Injury News:
It doesn’t sound like Sharks defender Scott Hannan will miss any time with an injury. Hannan had his head bounced into the glass during the Sharks last game and missed yesterday’s skate but apparently isn’t showing any signs of significant hurt.
Tyler Kennedy was back around the team on the ice, seemingly hinting towards an imminent return. The snag? The Sharks roster is at its maximum right now so something’s got to give. The easy bet would be Tierney or Goodrow back to Worcester unless Doug Wilson wants to surprise everyone and place a player on waivers. Kennedy’s return should give another boost to the bottom six that has improved over the last several games.
Konrad Abeltshauser:
The Worcester Sharks defender wasn’t going to make San Jose even if he had a fantastic training camp and stuck ‘til the end but it hasn’t seemed to bother him. A-12 has recorded a goal, five assists and a +4 rating in nine games for Worcester this year and hasn’t taken a single penalty. That’s right, a defender without a penalty. I can think of two current San Jose defenders that I’d switch out to see what A-12 looks like in the NHL.
Taylor Fedun:
Fedun has similar statistics to A-12, registering a goal, four assists and a -3 rating through nine games in Worcester. This is also a player I would replace two current NHLers with. The one-way contract debacle is something that Doug Wilson needs to sort out. Trade players, waive players, I don’t care but there are players that aren’t getting a chance to play because San Jose is overloaded with marginal hockey players eating roster spots because they are vets with one-way deals.
State of the Pacific:
If you look at the other three divisions there’s probably only one-two teams out of place from what you’d most likely envisioned. The Pacific, however, is a complete circus. The Canucks and Flames are two and three; the Sharks and Kings are four and five; the Oilers and Coyotes are six and seven.
This is perfect for San Jose. The Kings losing three in a row and the Ducks getting a beat-down courtesy of Team Teal has kept the distant thought of challenging for the division within reach. Certainly they won’t do it playing the roller-coaster hockey they’ve done so far this season but all is not lost.
The Canucks aren’t going to finish 2nd in the Pacific and the Flames aren’t even going to make the playoffs so neither the Sharks nor the Kings should be worried about anyone but Anaheim. Pretend that the other teams don’t even exist, that’s what everyone else does regularly anyway.
The Pacific is still the California Division, owned and operated from North to South.
Gordie Howe Hat-Tricks:
There have been 15 Gordie Howe Hat-Tricks by twelve different players in San Jose Sharks history. Three of the 15 have come against the Los Angeles Kings. The following is the list of players who have achieved the goal, assist and fight milestone in a single game while in teal.
Ryan Clowe – 3 Owen Nolan – 2 Joe Thornton – 1 Patrick Marleau – 1 Tommy Wingels – 1 Dan Boyle – 1 Christian Ehrhoff – 1 Brad Stuart – 1 Matt Bradley – 1 Ronnie Stern – 1 Jim Kyte – 1 Link Gaetz – 1
What’s amusing about this list is the amount of serviceable, contributing NHLers that are on it. When you think Gordie Howe Hat-Trick you don’t think of your teams top players, I don’t anyway , I think of a goon or grinder who got lucky on the score-sheet.
Other League Thoughts:
There are twelve NHL games on tap tonight and by the time Toronto/Arizona and Vancouver/Colorado face-off each and every one of them will be playing at the same time. That, ladies and gentlemen, is how you screw up a schedule. The only reason I shouldn’t get to watch two full hockey games when there are 12 on tap is if the first one goes to a shootout.
Andrew Ference’s hit was pretty bad. I think if he hit someone more talented he would have received more but three games is pretty big in the NHL these days. Ference has had a long career with not many dirty plays so the only thing I can assume is that he got tired of playing for the Oilers and Eakins wouldn’t bench him. Thanks for reading.