More disappointment ahead?
My beloved Sharks kick off the 2009-10 season in a couple of hours in Denver against the Avalanche, and it’s hard to get excited for the season opener. Don’t get me wrong- I’m glad hockey is back and look forward to watching San Jose on TV. But with the Sharks’ recent playoff embarrassments, I just want to skip right to the playoffs and see of this is the year they meet expectations.
The NHL regular season consists of 82 games across five and a half months. This is entirely too long. The Stanley Cup finals continue into June, when hockey should be long over. I think the regular season should be shortened to 60 games, as it would make the regular season less of a grind and finish in a reasonable timeframe. The NHL already insists that each team doesn’t play each other home and away with this ridiculous unbalanced scheduling, so what’s a little more schedule tweaking?
As for the team itself, I have mixed feelings about the offseason moves. I am excited to see how Dany Heatley fits into Todd McClellan’s system, as his skill set seems to be just what was lacking last year: a gritty forward with speed and sharpshooter potential and playoff experience. Paired with Joe Thornton, Heatley should see his numbers go up and hopefully ease his prima donna ego. Doug Wilson also picked up a couple of other grinders for the third and fourth lines, so hopefully these guys will be able to slow down opponent’s top talent.
On the flip side, I have to say I am extremely disappointed with the resigning of Rob Blake. I was surprised when he was brought in last year, as he is near the end of his career and Wilson believed he would add veteran playoff experience to the locker room. That’s all well and good, but he also has to log ice time as well. I thought he really showed his age (38) and took a lot of penalties he wouldn’t have if he were 10 years younger. It was only a one-year deal, so I was thinking it was a failed experiment, and Wilson would part ways with the old man and his absurdly high salary. Not only was he brought back, they named him captain of this year’s team. This really upset me, as he brought nothing to the table last year, and if anything, was part of the reason the Sharks had an early playoff departure. I thought the logical choice was Dan Boyle- the one guy who showed any sign of desire in last year’s playoffs. Sadly, he was only rewarded with an “A.”
So what is the outlook for this year’s team? It’s anyone’s guess. I’ve seen predictions from Stanley Cup champs to again losing in the first round. I’m going to assume the Sharks won’t try so hard in the regular season this time around, maybe not even wining the Pacific division and settling in around 4th or 5th in the playoffs. They will probably win a few rounds, but still lose before they should. My guess is losing to Chicago in the Western finals; a nice improvement, but still short of expectations.
The NHL regular season consists of 82 games across five and a half months. This is entirely too long. The Stanley Cup finals continue into June, when hockey should be long over. I think the regular season should be shortened to 60 games, as it would make the regular season less of a grind and finish in a reasonable timeframe. The NHL already insists that each team doesn’t play each other home and away with this ridiculous unbalanced scheduling, so what’s a little more schedule tweaking?
As for the team itself, I have mixed feelings about the offseason moves. I am excited to see how Dany Heatley fits into Todd McClellan’s system, as his skill set seems to be just what was lacking last year: a gritty forward with speed and sharpshooter potential and playoff experience. Paired with Joe Thornton, Heatley should see his numbers go up and hopefully ease his prima donna ego. Doug Wilson also picked up a couple of other grinders for the third and fourth lines, so hopefully these guys will be able to slow down opponent’s top talent.
On the flip side, I have to say I am extremely disappointed with the resigning of Rob Blake. I was surprised when he was brought in last year, as he is near the end of his career and Wilson believed he would add veteran playoff experience to the locker room. That’s all well and good, but he also has to log ice time as well. I thought he really showed his age (38) and took a lot of penalties he wouldn’t have if he were 10 years younger. It was only a one-year deal, so I was thinking it was a failed experiment, and Wilson would part ways with the old man and his absurdly high salary. Not only was he brought back, they named him captain of this year’s team. This really upset me, as he brought nothing to the table last year, and if anything, was part of the reason the Sharks had an early playoff departure. I thought the logical choice was Dan Boyle- the one guy who showed any sign of desire in last year’s playoffs. Sadly, he was only rewarded with an “A.”
So what is the outlook for this year’s team? It’s anyone’s guess. I’ve seen predictions from Stanley Cup champs to again losing in the first round. I’m going to assume the Sharks won’t try so hard in the regular season this time around, maybe not even wining the Pacific division and settling in around 4th or 5th in the playoffs. They will probably win a few rounds, but still lose before they should. My guess is losing to Chicago in the Western finals; a nice improvement, but still short of expectations.
Labels: Hockey, San Jose Sharks, Sports
posted by Brian Schick @ 8:30 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home