Anaheim

Not much to say.

Shots were balanced, but that didn't reflect Anaheim's dominace in the
third period and overtime. The Sharks play the game, as if they were
made of fine china; meanwhile, Anaheim's big guys were routinely
pasting Sharks to the boards.

Oh, and if there's a shootout, let's just let the team and fans get
home sooner, and save time by forfeiting. Just awful on shootouts.
Maybe, it just highlights their lack of confidence in themselves
throughout.

The Sharks skate around a lot, but generate very little of what looks
like an organized offense, and they look desperate to fall back, the
second they give up the puck. And, as we see too often to mention,
they work hard to get the puck out of their own end (and, it took work
last night), then one guy skates in lonely fashion into or to the
opponent's blueline and give sup the puck, while the rest of his mates
are effecting line changes. If they gave out points for spiffy line
changes, the Sharks would, no doubt, lead the league.

I watch other games on NHL Center Ice, and it just emphasizes the
Sharks' lack of organization on rushes and intensity in the offensive
zone. This team just doesn't look like it's playing with any sense of
purpose or tactics, or even knows what it's doing, basically.

Something's gotta give, if any of this is going to change.

On Nov 10, 5:22 am, tack <thetac... RemoveThis @gmail.com> wrote:

> If they gave out points for spiffy line changes, the Sharks would, no doubt, lead the league.

LOL! Isn't that the truth! I can't believe how many times a Shark
enters the offensive zone with the puck, only to find no support, his
linemates back of him heading for the bench, so he dumps it in. So
yeah, maybe what they're really good at is, getting *off* the ice! ;-)

I'd love to see that guy, brining it up, get into the O"zone" - and
rather than turn it over, peel back, or skate through, while support
joins him, rather than just give it up. I think possession is 9/10ths
of the law - so to speak!

A few things stood out to me, and were echoed in today's Merc:

1. Rivet - says (again) the Sharks were better at it, but need to not
just get players around the net, but planted in front of the goalie,
to disrupt and screen. Duh!
2. RW, lauding JR for a truly hard played game (I was impressed
overall with his performance last night), but clearly stating that not
everyone was working hard.

Some possible ways to shake the team out of their sleepy ways?

1. Take the C from Patty, and no, don't give it to Joe, give it to
the guy with the guts to earn his buck, Grier. Bustin his butt all
the time. I like Mike - to me he symbolizes how to play. Patty and
wear the "A"...
2. Use your minor league teams (if your team is going to play like
them anyway). Bring up some of the kids who are hungry, and send the
slackers down for a stint where they'll learn to have fire in their
bellies. The rooks want to play in the bigs. The slackers could do
well to find out what that's like, again. Just a couple weeks might
do, instead of just "healthy scratching" them for four or five games.

Another 2 goal or less performance is not getting it done. Being in
the bottom quarter of the league in scoring, well, look at the stats
in today's paper. In every category, one team forecast to be a legit
cup contender, seems AWOL. Guess who? They ain't getting it done.

The best that I can make out of it all right now is, other than a few
hot teams (is Detroit ever going to cool off?), almost nobody else is
getting it done either.

Hey... how about Teemu and Scotty practicing privately down in LA?
What a plan, the Roger Clemens plan.... don't come back until late
season, save your old body, then give the team a couple fresh all
stars to get 'em over the hump going into the playoffs. Nice, eh?

Tonight should be interesting. Phoenix is playing very well right
now.... and the Sharks are below 500....

On a separate note... historically, the Sharks are slow starters,
aren't they? How many years now have they come out of the gate with a
roaring thud? ;-)