Some leftover notes and quotes from the past couple of weeks, as the Sharks turn the calendar to 2015...
1 – If the Sharks have a sister team in the NHL, it’s probably the St. Louis Blues. The two clubs have established a pretty good rivalry over the years, and to quote Brent Burns after the Sharks’ 3-2 overtime win on Dec. 20, it’s a “man’s game.” In other words, it’s a heavy, physical match in which time and space difficult to create.
Blues head coach Ken Hitchcock spoke about the similarities between the teams before that game a week and a half ago.
“They’re a mirror image of us,” Hitchcock said of the Sharks. “They play the same way, they exit the same way, they enter the same way, they play the same way in the offensive zone. We’re about to play a mirror image of us.”
[RECAP: Sharks fight, finish Blues in OT]
Hitchcock even used a phrase often employed by Todd McLellan.
“They’re good when they play on their toes, and we’re really good when we play on our toes. Whoever gets that element of their game is probably going to end up winning.”
The Blues visit SAP Center on Saturday, and the Sharks are at Scottrade Center next Thursday to wrap up the three-game season series.
2 – Canucks head coach Willie Desjardins is very familiar with Sharks defenseman Brenden Dillon. Desjardins was a coach in the Dallas Stars organization from 2010 to 2014, which is where Dillon was playing before he was traded to the Sharks in November.
Desjardins gave his thoughts on the six-foot-three, 225-pound blueliner that has played exceptionally well since the trade.
“He’s a great young man. I’ve got to watch him and see him at junior, watching him a little bit before we signed him,” Desjardins said.
“He’s just such a quality person, besides being a really good player. When he first came into Dallas he was playing [big] minutes with [Stephane] Robidas there for a while. I just think he’s a good player. He plays the game hard, he plays it the right way, so it doesn’t surprise he that he’s been playing well here.”
One personal observation on Dillon – he’s almost always among the last players off of the ice in practice, and has to be one of the most physically in shape guys on the roster.
[RELATED: Dillon fitting in nicely on Sharks blue line]
3 – Speaking of that trade, the thought at the time was that Dillon for Jason Demers on Nov. 21 might help both clubs. That seems to be the case.
The Sharks have found a regular partner for Burns, providing them a much more steady second defense pairing after Burns and Mirco Mueller were making far too many mistakes together. San Jose is 10-4-2 since acquiring Dillon, who has four assists in 16 games.
Demers has two goals and five assists with Dallas in 16 games, and is averaging nearly two more minutes a night (20:07) than he was in San Jose. The improving Stars are 10-5-1 since the deal.
4 – Patrick Marleau is in a scoring slump with zero points in eight games, but Todd McLellan made it known after the 3-0 win in Anaheim on Wednesday that Marleau is still playing well despite not finding the score sheet.
“Patty Marleau was excellent. He’s frustrated because he’s not scoring, but he did so many good things on the ice surface today with his legs, with his body, faceoffs, you name it. So, we have to make sure we recognize that when he’s going through a bit of a scoring slump.”
5 – Sharks prospect Noah Rod is having a nice little World Junior Championship for Switzerland. In five games, including Switzerland’s 5-2 win over Germany on Friday, the winger has three goals and two assists for five points and a +5 rating.
Rod was drafted in the second round by the Sharks at the 2014 draft in Philadelphia (53rd overall). He hasn’t had nearly as much success for Geneve-Servette of the Swiss league, with one goal and three assists in 31 games, although the 18-year-old is in a league with several former NHL’ers and guys that are much older and more experienced.
Swiss teammate Mirco Mueller, by the way, has one assist, four penalty minutes and a -1 rating.
6 – Are any Sharks fans surprised that the New Jersey Devils are struggling, and recently had to fire head coach Peter DeBoer?
This is a team that is currently employing several Sharks castoffs, including Ryane Clowe (who may not even play again, but only had one goal and four points in 13 games before his latest concussion), Marty Havlat, who was bought out over the summer and was one of Doug Wilson’s worst acquisitions to date, and Scott Gomez, who never really fit in here in his one season in teal in 2013.
General manager Lou Lamoriello has received some criticism lately for his team’s roster, and rightly so.
7 – Dan Boyle isn’t having a great first season with the Rangers. In 19 games with New York, Boyle has two goals and three assists for five points and just 32 shots on goal.
“I think statistically it’s been absolutely horrific,” Boyle told NHL.com on Dec. 23. “I’ve never been in this kind of statistic funk. I don’t think I’ve been playing as bad as what my statistics may suggest.
“That being said, when you’re an offensive defenseman people are going to look at that and obviously that’s not where it needs to be.”
Boyle missed 17 games – including a meeting with the Sharks at Madison Square Garden on Oct. 19 – with a broken hand. Since that quote above, he has assists in three of his last four games, so perhaps he’s on the upswing for a Rangers team that has been among the hottest in the NHL lately.
The 38-year-old signed a two-year, $9 million contract with the Rangers in the offseason, and is scheduled to make what should be an emotional return to SAP Center in about a week on Jan. 10.
8 – Something the Sharks haven’t had in recent years is the luxury of AHL call-ups that can actually be counted on to produce. Last season, they were forced to play guys like John McCarthy (two points in 36 games) and Bracken Kearns (five points in 25 games) when they were shorthanded. Other younger recalls like Eriah Hayes (one point in 15 games) and Freddie Hamilton (scoreless in 11 games) showed that they weren’t yet ready for NHL action.
That’s not the case this year. Melker Karlsson has been a pleasant surprise, while Matt Tennyson seems to have locked down a spot on the third defense pair. Even a guy like Micheal Haley found a way to have an impact on Wednesday night in Anaheim, dropping the gloves with a much bigger opponent in Tim Jackman, and Logan Couture later credited Haley for energizing the bench in what was an important win for San Jose.
9 – If there’s one area of concern for the Sharks, it’s five-on-five scoring. Special teams have been outstanding, especially over the last several weeks, but the Sharks have a -3 overall rating when both teams are at full strength. That’s just 21st in the NHL, and the only team in playoff position that’s beneath them is Vancouver (22nd).
If the Sharks can improve on that number while maintaining their power play and penalty kill effectiveness, they’ll be difficult to stop over the next three and a half months – and beyond.
10 – Let’s hope the Sharks-Kings outdoor game was as good as the Capitals-Blackhawks game yesterday. I know that there’s a notion out there that these outdoor games are getting stale, but I don’t subscribe to that. The Winter Classic on Jan. 1 was awesome, and the best event I was ever lucky enough to cover was the Flyers-Bruins game at Fenway Park in 2010.
Also, I get a little tired of hearing things like “there should only be one outdoor game per season.” Typically, that’s the kind of line you hear from media in big markets, some of whom don’t seem to realize that there is, in fact, hockey west of the Mississippi River and some smaller market teams (like the Sharks) will never be in the running for a Winter Classic.
Fans that have supported their teams year in and year out deserve to see the spectacle that is a hockey game outdoors, and those types of games also grow fan bases. At least the NHL recognizes that, even if some others do not.
