Lombardi on the Gauthier suspension
Here’s general manager Dean Lombardi on the suspension:
“We didn’t believe he deserved a penalty, let alone a suspension. When you stop the tape, his elbow is clearly down and at the point of contact, his feet are on the ice. They both ended up halfway up the boards, so it’s not a charge.
I understand when you see it at full speed and the way they end up on top of each other it looks more criminal than it is. When you slowed it down, was his elbow down? Yes. Were his feet on the ice at the point of impact? Yes.”
I have a lot of respect for Dean Lombardi, he did a lot of really good things with the Sharks, and he’s a great guy and I think he’s a good, solid GM.
But — you know? — sometimes he says things that make you stand back and remember that he’s a lawyer. This, here, is a lawyer speaking.
“Well, your honor, technically speaking, my client held the knife out and the deceased basically fell on it. you can’t blame my client for that”
Well, Dean, not exactly. But nice try on backing your guy. Sort of.
Chicago 4, San Jose 2. Ouch
Chicago nicely beat the Sharks last night. Good game for the Hawks, one of the teams that’s is always impressing me. The Sharks looked sluggish, but in reality, the Hawks outplayed them, I give more credit to Chicago than I take away from San Jose. I think the Sharks really missed Boyle’s ability to carry the puck last night, but the real issue was the Hawks aggressively pursuing the puck and aggressive breakout. the Sharks fought to deal with it all game.
Weird game; Hawks lost a goal to a double-minor high stick called by a linesman in the first. Since Linesmen can’t stop play for that, play continued until a whistle, that whistle happened to be after a goal. Confused the heck out of the Sharks broadcasters, but they finally sorted it out. The refs actually hauled Cheechoo back out of the locker room to examine the damage — they were lucky he didn’t have a needle and thread in his face being stitched.
So the refs got it right. Well, mostly. They were supposed to announce what was going on to the crowd and didn’t. It is also unclear if they adjusted the clock; Laurie and I watched the game from home (I caught her cold, we both kept our sniffles to ourselves) and Drew mentioned the clock at one point as not being fixed, but I don’t know whether or not they caught it. The clock definitely should have been returned to the time of infraction.
Amusingly enough, the Sharks announcered talked a lot about how they didn’t know the rules and and never seen something like this before. Kind of marvelled at the refs ability to know things to this level (well, that’s their JOB). I knew the rule (because I have no life and I spend it reading rulebooks, I guess) although I couldn’t have quoted number and page out of the book.
Then, later on NHL network Larry Murphy talked about this and did the “maybe the NHL needs to fix this” because of the play going on and then the goal being called back.
Um, Larry? the system worked. It’s a situation that pretty much everyone agrees is quite rare; I’ve probably seen it once before over the years, maybe twice (maybe). The refs got it right (except for the “explain it to the crowd” part). So what’s to fix? And why is the first reaction to anything that “something has to be done”?
Seriously — if it’s a situation that nobody can remember the last time it happened, a situation where the refs got it right, and the end result was appropriate, and nobody died, what’s to fix? And why the kneejerk reaction that it has to be?
I don’t get it. And in general, I think Murphy does a good job on NHL network, but this is a classic symptom of an attitude in the hockey media I think the media needs to step back and think hard about. Edge cases and weird things happen. When they do, if the system worked, it’s not a reason to change the system.
One more home game and on to the big sharks road trip.
Avs have another donut : All Things Avs Colorado
And, make no mistake, our fair-haired boys were the victims of a horrible call tonight by Don “Have another donut, you fat pig” Koharski.
Okay, how many years ago was this? And how many years has Koharski reffed since then? And yet Dater pulls this out and tosses it around like the cheap shot it was? Sorry, Adrian, you’re a better writer than this. You really want folks to remind you of something you did 20 years ago every time you get a name wrong in a column?
This is, frankly, pretty lame, and something I’d expect from someone like Al Strachan, not a real journalist.
San Jose Sharks – News: Nabokov Sets Shutout Mark – 01/30/2009
San Jose netminder Evgeni Nabokov shut out the Phoenix Coyotes 2-0 on Thursday night and in the process set a new Sharks regular season shutout record of 170:10. The streak began before the NHL’s All-Star break in the first period against Vancouver on January 20.
via San Jose Sharks – News: Nabokov Sets Shutout Mark – 01/30/2009.
It clearly wasn’t San Jose vs. Detroit — an enjoyable game, good energy, but definitely more trench warefare. I went to the game with a friend, and we talked about it on the way and I said that Phoenix was the kind of team who’s work ethic can give teams fits — and they did. The Sharks had the best of the play, but serious trouble penetrating for good scoring chances, and Bryzgalov was quite good.
Nabby, however, was better — he’s on a real roll right now, and hwne he does that, watch out. One aspect is that no matter what, there’s a Shark there grabbing and clearing rebounds, so Nabby can focus on taht first save and not have to think about being in position for a second. That allows Nabby to take more chances on the first — and it’s working. He’s had some just shutdown saves, ones that just leave the other team deflated and wondering.
It seems that the Sharks are a bit bored with merely winning everything at home and almost everything on the road. They seem to be gearing up the 2nd have planning to simply not allow anyone to score. Let’s see how far they can take it. Saturday should be fun!
One Shark I think deserves some recognition right now is Alexei Semenov. He was a marginal player last season, but worked his butt off in the offseason to improve his game. I’ve been told by folks in the locker room he put on 20 pounds and dropped his body fat — if you see him close up, it’s hard to dispute those numbers, even given everyone’s propensity in the league to lie about height, weight and how much they can bench press. He’s RIPPED. and what I find amazing is that he did that knowing he was slotted in as the 7th D and a part time player.
What he’s done is earn his way to a regular spot and significant minutes. And he’s still basically a depth player, so that kind of committment just isn’t noticed by most fans, but I’ve been watching him the last few games, and he’s really turned his game around. The early season decision by McLellan to show confidence in him and skate him at forward has done wonders. The coaches trust him, he believes in himself, and the team trusts him, too. He’s being more aggressive offensively, more physical defensively, and he’s been a non-trivial part of why, despite injuries to the defense, the Sharks haven’t missed a beat.
Derek Joslin, the new kid, is improving every game. He’s solid, and starting to show he’s feeling more comfortable.
And finally, the Claude Lemieux watch. He’s still playing limited minutes, he’s still doing nothing to suggest he SHOULDN’T be here on a fourth line, and that alone impresses me. I didn’t notice him much against Phoenix, but that’s not a criticsm. A lot of his job is to not be noticed, because when the fourht line is noticed, a lot of the time it’s because someone’s fishing the puck out of their own net. That’s not happening.
The Sharks seem to be getting back on a roll. If this was their slump, watch out.
Sharks 2, Vancouver 1 in overtime
And to think I could have stayed home and watched paint dry….
What can you say? Last game before the All-Star break, and a whole lotta “I don’t want to spend the break in a hot tub” broke out. Vancouver got a goal early on a really good shot on one of their few offensive chances in the first, and went into an 0-5 and tried to hold the lead for the rest of the game.
The Sharks played like they really didn’t care much one way or another. spent lots of time in the offensive zone, little time actually fighting for quality shots.
Yawn. The Sharks woke up late and decided to win it, Vancouver didn’t notice until it was too late, and then Henrik takes a stupid, lazy penalty in OT and that more or less hands the game to San Jose. Vancouver wins a point, San Jose gets two they really didn’t deserve, but neither did Vancouver.
In the “not sure what I expected” department: the arena all but gave Claude Lemieux a standing ovation just for coming over the boards and skating a shift. As I kept saying to people around me, “old guys rule”. I love the Sharks fans, they tend to get the game in ways not all fan bases do, and one thing I think they got here was just how hard Lemieux worked just to get to this point, and they recognized him for it. As do I. He looked in pretty damn good shape for at one point skating for the Vancouver Millionaires.
How’d he do? skated hard, hit bodies, drove to the net, took really, really short shifts, and got a few shots on net. Didn’t do anything that made me think he deserved a promotion off the fourth line, didn’t do anything to make me think he didn’t deserve to be there. Earned a second game in my book, and that’s good enough.
Hell, I noticed him on the ice more than I noticed Sundin. Honest. I mostly noticed Mats skating when he was gliding back to the bench ending a shift. He just didn’t do anything to make me see him taking shifts.
Hey, watching this game was great practice for watching the all-star game, right?
(yawn).
Pierre LeBrun on Claude Lemieux
Imagine Rob Blake’s surprise Monday when he walked into the dressing room in San Jose and saw none other than Claude Lemieux.
Blake had not yet heard his team had called up the veteran winger, so that’s how he found out.
“It was nice to run into him,” Blake told ESPN.com. “It makes J.R. and I a little younger on our team.”
Blake and Jeremy Roenick are both 39 years old, puppies compared to the 43-year-old Lemieux, who also happens to be two and half years older than Sharks coach Todd McLellan.
“But he looks in great shape,” Blake said of Lemieux.
Before we continue, crow must be eaten. We promised to run through the press box naked at the Stanley Cup finals if Claude Lemieux’s NHL comeback bid came to fruition. Ahem, media colleagues, you’ve been forewarned. Please make sure to have eaten dinner before we make good on our promise next June.
“That’s why we called him up,” Sharks GM Doug Wilson, joking of course, told us Monday.
We weren’t the only ones to make fun of this comeback bid. The laughter was universal around the hockey world. And Lemieux took notice.
I never thought this would happen. Fortunately, unlike Lebrun, I won’t be running around naked any time soon. Civilization is safe.
I’ve gotten a couple of emails asking me why the Sharks are doing this. I mean, look at the record; they don’t need the help.
Well, that’s not Doug wilson’s style. He won’t be satisfied ujntil this team wins the Cup. There’s always some experimentation on how to make the team better. They’ve been auditioning kids all season, and except for Kaspar (who played his way off the team), they’ve all done pretty well, but none have played themselves onto a permanent spot on the team yet. Good, not great. they don’t make the team better. They do give the Sharks some sense of comfort that if they need the depth due to injuries, they have it, but none of them bought a permenent spot in San Jose.
So, plan B: Lemieux. try him now. The major risk is it doesn’t work, and there’s little damage done anywhere. Nice try, even if it doesn’t work. If it does? the sharks are better. If it sort of works? the Sharks have showcased a piece they can maybe trade at the deadline. Lots of upsides here, maybe small ones, but unless Lemieux runs over joe thornton in practice and tears joe’s ACL, no real downside. Attitude issues? Hell, the Sharks could stand being a little less “nice”, and those same questions showed up with roenick early on, and see how that worked out. you can bet Wilson (and McLellan) aren’t worried about chemistry or locker room issues; those were discussed and resolved before we got that far (earth to Brett Hull: your season was avoidable, if you’d only talked ot your team and your coach, and listened to them. Wilson did, bet on it)
I’m intrigued. I hated Lemieux’s hit on Draper; I loved watching him win the Conn Smythe. he’s going to be fun to watch, even if it’s only two games and back to Worcester.
Hey, maybe we should do signs for the Vancouver game that say “Old guys rule!”
You didn’t think it’d be easy, did you?
okay, it’s official. THAT was a hell of a hockey game.
Mid January, rolling towards the all-star game break, just two teams looking forward to the break in a meaningless mid-season game.
well, not quite.
Sharks carried the game and momentum pretty well most of the game. Detroit fought hard, but really had trouble at times getting into the zone and setting up, and when they did, they rarely kept the pressure too long. Doesn’t matter, though, they proved quite capable of taking advantage of opportunities and could easily have won the game without domination. That kind of game.
It was a game in which secondary scorers (Errhoff, Cheechoo, Clowe). Errhoff and Semenov get solid notice for stepping up with Blake being out.
This was your classic heavyweight battle (“DOWN GOES FRAZIER! DOWN GOES FRAZIER”) and a true classic, both teams body punching each other for 60 minutes.
Statement game?
Not to me. Unless you want to make the statement that these are the two teams to beat if you want out of the west. It really felt like the first game of the Western final tonight. Neither team has beaten the other on the road; if one does, then maybe we can talk statement. But in reality, it’s going to be like this until one team or the other goes home for the summer, and I’d certainly bet that the other team will be the one sending it home. These are the teams to beat, and there won’t be a true statement made until it’s done in the playoffs. Two really, really good teams playing really good hockey. Eleven goals, and not a soft one in the bunch. Damn….
I like it! Especially after the Calgary game, which was also a hell of a hockey game, even though the Sharks lost. To me, one of the biggest reasons to chase the Presidents Cup this season (not something I’d normally worry about) is that if Calgary is the third seed, you don’t want to be the second seed.
Right now I’d call the West (1) San Jose, (1) Detroit, (3) Calgary, (4) Minnesota. Which means whoever comes out of the west has a hell of a challenge. And honestly, I’d rather face the Wild than the Flames, and I’m not dissing the Wild here.
Progress: Torrey Mitchell being sent to Worcester on a conditioning assignment | Working the Corners
Sharks are sending Torrey Mitchell to Worcester on a conditioning assignment. And, yes, that’s a good thing — it’s a sign that his leg is game ready and now it’s a question of making sure his fitness level is up to speed, too.
Mitchell has missed the entire season after breaking his leg on the second day of training camp. He’s been practicing with the team since Dec. 23 and this is the next phase of his return to the lineup in San Jose.
via Progress: Torrey Mitchell being sent to Worcester on a conditioning assignment | Working the Corners.
This is great news. It’s hard to forget, but the Sharks run has continued (with very few glitches) despite a series of injuries, including a couple of significant ones (Nabokov, for instance). And Mitchell, it’s easy to forget, was expected to be a key member of the third line, and the Sharks haven’t missed a step without him and his skating speed and hustle.
Nice that he’s getting closer to returning. It’ll just add to the depth of this team, like it needs more depth.
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