a point a game and a plus player, what more could the Sharks have hoped for. I don't understand putting Mueller as his partner, that puts an awful lot of pressure on a rookie in the case of 2 on 1's coming back when he gets caught in deep but so far it is working quite nicely for you boys.

A lot of Sharks fans agree. It is weird since Vlasic and Braun are both great puck movers and terrific defensively, but not big on the offensive side of the game. Vlasic/Burns makes the most sense to me. Mueller/Braun since Braun was able to cover for a horrendous Stuart all year last year. Why not pair the rookie with another guy he can watch and emulate? Mueller is never going to emulate Burns, but his game seems tailored to emulate Braun/Vlasic's style. He can watch Vlasic(Both play on the left side) from the bench and Braun while on the ice with him.

 

Burns plays so unpredictably it is hard to cover for him. He has been converting to power forward mode from the blueline regularly and bullrushing the net, and it has been working. Controlled chaos. I suppose it comes naturally after a year doing it. They ice that pair with Thornton/Pavelski the most, while Vlasic/Braun get iced with Marleau/Couture