SHARKSPAGE

Hockey Notes – July 21st

– Worcester Sharks intern Bobby DeMarco posted a 2009-10 player rewind video for goaltender Alex Stalock. Three Stalock stats courtesy of DeMarco — 3534 minutes played (2nd in AHL), 1522 saves (4th in AHL), 39 wins (1st in AHL, most ever by rookie). DeMarco also compares Stalock to NHL veteran (and former Worcester goaltender) Dwayne Roloson: “Roloson’s 2000-2001 campaign in Worcester: 32-15-5, 2.17 GAA, .929SV%,
Stalock’s 2009-2010 Shark rookie campaign: 39-19-2, 2.63 GAA, .908 SV%”. He notes that Roloson had NHL and AHL stints prior to his season with the Worcester Icecats.

– No news on the status of the San Jose Sharks and unrestriced free agents Devin Setoguchi, Derek Joslin, or Steven Zalewski. Setoguchi’s agent, Paul Krepelka of the Orr Hockey Group, declined to discuss ongoing negotiations. “We are hopeful that we will be able to work something out with the San Jose Sharks,” Krepelka said.

– Full list of player arbitration dates via the NHLPA. From the Pacific Division: Brad Richardson LA 7-23, Fabian Brunnstrom Dallas 7-23, James Wisniewski Anaheim 8-03.

– Ominous article by the Denver Post’s Adrian Dater as he turns his inscrutable speculation towards a possible 2012-13 NHL labor impasse, Donald Fehr taking more of a leadership role with the NHLPA, player escrow, and how much of an impact the NHL’s next television broadcast contract with have on the league (HUUUUUGE): Is it too soon to worry about another NHL lockout? If Comcast’s acquisition of NBC is approved, an NBC/Versus/CSN bid becomes all the more important. Not just for the dollars involved, but for the prominence the NHL may receive on a Comcast-partnered channel. Dater speculates the NHL received as much as $135M from Versus and NBC television contracts this year (NBC’s deal included no up front rights fee), and that Gary Bettman may be asking for $250M up front for the next contract negotiation to broadcast the 2011-12 season. “$250 million a year would allow the league to sustain its weaker revenue, smaller-market teams for the foreseeable future,” Dater said.

– There were reports earlier this month that the Sharks expressed interest in hard nosed Philadelphia Flyer grinder Arron Asham. After word surfaced that the Flyers were no longer an option, apparently the Vancouver Canucks, Phoenix Coyotes, San Jose Sharks, Florida Panthers and Los Angeles Kings contacted him according to blogger and former NYI media relations VP Chris Botta. Asham is a 20 point, 100PIM player in his prime. If he was looking for a contract similar to the one the Flyers gave Jody Shelley (3 years, $1.1M), then he may have priced himself out of the pervue of the back-to-back Western Conference champs. The latest report via CSNPhilly.com is that the Flyers have re-opened talks with Asham. After speaking with his agent, CSN Philly belives he will sign with the Flyers by the end of the week.

– Modano wants to be sure he is ready to dedicate himself to another season – Mike Heika Dallas Morning News Stars blog.

“I don’t want to do this thing halfway, I really want to be committed to it, so I need to take this time and see exactly how I feel,” he said. “I’m enjoying the off-season stuff, but there is a certain feeling to skating, to waking up in the morning and going to your job. I need to know how I feel when I get into that routine, whether I think I can do it for a whole year or not. That’s what this is all about.”

Modano said there still are times when he has doubt, and he needs to make sure that’s not there. Modano said he and representatives from Octagon Sports have had conversations with management from Minnesota and San Jose, but that they have not set up any visits or meetings with the Wild or Sharks.

Modano has straight up torched the San Jose Sharks over the years, but it is worth remembering when he became the alltime American-born scoring leader he received a standing ovation from the fans at HP Pavilion in San Jose. Then they went back to booing themselves hoarse. Modano would be a solid addition to a Sharks third line and/or second power play unit, but unless a player was moved out or he took a Malhotra-type deal, he would be difficult to fit in the salary structure moving forward. He said he would make his decision after he starts skating on August 5th.

– Interesting anecdote on occasional local radio host Ted Robinson and John McEnroe from former Globe and Mail reporter William Houston:

We sometimes get the impression that the U.S. sports media has no real interest in the NHL — that the sport’s appeal is limited to a very small group of hard core fans.

But consider this story: During the French Open, NBC’s tennis announcer Ted Robinson did some promos for network’s coverage of Stanley Cup final. During the men’s final telecast two weeks ago, Robinson suggested on the air to John McEnroe they visit a Canadian bar he knew in Paris to watch Philadelphia-Chicago Game 5 that night. It started at 2 a.m. local time. It turned out 20 technicians, production staff and on air people showed up at The Great Canadian Pub at Quai des Grands Augustins. They watched the game until it was over at 5 a.m. and then headed to the airport to catch their Monday morning flight home.

– More San Jose Sharks related notes: Prior to opening the 2010-11 NHL regular season with a pair of games against the Columbus Blue Jackets in Stockholm, Sweden, the Sharks announced last week that they will face the Deutscher Eishockey Liga’s (DEL) Adler Mannheim franchise for an exhibtion October 2nd at SAP Arena in Germany. Other NHL Compuware Challenge exhibition games will feature the Carolina Hurricanes vs. Evgeni Nabokov and Ska St. Petersburg, the Phoenix Coyotes vs. Dinamo Riga in Latvia (Arturs Irbe’s former team), and possibly another NHL exhibition in Belfast, Ireland (birthplace of former Sharks captain Owen Nolan). “We’re excited to be a part of the Premier program and to build the NHL brand around Europe… Visiting Mannheim lets us put the NHL footprint in yet another region.” San Jose Sharks President and CEO Greg Jamison said of the exhibtion meeting. The Sharks are already the home to more German drafted and developed players than any other team in the NHL. San Jose drafted Marco Sturm (Dingolfing, Germany), Marcel Goc (Calw, Germany), Christian Ehrhoff (Moers, Germany), Dimitri Patzold (born in Kazakhstan, moved to Germany), Patrick Ehelechner (Rosenheim, Germany), Kai Hospelt (Koln, Germany), Thomas Greiss (Koln, Germany), Timo Pielmeier (Deggendorf, Germany), Dominik Bielke (Berlin, Germany) and 2010 6th round draft selection Konrad Abeltshauser (Bad Tolz, Germany).

The Sharks signed 6-foot-0, 190-pound AHL defenseman Sean Sullivan to a 2-way contract earlier this month. The Braintree, Mass. native registered 12 goals and 37 assists with the San Antonio Rampage last season, 7th best in the AHL. “They’ve pretty much led the league in call-ups the past few years,” the 26-year old Sullivan told the Patriot Ledger. “That definitely was a factor in signing with them.” The AHL allstar could definitley get a look from the Sharks staff in training camp, but if he is sent to Worcester he could fill the vacancy left by Eddie Shore Award winning defenseman Danny Groulx who signed with the KHL. The Sharks also re-signed Worcester’s leading goal scorer, left wing T.J. Trevelyan. Even after missing 7 weeks with a broken jaw, Sharkspage’s AHL correspondant Darryl Hunt gave Trevelyan a B when grading him for the 2009-10 season. “A pure goal scorer, Trevelyan is a threat to light the lamp every time he touches the puck,” Hunt said.

The Sharks prospect camp has been closed to the media and to the public, but there are reports on SJsharks.com. The latest details a few of the invitees who attended: Drew Daniels, Justin Daniels, Benn Ferriero, 2010 draft selection Cody Ferriero, Tony Lucia, Frazer McLaren, 2010 first round draft pick Charlie Coyle, Taylor Doherty, Scott Pavelski, Brandon Mashinter, Ben Paulides and Tommy Wingels among others.

[Update] Paulides skates with Sharks prospects – Vindy.com.

Forty-eight hours after the most grueling workout of his 18 years, Youngstown Phantoms defenseman Ben Paulides said participating in the San Jose Sharks’ development camp was one of the best experiences of his hockey career.

“Yesterday, everything felt pretty bad, everything was super sore,” said Paulides of the camp’s final day which featured a workout at Moffett Field, a nearby military base in Santa Clara, Calif.

The Sharks prospects apparently worked out on the final day with paratroopers at Moffet Field in Mountain View. There is an excellent paved trail that passes alongside the Moffet airbase and curves around the bay marshlands. With a regular 15-20 mph head wind, it makes for great resistance training on blades or a mountain bike. Prior to the 1997 Allstar game in San Jose, the NHL held a party at the blimp hangar at Moffet Field.

[Update2] VIDEO: Raising California – Elite prospects in the Golden State – TheHockeyNews.com.

[Update3] Via the Atlanata Journal Constitution’s twitter feed, “spoke to Slava Kozlov. He’s still hoping to find NHL team. If none, still intends to play in Russia.” If it comes down to a choice between Modano and Kozlov, it is hard not to pull the trigger on Slava Kozlov. He is six months older than me, so he is ancient, but he is younger than Modano, he is a quiet leader on the ice, and he has consistently put up bigger numbers since the lockout on a weaker Thrashers team (Kozlov 104G/190A, Modano 99G/154A). Kozlov is versatile and skilled enough to fit on any of the Sharks top three lines.