GDT - San Jose at Phoenix - Jan 17, 1:00PM

[Cbrower91]

Man Couture was happy for Thornton

 

[caliraftdude]

Nice finish by Jumbo.. I know he's struggling a bit, but I like the hard fore-check and the finish to the empty net.

 

[Cbrower91]

now that is a sad stat, most saves in a win this season for Neimi lol

 

[SharkFan0720]

Nice finish by Jumbo.. I know he's struggling a bit, but I like the hard fore-check and the finish to the empty net.

Struggling?? Hes been the only consistent Shark lately.

 

[KillerVee]

Yay two in a row!

 

[caliraftdude]

Struggling?? Hes been the only consistent Shark lately.

lol... no argument there, but lets consider who we have been contrasting him with..

 

[SharkFan0720]

Niemi was fantastic, really didnt see that coming after the start of the game. Trying to be optimistic, but the D-men on this team just wont cut it. Huskins, Im going to say it, is the worst defenseman right now in the league. I dont have words for how bad he is. Maybe the worst is an exaggeration, but boy hes bad. Wallin is Wallin. I am very disappointed with demers lately, looking lazy and making pee wee league mistakes.

 

[shrksfn9192]

It's a MLK Day miracle! Can put the defibrillator away now.

 

[Cmon_WTF]

Struggling?? Hes been the only consistent Shark lately.

If by lately you mean the last two games then, yes, I would agree. Before that, not so much.

 

[SharkFan0720]

lol... no argument there, but lets consider who we have been contrasting him with..

I mean you are right, the whole team has been playing bad, but hes been playing the best out of shit. If that makes any sense.

 

[SharkFan0720]

If by lately you mean the last two games then, yes, I would agree. Before that, not so much.

Lol, in Jumbo Land that is a hot streak. So yes, the last two games.

 

[rares]

Congrats Patty on game #1000 and good game by most Sharks... unless your name is Wallin, Huskins, Vlasic or Setoguchi... those sucked out loud.

And why does Vlasic insist on "shooting" the puck right to the goalie all the time? He's got to have the slowest shot of any NHL defenseman out there, right?

Anyway, a win's a win...

 

[Cmon_WTF]

I sure hope Dougie fells like he got his moneys worth out of Wallins nine minutes of ice time...

 

[caliraftdude]

I mean you are right, the whole team has been playing bad, but hes been playing the best out of shit. If that makes any sense.

I hear you - Patty gets my vote for "most underachieving player that we pay too much for" followed by Heater. Jumbo is just not a 'drive to the net' type of guy and he wont ever be, no matter how many times EsPo tells him he should - and I am fine with that... but at least I see some effort out there...

Patty/Heater... We could buy a lot of less talented guys that are hungry for $14 mi/yr and do better... and let Jumbo feed the puck to them. Hell, Jumbo manged to help Cheech to a scoring title right?

 

[caliraftdude]

On a positive note - it is a win, and two in a row... which after the last stretch is welcome. The trip to VAN should be telling... lets hope they can keep things rolling here.

 

[shrksfn9192]

With the first game finished in a stretch of 13 out of 17 on the road, they need to take an "us against the world attitude" starting in Vancouver on Thursday.

 

[Cbrower91]

I hear you - Patty gets my vote for "most underachieving player that we pay too much for" followed by Heater. Jumbo is just not a 'drive to the net' type of guy and he wont ever be, no matter how many times EsPo tells him he should - and I am fine with that... but at least I see some effort out there...

Patty/Heater... We could buy a lot of less talented guys that are hungry for $14 mi/yr and do better... and let Jumbo feed the puck to them. Hell, Jumbo manged to help Cheech to a scoring title right?

Patty isnt supposed to be the "best" player on the team. Especially when you comapre him to the other 2 slugs. So if you were going to go based solely on talent, then of the 3 Patty is giving your best bang for the buck.

Cheech had 28 goals prior to No Show Joes arrival with Ricci centering him. Now He has Heatley on his wing and Patty and his production has been declining every season since Cheech.

So who's the real problem? Thornton's game is a mess because he won't change his style of play from standing on the boards. Cheech took people to the net with him which in turn opened up thing's for No Show Joe, now that he has wingers who can actually move their feet, his standstill game is all but worthless.

 

[zambonidriver104]

Patty isnt supposed to be the "best" player on the team. Especially when you comapre him to the other 2 slugs. So if you were going to go based solely on talent, then of the 3 Patty is giving your best bang for the buck.

Cheech had 28 goals prior to No Show Joes arrival with Ricci centering him. Now He has Heatley on his wing and Patty and his production has been declining every season since Cheech.

So who's the real problem? Thornton's game is a mess because he won't change his style of play from standing on the boards. Cheech took people to the net with him which in turn opened up thing's for No Show Joe, now that he has wingers who can actually move their feet, his standstill game is all but worthless.

I agree with you to an extent about Cheech, but I think the bigger change has happened as D-coverage has continued to evolve since the lockout. So much more collapsing and shot blocking now than when Joe came to SJ... Which is a way of saying that yeah, a game like Cheechoo's might still compliment Joe's game better, but even Cheech playing at that same caliber wouldn't net 56 this year, probably more like 25-30 imo.

 

[LivinLegend22]

I agree with you to an extent about Cheech, but I think the bigger change has happened as D-coverage has continued to evolve since the lockout. So much more collapsing and shot blocking now than when Joe came to SJ... Which is a way of saying that yeah, a game like Cheechoo's might still compliment Joe's game better, but even Cheech playing at that same caliber wouldn't net 56 this year, probably more like 25-30 imo.

What troubles me about Joe this year is he has 12 assists at even strength. This is suppose to be a premier set up man and 1 even strength assist ever 3-4 games is not enough. Maybe I expect to much out of him after his back to back 90+ assists seasons and even though he dropped off a bit the last few years he has been averaging about one even strength assist every 2 games the last 3 seasons. Maybe guys aren't working hard enough off the puck and defenses have evolved, but as they evolve Joe needs to make adjustments to his own game.

Off topic but anyone else with me in wanting to see some more of Justin Braun? Good size, seems to me a decent skater and consistently gets his shot off and through with something on it. I know he comes with his defensively shortcomings but I thought he played pretty solid against Toronto and we know that Wallin and Huskins are gone after this year, I don't understand why he isn't slotted in as the 6th defensemen and second PP unit.

 

[SharkFan0720]

What troubles me about Joe this year is he has 12 assists at even strength. This is suppose to be a premier set up man and 1 even strength assist ever 3-4 games is not enough. Maybe I expect to much out of him after his back to back 90+ assists seasons and even though he dropped off a bit the last few years he has been averaging about one even strength assist every 2 games the last 3 seasons. Maybe guys aren't working hard enough off the puck and defenses have evolved, but as they evolve Joe needs to make adjustments to his own game.

Off topic but anyone else with me in wanting to see some more of Justin Braun? Good size, seems to me a decent skater and consistently gets his shot off and through with something on it. I know he comes with his defensively shortcomings but I thought he played pretty solid against Toronto and we know that Wallin and Huskins are gone after this year, I don't understand why he isn't slotted in as the 6th defensemen and second PP unit.

I totally agree with you. I dont understand why hes not out there. Nothing can be worse than Huskins and Wallin. I really like his ability to get the puck thru in the offensive zone, which is a huge boost on a team whose D men cant shoot the puck.