SHARKSPAGE

Anatomy of a blown call, Martin Havlat’s game deciding staged hook on Torrey Mitchell

ON SECOND PERIOD PK #17 MITCHELL PURSUES #24 HAVLAT - VERSUS

#24 MARTIN HAVLATT SQUEEZES #17'S STICK BEFORE HITTING BOARDS

#24 HAVLAT LIFTS STICK INTO AIR FAKING A HOOK, THEN FALLS

It was a coup when the goal-starved Wild were able to nab former Blackhawks team-MVP Martin Havlat in the summer of 2009. After signing the power forward to a lengthy 6-year contract, Havlat struggled in his Minnesota Wild debut scoring only 18 goals and 36 points in 73 games played. The seasons may have changed, but for #24 the goal scoring drought has continued in 2010-11. Through 11 games played in October and November, Havlat has not found the back of the net a single time.

Late last week Havlat’s agent Alan Walsh complained that Havlat was being used in a secondary role with the Wild. “Since (his signing), Marty has been used in a purely secondary role. Look at this season, he’s played four straight games at about 14 minutes of ice time, he’s used on the second power-play unit, he sits for long stretches, he’s not used in the shootouts,” Walsh told the Star Tribunes Michael Russo via email. “At a certain point in time, one has to ask, ‘Why is he here?’ One has to ask, ‘Why pay this guy $30 million to not play?'”

Since that disputed comment was made, Havlat registered 17:27 minutes of ice time against Washington, 21:26 minutes of ice time against Chicago, and 21:36 of ice time against the San Jose Sharks. With the man advantage, Havlat earned 3:28 and 3:34 of power play time against Washington and Chicago, before logging a ginormous 9:24 against San Jose. During that 3-game span he registered a lone assist and only 4 total shots on goal.

Tuesday night at the Xcel Energy Center in Saint Paul, Havlat contributed to the game deciding 5-on-3 penalty by staging a hooking call in the offensive zone. After Sharks rookie John McCarthy took a 4-minute high sticking penalty midway through the second period, Havlat was pursued by penalty killer Torrey Mitchell into the corner. Mitchell came in with his stick high, but Havlatt trapped the shaft between his arm and his body and clamped down. With his back to referees Brian Pochmara and Don Van Massenhoven, Havlat kept the stick under his arms as he crashed into the boards. The veteran then lifted Mitchell’s stick high into the air and “fell” backwards to ensure a call.

The hooking call came at 12:38, giving the Minnesota Wild and their second ranked power play at least a full two minute 5-on-3. After left wing Andrew Brunette rang a shot of the crossbar, Martin Havlat fired a subsequent pass across the crease which Brunette buried. It was the only goal of the game for the Minnesota Wild, and only their 7th goal overall in the last 6 games played.

Up 1-0 against the San Jose Sharks, the Wild went into prevent defense mode dropping 3 players deep instead of initiating an offensive attack or a transition through the neutral zone. Minnesota finished with only 16 shots on San Jose goaltender Antero Niittymaki, the fewest shots on goal the Sharks have faced in 128 regular season contests.

There is an unspoken motto in some professional sports circles, “If you aren’t cheating, you aren’t trying.” For the San Jose Sharks, it is difficult outside of a Dany Heatley or a Scott Nichol to think of a forward that would even attempt a similar play. It should be a critical potential playoff lesson. Doing what is neccessary to win sometimes means operating outside the NHL rulebook.

[Update] Allan Walsh Makes Things Wildly Awkward for Client Martin Havlat – Puck Update.

DOH Podcast #122: SF Giants World Series, chemistry vs performance, Sharks wins over New Jersey and Anaheim

[audio:http://dudesonhockey.com/podcast/doh_2010_1102.mp3]

Mike Peattie and Doug Santana discuss the recent San Francisco Giants World Series victory, whether chemistry or performance is more important for a Stanley Cup championship winning NHL team, recent San Jose wins over New Jersey and Anaheim, the play of captain Joe Thornton, compare the play of defenseman Niclas Wallin and Marc-Edouard Vlasic, and answer listener email on the 122nd episode of the Dudes on Hockey podcast.

This Sharks podcast is posted here with permission. Visit dudesonhockey.com for more coverage of the team or download the MP3 file directly here.

San Jose Sharks drop tight checking 1-0 game to Wild, Minnesota earns first regulation win against San Jose in 4 years

The Minnesota Wild overcame a major hurdle early in their surprising 2010-11 season. A tight checking and disciplined Wild team lead by former Sharks assistant coach Todd Richards earned a 1-0 win at the Xcel Energy Center, Minnesota’s first regulation win against San Jose in almost 4 years. During that span the opposition side registered a 13-0-2 record, with series shutouts in two of the last three seasons. The last time the Wild defeated the Sharks in regulation was November 7th, 2006.

“To me, they are an elite offensive team, the best that we have seen,” Todd Richards told reporters post-game. “To earn a shutout against these guys is hopefully a big boost for us, but we need to string some games together here.”

Tuesday night the Wild were opportunistic when they needed to be. In a contest featuring the top rated power play (SJ, 31.8%) and the second best power play (MIN, 30.2%), Minnesota right wing Andrew Brunette capitalized on a 5-on-3 sequence for the only goal of the game. Rookie John McCarthy got a stick high to the face of Chuck Kobasew drawing a 4-minute high sticking call halfway through the second period, but referees Brian Pochmara and Don Van Massenhoven blew a subsequent hooking call on Torrey Mitchell. Going into the corner for a puck, Havlat trapped Mitchell’s stick between his arm and his shoulder. With his back to the referees, Havlat raised it up and mimicked obstruction. The move garnered Minnesota a critical 2-man advantage. After clanging one shot off the crossbar, Andrew Brunette buried a subsequent cross ice pass from Martin Havlat for the deciding goal.

The visiting team could have been upset with the call, but mistakes are part of the game. San Jose immediately had to kill off another 5-on-3, this time for 1:17. Goaltender Antero Niittymaki came up big with 3 saves, defenseman Douglas Murray and Joe Pavelski combined for 3 blocked shots, and Patrick Marleau won a critical defensive zone face off to get back to a more manageable 5-on-4 penalty kill.

The Sharks dictated the pace of the game 5-on-5, and dominated for stretches in the neutral and offensive zones. After 40 minutes the Sharks outshot Minnesota 20-9. The Wild with veteran additions Matt Cullen and John Madden, and a resurgent Brent Burns on the blueline, constricted the open space in front of Finnish goaltender Niklas Backstrom. Versus studio analyst Brian Engblom noted that Minnesota was trying to funnel the Sharks to the perimeter in the offensive zone. Another studio analyst pointed out that San Jose was trying to generate offense north-south, without enough lateral movement in front of Backstrom. Instead of a traditional 3-2 or a 1-2-2 setup in front of Backstrom, at times the Wild dropped into a 2-3 system one writer called a “prevent defense“.

Minnesota Wild head coach Todd Richards said the tight play in front of Niklas Backstrom was by design. “Letting Niklas see the puck, doing a good job in front of him. Playing their man, letting him see it and hopefully he can control the first shot. But even if he doesn’t, and we are bodying up with their guy, he is out in front of the net and they shouldn’t get any second and third opportunities,” Richards said. “If we are doing our jobs out front, hopefully it makes his job easier. In the end, it makes everybody’s job easier.”

Getting shots on goal was a priority, but the Sharks big three of Marleau-Thornton-Heatley were held to only 3 total shots in the final 2 periods. After shutting down Alex Ovechkin and the Washington Capitals on Thursday, the Sharks top line faced a large serving of Brent Burns and Nick Shultz as the top Minnesota defensive pair. Clowe-Pavelski-Mitchell was the most effective line for San Jose in the third period, combining for 3 shots on goal during one cycle down low. Before the Sharks could generate sustained pressure, Devin Setoguchi took a flagrant holding call with a bear hug in the offensive zone. It was one of three penalties the Sharks would take in the 3rd, with defenseman Dan Boyle (tripping) and Jason Demers (interference) also called for minor infractions.

“In an 82-game season, you’re going to have five or seven games that you throw away because you’re just that bad,” San Jose Sharks head coach Todd McLellan told the media. “Tonight wasn’t one of those nights. I thought we played well, but Backstrom was better.”

The Sharks biggest test of Backstrom in the third period may have come off a low percentage Patrick Marleau shot that he took shorthanded just inside the blueline. Marleau transferred his weight, and snapped a hard shot on goal from 44 feet out. The knuckleball fluttered on net, and deflected under the arm of Backstrom. As the puck dropped to the ice, the Finnish netminder dove backwards to freeze the play. Backstrom would finish with a 36-save shutout, his first of the season. His Finnish countryman Antero Niittymaki finished with 15 saves on only 16 shots against. It was the fewest shots the Sharks have faced in 128 regular season contests dating back to January 20th, 2009. The Vancouver Canucks put only 14 shots on goal at HP Pavilion dropping a 2-1 OT loss.

Game Notes:

The national Versus broadcast from Minnesota was the second of eight times the Sharks will be featured on the network. After the season opening game against Columbus in Sweden, San Jose will also be featured on Dec. 6th at Detroit, Dec. 8th at Philadelphia, Feb. 1st Phoenix at SJ, Feb. 23rd at Pittsburgh, Mar. 14th at Chicago, and Apr. 4th LA at SJ. The full Versus television schedule is available here. Prior to the game Sharks right wing Devin Setoguchi was dropped to the third line, while center/wing Torrey Mitchell was promoted to the second line with Joe Pavelski and Ryane Clowe. Mitchell only has 1 goal and 2 assists in 10 games played this season. A hard backhand wraparound shot on goal and repeated hacks in the first period has been indicative of his play. Creating a scoring chance with the puck on his stick has not been a problem. Mitchell needs his stick on the ice and has to start firing shots away from the net to get some points on the board.

The NHL’s hit leader in 2009-10 (318) and 2008-09 (356) finished with 3 hits in 20:23 of ice time against San Jose. One hit intiated by Clutterbuck in the first came out to a net loss against 240-pound defenseman Douglas Murray, widely regarded as the heaviest hitter in the NHL, but another check by Clutterbuck in the second perios sent John McCarthy partially onto the bench. Torrey Mitchell lead the Sharks Tuesday night with 5 hits. Clutterbuck is tied with Los Angeles captain Dustin Brown for the NHL lead this season with 46.

A fake shot by Dany Heatley on a first period power play set up Joe Pavelski for a one-timer on the left side of the slot. Pavelski fired a shot inches wide of the post. “In the last 5-7 minutes, we are getting impatient, trying to force things,” Sharks head coach Todd McLellan told Versus early in the second period. “We need to get the puck on the net and try to get sticks on second and third opportunities.” Sharks captain Joe Thornton finished 15-19 from the faceoff circle, good for a 79% margin. Minnesota Wild captain Mikko Koivu finished with 1 assist. Koivu has recorded a point in his last 7 games, and 10 of 11 games overall this season. According to Yahoo.com, the Sharks were 8-0-1 at St. Paul prior to Tuesday night, last losing in regulation on Oct. 19, 2005. Goaltender Antero Niittymaki made his 3rd consecutive start. Sharks defenseman Mike Moore was reassigned to Worcester of the AHL on Tuesday. Left wing Frazer McLaren was a healthy scratch for San Jose, Clayton Stoner, Antti Miettinen and Guillaume Latendresse were scratches for Minnesota.

A photo gallery from the Minneapolis-St Paul Star Tribune is available here. This post was written listening to the Glitch Mob’s A Dream Within A Dream. You can download the MP3 for free here. Thanks for all of the birthday emails.

[Update] Missing practice, today’s NHLPA session, mopping up after that 1-0 loss — and one more baseball note – David Pollak’s Working the Corners blog.

[Update2] Wild 1, Backstrom 0 – Michael Russo at Russo’s Rants.

It was also the Wild’s first 1-0 home win in three years, the Wild’s first-ever home shutout over San Jose (19 meetings) and Backstrom’s first home shutout since the Jacques Lemaire era…

I will say this, if you’ve got to spend the entire night in the defensive end, you better be good there, and the Wild was good there and competed there. Yes, Backstrom had to make some outstanding saves, which he did, but the Wild let him see pucks and had outstanding back pressure from the forwards, which allowed the defensemen to step up and as coach Todd Richards said, “bodying up with their guys.”

Mashinter, WorSharks Pound Providence, 6-1

The Worcester Sharks got multiple point nights from four players and a steady performance from Carter Hutton in his first start for the WorSharks en route to a 6-1 win over the Providence Bruins Sunday afternoon at the Dunkin’ Donuts Center in Providence, Rhode Island in front of a crowd announced at 3,306.

The WorSharks were led by Brandon Mashinter’s first career four point game, notching a late third period goal to go with his three assists. He also did everything in his power to add a fight for the Gordie Howe hat trick but the officials had other ideas. He topped off the game by setting a personal best by going +3 . Tommy Wingles added two goals and an assist for Worcester, also going +3. Sean Sullivan had a goal and assist, and Dan DaSilva contributed three assists. Benn Ferriero had his seventh goal on the season late in the first period to open the scoring, and Andrew Desjardins had the eventual game winner 21 seconds into the middle stanza. Nick Petrecki’s second period assist extended his career high scoring streak to three games.

The WorSharks return to action next Friday night when the Albany Devils make the trek down the Massachusetts Turnpike to take on Worcester.

Sharkspage did not make the trip Sunday down route 146 to The Ocean State, so folks that are interested can read about the game on the Worcester Sharks and Providence Bruins official sites. Bill Ballou of the Worcester Telegram and Gazette is in his usual fine form with coverage of the game and his Sharks Notes column. It was apparently too tough a trip for the Providence Journal to send a reporter a half mile to the game, so their coverage is just a rehash of the P-Bruins official site.

GAME NOTES
The WorSharks went with the same line-up Sunday as Saturday, with Garet Hunt being a healthy scratch in favor of a seventh defenseman.

For the first time this season Worcester chased a goaltender from the game. Former WorSharks netminder Nolan Schaefer started the game for Providence, only to be lifted for Saturday afternoon’s starter Michael Hutchinson after surrendering three goals in 27:08 of play. Hutchinson didn’t fare much better, allowing three goals the remainder of the way.

The three stars of the game were
1. WOR – 17 Tommy Wingels (2g,a)
2. WOR – 23 Dan DaSilva (3a)
3. WOR – 53 Brandon Mashinter (g,3a)

Brandon Mashinter was also the AHL’s #1 star for Sunday.

The Sharkspage player of the game was Carter Hutton.

BOXSCORE
Worcester 1 3 2 – 6
Providence 0 1 0 – 1

1st Period-1, Worcester, Ferriero 7 (DaSilva, Mashinter), 17:48. Penalties-Colborne Pro (tripping), 4:22; Mashinter Wor (roughing), 10:03; MacDermid Pro (roughing), 10:03.

2nd Period-2, Worcester, Desjardins 2 (Braun, Henderson), 0:21. 3, Worcester, Wingels 2 (DaSilva, Petrecki), 7:08. 4, Worcester, Wingels 3 (Sullivan, Mashinter), 14:36. 5, Providence, Colborne 1 (MacDonald), 15:16. Penalties-Penner Pro (interference), 16:05.

3rd Period-6, Worcester, Sullivan 1 (DaSilva, Mashinter), 4:35 (PP). 7, Worcester, Mashinter 3 (Wingels), 19:41. Penalties-Riendeau Pro (high-sticking), 2:59; MacDonald Pro (high-sticking), 7:05; Petrecki Wor (cross-checking), 11:59; Marcou Wor (slashing), 19:51; Mashinter Wor (unsportsmanlike conduct), 19:51; Hamill Pro (roughing), 19:51; MacDermid Pro (unsportsmanlike conduct), 19:51.

Shots on Goal-Worcester 16-14-12-42. Providence 8-14-16-38.
Power Play Opportunities-Worcester 1/4; Providence 0/1.
Goalies-Worcester, Hutton 1-0-0 (38 shots-37 saves). Providence, Schaefer 1-3-1 (20 shots-17 saves); Hutchinson (22 shots-19 saves).
A-3,306
Referee-Geno Binda (22). Linesmen-Jack Millea (23), Bob Paquette (18).

San Jose Earthquakes frustrated by lack of offense in 1-0 loss to New York Red Bulls in first game of MLS Eastern Conference Semifinal playoff series

SAN JOSE EARTHQUAKES F #77 GEOVANNI 2ND HALF FREE KICK

NY M #4 RAFAEL MARQUEZ FINISHED WITH 3 FOULS, COULD HAVE HAD MORE

SAN JOSE M #12 RAMIRO CORRALES LINES UP FOR KICK IN 1ST

A sellout crowd of 10,525 soccer coaches tried to direct the Earthquakes from the stands in the opening leg of the home-at-home Eastern Conference MLS Semifinals on Saturday, but for the 13th time this season (0-7-6) a struggling San Jose offense was held off the scoresheet against the New York Red Bulls. In the last two months of play the Earthquakes have been held to one goal or less in 7 of 11 matches. MLS regular season scoring leader and Golden Boot winner Chris “Wondo” Wondolowski was held scoreless on only 2 shots, and midfielder Joel Lindpere scored off his left foot in the 55th minute to give the New York Red Bulls a 1-0 win.

San Jose goaltender Jon Busch came up with a pair of game altering saves within the first 10+ minutes. On a set play originating from the corner, former Gunn High School and Santa Clara College alumni Mehdi Ballouchy took a long feed and drilled a header straight into the body for the Red Bulls. As the Quakes defense pushed up to try to force the offsides, Mehdi got around Jason Hernandez to get a foot on the ball for a followup shot that bounced wide.

Mehdi Ballouchy initiated a second scoring chance minutes later after corralling a deflected centering attempt. Mehdi feathered a short pass in traffic to Estonian Joel Lindpere. Lindpere launched a heavy shot that was punched wide by Jon Busch. Busch also got help from his defense at the end of the first half. A high header was challenged on a 50/50 play in front of the Earthquakes net. As Busch moved to control the ball, defenseman Roy Miller ran into him and both fell down. Lindpere, alone with the ball 10 feet out, tried to sneak a quick shot in on the right side. A sprawled Jason Hernandez deflected the ball off the goal line for a desperation save. Hernandez failed to box out Miller on the initial play.

Jon Busch, a former MLS goalkeeper of the year in 2008, settled down the attack of the regular season Eastern Conference champs in the first half, a Red Bulls side that was minus French national Thierry Henry, rookie midfielder Tony Tchani, and Ghanaian forward Salou Ibrahim. New York still had a potent attack with the services of former Aston Villa regular Juan Pablo Ángel, midfielders Joel Lindpere and Dane Richards, and Mexican/Barcelona standout Rafael Marquez.

On the flip side of the Earthquakes offensive struggles has been a sparkling defense. San Jose has held opponents scoreless a record 13 times this season, The return of captain Ramiro Corrales on the left side made for a solid defensive quartet of Corrales, Jason Hernandez, Brandon McDonald and Tim Ward. Early saves by Busch and strong play by the defense allowed the midfield to create opportunities in the first half with speed down the wings. Midfielder Bobby Convey pressed hard on the left side, and put 1 of 2 shots on goal when he cut inside. San Jose’s Brazilian striker Geovanni struggled to put his attempts on goal. After New York’s Roy Miller misplayed the ball in his own end, Geovanni had time and space yet he drilled a shot several feet wide of the post. He finished the first half putting 3 of 4 shots wide.

Busch and the Quakes defense could not hold the Red Bulls off the scoresheet for the first 10 minutes of the second half, and it would decide the game. Brandon McDonald tried to clear a New York entry into the box, but he put the ball right on the feet of a dangerous Joel Lindpere. Lindpere hammered several quality shots on goal in the first, and he put the Red Bulls up 1-0 with a hard strike off his left foot early in the second half.

From that point on the Earthquakes had to ramp up the intensity and the offensive pressure, but it never quite clicked on all cylinders. Brazilian Eduardo was subbed in for Scott Sealy in the 62nd minute, and creative midfielder Arturo Alvarez was subbed in for Sam Cronin in the 69th minute, but it was not enough. Geovanni bent a shot on goal from long distance that could not be controlled by Red Bulls keeper Bouna Coundoul, but Bouna got his arms in the legs of Chris Wondolowski as he went for the loose ball. Wondolowski was called for Unsporting Behavior and given a yellow card after he went down on the play. The former Chico State alumni put his arms wide and looked like a plane coming in for a landing, which may have drawn the call for embellishment. A more natural collapse could have earned a penalty shot.

On a set play with less than 10 minutes left in the match, Wondolowski lined up a big left foot for a homerun strike on goal. 12 feet out, he topped the ball to his right and late sub Eduardo tried a bicycle kick that deflected off the post. Wondolowski lunged in with his left foot poking at the rebound, but he toed the ball 10-15 feet over the top of the goal. Eduardo showed brilliant body and foot coordination to hurtle to his left and get a foot on the ball, but he was walking away from the net in frustration before Wondolowski took his second shot on net. Earlier in the match, Eduardo was caught offsides on a rush upfield. Overall, he was not active enough getting to open areas.

“The result was not eeery, but I have to say I thought it was our worst performance all season even including Salt Lake,” San Jose Earthquakes head coach Frank Yallop told reporters after the game. “From the opening whistle we didn’t really seem to have any idea, and any sense of scrap in us. It was really disappointing” Yallop said. “It was a massive game for us, and we just laid down and died to be honest.”

If the Earthquakes are going to head into Red Bull Arena in New Jersey on Thursday and advance past the second leg of the ECSF, they are going to need more urgency and more diversity in their offensive attack from the start of the match. Head coach Frank Yallop can not lean soley on Chris Wondolowski or they are going to be dispatched from their first playoff appearance since returning to the MLS after only 1 round.

“It is a 2-game series. Obviously we would love to be up a goal or two goals headed back to New York, but you don’t want to take yourself out of the game. You go to New York down a couple and you are really against the wall,” Earthquakes goal keeper Jon Busch told thebaysoccer.com after the game. “Now we are down a goal, and we know what we have to do in New York.”

Video highlights from the game with Spanish commentary are available via sjearthquakes.com. Several post-game interviews are available via thebaysoccer.com on their youtube channel here.

Game Notes:

On Saturday night at Buckshaw Stadium in Santa Clara, NY outshot San Jose 13-12, with a 7-3 advantage in shots on goal. Earthquakes goalkeeper Jon Busch stopped 6 of 7 shots on goal, Red Bulls keeper Bouna Coundoul stopped all 3 shots he faced. A physical game down low, New York took 21 fouls to San Jose’s 12, with several borderline plays not called. Mehdi Ballouchy (47, dissent), Roy Miller (71, reckless tackle) and Bouna Coundoul (83, delay of restart) earned yellow cards for New York. Chris Wondolowski earned a yellow card for the Earthquakes (65, unsporting behavior). The second leg of the 2-game ECSF series will return to the 25,000-seat Red Bull Arena in Harrison, New Jersey on Thursday (5PM, ESPN).

Thierry Henry has not been ruled out for a return from a knee injury for the second NY-SJ match. The Red Bulls head into game 2 with a 5-game win streak at home, having won 7 of their last 8 overall. MLS regular season scoring leader Chris Wondolowski has scored the last 10 Earthquakes goals. Ryan Johnson, Geovanni, and Eduardo among others need to start finding the back of the net. Midfielder Bobby Convey was effective on the left side, Wondolowski was double teamed at times on the right. Adjustments may be the key to the series. Freeing up Wondo on the right side may be an all or nothing affair in game 2. In their third year since returning to the MLS in 2008, the Earthquakes are still playing at a 10,5000-capacity temporary facility on the campus of Santa Clara University. While the field and the bleachers have been upgraded, and the Quakes have a new 2.5-acre training facilty next to land it hopes to build a new stadium on, vocal fans in San Jose deserve credit for their strong support of the team in the interim.

The MLS Conference Semifinal is a home-at-home, aggregate goal format series. The team with the most total goals scored after 2 games will advance to the single-game Eastern Conference Finals. If teams are tied, there will be two 15-minute overtime periods followed by a kicks from the penalty mark. All four of the teams that qualified for the MLS wildcard were from the Western Conference (5th FC Dallas, 6th Seattle, 7th Colorado, 8th San Jose). The lower seeds San Jose and Colorado were matched up against the top two seeds in the Eastern Conference, New York and Columbus.

[Update] San Jose drops playoff opener 1-0 to New York – Centerlinesoccer.com.

[Update2] MLS PLAYOFFS: Seeing red in Frisco – Scott French for ESPN.com.

BEST PLAYER: Lindpere might not get the press that DPs Thierry Henry, Rafa Marquez and Juan Pablo Angel attract, but the Estonian midfielder clearly is the Red Bulls’ MVP this year — and he tormented the Earthquakes in New York’s win. He had the lone goal, a superbly placed shot from a tight angle past a diving Jon Busch and inside the right post from a poorly headed clearance, and would’ve had another had Jason Hernandez not been stationed on the goal line.

Petrecki, WorSharks Defeat Providence In Overtime, 2-1

The Worcester Sharks stumbled again late in the third period but bounced back to grab a 2-1 overtime victory against the Providence Bruins during a Saturday matinee at the DCU Center in Worcester, Massachusetts in front of 3,079 fans. The route 146 rivals finish their Halloween home-and-home series Sunday afternoon in Providence.

With Saturday’s early afternoon start coming less than 15 hours after one of the worst third period collapses in team history there were some questiosn as to how the squad would respond. They responded by playing their best defensive game of the season, holding the P-Bruins to just 16 shots and keeping their opponents to under three goals for the first time this season. WorSharks head coach Roy Sommer went with a line-up that included all seven of the team’s defenseman playing, and in doing so may have found the formula to cure Worcester’s defensive woes. Dressing only 17 forwards didn’t have much negative impact with Worcester outshooting Providence 43-16. The offense’s biggest problem was P-Bruins goaltender Michael Hutchinson, who stopped just about everything he saw and a few that he didn’t.

Despite outshooting Providence 9-2 over the opening 20 minutes fans were grumbling this had the makings to be ‘one of those nights’ where Worcester has a huge shot advantage but ended up on the wrong end of the score. Hutchinson made several key saves in the period, and was helped by a poorly played 59 seconds of two man advantage by the WorSharks. Benn Ferriero would calm the fans’ fears at 5:02 of the second period after a broken play bounced well for Worcester. With the WorSharks controlling the puck along the perimeter but not finding a good opening to the net, Jonathan Cheechoo fed Nick Schaus from the right wing side to the point. Schaus didn’t have an open passing lane, so the rookie defenseman took his best option by wristing the puck on net. P-Bruins winger Lane MacDermid blocked the shot but the puck bounced right to Ferriero, who backhanded it over Hutchinson for the 1-0 lead.

Worcester would carry that lead well into the third period despite some great chances to extended their advantage, but that one goal lead started to look pretty good as the WorSharks were heading on the power play when Wyatt Smith crosschecked Nick Petrecki into the P-Bruins net after an odd man rush at 15:50 of the third. Sommer used that moment to utilize his one time out to make sure his young squad understood the situation and didn’t take too many chances. Unfortunately, they took one chance too many and Providence got the shorthanded equalizer when Steven Kampfer fired a high wrist shot over Stalock’s right shoulder after a feed from Jeff LoVecchio. To add insult to injury, Hutchinson had the second assist on the play.

The WorSharks didn’t fold after that heartbreaking moment, and continued to pepper Hutchinson with quality scoring chances as time wound down on regulation. The overtime period was all Worcester as they outshot Providence 4-0, and their hard work paid off when Petrecki notched his first professional game winner. Standing in almost the exact spot as his Friday night tally Petrecki blasted a Cheechoo feed on net that Hutchinson saw the entire way but beat him cleanly as the puck broke down and away from him as it got to the net at 3:17. Petrecki has scored goals in consecutive games for the first time in his pro career, and the two game point streak matches his high from last season.

GAME NOTES
With WorSharks head coach Roy Sommer going with just 17 forwards Garet Hunt was the odd man out. Cam MacIntyre and Tony Lucia remain on the injured list. Carter Hutton, who is expected to get the start Sunday in Providence, was the backup netminder.

The game saw one fight, with Brandon Mashinter (6’4″ 222#) taking on Lane MacDermid (6’3″ 211#) at the halfboards to the left of P-Bruins goaltender Michael Hutchinson early in the first period. Both got in some good shots, but this scorekeeper gives the bout to MacDermid on points.

The three stars of the game were
1. WOR – 29 Nick Petrecki (gwg)
2. WOR – 21 Benn Ferriero (g)
3. PRO – 5 Steven Kampfer (shg)

The Sharkspage player of the game was Jonathan Cheechoo.

Even Strength Lines
Trevelyan/Ferriero/Cheechoo
Mashinter/Wingles/Marcou
Henderson/Desjardins/Zalewski
Henderson(Cheechoo)/Quirk/DaSilva

Worcester dressed seven defensemen and rotated them all throughout the game.

BOXSCORE
Providence 0 0 1 0 – 1
Worcester 0 1 0 1 – 2

1st Period- No Scoring.Penalties-MacDermid Pro (fighting), 2:10; Mashinter Wor (fighting), 2:10; McIver Pro (tripping), 6:55; Bodnarchuk Pro (interference), 7:56; Schaus Wor (interference), 14:08.

2nd Period-1, Worcester, Ferriero 6 (Cheechoo, Schaus), 5:02. Penalties-Reich Pro (hooking), 0:43; Ferriero Wor (tripping), 8:35; Nelson Pro (goaltender interference), 17:10.

3rd Period-2, Providence, Kampfer 2 (LoVecchio, Hutchinson), 16:59 (SH). Penalties-Bodnarchuk Pro (boarding), 11:21; Smith Pro (cross-checking), 15:50.

OT Period-3, Worcester, Petrecki 2 (Cheechoo), 3:17. Penalties-No Penalties

Shots on Goal-Providence 2-11-3-0-16. Worcester 9-17-13-4-43.
Power Play Opportunities-Providence 0/2; Worcester 0/6.
Goalies-Providence, Hutchinson 1-2-0 (43 shots-41 saves). Worcester, Stalock 3-4-1 (16 shots-15 saves).
A-3,079
Referee-Geno Binda (22). Linesmen-Todd Whittemore (70), Brian MacDonald (72).

WorSharks Let One Slip Away Against Rochester, 4-3

The Worcester Sharks looked to have Friday night’s game well in hand with two early third period goals, but the Rochester Americans had other ideas and scored the last three goals of the contest to hand a 4-3 loss to the WorSharks Friday night at the DCU Center in Worcester, Massachusetts in front of 2,612 clearly disappointed fans.

Both teams played the first period fairly evenly, with each squad getting 11 shots on goal. Unfortunately for Worcester, it was the Amerks that grabbed the only goal of the period. At 16:33 Rochester broke into the Worcester zone two on one. Defenseman Nick Petrecki played the odd man rush decently, but Kenndal McArdle’s pass had just enough on it to get to Chris Taylor streaking down the right wing toward the net. The pass was in Taylor’s skates, and he kicked the puck toward the net and just barely got his stick on it to light the lamp as WorSharks netminder Alex Stalock slid across the crease.

The WorSharks would grab the equalizer on the power play for the only goal of the second period. Benn Ferriero, playing on the point, fed the puck into T.J. Trevelyan in the slot. Trevelyan would find James Marcou to the left of Amerks goaltender Tyler Plante, and Marcou’s pass would find Jonathan Cheechoo all alone at the far post. Plante made the initial save on Cheechoo, but the rebound went right back to Cheechoo and he didn’t miss a second time.

Both teams would have a breakaway chance in that second period, and each team would come up empty. Rochester’s McArdle went one on one against Stalock and rang his wrist shot off the near post, while the WorSharks Brandon Mashinter was stoned by a great glove save by Plante.

The crowd was barely in their seats at the start of the third period when the WorSharks would seize the lead. Steven Zalewski intercepted an Amerks clearing pass and broke into the offensive zone. With his path to the net blocked he pulled up and sent the puck towards the net, where Andrew Desjardins crashed the net. The puck bounced away, but Desjardins was unable to give chase as he was pushed into the crease. Matt Irwin eventually pounced on a loose puck and lifted a backhander toward the net that found the twine just 18 seconds into the period. Kevin Henderson had the second assist on the goal.

Worcester would get a two goal lead after a mental error by Plante. With the WorSharks swarming the Amerks zone the Rochester defense was able to gain control and flip the puck toward the neutral zone. Petrecki was there at the point to intercept the puck, and fired a lazy writer on net. After stopping just about everything thrown at him Plante just out and out misplayed the shot and deflected the puck into his own net off his right pad at 2:10 for the 3-1 WorSharks lead.

But the two goal third period lead wasn’t enough as all the rest of the bounces went the Amerks way. Evgeny Dadonov fired a one timer through Stalock’s five hole when the puck bounced to him at the bottom of the left face-off circle at 5:27. Taylor would knot the game 3-3 when he blindly fired the puck through a scrum of players in the slot on net at 7:34 that Stalock couldn’t see to even react to. Michal Repik got the game winner when he fired his own rebound over Stalock’s shoulder and just under the crossbar at 11:08.

The WorSharks would have a handful of chances to get back to even, but Plante made several great glove saves to keep the tying goal out of the net. Worcester would pull Stalock with just over a minute to go but was unable to mount a serious challenge in the Amerks zone.

GAME NOTES
The WorSharks scratches were defenseman Nick Schaus and forwards Tony Lucia (concussion) and Cam MacIntyre (groin). Dan DaSilva, who suffered a charlie horse in last Sunday’s game, was able to play Friday night. Carter Hutton was the back-up goaltender.

There were three fights in the contest, with Garet Hunt (5’8″ 190#) taking on Eric Selleck (6’2″ 195#) early in the second period with some not so great results for the new fan favorite. A few moments later Sean Sullivan (6′ 190#) battled with Chris Clackson (6′ 205#) in what was called a draw by home town scoring. The main event was Jay Leach (6’4″ 215) showing that “C” on his chest isn’t there just for show after he went after Ryan Del Monte (6′ 190#) after Del Monte threw an illegal hit behind the Worcester net. Del Monte’s reward for getting beat up by Leach was an extra two minutes for boarding.

Bryan Marchment joined head coach Roy Sommer and assistant coach Dave Cunniff behind the bench for the first time this season.

The Amerks were without NHL veteran center Michael Nylander, who broke a bone in his neck last Saturday night in a game against the Grand Rapids Griffins after being checked into the boards by Brendan Smith. Nylander was able to skate to the bench under his own power while the game progressed around him. He had surgery Monday to fuse together the C-5 and C-6 vertebrae, and will be out until at least early May. That will in all likelihood end his season unless the Amerks make it into the conference finals.

Rochester also made news this week by announcing they would end their affiliation with the Florida Panthers at the end of the season. The Amerks were the long time AHL affiliate of the Buffalo Sabres, but discontent between the NHL club and the former Amerks owners severed their relationship in 2007. Floria has been affiliated with Rochester since 2005, first as a duel affiliate with Buffalo and then on their own after the Sabres withdrew.

The three stars of the game were
1. RCH – 12 Chris Taylor (2g)
2. RCH – 26 Michal Repik (g,a)
3. WOR – 29 Nick Petrecki (g)

The Sharkspage player of the game was Matt Irwin

Even Strength Lines
Trevelyan/Ferriero/Cheechoo
Mashinter/Wingles/Marcou
Henderson/Desjardins/Zalewski
Hunt/Quirk/DaSilva

Braun/Leach
Irwin/Sullivan
Petrecki/Loprieno

Penalty Kill Lines
Desjardins/Henderson
Quirk/DaSilva
Ferriero/Wingles

Loprieno(Petrecki)/Leach
Braun/Sullivan

Power Play Lines
Trevelyan/Ferriero/Marcou
Mashinter/Zalewski/DaSilva

Braun/Cheechoo
Irwin/Sullivan

BOXSCORE
Rochester 1 0 3 – 4
Worcester 0 1 2 – 3

1st Period-1, Rochester, Taylor 1 (Repik, McArdle), 16:33. Penalties-Bendickson Rch (holding), 1:32; Bendickson Rch (hooking), 8:32; Hunt Wor (slashing), 10:59; Selleck Rch (boarding), 12:56; Hunt Wor (tripping), 16:37.

2nd Period-2, Worcester, Cheechoo 3 (Trevelyan, Marcou), 4:42 (PP). Penalties-Selleck Rch (fighting), 1:50; Hunt Wor (fighting), 1:50; Clackson Rch (fighting), 2:38; Sullivan Wor (fighting), 2:38; Taylor Rch (interference), 3:53; Del Monte Rch (boarding, fighting), 15:02; Leach Wor (fighting), 15:02.

3rd Period-3, Worcester, Irwin 1 (Henderson, Zalewski), 0:18. 4, Worcester, Petrecki 1   2:10. 5, Rochester, Dadonov 4 (Robak, Thomas), 5:27. 6, Rochester, Taylor 2 (Thomas), 7:34. 7, Rochester, Repik 3 (Timmins, McArdle), 11:08. Penalties-Del Monte Rch (roughing), 3:39; Petrecki Wor (roughing), 3:39.

Shots on Goal-Rochester 11-5-10-26. Worcester 11-11-14-36.
Power Play Opportunities-Rochester 0/2; Worcester 1/5.
Goalies-Rochester, Plante 2-0-0 (36 shots-33 saves). Worcester, Stalock 2-4-1 (26 shots-22 saves).
A-2,612
Referee-Chris Brown (86). Linesmen-Chris Millea (33), Bob Paquette (18).

Joe Thornton scores first hat trick at HP Pavilion, top line combines for 13 points en route to 5-2 win over New Jersey Devils

LW #29 RYANE CLOWE FIGHTS NJ'S #22 MATT CORRENTE IN 2ND

ALL-TIME NHL WIN LEADER #30 MARTIN BRODEUR AFTER 4TH GA IN 2ND

MARLEAU, HEATLEY, THORNTON, CLOWE, MURRAY SUPPORT SF GIANTS

More notes from the San Jose Sharks 5-2 win over the New Jersey Devils will be posted soon. A photo gallery from the game is available here.

The Hockey News/XM Home Ice 204 Podcast: Toronto Maple Leafs, Ottawa Senators, San Jose Sharks goaltender Antti Niemi

[audio:http://rstorage.filemobile.com/storage/3379897/31.mp3]

Last Friday on The Hockey News Radio Show with Jim ‘Boomer’ Gordon and Adam Proteau on XM Satellite Radio Home Ice Channel 204: Adam and Jim return for another edition of THN Radio from Toronto. In the show’s opening block, Toronto Maple Leafs assistant GM Claude Loiselle joins the guys to talk about the Leafs’ great start, the evolution of the salary cap, his former employer in Tampa Bay, and why it’s more difficult for a top prospect to develop in pressure-packed Toronto. In the second segment, THN Managing Editor Edward Fraser calls in to offer listeners a sneak preview of the upcoming changes to The Hockey News’ magazine, as well as the struggles of Alexei Kovalev and the Ottawa Senators. In the final block, the Ask Adam mailbag deals with questions about Gary Bettman’s legacy, Antti Niemi, and conspiracy theories regarding NHL referees.

This podcast is posted here with permission. Visit thehockeynews.com and XM Radio NHL Home Ice 204 for more NHL coverage, or download the podcast MP3 file directly here.

Combat Robots descend on San Mateo Event Center for Combots Cup V

TITANIUM SPARKS RESULT FROM A COLLISION INSIDE THE ARENA

HW SEWER SNAKE ROBOT TAKES OUT TAG TEAM DEATH AND TAXES DUO

According to extensive Sharkspage research, robots can’t be bargained with, they can’t be reasoned with, and they absolutely will not stop until their opponents are dead. Sunday night during the finale of the fifth annual Combots Cup at the San Mateo Event Center, a wide array of modern combat robots occasionally stopped for a handful of different reasons. Battery drain was a concern, some lost communication with wireless transmitters, others became unceremoniously stuck in the protective arena bumpers.

Long stretches of preperation and troubleshooting were spliced with brief moments of sheer car-crash terror. An early collision between the wedge bot Raging Scottsman and the plow shaped Breaker Box flung the latter heavyweight robot into the enclosure. Breaker Box and its articulated arm needed to be crowbarred free from the wall, but after a quick restart it emerged with a 22-11 win. The next competitor Wolverwine nearly disintegrated upon first contact, pieces of which were found the remainder of the evening. A heavyweight match between defending champions Original Sin (2009) and Last Rights (2008) resulted in two ear shattering crashes. The thick spinning blade on Last Rights took a chunk out of the bulldozer wedge of Original Sin, but then snapped with a violent stress fracture after hitting the steel wall.

For the uninitiated, the Combots championship sprung from earlier televised robot fighting programs that aired in the U.S. and U.K. Subsequent individual events featured double elimination tournaments in weight classes from antweight (1 pound), to beetleweight (3 pounds), featherweight (30 pounds), lightweight (60 pounds), middleweight (120 pounds) and the highly anticipated heavyweight division (220 pounds) among others. For Combots Cup V, robots would battle for 3 minutes inside a 40×40 foot arena, with a 36×36 foot fighting area. Double-paned polycarbonate plexiglass and steel bumpers lined the arena for spectator saftey. The robot battles were judged on a criteria of agression and damage. Scratched or flipped over? Cosmetic damage. Smoke, fire and/or loss of structural integrity and power? Massive damage. Robots could “tap out” if damaged too severely.

A strong crowd filled bleachers on three sides of the arena, with many parents bringing wide eyed children along for the learning experience. The crowd was forced to take a brief unscheduled intermission after one fight-of-the-night inside the arena. A tag team duo of lighter robots named Death and Taxes took a beating from veteran heavyweight Sewer Snake. After being hammered and flipped over with Snake’s metal fork, Taxes began billowing smoke and then caught on fire. It kept fighting to cheers from the crowd. After it was slowed and eventually stopped (with the help of a fire extinguisher), the Snake then began working on the other tag team partner Death. Death was beaten down and launched in the air repeatedly, losing its sole drum weapon and eventually the match. Fans were then asked to take a brief 15 minute break for the smoke and fumes to clear.

There were many fan favorites and oddities on display. The Great Pumpkin featured a giant orange plastic melon on top of a very mobile robot, but it was brutalized matter of factly by Breaker Box. Lightweight Texas Heat and the barely functioning super heavyweight Pinebox had trouble utilizing their popular flame throwers. The 19-pound Schwer Sporkinok featured a giant metallic death spork.

The buildup finally lead to the heavyweight Combot Cup match between Gary Gin’s Original Sin, and the flamboyant flipping and spinning fork of the Sacramento-based Sewer Snake. Gin, an electrical engineer from San Leandro, reportedly spent $6,000 to create the 2009 Cup winning machine. Matt and Wendy Maxham’s three-axel Sewer Snake won the intial Combots I Heavyweight Cup. The Snake may have taken the brunt of the intial collision as both robots met in the center of the arena like battering rams. Original Sin twice drove SS into the wall, but the self-righing fork on Sewer Snake would get it back on its wheels and in a position to maneuver out of danger. The Sacramento robot barely avoided flipping out of the arena for an immediate stoppage on the third attempt, and the fourth head-on crash resulted in pieces falling off and a broken drive chain. Sewer Snake was hobbled, and Original Sin loaded up and scored several drive by launchings before earning a 24-9 decision.

The event itself was educational and entertaining, until a robot shattered and gouged a piece out of the enclosure two panels from the judges seat. The element of danger only added to the experience, but it soon turned into a discussion of polycarbonate composition and fracture strength among a handful of mechanical engineers. With twice the thickness of hockey glass at HP Pavilion, and more importantly more room for it to flex, the robot arena was effectively bulletproof. After watching the arena crew sweep the steel floor of burnt rubber and chunks of metal between fights, one judge suggested the need for a robot zamboni.

A photo gallery from the event is available here.

WorSharks Sink Admirals, 4-3

The Worcester Sharks got goals from four different players and a multiple point game from Benn Ferriero to defeat the Norfolk Admirals 4-3 in a penalty filled contest Sunday afternoon at the DCU center in Worcester, Massachusetts in front of 2,248 fans.

After losing both games in Norfolk last weekend the WorSharks were looking to send a message that they wouldn’t be pushed around in their own building. They did just that, but a lucky bounce for Norfolk would get the Admirals on the board first. With Norfolk controlling the puck along the perimeter of the Worcester zone and the WorSharks doing a decent job of preventing any good shooting lanes Admirals forward Mark-Antoine Pouliot fired a hard wrist shot on net with left winger Johan Harju trying to set a screen in front of WorSharks goaltender Alex Stalock. Stalock had a bead on the shot, but the puck hit Harju and bounded into the net at 17:41 of the first.

Worcester continued to press and their hard work paid off as the clock wound down on the first period when Matt Irwin fired a lazy wrister from the left point toward the far post. Norfolk netminder Cedrick Desjardins made the easy kick save of the shot, but the rebound went right to the tape of Ferriero on the right wing side. Ferriero wasted no time firing the puck back on net with Desjardins down and out, and his shot lit the lamp with just 12.2 seconds remaining in the period. Jonathan Cheechoo had the second assist on the play.

The WorSharks were hoping to carry that momentum into the second period, but a slashing minor to Dan DaSilva 33 seconds into the stanza stopped Worcester in its tracks. But only for a few seconds. While killing the minor penalty Andrew Desjardins, no relation to the Norfolk netminder, stole the puck at the right wing boards and skated in unmolested. Cedrick Desjardins made the save, but the puck bounced away from the Norfolk defenders and end ended up in the right corner, where Ferriero collected it and fired a bad angle shot back at the net. Cedrick Desjardins again made the save but the rebound was collected by Andrew Desjardins, who fired it back off the far post and into the net for the shorthanded tally 50 seconds into the period.

Not to soon after Worcester almost made it 3-1 after some great tic-tac-toe passing between Cheechoo and Ferriero resulted in a Cheechoo tip on net that hung on the goal line and just out of reach of any Worcester player. Norfolk cleared the puck away to remove the threat.

One thing that has worked worked all season for Worcester is the power play, and Sunday was no exception. With Pierre-Cedric Labrie sitting in the box for boarding the WorSharks continued their patient play with the man advantage. After a Ferriero pass to Justin Braun at the point, Braun found himself with a great shooting lane and let a booming slapshot fly at the net. Desjardins was there to make the save, but the rebound went right to James Marcou standing all alone at the far post. Marcou banged home the rebound into the yawning net for the two goal lead at 12:10 of the second.

With Worcester entering the third period leading 3-1 and playing what might have been their best hockey of the season, it seemed as if the only thing that might prevent the WorSharks from winning was if they fell asleep at the wheel. And unfortunately, they did.

After a shift where it looked like Worcester was skating through mud, Norfolk forward Blair Jones picked up a loose puck and went toward the net, where WorSharks captain Jay Leach forced him wide and around the net. His defensive partner Braun also had his man covered, but unfortunately Steven Zalewski didn’t back check and Jones’ pass found Harju all alone in front to make it 3-2 at 3:54 of the third. Just 36 seconds later Norfolk would tie the game when Paul Szczechura fed former WorSharks forward Matt Fornataro at the goal mouth. Stalock had no chance on the tip in.

Things looked even bleaker for Worcester when Stalock was called for a slashing minor, but just as the minor was expiring Tommy Wingels threw a huge open ice hit on Norfolk defender Troy Milam just in front of the Worcester bench. Wingles jumped back to his feet and grabbed the loose puck, breaking into the Admirals zone two on one with Kevin Henderson. Wingles held the puck until the very last second, and then fired a wrist shot to the glove side that lit the lamp for the unassisted game winner at 14:24.

GAME NOTES
Head coach Roy Sommer went with the same line-up as Saturday night with one exception, with Matt Irwin taking Nick Schaus’ place on the blue line. Sommer did juggle his lines a bit, and was forced to make changes on the fly when forward Dan DaSilva was unavailable for the third period.

Sunday’s game was the first one for the WorSharks using the two referee system, which the AHL says will be used in 25% of regular season games. The two referees for the game were David Banfield and Mark Lemelin. There were 17 penalties called between the two refs that resulted in 11 power play chances. It was, however, the same old song and dance late in the contest as neither official seemed interested in calling anything. If this game was any sort of real example of what we can expect with the two ref system in the AHL, count this writer as not a fan.

Using four forwards on the power play isn’t all that rare anymore in hockey, but having a player take the draw and then play defense most certainly is. On Worcester’s first power play line Benn Ferriero takes the draws and Jonathan Cheechoo lines up at defense, and then at the first possible chance they switch and Cheechoo plays forward and Ferriero moves to a spot on the point. Based on how well the WorSharks power play is working it sure looks like a success.

The three stars of the game were
1. WOR – 17 Tommy Wingels (gwg)
2. WOR – 21 Benn Ferriero (g,2a)
3. NOR – 90 Johan Harju (2g)

The Sharkspage player of the game is Andrew Desjardins.

Even strength lines
Cheechoo/Ferriero/Trevelyan
Mashinter/Desjardins/Marcou
Henderson/Zalewski/DaSilva(Wingels)
Hunt/Quirk/Wingels(Cheechoo)

Braun/Leach
Irwin/Sullivan
Petrecki/Loprieno

Penalty kill lines
Desjardins(DaSilva)/Ferriero
Wingles/Henderson(DaSilva)
Quirk/Hunt

Braun/Leach(Petrecki)
Loprieno(Petrecki)/Sullivan

Power play lines
Trevelyan/Ferriero/Marcou
DaSilva/Zalewski/Mashinter

Cheechoo/Braun
Irwin/Sullivan

BOXSCORE
Norfolk 1 0 2 – 3
Worcester 1 2 1 – 4

1st Period-1, Norfolk, Harju 3 (Pouliot, Barberio), 17:41. 2, Worcester, Ferriero 5 (Cheechoo, Irwin), 19:47. Penalties-Henderson Wor (boarding), 0:10; Gudas Nor (interference), 2:55; Loprieno Wor (hooking), 6:08; Braun Wor (hooking), 9:32.

2nd Period-3, Worcester, Desjardins 1 (Ferriero), 0:50 (SH). 4, Worcester, Marcou 3 (Braun, Ferriero), 12:10 (PP). Penalties-DaSilva Wor (slashing), 0:33; Desjardins Wor (hooking), 3:33; served by Mashinter Wor (bench minor – too many men), 6:42; Szczechura Nor (slashing), 8:26; Berry Nor (roughing), 11:40; Labrie Nor (boarding, fighting), 11:40; Hunt Wor (roughing), 11:40; Petrecki Wor (fighting), 11:40; Jones Nor (roughing), 14:25; Loprieno Wor (roughing), 14:25; Angelidis Nor (interference), 17:59.

3rd Period-5, Norfolk, Harju 4 (Jones, Wright), 3:54. 6, Norfolk, Fornataro 2 (Szczechura, Wright), 4:30. 7, Worcester, Wingels 1   14:24. Penalties-Stalock Wor (slashing), 12:21.

Shots on Goal-Norfolk 10-12-11-33. Worcester 4-15-11-30.
Power Play Opportunities-Norfolk 0 / 7; Worcester 1 / 4.
Goalies-Norfolk, Desjardins 2-2-0 (30 shots-26 saves). Worcester, Stalock 2-3-1 (33 shots-30 saves).
A-2,248
Referees-David Banfield (44), Mark Lemelin (84). Linesmen-Todd Whittemore (70), Bob Bernard (42).

Sharks drop the hammer on Edmonton Oilers in 6-1 win, Thornton and Pavelski shine with 3 point nights

The San Jose Sharks (3-2-1, 11th Western Conference) tried to exorcise all of their problems at once against an ill-fated Edmonton Oilers (2-4-0, 15th Western Conference) squad en route to a 6-1 win at Rexall Place on Saturday night. Logan Couture, Ryane Clowe and John McCarthy added even strength goals, Dany Heatley (PP), Joe Pavelski (PP) and Dan Boyle (PP) scored on 3 of 5 power play opportunities, and goaltender Antero Niittymaki looked confident and athletic stopping 21 of 22 shots against in his second straight start, but the game started with a different storyline.

The Oilers exposed the Sharks as a slower team early in the first period. Less than a minute into the game 2007 first round draft pick Sam Gagner exploded down the left wing, executing a quick backhand to forehand move before running over Antero Niittymaki in the crease. He was called for a goaltender interference penalty at 0:53, but the Oilers would keep charging. 2008 first round draft pick Jordan Eberle drove around a flat-footed Patrick Marleau protecting the puck on his backhand before flipping only his second NHL goal by Niittymaki far side. It was the third shorthanded goal the Sharks have allowed in the last 4 games.

Eberle, 2010 first overall selection Taylor Hall, and 2005 first round selection Andrew Cogliano would continue working over the Sharks defense with speed, but there is skill and there is intelligence. The Oilers and their league worst (18-27, 66.7%) penalty kill percentage proceeded to give the Sharks (11-33, 33.3) and their 2nd best power play opportunity after opportunity to take control of the game.

With Gilbert Brule, another first round draft pick in 2005, in the box for hooking the Sharks first power play unit would tie the game at 1. After being boo’d every time he touched the puck on his first few shifts (after turning down Edmonton as a trade destination), Dany Heatley snuck behind the Oilers penalty kill and got a stick on Joe Pavelski’s point shot. The altered trajectory beat goaltender Nikolai Khabibulin. As Heatley’s name was called on the loudspeaker for the goal, he received another healthy round of boos. San Jose Sharks head coach Todd McLellan reunited the top two lines of Marleau-Thornton-Heatley and Clowe-Pavelski-Setoguchi late in the Sharks 4-2 win at Colorado on Thursday night, and those combinations continued Saturday at Edmonton.

The game was part of the national Hockey Night in Canada broadcast on CBC Saturday. During the first intermission, a panel of Ron MacLean, former Sharks goaltender Kelly Hrudey and Glenn Healy discussed whether a rebuilding Oilers team should go with veteran Nikolai Khabibulin in goal while carrying young goaltenders Jeff Deslauriers and Devan Dubnyk on the NHL roster. Dubnyk was a healthy scratch for the game along with agitator Theo Peckham and Steve MacIntyre. Defenseman Mike Moore and Frazer McLaren were scratches for San Jose.

Hrudy mentioned that the Oilers were almost doing a disservice to their franchise by starting Khabibulin regularly while not giving room to Deslauriers and Dubnyk to improve. The Sharks made a firm decision to go with Antti Niemi and Antero Niittymaki, assigning goaltender Thomas Greiss to the AHL, then working with him on a move to Brynas of the Swedish Elite League. The Kings made a firm decision on starter Jonathan Quick and AHL standout Jonathan Bernier. Former backup Erik Ersberg was recently assigned to the AHL, then his contract was terminated when he did not report. The Oilers are stuck in a three man goalie rotation 6 games into the regular season.

The second period opened with a huge Scott Nichol check on Andrew Cogliano. As Cogliano turned up ice, Nichol planted his shoulder into the chest, seperating him from his helmet and sending him hurtling into the boards. Nichol earned an interference call on the play. According to the CBC, the Oilers were 2-for-10 on the power play in their previous game against Minnesota, but they took 3 penalties to hurt their own effort. Edmonton would sabotage their second man advantage when Kurtis Foster was called for slashing.

The Sharks were knocking on the door with regularity in the second period. Douglas Murray launched a heavy point shot off the crossbar, Ryane Clowe registered a solid scoring chance in tight on a give-and-go, and defenseman Dan Boyle forced Khabibulin to make a clutch save. Then it was the Sharks young players who finally broke through 5-on-5. Logan Couture challenged defenseman Jim Vandermeer behind his own net. Couture slid a pass to a driving Jamie McGinn at the front of the net. After a point blank McGinn shot, Couture slid to the front of the net and swept in the rebound. On an ensuing play enforcer Zack Stortini ran defenseman Kent Huskins into the end boards, and Jamal Mayers immediately dropped the gloves in retaliation. Mayers earned a 2 minute instigator penalty, 5 minute fighting major, and a 10 minute game misconduct for his efforts.

After scoring two power play goals Thursday against Colorado, center Joe Pavelski added another Saturday against Edmonton. Pavelski punched home a backhand in close at 18:51 for his third power play goal in two games. He would add his second assist of the game in the third period after a solid forecheck by right wing Devin Setoguchi. After Setoguchi worked the puck free in the corner, Pavelski initiated a slick short pass to a driving Ryane Clowe. Clowe buried the shot with Khabibulin out of position. Up 4-1 with the game quickly falling out of reach for the Edmonton Oilers, the Sharks tacked on two more goals by Dan Boyle (PP) and rookie John McCarthy. McCarthy’s first NHL goal came even strength at 14:45, assisted by Torrey Mitchell and Kent Huskins.

“When Eberle went down the wall and scored, maybe that’s what we needed. It woke us up a little bit,” San Jose Sharks head coach Todd McLellan told reporters. “It didn’t look like we were overly prepared to play, then we fell behind one and finally got our game. The power play was effective again tonight and it has been all year. We’re very fortunate to have some very skilled players on more than one unit. We’re lucky that way and it’s going to have to continue to remain hot until we find our 5-on-5 game.”

Notes: HNIC featured several breakaway scoring chances and hits registered by Sharks right wing Devin Setoguchi during the second intermission. Setoguchi finished +2, with 2 shots on goal and only 3 recorded hits. HNIC also featured Oilers forward Jordan Eberle for the After Hours interview segment, Don Cherry on Coaches Corner discussing a WHL fight at the Cow Palace in Daily City/San Francisco (only one corner of the Cow Palace parking lot is in SF), and the Hockey Hotstove segment with MacLean, Francis, LeBrun and Healy. Joe Thornton finished with 3 assists. The Sharks captain has points in 5 of 6 Sharks games this season, but with a -1 Saturday night he has a +/- figure of -8 only 6 games into the NHL season. Antero Niittymaki (2-0-1, .923SV%, 1.99GAA) stopped 21 of 22 shots against in his first back-to-back start for San Jose. Patrick Marleau was held scoreless after registering points in 4 straight games. The Oilers finished 0-12 against the Sharks on the power play in the series matchup last season, on Saturday they finished 0-5. The Sharks finished last year 3-1 against the Oilers, but the 5-1 loss at Edmonton on March 29th capped a grueling 6 game losing streak. With one win for their designated road game in Sweden, San Jose has won their first 3 road games for the first time in franchise history. They can make it 4 tonight at Calgary. Former Minnesota Wild and current Edmonton Oilers defenseman Kurtis Foster faced the Sharks for the first time since suffering a serious broken leg at HP Pavilion in 2008.

WorSharks Grab A Point In 4-3 Overtime Loss to Providence

The Worcester Sharks got late third period goals from Benn Ferriero and Justin Braun, who both had multiple point nights, to force overtime before dropping a 4-3 decision to the Providence Bruins during Saturday night’s home opener at the DCU Center in Worcester, Massachusetts in front of a sellout crowd of 7,450.

After an opening ceremony that included fireworks and a banner raising the WorSharks came out with some fire of their own, hitting everything in sight and forcing P-Bruins netminder Nolan Schaefer to make some quality saves early. Unfortunately for Worcester a bad habit of giving up early goals is starting to develop, and Saturday night was no exception. With Dan DaSilva in the penalty box for a well deserved tripping minor P-Bruins defenseman Steven Kampfer fired a hard wrister from the left point. As the shot got to the slot Wyatt Smith made a great stab at the puck as it flew by and deflected it down off the ice and past WorSharks goaltender Alex Stalock for the 1-0 Providence lead on their first shot on goal at 6:27.

Providence would make it 2-0 at 16:49 after what looked like a harmless play turned bad for the WorSharks. With Worcester putting some pressure on the P-Bruins, rookie defenseman Nick Schaus tried to help the offense out by trying to keep the puck in the zone despite being outnumbered along the boards. Jordan LaVallee-Smotherman came out of the pack with the puck and skated down left wing side, where WorSharks defenseman Sean Sullivan was able to keep the onrushing forward away from the net. But Schaus was unable to get back to mark Jamie Arniel as the onrushing forward streaked to the net and tipped LaVallee-Smotherman’s cross slot pass beyond an outstretched Stalock to light the lamp.

The one thing that is firing on all cylinders for Worcester this season is the power play. The WorSharks would cut the deficit to 2-1 at 18:10 with their first of three extra-man goals of the game. With Worcester passing the puck along the perimeter looking for a good scoring opportunity against the aggressive P-Bruins penalty kill the puck ended up on the stick of T.J. Trevelyan at the top of the left wing circle. With the P-bruins blocking all the passing lanes Trevelyan skated to the middle of the circle and tried for force the puck through the defense in the slot to Jonathan Cheechoo at the far post. The puck never made it that far as his pass hit Providence defenseman Matt Bartkowski in the leg and bounded by Schaefer. Cheechoo and Braun assisted on the goal.

Although they had a little momentum at the start of the second period the WorSharks couldn’t convert on a couple of early scoring opportunities, and would in fact give up what looked to be a back breaking goal after a bad turnover deep in their own end. While on the forecheck Levi Nelson stole the puck right off the stick of Schaus in the circle to the left of Stalock and skated in unmolested, firing a backhander just under the crossbar for the unassisted marker at 1:56.

The P-Bruins would have a golden opportunity to add to their lead at 6:38 of the period when Antoine Roussel was awarded a penalty shot after referee Terry Koharski claimed Cheechoo fouled Roussel on a breakaway attempt. After seeing the play live, and then three times on replay, this writer still has no idea when or where that foul occurred. But Koharski’s opinion is the only one that counts, and Stalock stuffed the one on one chance to keep it a two goal game. Stalock has stopped all three penalty shots against him in his AHL career.

Despite the brief WorSharks surge after the penalty shot save the P-Bruins generally held both the WorSharks and the home fans quiet with solid hockey to make it look like their two goal lead would easily stand up. But Team Teal still had some life left in it, just waiting for Providence to make a mistake that they could pounce on. And they did just that when rookie Matt Bartkowski got called for an unsportsmanlike conduct minor for continuing to argue with Koharski after the defenseman though he’d been tripped in the Worcester zone.

Worcester used the same tactic as their earlier power play goal, moving the puck along the perimeter trying to find the outlet to get the puck cleanly on net for a rebound chance. This time the puck ended up on the stick of Ferriero in the high slot. Ferriero reared back as if to shoot, but held the puck as the other WorSharks forwards crashed the net to screen Schaefer. With all the traffic in front and P-Bruin penalty killers diving to stop the blast Ferriero simply out-waited the defense and fired a wrist shot along the ice that found an opening and the twine as the crowd exploded at 12:01 of the third. Braun and James Marcou had the assists.

But Worcester still needed another tally to tie the contest, and they got their chance after Providence took a totally brainless penalty deep in the WorSharks zone. After a P-Bruins dump in defenseman Joe Loprieno headed to the backboards to grab the loose puck where he was absolutely blown up by Roussel with a check from behind. Loprieno was momentarily dazed but not injured on the hit, and after a WorSharks timeout Stalock took a seat on the home bench as Worcester went out six on four trying to tie the contest.

Just like their two earlier power play goals, Worcester showed a lot of patience with their numbers advantage, not willing to settle for anything but a solid opportunity. Luckily for the WorSharks they got several, and after a couple of bounces the puck ended up on Braun’s stick high in the slot. It was almost a carbon copy of Ferriero’s tally as Braun held the puck as players converged on the net, but instead of a low wrist shot the rookie defenseman ripped a slap shot into the pile of players that banked off the far post and into the net for his first pro goal at 19:16. Ferriero and Steven Zalewski had the helpers.

After securing a point by getting into overtime the WorSharks seemed to lose a little of the wind from their sails, and Providence took advantage of Worcester’s lethargy when Arniel fired a tough angle shot on Stalock that found an opening for the game winner at 3:26 of overtime for the 4-3 P-Bruins’ win.

GAME NOTES
Worcester had two transactions during the week, releasing forward Leigh Salters from his ATO and having Thomas Greiss reassigned by San Jose to Brynäs IF of the Swedish Elite League. The WorSharks scratches were defenseman Matt Irwin and forwards Tony Lucia and Cam MacIntyre. Carter Hutton was the back-up goaltender.

Prior to the game the Worcester Sharks raised a banner to commemorate their division championship from last season. Andrew Desjardins joined Worcester City Manager Mike O’Brien, Worcester Sharks CEO Mike Lehr, Worcester Sharks President Mike Mudd, and WorSharks head coach Roy Sommer on the red carpet to raise the banner. The team also held a moment of silence for Jack Butterfield, the former AHL president who passed away on October 16th at the age of 91. Butterfield, a member of the Hockey Hall of Fame, is credited with saving the AHL from folding by turning it into the top developmental league for the NHL in the mid 1970’s.

There was one fight in the contest, with Brandon Mashinter (6’4″ 222#) taking on P-Bruins captain Jeremy Reich (6’1″ 198#). After both were assessed matching roughing minors at 15:10 of the third it was obvious by the chirping going on in their respective penalty boxes that the two had some unfinshed business, and just ten seconds after the minors were over both went at it just inside the Worcester zone. Both players skated around each other looking for an opening and once they engaged it was all Mashiner, who landed several clean blows before both fell to the ice.

The Worcester Sharks are going with different players being alternate captains on the road and at home, with Johnathan Cheechoo and Nick Petrecki wearing the A’s on the road and Andrew Desjardins and Sean Sullivan wearing the letters at home. Jay Leach is the captain of the team.

Alex Stalock got some help last night from the net behind him as three Providence blasts squarely found the iron and bounced away harmlessly. Worcester hit the post just once, and got a better bounce as the puck went into the net for Braun’s tying goal.

The three stars of the game were
1. PRO – 12 Jamie Arniel (2g, including the OT game winner)
2. WOR – 27 Justin Braun (g,2a)
3. PRO – 19 Wyatt Smith (g)

The Sharkspage player of the game was Benn Ferriero.

Even Strength Lines
Trevelyan/Ferriero/Cheecho
Mashinter/Desjardins/Wingles
DaSilva/Henderson/Zalewski
Hunt/Quirk/Marcou

Braun/Leach
Schaus/Sullivan
Petrecki/Loprieno

Penalty Kill Lines
Desjardins/Wingles
Quirk/Hunt
Henderson/DaSilva

Braun/Leach
Schaus/Sullivan

Power Play Lines
Trevelyan/Ferriero/Marcou
Mashinter/Zalewski/Wingles

Braun/Cheechoo
Schaus/Sullivan

BOXSCORE
Providence 2 1 0 1 – 4
Worcester 1 0 2 0 – 3

1st Period-1, Providence, Smith 1 (Kampfer, Colborne), 6:27 (PP). 2, Providence, Arniel 2 (LaVallee-Smotherman), 16:49. 3, Worcester, Trevelyan 1 (Cheechoo, Braun), 18:10 (PP). Penalties-DaSilva Wor (tripping), 5:40; Trevelyan Wor (hooking), 10:55; MacDonald Pro (tripping), 17:10; Kampfer Pro (hooking), 18:33.

2nd Period-4, Providence, Nelson 1   1:56. Penalties-Kampfer Pro (roughing), 2:15; Schaefer Pro (roughing), 2:15; Petrecki Wor (roughing), 2:15; Braun Wor (hooking), 3:27; Schaus Wor (goaltender interference), 12:23.

3rd Period-5, Worcester, Ferriero 4 (Braun, Marcou), 12:01 (PP). 6, Worcester, Braun 1 (Ferriero, Zalewski), 19:16 (PP). Penalties-Bartkowski Pro (unsportsmanlike conduct), 11:30; Reich Pro (roughing), 15:10; Mashinter Wor (roughing), 15:10; Reich Pro (fighting), 17:20; Mashinter Wor (fighting), 17:20; Roussel Pro (boarding), 18:25.

OT Period-7, Providence, Arniel 3 (Penner), 3:26. Penalties-No Penalties

Shots on Goal-Providence 5-9-8-6-28. Worcester 12-7-13-2-34.
Power Play Opportunities-Providence 1/4; Worcester 3/5.
Goalies-Providence, Schaefer 1-1-1 (34 shots-31 saves). Worcester, Stalock 1-3-1 (28 shots-24 saves).
A-7,450
Referee-Terry Koharski (10). Linesmen-Todd Whittemore (70), Brian MacDonald (72).

DOH Podcast #120: Stumble at home, Torrey Mitchell, defensive play of Vlasic and Wallin, and the Sharks goaltending tandem

[audio:http://dudesonhockey.com/podcast/doh_2010_1020.mp3]

Mike Peattie and Doug Santana discuss the Sharks stumble out of the gate with two opening losses at home, a standout first four games for Torrey Mitchell, the recent defensive play of Marc-Edouard Vlasic and Niclas Wallin, and goaltending miscues on the 120th episode of the Dudes on Hockey podcast.

This Sharks podcast is posted here with permission. Visit dudesonhockey.com for more coverage of the team or download the MP3 file directly here.

Carolina Hurricanes outwork Sharks to earn 5-2 win, San Jose winless streak reaches 3 games

DEFENSEMAN #25 JONI PITKANEN SCORES 5TH GOAL FOR CAROLINA IN 3RD

#8 PAVELSKI, #17 MITCHELL SANDWICH #15 TUOMO RUUTU

#8 JOE PAVELSKI PULLS TRIGGER ON BACKHAND 180 SHOT IN 2ND

The Carolina Hurricanes played a tighter 60 minutes and outworked the Sharks en route to a 5-2 win at HP Pavilion on Tuesday night. The performance drew a whithering critique from San Jose head coach Todd McLellan. “You can look at the offensive chances, the number of empty nets that we missed tonight, the number of chances we had around the net, we have had absolutely no polish,” he told reporters after the game. “Tonight it was clearly on our tape for two goals.”

Bad bounces and costly turnovers contributed to three straight Carolina Hurricane goals to start the game. Shorthanded in the first period, a pass to the point deflected off Dan Boyle directly to right wing Chad LaRose. A hard charging Eric Staal sprinted down the left wing to create a 2-on-1, and the former 3-time allstar buried the one-timer far side. It was the second straight game where San Jose allowed a shorthanded goal.

The mistakes piled up into an almost comical sequence for the next Hurricanes goal. After defenseman Niclas Wallin hammered Tuomo Ruutu against the boards just inside the blueline, flamboyant rookie Jeff Skinner took the puck down behind the net for a wraparound shot on goal. Three San Jose Sharks collapsed on Antti Niemi as he made the save, but the puck was kicked in front out of their reach. Defenseman Tim Gleason stepped into a big slapshot, and Erik Cole scored from in tight for his first goal of the season.

“I think every goal they scored was on our stick a little bit. We gave it up, and it went into the back of the net,” Joe Thornton said post-game. “You are not going to win a game when you are giving the other team grade A scoring chances. We are just making mistakes that shouldn’t happen.”

Another unintentional mistake came 2:43 into the second period. Playing in his first NHL game, from behind his own net defenseman Mike Moore tried to rim the puck around the boards and out of the zone. The puck deflected off of a forechecking Patrick Dwyer, and floated down the middle of the ice. Fresh off a line change Chad LaRose sprinted to the loose puck to keep it in the zone, then fed an open Jusi Jokinen on the left side. Antti Niemi gave up a rebound on the shot by Jokinen, and Dwyer deposited it in the back of the net. Rookies Mike Moore and John McCarthy were too close to the net to challenge Dwyer on his shot.

“The number of outnumbered rushes we gave up on the powerplay, unacceptable,” Todd McLellan said. “Until we figure out and buy in to the right formula for a win, it is not going to change. Either the players will mentally engage or come and compete like they are supposed to, or we will keep wallowing like we are right now.” After repeatedly calling out unnamed top players in the preseason to deliver their best peformances, McLellan believed the issue of an acceptable compete level had been addressed. After the third straight loss early into the 2010-11 season, he noted that was not the case. “I thought we had their attention before this one, we miscalculated there,” McLellan said.

The sellout crowd of 17,562 fans were displeased with the opening 25 minutes of the game, and there was no hesitation to voice that displeasure. Patrick Marleau quickly turned that into cheers with his first goal of the season 6:34 into the second period. Marleau took a short pass by Joe Thornton off the wall, and sent a cross crease pass to a pinching Dan Boyle. Continuing to drive the net, Marleau tipped a Boyle shot by Cam Ward. Just over three minutes later in the period Marleau buried his second goal of the game on the power play at 9:46. He beat the Caroline defense to a Setoguchi dump in, then spun off of Anton Babchuk and drove straight to the net. As Ward made the first move to go down, Marleau buried the puck up high to bring the Sharks within one.

“At 3-0, you have to have a little bit of pride, and you are going to play hard,” Todd McLellan said of the attempted comeback in the second period. “We are scoring two goals a night and playing a wide open, free wheeling game. It is not going to happen.” After the game Patrick Marleau said a strong second period was not enough. “One period is not going to win you any games.”

The Sharks top defensive pair of Dan Boyle and Douglas Murray had a difficult night. In an attempt to play the puck from the corner up to Joe Thornton on the half boards, Eric Staal lifted the stick of Murray to create a turnover. With most of the Sharks peeling up to start a breakout, Staal turned and found an unchecked Chad LaRose with his stick on the ice in front of the net. LaRose scored his first goal of the season. Another turnover at center ice lead to the Hurricanes fifth and final goal of the night. After Thornton lost the puck near his bench, right wing Tom Kostopoulus drove down the left wing and then dropped a pass to defenseman Joni Pitkanen. Pitkanen wound up with a full backswing on a slapshot, and drove it cleanly past Niemi up high. The result was a 5-2 win for the Carolina Hurrianes, and a 3-game losing streak for the San Jose Sharks.

Despite troubling turnovers and periods of loose play, there were seeds of a postive turnaround for the Sharks. Joe Pavelski finished a -2, with 15:38 of ice time and 6 shots on goal, but it was hardly representative of several shifts where he simply dominated play on the ice. In one sequence after getting up to speed he lowered his shoulder against a Canes defenseman in a neutral ice battle for possession. Pavelski didn’t break stride in his path to the puck, and created a solid breakaway scoring opportunity. Pavelski was noticeable each time he was on the ice, similar to Eric Staal for Carolina. While Patrick Marleau and Joe Thornton finished a combined -5, they looked viscerally angered at times after their second straight frustrating performance on home ice. Thornton added an assist to push his assist streak to 4 straight games. The Sharks power play has scored at least one goal in 4 straight games, with a 6-for-20 success rate (30%). Defenseman Mike Moore earned 7:35 of ice time in his first NHL start. Checking line center Scott Nichol started his 500th NHL game. The Sharks dressed 7 defenseman and 11 forwards.

A photo gallery from the game is available here, video highlights via youtube are available here.

Hockey Notes – October 19th

SJ GOALTENDER #31 ANTTI NIEMI 1-1-0, .900SV%, 3.05GAA IN 2GP

SHARKS 20-GAME RECORD SINCE LOCKOUT, * - IN PROGRESS

– The Sharks are in a hurry up and wait scenario to start the 2010-11 NHL regular season. After coming 1 win shy of four straight 50-win seasons, expectations are high for the Bay Area franchise but an overtime loss in Europe and a 4-2 loss to the Atlanta Thrashers have slowed San Jose out of the gate.

The last time the Sharks began the season overseas in 1998-99, the then-Darryl Sutter coached squad found themselves winless after 2 games against the Calgary Flames in Tokyo, Japan. After an 8-day respite, they proceeded to struggle mightily on offense en route to an 8-game winless streak. After 20 games, they were 5-10-5 and faced a long come-from-behind road back to the playoffs.

Tonight against the Carolina Hurricanes the San Jose Sharks are looking to rebound after two losses and a 6-day break, but with the fewest games played in the NHL they currently find themselves at 13th place in the Western Conference. Simply stepping on to the ice and getting into game action will be a morale victory of sorts, but head coach Todd McLellan wants his team to start hitting it’s stride. “It’s finding that rhythm in our game, it’s finding a routine in our act,” McLellan said in a Tuesday morning pre-game press conference. “We will know a lot about our team when we return from Calgary.”

Sunday’s contest against the Calgary Flames will be the conclusion of a 4-game, 6-night stretch, but it may be difficult for the Sharks to maintain the .611 winning percentage they have held over the first 20 games dating back to the lockout. Barring the re-union of the Marleau-Thornton-Setoguchi line according to Mark Emmons, the Sharks could feature four new forward lines, two new defensive pairings and two new goaltenders. Adjustments and familiarity take time, and it may be difficult to replicate the torrid opening pace the Sharks have maintained for 4 straight years.

McLellan discussed some of the questions his team will need to answer on the ice over the next week. “Can we skate? Can we create, and can we maintain momentum in games? We should have the ability to score and produce offensively, when is that going to arrive? Is the risk/reward part of our game going to be managed properly, or is it going to play a very high risk no reward game?” Four games into the NHL season is mighty early for a statement game, but there may be one lying in wait for the Hurricanes tonight at HP Pavilion.

– Canes find life is hard on the road – NewsObserver.com.

– Charting the Hurricanes road to nowhere roadtrip, exhibition game against SKA St. Petersburg in Russia (Raleigh to St. Petersburg 4,713 miles), St Petersburg to Helsinki for pair of NHL Compuware Challenge Premiere games in Finland (St. Petersburg to Helsinki 186 miles), fly to Ottawa for start of 5-game road trip (Helsinki to Ottawa 3,908 miles), travel to Vancouver (Ottawa to Vancouver 2.206 miles), travel to San Jose (Vancouver to San Jose 825 miles). Your distance may vary, but in 16 days the Carolina Hurricanes will have traveled at least 12,000 miles, with Los Angeles (306 miles) and Phoenix (358 miles) still remaining on the road trip. Comcast pegs it at closer to 15,000.

– KNBR 680AM interviewed Joe Thornton after signing a 3-year contract extenstion last week:

“I have been a passer pretty much since I have been a pro. It is difficult to change overnight. I have been working on getting more shots. The coaching staff, even (GM) Doug Wilson told me to shoot more this year. It is just something you have to have in the back of your mind. Maybe pass it off the goalie and see if guys can tap it in that way. I will try to shoot more, but in my heart I am going to be a pass guy…”

“It is a huge privilege (being named captain), there are only 30 in the league. It is a pretty unique fraternity you are involved in. There have only been 8 captains in Sharks history, so there haven’t been that many. It is an honor. As far as me as a person, i am not going to change. I am going to be the same type of guy, and the same type of player, but it was nice the Sharks gave me that…”

“I think it is just a mindset (to be successful in the postseason). Games are tough in the regular season, they just get a little tighter in the postseason. I think for young players it is just the mindset that it is going to be tougher, there is not going to be so much room out there, and just get it in your mind that it is going to be a little tougher. Fans are louder, everything is more magnified…”

“I thought last year we felt so good after our series with Colorado, and after a fantastic series against Detroit, I think we felt that this might be the year. Then Chicago wiped us out. We want to win this bad. We think the whole Bay Area would like to see the Stanley Cup brought out this way. We feel this could be the year again, we have made some changes. I think Doug Wilson did a great job in the offseason. We hope this is the year. We have added some pieces, we just need to play hard and win.”

– In San Jose Sharks defenseman Douglas Murray’s radio interview with THN/XM last week, he discussed being taken so high in the draft that the round did not exist any more (8th round), that the NHL opening the season in Europe is good for the growth of the game, that time spent in the AHL was good for his development as a defenseman, that he is rooting for San Jose-based heavyweight Cain Velasquez against Brock Lesnar at UFC 121 and that he attends local Strikeforce MMA events when the team is in town, and that he wished boxing was a more high profile sport like it was in the past. Great interview.

20+ FANS FORMED THE 'GOOCH IS LOOSE' SECTION SAT VS. ATL

MORE FANS IN THE SETOGUCHI CHEERING SECTION

MORE FANS IN THE SETOGUCHI CHEERING SECTION

– San Jose Sharks right wing Devin Setoguchi had his own 20-25 person cheering section at Saturday night’s game against the Atlanta Thrashers. Donned in yellow ‘The Gooch is loose’ shirts, with ‘Hands off the Gooch’ and a #16 on the back, they were in postseason form for the home opener at HP Pavilion. Several wore yellow wigs, headbands, panda and racoon hats, and fake playoff beards. Not sure if it was a company party, or a tailgate session gone out of control, but they received quite a bit of attention during the game.

– On ESPN’s opening power rankings maintained by Pierre LeBrun, the Sharks dropped from 7th to 14th. Sports Illustrated’s power rankings with a fairly humorous methodology explained by Allan Muir dropped the Sharks from 5th to 15th.

– Sports Illustrated’s Jim Kelley has an interesting analysis on the continuing ramifications of the Ilya Kovalchuk contract saga in New Jersey, and how the Devils were forced to ice less than the 18 skater/2 goalie minimum for multiple games. Up against the $59.4 million NHL salary cap, and with injuries to Anton Volchenkov and forward Brian Rolston, GM Lou Lamoriello was forced to shorten his bench. According to box scores, the Devils dressed 18 skaters against Washington, 15 against Pittsburgh, 16 against Buffalo, 15 against Pittsburgh, and a full compliment against Colorado and Boston. The Devils have started the season 1-4.

Even with the shortened bench, the Devils have spread out ice time with no player registering in the top-50 in time on ice. Henrik Tallinder leads the team with a 21:54/TOI average per game, 65th in the NHL. Chicago’s Duncan Keith leads the NHL with a 30:08 after 7 games played, San Jose Sharks defenseman Dan Boyle is second with a 27:32/TOI average after only 3 games.

Last year tight against the salary cap, the Sharks registered the most player transactions in the NHL. Winger Jamie McGinn earned the Road Warrior title as the player with the most callups and assignments to the AHL (14). Even with the large number of roster moves, the Sharks were still able to ice 18 skaters and 2 goaltenders. The last time I can remember the team intentionally icing less than 20 players was the night of Joe Thornton’s trade. Marco Sturm, Brad Stuart and Wayne Primeau were held off the ice after the pre-game skate but before the start of the game. The Sharks had only 2 players in reserve, so they played the game with 17 skaters and 2 goaltenders.

– The NHL heavyweight enforcer as an anachronism debate was discussed this weekend by Larry Brooks. “It was different back in the day when Dave Semenko rode shotgun for Wayne Gretzky, different because it was another time, different because Semenko often skated on the same line as No. 99, and thus presented a clear and present danger to foes who dared breathe on The Great One,” Brooks said of the noted enforcer who finished with 1175 PIMs in his 9-year career.

Before Jody Shelley, who was once described as a “nuclear deterrent” by then-head coach Ron Wilson, was traded from San Jose to New York last year he made a concerted effort to deliver a net front presence and contribute along the boards. It was an effort that was hard for him to maintain over 82 games in part because of his other responsibilities.

When Jody Shelley moved on to Philadelphia, the New York Rangers brought in possibly the most feared heavyweight enforcer in the NHL, Derek Boogard. It was a controversial roster decision. Brooks notes that team-wide toughness, and the fact that other enforcers tend to avoid the 6-foot-7, 285-pound Boogard, nullifies the benefits he brings to the team. The modern NHL as a whole may be moving away from limited players who can not play at both ends of the ice.

– The CBC’s Elliotte Friedman touched on the intense scrutiny already facing the Calgary Flames after three games, and offered his 30 thoughts taking a look around the league.

A lot of debate about Joe Thornton’s three-year, $21 million US deal in San Jose. My reaction: If he’s happy, he shouldn’t care what anyone else thinks.

Around the Bay Area there is almost universal approval from fans and the local media covering the team, and rightly so. The mainstream media is firmly locked on the first baseball postseason run in 4 years, to the point where the attention focused on the Giants may have spared San Francisco 49’ers head coach Mike Singletary at least for this season.

– When it came to Sharks picking a captain, Joe Thornton was the only choice – Mark Purdy for the San Jose Mercury News. Purdy has a good grasp of the etherial dilemmas occasionally surrounding the Sharks, but losing in 4 games to the best team in the NHL with two top-6 forwards hobbled is a lot less indicitive of any internal assessment than he makes it out to be. On the other hand, when the Sharks had Detroit and Colorado on the ropes in previous playoff series in 2007 and 2002, it was their go-to players that put them over the top. San Jose needs both Marleau and Thornton to become those players.

– Sunday Hockey Notes – Kevin Paul Dupont for the Boston Globe.

When Donald Fehr gets around to running the Players Association — formal ratification by the players is expected on or around Nov. 1 — one of the loudest laments he’ll hear from the players will be their ongoing objection to the CBA’s escrow holdings. Last season, players had 18 percent of their gross earnings pulled out of their pay as a contingency, pending final computation of the NHL’s total Hockey Related Revenues. When final HRR figures were handed over days ago, the players were handed back 8.59 percent, which means each player surrendered 9.41 percent of their 2009-10 pay. For Zdeno Chara, Boston’s top earner, that meant he earned $705,750 less than his bargained wage of $7.5 million. If Big Z were to take the same hit this season, he would give back more than Brad Marchand ($600,000) and Adam McQuaid ($550,000) will make all season.

– The Sunday edition of the Hockey Hotstove on Hockey Night in Canada featured a panel discussion about the league maximum 23-man NHL roster and the alleged league mandated 20-player minimum which New Jersey and Detroit violated, according to Pierre LeBrun 6-7 teams a year have iced less than 20 players due to emergency circumstances, they touch on the proposed sale of the NHL-owned Phoenix Coyotes, they lauded management in San Jose for the contract extension for Joe Thornton, “players have to take the onus on themselves to keep a good team together, and Joe (Thornton) did that,” Glenn Healy, and tossed around Ken Holland suggestion for overtime (4-on-4 for 5 minutes, 3-on-3 for 3 minutes, then shootout), move to distance league from shootout, “15% of games last year decided by a gimmick” – Healy. Coaches Corner is available here.

– There is a new show on the FX Network in the U.S. centered around fantasy football called The League. In the latest episode, at a draft in Vegas one poolie (Andre) falls on the league championship trophy he adorned with a statue of himself. “What happens in Vegas, stays in Andre.” Another member (Jon Lajoie) performs a rap song about it with help from NFL receiver Ocho Cinco. A short clip of the video “I’m inside me” is available here. Haven’t seen the first couple of episodes, but this show is highly recommended.

In fantasy hockey news, the new SBN blog Fantasy Hockey Scouts audited the league draft Sharkspage is in with James Mirtle, Greg Wyshynski, Earl Sleek, the Forcester, and several other bloggers and Globe and Mail staffers. FHS predicted Sharkspage would finish last. First week result? An 11-1-2 thrashing of Puck Daddy. Another fantasy draft audit at Yahoo examines the selections by a number of hockey reporters and bloggers here.

– “This isn’t the game I grew up with, the game played in the misty ballparks of Enron Field or PacBell-then SBC-now AT&T Park.” — Bart Simpson on the storied homes of the Houston Astros and SF Giants.

[Update] Antti Niemi back in nets tonight against Carolina and the search for five-on-five scoring continues – David Pollak’s Working the Corners blog.

[Update2] Cancer Affects Everyone, RW Setoguchi explains how his family has battled the disease – SJsharks.com.

Tonight begins the NHL’s Hockey Fights Cancer promotion at HP Pavilion and, just like every facet of society, the Sharks lockerroom has ties to the difficult disease that unfortunately touches just about everybody in some manner.

[Update3] Sharks’ Mayers Waiting, Working – Brodie Brazil for Comcast Sportsnet California.

The Hockey News/XM Home Ice 204 Podcast: suspension season, KHL vs NHL, Sharks defenseman Douglas “crankshaft” Murray

[audio:http://rstorage.filemobile.com/storage/3337015/31.mp3]

Last Friday on The Hockey News Radio Show with Adam Proteau and Jim ‘Boomer’ Gordon on XM Satellite Radio Home Ice Channel 204: Jim and Adam are back for THN Radio – and in the show’s first segment, THN Writer Ryan Dixon calls the guys to discuss the suspensions to Niklas Hjlarmarsson and James Wisniewski, the fortunes of the Montreal Canadiens, and his biggest surprises of the NHL’s young regular season. In the second block, Jim reads the mail and Adam answers it on subjects such as the Kontinental Hockey League, the surprising Maple Leafs, and concussions. In the final segment, San Jose Sharks defenseman Douglas Murray joins the show and talks about the experience of starting the regular season in his native Sweden, changes to the Sharks’ roster, and his business projects outside hockey..

This podcast is posted here with permission. Visit thehockeynews.com and XM Radio NHL Home Ice 204 for more NHL coverage, or download the podcast MP3 file directly here.

Sharks Home Opener: Former Blackhawks Dustin Byfuglien and Andrew Ladd, 4 unanswered goals power Atlanta to 4-2 win over San Jose

5-ON-3 SHOT #12 MARLEAU IN 1ST, #15 HEATLEY SCORED ON REBOUND

SAN JOSE RW/C #17 TORREY MITCHELL WINS WINS A FACEOFF

The San Jose Sharks returned to the Bay Area from the European leg of their regular season schedule only to drop the Saturday home opener at HP Pavilion with a 4-2 loss to the surging Atlanta Thrashers. Former Blackhawks Dustin Byfuglien (PP) and Andrew Ladd, 2009 4th overall draft pick Evander Kane, and Anthony Stewart scored 4 unanswered goals to give the Thrashers their second win in two nights. Dany Heatley registered the 300th goal of his career (PP), Ryane Clowe also added another first period tally, and goaltender Antti Niemi stopped 24 of 28 shots against in a losing effort.

The Sharks were the last of the half dozen teams that made the European debut to return to action. A near solid week of practice, with one day off to recover from travel, focused on improving offensive production 5-on-5 after they opened with only 1 even strength goal in their first two games. While San Jose was looking to get back into game action, the Thrashers were looking to maintain a consistent effort after a come-from-behind 5-4 win over the Anaheim Ducks on Friday night. Atlanta had to bypass San Jose Mineta airport due to the late night curfew, and had to bus down from Oakland only to arrive at their hotel at 2AM.

The play was lopsided and disjointed early, but San Jose dictated the action and put pressure on Thrashers goaltender Chris Mason. After a frightening fainting spell saw Atlanta goaltender Ondrej Pavelec lose consciousness on the ice, former Nashville and St. Louis netminder Mason carried the workload in his absence. According to the Blueland Blog’s Ben Wright, Pavelec has been medically cleared to play and could return to the lineup in the near future.

The Sharks put it on Mason early, outshooting Atlanta 12-4 after 20 minutes, 30-13 after 40. There was a huge cheer inside HP Pavilion when the scoreboard flashed the result of the SF Giant’s game 1 win in the NLCS, but a flurry of penalties would follow. Freddy Meyer, a former Boston University defenseman not related to the chain of California Fred Meyer supermarkets, took the first minor penalty for tripping at 13:32. Nearly a minute later Rich Peverley (tripping) and Devin Setoguchi (unsportsmanlike conduct, diving) took matching minors before defenseman Johnny Oduya took a hooking call. The end result was a Sharks 5-on-3 power play, and career goal number 300 for right wing Dany Heatley. Patrick Marleau fired a quick shot from the left faceoff circle, and Heatley beat Joe Pavelski to bury the rebound. Goal #300 places Heatley one behind legendary Shark Ulf Dahlen (301) on the all-time list in 175th place.

5-foot-11, 190-pound Torrey Mitchell has been a notable peformer for the Sharks in preseason. After missing the entire 2008-09 season with a leg injury, he has been creating scoring chances with speed and driving the net like a forward 20 pounds larger. 21-seconds after the Sharks first powerplay goal, Mitchell helped spark another scoring sequence 4-on-4. Flying down the left wing, he pulled up and wristed a shot that appeared to beat Mason cleanly gloveside. Replays showed Ryane Clowe got his stick on the deflection for his first goal of the season. The Sharks nearly padded their lead when Dany Heatley pressured Evander Kane into a turnover at the end of the first, but Heatley could not convert the breakaway opportunity.

The team philosophy for head coach Todd McLellan during the offseason was one of growth, continuing to take a step furthur in the evolution of the franchise. A skilled litigator could make the case that the overarching theme to the start of the Sharks 2010-11 season is one of balance. Splitting up the big three of Marleau-Thornton-Heatley spreads the playmaking ability and offensive creativity across three lines. Calder eligible center Logan Couture lines up with Ryane Clowe and Dany Heatley. Joe Thornton will take on a mentor role along with his second captaincy centering 22-year old Jamie McGinn and 23-year old Devin Setoguchi. On the third scoring line featuring three centers, Patrick Marleau and Joe Pavelski will look to spark speedy two-way forward Torrey Mitchell. Consistency over 82 games and scoring finish are two areas that are critical for Mitchell, but his work ethic and defensive responsibility have already made an impact 3 games into the season.

On the blueline and in goal, the theme of balance is continued. Dan Boyle, averaging over 27 minutes a game, will be featured with Douglas Murray on the top defensive unit for the second year. With Marc-Edouard Vlasic and Niclas Wallin, and Kent Huskins-Jason Demers, each blueline pairing will feature a puck moving and a defensive-defenseman element. Prior to the game with Atlanta, Sharks head coach Todd McLellan said the roles for Murray and Vlasic on the power play will grow this year. He also noted that Patrick Marleau and Joe Pavelski will continue to see time on the point, and that the man advantage will feature more movement and become “less predictable”. In goal, Finnish netminders Antti Niemi and Antero Niittymaki allow the Sharks a 1A/1B option that never came into play with Brian Boucher or Thomas Greiss.

Over 82 games the balanced approach could smooth over peaks and valleys during a marathon NHL season, but at the beginning there could be a feeling out process. Playing a full 60 minutes takes a familiarity and a cohesiveness that may not be there at the moment, but the coaching staff could evaluate how the current configurations adapt to obstacles and make adjustments from there. At the start of the second period, a fight between left wing Frazer McLaren and another former Blackhawk Ben Eager resulted in another burst of penalties. After young Russian Alexander Burmistrov took an interference call for a blindside hit on Scott Nichol, Eager and McLaren squared off for a quick hockey fight. McLaren has been in against Boll and Eager so far this season, two veteran players who know all the tricks of the trade. At 6-foot-4, 250-pounds, McLaren has natural size and a heavy right hand. He has the potential to be a player others avoid down the line.

Shorthanded, Thrashers center Bryan Little made an excellent play down the left wing with Patrick Marleau in his back pocket. Little pulled up to the left of Niemi, spun and flicked an off balance shot on goal. Andrew Ladd banged home the rebound to put them on the board. The Sharks continued swarming Mason down low. 220-pound Dany Heatley, and 225-pound Ryane Clowe were effective along the boards. Both repeatedly set up Couture, who alternated taking it to the net or pulling the trigger on quick shots from the slot.

Despite the pressure from San Jose, Stewart-Ladd-Little was an effective line for Atlanta. Little fed Anthony Stewart a long breakout pass on the right wing, and Stewart banked a shot off the post for his 4th goal in 24 hours. Antti Niemi went into a butterfly just outside the crease, leaving room up top and Stewart buried it up high. Niemi kept the Thrashers from rolling, getting a piece of a Tobias Enstrom slaspshot, just enough for the puck to trickle wide. He also flashed the glove on a Rich Peverley’s breakaway opportunity up high at the end of the second period.

The Atlanta Thrashers gift wrapped an opportunity for the Sharks to take a 3-2 lead with a too many men on the ice penalty at 5:32 of the third, but San Jose could not convert. Joe Thornton spun off Johnny Oduya behind the net, then feathered a backhand pass to Patrick Marleau on the doorstep. Mason stuffed the first attempt, then made a hard push to his right to stone Joe Pavelski on the rebound. Later in the power play a wide point shot by Dan Boyle deflected off the boards and in front of the net. Marleau and Heatley converged on Chris Mason, and both raised their hands after a short shot on goal. Chris Mason’s left shin pad sealed off the post and swallowed Marleau’s shot.

Minneapolis-born Dustin Byfuglien became public enemy #1 in San Jose when he scored 4 goals (3 of them game winners) against the Sharks in the 2010 Western Conference Finals. Switching from forward to his natural defensive position with Atlanta, his offensive instincts still make him equally dangerous. With four players massed in front of Antti Niemi on a late Atlanta third period power play, Byfuglien gained control of a rebound in the slot and buried the game winner at 13:40. Byfuglien garnered the largest boo’s of the night from the partisan sellout crowd. He helped the Thrashers earn their first franchise win in seven opportunities at HP Pavilion, and the first win against San Jose in almost 8 years. Evander Kane added his third goal of the season at 15:51.

“It was a role reversal, I didn’t think we’d come out as well as we did and I thought we’d get better as the night went on. The exact opposite happened,” San Jose Sharks Head Coach Todd McLellan told SJsharks.com. “We weren’t prepared to buckle down and work hard enough to win that game.” Developing balance will help San Jose in a number of areas, but developing and cultivating a killer instinct also needs to be a priority moving forward.

“Our goaltender Chris Mason gave us an opportunity to win, he battled” new Atlanta Thrashers head coach Craig Ramsey told the Blueland Blog. “At 2-0, if they score it is over. The breakaway he stopped at 2-2 gave us the momentum we needed to come back.” Ramsey replaced former Atlanta head coach John Anderson in June. Saturday night’s matchup between San Jose and Atlanta are the only time the two teams meet during the regular season.

WorSharks Sunk By Admirals, 7-2

The Worcester Sharks were caught sleepwalking again early in a game as they surrendered three goals on the first five shots against in route to a 7-2 loss to the Norfolk Admirals Saturday night at The Scope in Norfolk, Virginia in front of 3330 fans.

For anyone interested in reading about the game they can check out the Worcester Sharks and Norfolk Admirals official sites.

GAME NOTES
WorSharks scratches were Thomas Greiss, Kevin Henderson, Joe Loprieno, Tony Lucia, and Cam MacIntyre. Carter Hutton started the game on the bench, but after starting goaltender Alex Stalock was pulled at 4:11 of the first (2 saves on 5 shots) Hutton saw his first action in a WorSharks jersey (47 saves on 51 shots in 55:49).

Sharkspage is still checking the numbers, but it appears that Nick Petrecki set a team record by going (-5) in the contest. Petrecki also took a bad slashing minor in the second period, which Norfolk scored on. His defensive partner Jay Leach was spared a share of the potential record because he was sitting in the penalty box after fighting Mathieu Roy and was not on the ice during the NorAds final goal. Leach was on the ice for a power play goal against, but a minus isn’t awarded while shorthanded.

The three stars of the game were
1. NOR – 90 Johan Harju (2g,a)
2. NOR – 12 Paul Szczechura (2g)
3. NOR – 9 Blair Jones (2a)

The Sharkspage player of the game was Carter Hutton.

BOXSCORE
Worcester 2 0 0 – 2
Norfolk 3 2 2 – 7

1st Period-1, Norfolk, Szczechura 2 (Fornataro), 0:27. 2, Norfolk, Harju 1 (Jones, Wishart), 3:47. 3, Norfolk, Durno 1 (Wishart), 4:11. 4, Worcester, Ferriero 3 (Marcou), 10:58. 5, Worcester, Marcou 2 (Irwin, Hutton), 13:59 (PP). Penalties-Salters Wor (roughing), 1:44; Mashinter Wor (fighting), 4:04; Mihalik Nor (fighting), 4:04; Mihalik Nor (interference), 12:25.

2nd Period-6, Norfolk, Szczechura 3 (Wright, Roy), 2:39. 7, Norfolk, Pouliot 1 (Jones, Harju), 3:46 (PP). Penalties-Petrecki Wor (slashing), 3:03; Durno Nor (tripping), 6:33; Wingels Wor (roughing, roughing), 17:29; Durno Nor (roughing, roughing), 17:29.

3rd Period-8, Norfolk, Harju 2 (Roy, Pouliot), 7:11 (PP). 9, Norfolk, Durno 2 (Simek, Barberio), 12:44. Penalties-Trevelyan Wor (major – spearing, game misconduct – spearing), 4:38; Jones Nor (unsportsmanlike conduct), 4:38; Szczechura Nor (interference), 8:22; Leach Wor (fighting), 11:42; Roy Nor (fighting), 11:42.

Shots on Goal-Worcester 14-8-14-36. Norfolk 12-23-21-56.
Power Play Opportunities-Worcester 1/3; Norfolk 2/4.
Goalies-Worcester, Stalock 1-2-1 (5 shots-2 saves); Hutton 0-0-0 (51 shots-47 saves). Norfolk, Tokarski 2-0-0 (36 shots-34 saves).
A-3,330
Referee-Jean Hebert (43). Linesmen-Tom George (61), Scott Pomento (25).

Sharks sign captain Joe Thornton to 3-year, $21-million contract extension

JOE THORNTON SIGNS 3 YEAR CONTRACT EXTENSION - FILE PHOTO

JOE THORNTON CAREER STATS IN BOSTON AND SAN JOSE

The San Jose Sharks announced Saturday afternoon that center Joe Thornton signed a 3-year, $21-million contract extension to remain in teal for at least the next four seasons. “Joe stepped up and made a tremendous commitment to this franchise, his teammates and the fans in San Jose,” San Jose EVP/GM Doug Wilson said of the signing. The former Hart Trophy and Art Ross winning center has led the Sharks in scoring in each of the last 4 regular seasons.

Re-signing Joe Thornton to a moderate length, affordable contract extension is somewhat of a departure from the norm for an NHL general manager. The path often traveled included the 17-year, $102-million Ilya Kovalchuk contract rejected by the NHL this summer, and similar career spanning and then some agreements: Duncan Keith (13 years), Roberto Luongo (13 years), Marian Hossa (12 years), Vincent Lecavelier (11 years). In a shifting NHL economic environment, San Jose Sharks EVP/GM Doug Wilson has taken a decidedly different route. After locking up Patrick Marleau and Joe Pavelski to 3-year contracts this summer, Wilson now has five top-6 forwards and three defenseman signed for at least the next 3 seasons. Seldom have NHL teams had such a clearly defined window for success.

This is the second time Joe Thornton has signed a contract extension to remain in San Jose. The 6-foot-4, 235-pound native of London, Ontario was recently named captain of the San Jose Sharks, an honor he shared once before with the Boston Bruins. “I like to think San Jose is one of the best organizations in the NHL. For them to think so highly of me it is a huge honor, and I welcome it,” Thornton told Comcast Sportsnet upon being named captain.

San Jose Mercury News beat writer David Pollak was surprised that Thornton took a paycut, and had a reaction from him today after practice. “I love it here. This is home for me and my family and I can’t imagine going anywhere else. It’s nice to have it done and now we just have to do some things to win the Stanley Cup.”

There are limited unofficial contract details from capgeek.com, but Thornton could earn $8 million in 2011-12, $7M in 2012-13, and $6M in 2013-14, with a $7M cap hit across the board. According to SportingNews.com, the contract negotiations with agent/brother John Thornton took “minutes”, and included a no-movement clause.

Earlier this summer, John Thornton said he could see his brother Joe finishing his career in Northern California. “He just loves it there, I could see him spending the rest of his life in San Jose,” he told the Mercury News.

[Update] More contract details courtesy of ESPN’s Pierre LeBrun twitter feed:

Contract breakdown: $7M salary in 11-12 plus $1M signing bonus; $1M sb in July 2012 and $6M salary for 12-13; $6M salary for 13-14.