Sharks are back in action tonight against the Edmonton Oilers as they look for their fourth straight victory. San Jose is 2-1 against Edmonton this year – the two wins coming during a 5 game win streak in mid-December.
Every game is important at this time of year and this one is no different. The Calgary Flames and Winnipeg Jets are set to go tonight as well and if the Flames should beat the Jets and the Oilers come out on top against San Jose that gives Calgary the chance to leapfrog San Jose when they meet each other on Wednesday.
That can all be avoided with a 60 minute game of solid puck tonight.
I’m interested in watching Patrick Marleau tonight. #12 potentially broke free against Anaheim two games ago and he’s definitely a player to watch against the lowly Edmonton Oilers.
Other than that, it’s the Oilers and there’s a lot on the line. Don’t screw this up.
Happy Birthday Arturs Irbe
Irbe, who played 183 games over 5 seasons in the 90s for San Jose, turns 48 today. Here’s a few fun – or hilarious – facts about Irbe.
1993-1994: Irbe finished this season 30-28-16 with a 2.84 GAA and a .899 Sv%. Those underwhelming statistics weren’t enough to scare away the award voters, though. Irbe received 1 first place vote, 1 second place vote and a third place vote to finish fifth(!) in Vezina Trophy voting. He also received a third place vote for the Hart(!!!).
1994-1995: Clearly the love carried over from the previous season voting. Irbe went 14-19-3 (that’s right, a losing record) with a 3.26 GAA (!) and an .895 Sv%. #IrbeLove came through in the voting sequence again and he received a third place vote for the Vezina.
Trade Wish-list
Let’s ignore that Wilson said he’s not acquiring rental players and pretend that there is a possibility that teams can actually resign players they acquire at the deadline. Ludicrous, I know, but just roll with it.
Top Six: No one. Price to acquire is too high and there are more critical areas in need on San Jose.
Bottom Six: Daniel Winnik. This guy is having a nice season as a depth guy in Toronto and I’d imagine he’d look even better on a team that isn’t as possession challenged as Toronto. San Jose needs better depth players and Winnik provides that. They’d be insane not to at least offer him a deal on July first when most of the Sharks depth his free agency.
Top Four D: Andrej Sekera. I love this defender. He’s a solid two way guy who is a great possession player. Aside from his obvious skills, he would bring even more leadership to the Sharks. San Jose needs another top four defender something fierce – especially with the goaltending situation that isn’t getting better anytime soon.
Third Pair D: No one. I want to see – when Braun comes back – Mueller with Dillon and Braun babysit Fedun and Abeltshauser for a few games and see where their game is. There are a few potential NHL-level third pairing defenders in Worcester right now but we don’t get to see them in San Jose because the two mystical creatures known as Irwin and Hannan continue to get ice-time.
Goalie: Unless Tampa, Anaheim or Detroit wants to trade Vasilevsky, Gibson or Mrazek then there are no real young stars that I want – and I’m pretty sure they don’t want to let go of those gems. I’d take Craig Anderson off of Ottawa’s hands if the price was right. Anderson is an upgrade for San Jose and is only making $4.2M on a 3-year deal that kicks in next year. Good money and good term for a serviceable starter.
Now, before we wrap things up let’s look at Tomas Hertl v. Tommy Wingels (pretend Wingels is healthy).
Wingels gets that 2nd line wing spot by default from McLellan. I, personally, love the guy on the third line. He’s built for it and he isn’t offensively gifted enough to garner a legitimate place in the top six when, say, guys like Tomas Hertl are around.
The fact that Hertl spends more time bouncing around the bottom six lines than in the top six is foolish. Outside of Thornton/Pavelski/Marleau/Couture there is no one ahead of Tomas Hertl in offensive potential on that roster. Zero players.
He’s a sophomore. Maybe a little consistency in the top six for the guy wouldn't hurt.
One final image.
Big John Scott. What a beauty. Totally understand now why McLellan plays this guy so much.
Thanks for reading.