It’s
long past time for an update on the San Jose Sharks, and wow are the guys
kicking some ice hockey butt this season! What is amazing about the team’s
success this year is how it has been done with many key players on the injured
reserve list. Thankfully, the Olympic break allowed hurts to heal.
The Gold-medal
winning Canadian team included Patrick Marleau and Marc-Eduoard Vlasic, who
both returned with a boosted enthusiasm while Antti Niemi was a member of the
bronze medal winning team Finland. Team USA didn’t win a medal, but Joe
Pavelski gave a good performance.
Once
the guys suited back up in the teal, they were joined by Raffi Torres, who had
been out since the pre-season with an injury. Logan Couture also rejoined the
roster after having surgery on his hand. The immediate impact of Raffi’s return
showed when three of his initial four shots resulted in goals. Logan also began
earning points with goals.
Prior
to the Olympic break, the Sharks had been winning games, utilizing Taylor Doherty,
John McCarthy, Matt Tennyson, Eriah Hayes, and Freddie Hamilton from Worcester.
The minor league players each had the opportunity to get ice time, helping to
keep the Sharks numbers up in the standings.
At
the end of play, Friday, March 14th, San Jose was tied with the Anaheim
Ducks with 95 points. This has the team in third place in the Western conference
(Anaheim takes second as they have earned the points based upon one less game
played). St. Louis has 97 points. Overall, in the League, the standings are the
same, St. Louis, Anaheim, and San Jose as 1, 2, and 3. The top ten follow with Boston
(93P), Pittsburgh (92P), Colorado (91P), Chicago (90P), Los Angeles (82P),
Toronto (80P), and Minnesota (79P).
Obviously, the points can and will change
between now and the end of the season. Any of these top ten are good teams and
have ‘slumps’ in wins. Will each of these teams maintain their slots? It’s doubtful.
Too many others are banging on the front door.
The
exciting part about the season is how San Jose has managed to quietly maintain
its place in the top ten standings for the majority of the season to date
(stats from the official NHL website). The only concern so far is the power
play, which has struggled to convert opportunities at 22%, for 16th
place. Out of 68 games played, San Jose has only lost 17 games and had 7
overtime losses. Their combined regular and overtime wins is 34, which set them
in 6th place overall for stats. They have a 2.98 goals per game,
putting them in the seventh spot in the League and compare that to the goals
against per game of 2.35 which is good enough for the 4th spot
overall. The Sharks 5-on-5 goals for & against ratio is 1.24 per game for
sixth place overall. Being short-handed on the penalty kill is an important part
of defense and San Jose does this well a penalty kill percentage if 84.4, which
has them taking the 7th spot in the League. When it comes to putting
the puck to the net, no one beats the Sharks: they are number one with an average
of 34.8 shots per game and they don’t allow opponents to get to their net,
either at an average of 27.8 shots, San Jose is fifth in least amount of shots
allowed per game. When they out-shoot their opponent, the Sharks win 0.696% of
their games, for first place. Finally, San Jose is very good in the face-off
department, sitting in the third place with a winning 52.9%.
In
the past, we (Sharks fans) know how the team does during the regular, and we
have seen our team get knocked out during the post-season. This year is
different. This team is a grinding, gritty, in-your-face bunch of guys. Winning
the Cup is not just about winning 98 ice hockey games. To hoist the silver cup,
one has to dig deep within oneself, find that fortitude & determination,
and decide that nothing will stand in your way. It’s not an easy road. The
Sharks have the Cup in their sights. The mainstream media have ignored them.
That’s
okay. When Jumbo lifts the Grail, those reporters won’t ignore San Jose then.
To end this, here are the latest stats from the San Jose Sharks website:
Forwards
& Defensemen
8
|
C
|
68
|
34
|
32
|
66
|
22
|
28
|
11
|
1
|
3
|
179
|
19.0
|
|
19
|
C
|
68
|
10
|
55
|
65
|
19
|
16
|
2
|
0
|
3
|
95
|
10.5
|
|
12
|
L
|
68
|
28
|
32
|
60
|
5
|
18
|
8
|
2
|
2
|
240
|
11.7
|
|
39
|
C
|
52
|
18
|
26
|
44
|
17
|
14
|
3
|
1
|
3
|
188
|
9.6
|
|
57
|
C
|
63
|
15
|
21
|
36
|
11
|
35
|
0
|
2
|
7
|
135
|
11.1
|
|
88
|
R
|
55
|
18
|
17
|
35
|
26
|
24
|
1
|
0
|
2
|
194
|
9.3
|
|
5
|
D
|
62
|
4
|
27
|
31
|
16
|
24
|
1
|
0
|
0
|
94
|
4.3
|
|
22
|
D
|
61
|
8
|
19
|
27
|
-3
|
24
|
6
|
0
|
1
|
122
|
6.6
|
|
48
|
C
|
35
|
15
|
10
|
25
|
11
|
2
|
3
|
0
|
3
|
94
|
16.0
|
|
44
|
D
|
68
|
5
|
18
|
23
|
30
|
34
|
0
|
1
|
0
|
117
|
4.3
|
|
83
|
L
|
54
|
10
|
11
|
21
|
3
|
12
|
1
|
0
|
2
|
101
|
9.9
|
|
52
|
D
|
51
|
2
|
16
|
18
|
0
|
33
|
1
|
0
|
0
|
122
|
1.6
|
|
81
|
R
|
55
|
4
|
12
|
16
|
-4
|
30
|
0
|
0
|
1
|
125
|
3.2
|
|
61
|
D
|
68
|
4
|
12
|
16
|
15
|
20
|
1
|
0
|
1
|
102
|
3.9
|
|
10
|
C
|
67
|
2
|
13
|
15
|
-4
|
84
|
0
|
0
|
1
|
80
|
2.5
|
|
15
|
L
|
53
|
2
|
13
|
15
|
3
|
31
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
59
|
3.4
|
|
9
|
R
|
35
|
7
|
7
|
14
|
7
|
8
|
0
|
0
|
1
|
53
|
13.2
|
|
27
|
D
|
47
|
3
|
9
|
12
|
6
|
51
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
44
|
6.8
|
|
7
|
D
|
51
|
3
|
6
|
9
|
6
|
29
|
0
|
0
|
3
|
55
|
5.5
|
|
13
|
L
|
5
|
3
|
2
|
5
|
4
|
7
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
9
|
33.3
|
|
18
|
R
|
39
|
2
|
3
|
5
|
-10
|
64
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
37
|
5.4
|
|
38
|
L
|
22
|
3
|
1
|
4
|
1
|
6
|
1
|
0
|
0
|
35
|
8.6
|
|
43
|
C
|
36
|
1
|
1
|
2
|
-11
|
4
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
49
|
2.0
|
|
42
|
R
|
6
|
1
|
0
|
1
|
1
|
22
|
0
|
0
|
1
|
3
|
33.3
|
|
76
|
R
|
15
|
1
|
0
|
1
|
-2
|
2
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
17
|
5.9
|
|
37
|
R
|
9
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
-2
|
4
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
6
|
0.0
|
|
75
|
C
|
11
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
-5
|
2
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
13
|
0.0
|
GOALIES
31
|
53
|
53
|
3109
|
2.37
|
33
|
13
|
6
|
3
|
1405
|
123
|
.912
|
0
|
2
|
0
|
|
32
|
20
|
15
|
1038
|
1.91
|
11
|
4
|
1
|
2
|
479
|
33
|
.931
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
Go
Sharks and say safe out there!!
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