Finnish Parm?ESPN's John Buccigross interviews Teemu Selanne about San Jose's rough start, what it was like to play in Winnipeg, and about his relationship with coach Darryl Sutter.
Maple Leafs con queso5 points in 9 games and the proverbial merd in Toronto is starting to hit the fan. "Less talk more rock" Mats Sundin is struggling, the high priced veterans are not producing, and fans and amateur internet sportswriters alike are squinting angrily in coach/GM Pat Quinn's direction.
Maury Povich, Oprah Winfrey and Connie Chung combined do not rival the rabid speculation of Toronto sportswriters. Watch the Leafs closely over the next few weeks, a cornered Pat Quinn is a dangerous Pat Quinn.
The good, the bad, and the protective netting[Email from CF] Catherine Frazier sent us an online petition to remove saftey netting from NHL arenas. The petition wants the NHL to "implement an alternate solution to satisfy their safety needs", and currently has 370+ signatures.
[A] I have not had a chance to watch a game live through the netting. On television, certain angles with SJ in black alternate jerseys are very hard to watch.
After the death of Brittanie Cecil, the NHL will try everything possible to ensure the saftey of its fans. If the netting proves to be too much of an obstruction, raise the glass and require seats behind the goal to be 18 and over.
Building seniority on the blue lineThe handling of Brad Stuart's contract hold-out is interesting from a fan's perspective.
Instead of signing Stuart to a large contract, Sharks GM Dean Lombardi is trying to build a system of seniority for the blue line. The longer you play in teal, the greater the paycheck.
If the new collective bargaining agreement allows players to leave at a younger age, San Jose defenseman may want to remain in order to collect on what they have earned.
This plan may not work, but it might help retain core players after free agency and keep the team salary within reason.
Bad Moon RisingEarly Labor Pains, by Peter Keating for ESPNmag, is one of the most insightful columns addressing the NHL collective bargaining agreement I have read to date.
Although this article breaks quite a bit of information, I have one longstanding problem with NHL teams citing rising salary costs. Do not blame rising salaries for labor issues, ticket increases, or league competitiveness unless you are prepared to fully disclose your team's financial information.
After the Enron, Worldcom, and Adelphia [Buffalo Sabres] scandals, it is hard for fans and investors alike to trust corporations with honest financial numbers.
Blogs, blogs, and more blogsThanks to Sportsfilter, 3 new hockey related blogs popped up on the Sharkspage radar:
Hockey Pundits, Puckhog, and Sportsnet.ca's Hockey Hearsay.
Hockey Hearsay needs a link or two before I consider it a blog.
Jonathan CheechooThe most notable addition the Sharks made this offseason has been 6,0 ,200 pound winger Jonathan Cheechoo [cache]. In 2 games with San Jose, Jonathan is
-1, with 4 shots on goal.
The scouting report on Cheechoo raves about his puck handling, but states that more work on skating is needed.
Playing on the 4th line with Matt Bradley and Mark Smith will give Cheechoo the opportunity to prove his talent at the NHL level.
Sharkspage is alive
Finally we are back online. After uploading a Microsoft patch to the server, the server crashed completely.
Look for daily updates on the blog, and lots of stuff being added on the secondary pages this week. Thanks for your patience.
Note to self: schedule your server crashes for the offseason.