Game #76 Avs v.s no more 3 point game Sharks 7:30pm

[rares]

This sucks. There's nothing to bitch about when the Sharks win.

Is it too early to bitch about letting the Ducks walk all over them again tomorrow?

 

[SJVP408]

Handzus makes $2.5m with a NMC next season...and GO!

Why on earth would you give a 34 year old a two year contract and a NMC? Shouldn't the NMC allow Doug to offer less money? I know Handzus went from earning $4 a year to now $2.5, but it's because he knew he had no leverage for anything more.

What was the main objective of the off season? To get better team speed. Obviously, signing Handzus, who has never been fast to begin with, is the brilliant thing to do...stupid.

I know the other MO of the offseason was to improve the PK. Here were the other choices as 3rd line center:
Belanger
Goc
Fiddler
Even Jeff Halpern who is old, but was signed for 1 year at <$1.
None of whom got a NMC.

Now Doug has to think about what to do with Handzus. $2.5 could have landed a solid forward in the offseason. Say:
Ray Whitney
David Jones
Chris Kelly
Brodziak

I'm sure Handzus was one of those players Doug has always wanted for a long time. Like Blake, Wallin, etc. And no matter what that guy's age, Doug gets his guy even if it's 4 years too late.

//end bitching

 

[SJVP408]

Sharks scored 5 goals last night! Booyah!

 

[sjrules99]

haha... zues blows. Thankfully, it's only 1 more year and it wont hurt that much to buy him out. Dougie has really sucked this year, but since it appears, at this moment, that the sharks are likely to make the PO's, he'll get another year of reprieve to replace the steaming piles all over the roster with legitimate NHL talent.

I got to see 5 goals for the first time since the Tampa 7-2 routing at home! aaah, it felt so good...

 

[Cmon_WTF]

Why on earth would you give a 34 year old a two year contract and a NMC? Shouldn't the NMC allow Doug to offer less money? I know Handzus went from earning $4 a year to now $2.5, but it's because he knew he had no leverage for anything more.

What was the main objective of the off season? To get better team speed. Obviously, signing Handzus, who has never been fast to begin with, is the brilliant thing to do...stupid.

I know the other MO of the offseason was to improve the PK. Here were the other choices as 3rd line center:
Belanger
Goc
Fiddler
Even Jeff Halpern who is old, but was signed for 1 year at <$1.
None of whom got a NMC.

Now Doug has to think about what to do with Handzus. $2.5 could have landed a solid forward in the offseason. Say:
Ray Whitney
David Jones
Chris Kelly
Brodziak

I'm sure Handzus was one of those players Doug has always wanted for a long time. Like Blake, Wallin, etc. And no matter what that guy's age, Doug gets his guy even if it's 4 years too late.

//end bitching

Because the previous two years he was top 5 and then 10 ten in the league statisticly on the PK. He was very effective in a shutdown role at ES while being able to post 10-15 goals 30-35 points. He matched up well against other centers with size, like Getzlaf, something Pavelski, Couture, and Thornton really struggled with and continue to struggle with. Based on the previous two years Wilson thought he was adding a player who would help the PK, could be consistantly matched up and effective against big offensive centermen, and would provide some depth scoring.

I wonder how much the Russian plane crash really affected him. Having 12 friends die, one being your best friend of 20+ years, has got to take a major toll.

 

[rares]

I wonder how much the Russian plane crash really affected him. Having 12 friends die, one being your best friend of 20+ years, has got to take a major toll.

Yeah, definitely has to be a lot.

Also, in LA, he had a real goalie behind him on the PK (goalie is your best PK, right?)... here, in SJ, he has Niemi.

I don't know... I'm not anywhere close to being as unhappy with him as others here seem to be. He bangs his big body around and isn't that bad defensively and is around 50% on faceoffs (and is like the 4th in faceoffs taken last I checked, IIRC).

Also, he's "clutch" in the shootout garbage business and has won some games there...

 

[SJVP408]

Because the previous two years he was top 5 and then 10 ten in the league statisticly on the PK. He was very effective in a shutdown role at ES while being able to post 10-15 goals 30-35 points. He matched up well against other centers with size, like Getzlaf, something Pavelski, Couture, and Thornton really struggled with and continue to struggle with. Based on the previous two years Wilson thought he was adding a player who would help the PK, could be consistantly matched up and effective against big offensive centermen, and would provide some depth scoring.

I wonder how much the Russian plane crash really affected him. Having 12 friends die, one being your best friend of 20+ years, has got to take a major toll.

Yeah he's good on the PK, I acknowledged that. How many centers with size have given the Sharks trouble besides Getz? It's players with speed that have given the Sharks trouble the past two playoff seasons. Why was Doug trying to match up against Getz, when he should be getting faster to match up against Kesler, Toews, Mike Richards, NAS forwards, etc.

I admit I liked what Handzeus was supposed to bring to this team. I liked it when he signed. I thought two years was scary, but how many effective players would commit to a 1 year deal? Especially at that age when you want some stability. So I understand that, to Handzeus, it's two years or no deal. So Doug throws in the NMC, obviously that was a deal breaker for Handzeus otherwise why give it to him when he isn't exactly a star player?

Maybe it's just in my head, but I thought there was a theme to the offseason - get faster. There were other players that could have played a PK role, albiet not as effective, but would not have demanded as much of a financial commitment and added to team speed. Yes, yes, two years isn't an albatross of a contract, but unless Handzeus gets back to the Zeus of 2 years ago, that $2.5 is a burden moreso than a bargain.

I hope Zeus can get his mojo back because depth down the middle is a luxury few teams have and the Sharks have potential to have that luxury.

 

[SJVP408]

Good point about the Lokimotiv tragedy. Cannot discount that.

 

[Cmon_WTF]

Yeah he's good on the PK, I acknowledged that. How many centers with size have given the Sharks trouble besides Getz? It's players with speed that have given the Sharks trouble the past two playoff seasons. Why was Doug trying to match up against Getz, when he should be getting faster to match up against Kesler, Toews, Mike Richards, NAS forwards, etc.

I admit I liked what Handzeus was supposed to bring to this team. I liked it when he signed. I thought two years was scary, but how many effective players would commit to a 1 year deal? Especially at that age when you want some stability. So I understand that, to Handzeus, it's two years or no deal. So Doug throws in the NMC, obviously that was a deal breaker for Handzeus otherwise why give it to him when he isn't exactly a star player?

Maybe it's just in my head, but I thought there was a theme to the offseason - get faster. There were other players that could have played a PK role, albiet not as effective, but would not have demanded as much of a financial commitment and added to team speed. Yes, yes, two years isn't an albatross of a contract, but unless Handzeus gets back to the Zeus of 2 years ago, that $2.5 is a burden moreso than a bargain.

I hope Zeus can get his mojo back because depth down the middle is a luxury few teams have and the Sharks have potential to have that luxury.

...was good on the PK the previous two seasons. This season he has been quite poor in that regard.

The focus on skating, and speed, and forecheck ability has evolved over the course of this season. In the offseason it was still a team built around size, board play, and cycle ability. Handzus fit that latter profile perfectly.