Hello All,

Let me start out by introducing myself a little bit. My name is Tom and I have lived in San Jose, CA all my life (born less then 3 miles away from where I live right now) with the exception of the 6 years that I spent in college (and no, I wouldn't give any of it back). I have to be honest, 5 years ago, I didn't give two shakes about hockey but a very good friend of mine kept taking me to Sharks games and really helped me to understand the game. All I can say is why the hell did I wait so long to get into this game?!?!?!?!?! I am now a season ticket holder for the Sharks and have been for three years, I play 2-3 nights a week and eat sleep and breathe hockey. Sometimes I wonder how my gf puts up with it.

I've been playing fantasy hockey for 3 years now and in that time, I have gone from not having a clue who Spezza and Lecavalier were (#4 and 5 respectively on Dobbers top 300 at the time I started playing) to taking on tough audit my team threads with as much detail as I can get into. I feel like I have really learned how to analyze statistics and make decent projections and I also feel as though I can tell a lot from the way a player is playing over a small stretch of games. I don't have any Sharks on my keeper team because in general, I play with a bunch of Sharks fans so the value of them are considerably overvalued.

The goal of this thread is to be everything Sharks. I find that most people from East of the Mississippi river don't really have much of a chance to watch Sharks games so their analysis is often short-sighted. Statistics only say so much about a player. There is that "it" factor that doesn't show up on the stat sheet and I would love to share that with you. I welcome any and all Shark related questions that you might have. I will be the first to admit that although I am not an expert on hockey by any stretch of imagination but I will do my best to get you the most objective answers I can but I will also add my own thoughts and my own observations as I am able to come up with them. I very much welcome any and all comments especially from folks that disagree with me. I have learned a great deal more from people on this site who are willing to open a dialog and discuss differences of opinion then I can ever hope to learn on my own. Shout out to Ultrawhitness for showing me the way when I had no idea where I was going.

I would rate my knowledge of the NHL club as fairly high. So questions about those guys are going to flow out pretty quickly. My knowledge of the clubs prospects are going to take a little more time as I am not as familiar with them. I do have my favorites on the club (Clowe) and there are the players that I can't stand (Niemi and Huskins) but I will be as objective as possible. I will do my best to post either a game preview or a recap if I get a chance and every once in a while I am going to try and highlight a player and really give you every bit of information that I can.

I use a couple of sites pretty much religiously for Sharks news or overall analysis. And here they are:

http://blogs.mercurynews.com/sharks/
http://www.fearthefin.com/
http://www.puckprospectus.com/

So I think I will stop babbling now and lets get down to business. Thanks for your time.

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8 Team Keeper - Year 3
G,A,+/-,PIM,PPG,PPA,SHP,GWG,SOG,FOW,FOL,BS,W,GS,GA,GAA,SV %,SHO
Start 3C, 3LW, 3RW, 5D, 3Utl, 2G
25 Man Roster, Keep All

C - Getzlaf, Tavares, J.Staal(LW), Duchene, RNH, Crosby
LW - Kovalchuk, Hall, Benn, Hartnell, E.Kane
RW - P.Kane, Seguin, Yakupov, Eberle, OV
D - Keith, E.Johnson, Carlson, Karlsson, Burns
G - Rask, Schneider, Rinne

Welcome Man! The Sharks are a team that absolutely should be covered with all of the fantasy options. Look forward to reading your stuff.

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Awesome!

Could you perhaps give us your two cents on Clowe and Stalock, my two current Sharks players Do you think Clowe will get more power play time? How do you see the Sharks goalie situation shaking out? I'm also curious about Taylor Doherty, since he was ranked pretty highly among the drafted OHL dmen by Hockey's Future.

Thanks in advance

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GO WINGS!

12 team H2H dynasty, most categories under the sun, incl. hits/blocks. Main team, farm

C: Kopitar Backstrom Stepan Cammalleri Little Bolland Laich Johnson
LW: Parise Lupul Erat McDonald Martin Silfverberg Nyquist Schwartz Morin Nieto Conacher
RW: PKane Doan Pominville Nash Clowe Lupul Rinaldo Stafford Rattie Stone Chiasson Ritchie
D: Green Suter Seabrook Dillon Beauchemin Schenn Letang Schultz Hamilton McNabb Rielly Harrison
G: Bryzgalov Pavelec Holtby Neuvirth Nihlstorp Lack CalPickard Andersen Stalock Sateri Eriksson
IR: Halak

I really like Clowe. He is without a doubt, the heart and soul of that team. I realize that that is not saying much but he has so much passion. In reading the quotes that he puts out after a game, he is not afraid to state the facts and he leaves it all out on the ice. Now, that being said, he has been an extremely streaky player in his career. But over the long run, he is going to be good for at least 60 points and 120 PIM. That's not too bad in my book. Not quite PIMy but not too far off either. He does get into some questionable fights but that is a product of his drive and passion. As for his PP time? Sorry bro, what you see is what you are going to get. A couple of years ago, he led the team in PPG but that was when he was getting consistent time with Thornton on the top PP unit. Now he is stuck behind Thornton, Heatley, Marleau, Pavelski, Setoguchi, Couture, Boyle and whoever Doug Wilson acquires at the trading deadline. He is to the second line PP unit as Thornton is to the top unit. He controls the puck and plays well on the boards. But I really do not see him getting more time.

Stalock was going to be the future of the Sharks. With Nitty going down a couple of weeks ago, Stalock got a call up to be the backup for a couple of games. He got thrown into a game against Phoenix with the Sharks down 3-0 because the team needed a shakeup. Let me tell you, it was the best goalie change EVER!!!! Ok, maybe not that much. The kid is small but he plays with such composure. He was always in good position and instead of being a reactionary goalie, he was calm and collected and made the saves he had to make. His rebound control was not all there but I think that will come with a little more experience and maybe if he knew he was going to play, his nerves would calm down. I see him as a player that is closer to Nabby then he is to a player such as Niemi. The problem that I have now is that he was injured pretty severely right after he went back down to the AHL. Someone stepped on the back of his leg and severed a nerve. The injury is going to require surgery and with something that major, I worry about the long term ramifications. If he can recover to where he was before the injury, I think you have a very good prospect but this injury is going to set him back at least a year. I thought that he would be up next season but now we are realistically looking at 12-13 before he gets a real shot at the starting job.

For the rest of this season, the job is Niemi's to lose and he is going to have to fall on his face to lose it. McLellan has a love affair with him and has shown that he will give him every chance to succeed. After the season, I think it is anyones guess. The Sharks are not going to be players on a big name goalie such as Vokoun or Nabby because they just will not have the cap room. Greiss' deal is up and after the way things went down this season with Niemi being signed so late, not sure he would want to come back. Niemi is a UFA and for the right price, I am sure McLellan would love to have him back but who knows what other offers he gets. Nitty is signed for one more year but I don't know that the Sharks are going to have confidence in him for a full season. I can see the Sharks signing someone like Anderson or Niemi to a two year deal to allow Stalock to ease his way back without the pressure of having to perform for the team to succeed.

As for Doherty, I am going to have to do a little research and get back to you on that one. My apologies but if I am going to put it down in writing, I want to make sure that I know a little something about the player first. Thanks for your patience bud.

Hope this helps

__________________
8 Team Keeper - Year 3
G,A,+/-,PIM,PPG,PPA,SHP,GWG,SOG,FOW,FOL,BS,W,GS,GA,GAA,SV %,SHO
Start 3C, 3LW, 3RW, 5D, 3Utl, 2G
25 Man Roster, Keep All

C - Getzlaf, Tavares, J.Staal(LW), Duchene, RNH, Crosby
LW - Kovalchuk, Hall, Benn, Hartnell, E.Kane
RW - P.Kane, Seguin, Yakupov, Eberle, OV
D - Keith, E.Johnson, Carlson, Karlsson, Burns
G - Rask, Schneider, Rinne

Thanks a lot!

__________________
GO WINGS!

12 team H2H dynasty, most categories under the sun, incl. hits/blocks. Main team, farm

C: Kopitar Backstrom Stepan Cammalleri Little Bolland Laich Johnson
LW: Parise Lupul Erat McDonald Martin Silfverberg Nyquist Schwartz Morin Nieto Conacher
RW: PKane Doan Pominville Nash Clowe Lupul Rinaldo Stafford Rattie Stone Chiasson Ritchie
D: Green Suter Seabrook Dillon Beauchemin Schenn Letang Schultz Hamilton McNabb Rielly Harrison
G: Bryzgalov Pavelec Holtby Neuvirth Nihlstorp Lack CalPickard Andersen Stalock Sateri Eriksson
IR: Halak

Good stuff! I'm loving these team pages.

I've got a couple Sharks d-men on my points-only keeper. Our league is deep and there isn't much for replacements, so I'm stuck with them. I'm wondering what you think of them.

Demers -- still seems to get decent PP time, but isn't putting up a lot of points.

Vlasic -- logs big minutes and I know he's not a major point producer, but he's been doing better of late. His abysmal start to the season makes him look worse than he is.

Are there better things to come from these guys points-wise?

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Points-only, Full Keeper Dynasty League
Active roster (no starts, just total points): 12 FW, 6 D, 1 Goalie

Forwards: Ovechkin, D. Sedin, Stastny, Nash, Kesler, Ribeiro, B. Richards, Selanne, Hossa, Fleischmann, Whitney, Lecavalier, Alfredsson, Okposo, Plekanec, Doan, S. Kostitsyn

Defense: Goligoski, Campbell, Gonchar, Bergeron, Liles, McBain, Vatanen, Timonen, Visnovsky, Giordano, Wideman

Goal: Luongo, Holtby

Great to have you taking on Team Coverage for a west coast team, Tom. I have found this section to not only be informative but also entertaining as well.
Nice timing for you to start with the Sharks resurrecting their season after being lost in the wilderness for a while.

First question: Your assessment of Logan Couture. In watching several Sharks contests this year I thought he was living off Clowe's wake, but recently he's been moved off that line and looks like a strong player in his own right. Do you see him as the real deal or just in a great position playing away from the attention that the big 3 get?

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There are 2 seasons, Hockey & Waiting for Hockey

Dynasty, 7 Teams, Pts Only
35 Skaters+3 Goalies
Start:1G,6D,12F
G: 2pt win, 2pt SO, 1pt OTL
5 changes/month
Playoffs run with 1 lineup

G: Price,Fleury,Rinne
D: Green,Phaneuf,Doughty,J.Johnson,Markov,Edler,
Ehrhoff,Carlson,Pitkanen,McBain,OEL
F:Malkin,D.Sedin,Kopitar,Perry,Datsyuk,Spezza,
Cammaleri,Carter,Iginla,Savard,Selanne,Plekanec,
Voracek,Hemsky,Burrows,C.Giroux,Backlund,Filatov,
Couture,Paajarvi,Grabner,Connolly

Thanks for the kind welcome all. Nice to be able to get right to work.

First question, Couture. I am actually going to try to do a very detailed statistical analysis over the weekend for my first player profile. I say this as objectively as I possibly can. Logan Couture has been the only thing on the Sharks that has gone right this season. From the drop of the puck in the very first game to this last game, he has made the players around him better. Clowe and Couture have had awesome chemistry but Couture has also had chemistry with Setoguchi, Marleau, Heatley, Eager, Wellwood and Pavelski. Even as recently as this road trip, he was paired with Eager and Wellwood on the "3rd line." All that "3rd line" did was score the GWG in two consecutive games against Boston and Washington and then follow it up with an assist on the game tying goal as SJ fought back from being down 2-0. He has a nose for the net and always seems to be in the right place at the right time. He supports the puck well in his end, forechecks aggressively and is still very responsible in his own end as he leads the team with a +12 rating, +5 more than any other regular player on the team. I do not see him as a 100 point player but I can see him being a very steady productive player who is going to get you 75-85 points. I know I am a Sharks fan so I might be a little bias but I honestly believe that it is going to come down to him and Skinner for the Calder but I don't really even think it is that close. When Couture scores, it is a meaningful goal. it ties a game, it is a game winner, it is the goal that ices the game. So to answer your question, no, he is not a product of Clowe. If anything, the strong play of Clowe is a product of Couture. It is not too shocking to me that since Clowe has moved off the Couture line, he has gone cold.

__________________
8 Team Keeper - Year 3
G,A,+/-,PIM,PPG,PPA,SHP,GWG,SOG,FOW,FOL,BS,W,GS,GA,GAA,SV %,SHO
Start 3C, 3LW, 3RW, 5D, 3Utl, 2G
25 Man Roster, Keep All

C - Getzlaf, Tavares, J.Staal(LW), Duchene, RNH, Crosby
LW - Kovalchuk, Hall, Benn, Hartnell, E.Kane
RW - P.Kane, Seguin, Yakupov, Eberle, OV
D - Keith, E.Johnson, Carlson, Karlsson, Burns
G - Rask, Schneider, Rinne

Sorry I have not been doing a lot of posting lately but I am going to give it a shot here today to come up with something for the game tonight.

First off though, I would like to apologize for kind of going off on the DW acquisition of Ian White. I realize that it has only been 1 game, but holy cow. I think Ian White is EXACTLY what the Sharks needed. He showed an uncanny ability to jump up at just the right time without putting his team in a bad position defensively. I did not get to make it to the actual game but watching it on TV, I saw all three forwards down low cycling the puck and out of no-where I see #9 flash down into the screen. WHOA. What was that? I later discover that that my friends, is how a defensemen is supposed to jump into a play. Drop down to the face off dot while opening up for the pass and if nothing is there circle back to the point. Nicely done sir. The other thing that I noticed that I really liked was that he was not afraid to load up and let loose on a shot from the point. That is going to be something that is really going to serve both himself and this team well as we really have no one on the current roster that can do that. I have noticed over the last 2 years that when the Sharks are getting shots from the point and providing traffic in front of the net, they tend to score in bunches. They also have a tremendous ability to score individually but those point shots open up so much more room for them. And with the addition of a RH shot in White and the promotion of Justin Braun, another kid that is able to get his RH shot through traffic quite well, I think that you can look for an increase in scoring in SJ in the near future. One last thing that I hope this move does is relieve some of the pressure that has been placed upon Dan Boyle. DB is currently among the tops in the league in TOI and you can see he is laboring. He is most effective when he is able to turn it loose and skate anywhere on the ice. But with his lofty TOI numbers, he has had to scale back quite a bit in an effort to conserve energy for defense. The addition of White COULD cut down his ice time a bit but that should increase his productivity. If this happens, I can see an overall surge in scoring for the remainder of the season. So after 1 game, I will say that Ian White has shown me that he is capable of more than I was initially led to believe. My apologies on that.

I will do my best to come back a little later with a preview of the game tonight. For now, I had better get back to work. YIKES!!!

__________________
8 Team Keeper - Year 3
G,A,+/-,PIM,PPG,PPA,SHP,GWG,SOG,FOW,FOL,BS,W,GS,GA,GAA,SV %,SHO
Start 3C, 3LW, 3RW, 5D, 3Utl, 2G
25 Man Roster, Keep All

C - Getzlaf, Tavares, J.Staal(LW), Duchene, RNH, Crosby
LW - Kovalchuk, Hall, Benn, Hartnell, E.Kane
RW - P.Kane, Seguin, Yakupov, Eberle, OV
D - Keith, E.Johnson, Carlson, Karlsson, Burns
G - Rask, Schneider, Rinne

Looks like Heatley is in trouble

http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/story/?id=358265

__________________
8 Team Keeper - Year 3
G,A,+/-,PIM,PPG,PPA,SHP,GWG,SOG,FOW,FOL,BS,W,GS,GA,GAA,SV %,SHO
Start 3C, 3LW, 3RW, 5D, 3Utl, 2G
25 Man Roster, Keep All

C - Getzlaf, Tavares, J.Staal(LW), Duchene, RNH, Crosby
LW - Kovalchuk, Hall, Benn, Hartnell, E.Kane
RW - P.Kane, Seguin, Yakupov, Eberle, OV
D - Keith, E.Johnson, Carlson, Karlsson, Burns
G - Rask, Schneider, Rinne