Tag: Montreal Canadiens

San Jose Sharks Podcast with Len Shapiro: After getting blown out by the Stars–Sharks look to get back on track in Montreal on Tuesday

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San Jose Sharks goaltender Martin Jones (31) makes a save on a shot by Dallas Stars center Mattias Janmark (13) during the first period of an NHL hockey game in Dallas, Sunday, Dec. 31, 2017. (AP Photo/Michael Ainsworth)

On the SJ Sharks podcast with Len:

1 The Dallas Stars convincingly defeated the San Jose Sharks on a whopping 6-0 shutout.

2 The first period goals came from the Stars defenseman John Klingberg and forward Tyler Pitlick.

3 The Stars out shot the Sharks 17-5 in the first period.

4 In the second period, the Stars got goals from Stephen Jones and Tyler Seguin. The Stars also scored two goals more in the third period.

5 The Sharks’ next contest will be at the Bell Centre in Montreal against the Canadiens.

Len Shapiro does the SJ Sharks podcasts each Monday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

NHL: Subban’s $9 M Deal Top Among Defensemen

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By Mary Walsh

The San Jose Sharks did not make any news this week, apart from new social network software for the corporate offices. That story is kind of interesting in light of the “co-workers, not teammates” comments from come players after last season. Maybe I am reading too much into it. Meanwhile…

The NHL did have some big news, from the Montreal Canadiens and P.K. Subban. After meeting with an arbitrator, the team came to terms with their rising star to the tune of a $9 million cap hit for eight years.

Subban’s deal makes him the third highest paid player in the NHL, until the contracts of Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane kick in in 2015. Of course by then there may be players being paid even more.

Subban’s actual salary changes from seven to eleven million through the contract, giving the Canadiens some flexibility in cap hit, though the contract is reported to have a no movement clause for all eight years. Evgeni Malkin also has a no movement clause for all eight years of his $9.5 million contract with the Pittsburgh Penguins, while Alex Ovechkin has a limited no trade clause in his 13 year $9.538 million contract.

The deal should come as no surprise considering how high profile and talented Subban is, yet the team went all the way to arbitration hearings before settling with their defenseman. Additionally, his last deal was also for just two years and the parties took a long time coming to it. Why the Canadiens are so unwilling to admit the importance of this player is baffling. Even as a rookie, all eyes were on him as a rising star. Every time his minutes were cut or he was scratched it made news.

For the past two seasons, he has been first and fifth in points among NHL defensemen. He was in the top 25 in his second and third seasons, if you count the first season when he only played two games. His rise up the charts has been unrelenting.  While high-scoring forwards make great press and television, NHL teams understandably value their top defensemen as longer term investments.  That the Canadiens seem to have had trouble coming to terms with theirs does not speak well for their management. Ultimately, dragging their feet does not appear to have saved them any money. They still have the highest paid defenseman in the league.

Has race been a factor? It has of course been, in terms of media visibility. No matter what goes on between player and team, race is always a question in today’s society. Ugly as that is, a player of color brings even more visibility to the team and the sport, which is a good thing in an entertainment field.

Subban himself does not seem bitter about the negotiations, but how can anyone be very bitter after getting a contract like that? Even if he were in doubt about how much the team valued him, or what the team’s prospects are, he is in an excellent position to control his future. A no movement clause only binds the team unless they want to buy him out. The player can always negotiate to be traded if it comes to that.

Is the Subban contract likely to set a precedent? All contracts set precedents, but only for comparable players. There are not many players who can claim to be comparable to Subban right now. Unless his performance takes a dive, his contract will not be a burden for Montreal. He is an enromously valuable asset. Will his performance dip? In such a young player, entering his sixth season in the NHL, it might be expected for a contract like this to cause a drop in intensity. Yet all signs point to Subban continuing on an upward trajectory. Intensity seems to come naturally for him.

Playoff Hockey: Underdogs, Upsets and Staying the Course

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By Mary Walsh

It has been a busy few days in playoff hockey. Thursday, the Montreal Canadiens pushed back to stop the New York Rangers from taking a 3-0 series lead. That show starred Montreal’s rookie goaltender Dustin Tokarski. Friday, the ECHL’s Bakersfield Condors won their first Conference Final game at home. Saturday night, the Los Angeles Kings took a 2-1 series lead over the Chicago Blackhawks.

Now that the Kings have taken a lead in a series, and scored dozens of goals against the daunting Blackhawks (actually only 11 so far), is it safe to say that maybe the 2013-14 Sharks were not that far from their goal, if they were able to beat Los Angeles three games in a row? No. The Kings have proceeded at an erratic pace but they built up momentum in each progressive series. A strong start does not make up for a weaker finish, so the Sharks can’t take too much comfort in the Kings’ success thus far. The Kings are making a habit of giving up leads only to take them back, but that doesn’t mean there were not a lot of holes in the Sharks roster and strategy. Can the Sharks seal up those holes?

The good news, the biggest and best news from Shark territory so far, is that Larry Robinson has agreed to stay on. His new title is Associate Coach and Director of Player Development. If his title was “Guy Who Does Whatever He Feels Like Doing Today In The General Vicinity San Jose” it would still be a good deal. He is that helpful. It can also be seen as a positive indicator for the team: if Robinson thinks that staying on will not be a futile waste of his time, perhaps fans should have a little faith too.

Thursday on Yahoo! Sports Talk Live, Doug Wilson said that he does not have specific plans to acquire a big name free agent this summer. He did not rule it out but he did not say it was a goal. He also said that missing the playoffs for several seasons starting next year was not his plan. He does not plan to move his best young players. This makes me think that, despite pressure from the fan base and many sources of common sense, he could be planning very little in the way of major roster moves. I do not think that is a bad thing, but I am sure it would be unpopular.

Popular or not, moving big names to shake the team up is an enormous risk. How do you trade away Joe Thornton and/or Patrick Marleau, and avoid slipping badly in the standings, unless you pick up another very high-end forward to replace them? Do you get that player via trade? Who do you get them for if you want to keep your young roster? Do the Sharks have the picks to land such a player? As Wilson mentioned Thursday, however you bring someone in, you need to consider the impact that player will have on your younger players. He needs to not only be productive in his own right but supportive of your development plan.

Do Thornton and Marleau not fit that mold? There is no indication that either one of them undermines or stifles growth in their teammates. Their presence may be growing stale but change for change’s sake rarely pays off.

James Mirtle and Justin Bourne had a Twitter conversation about the high number of minutes being given to fourth lines in the Eastern Conference Final. It makes perfect sense, especially when teams have played a seven game series already, or more, to spread minutes around. But this means that you do need versatile players on that fourth line. You need guys who are reliable in the faceoff circle, tough along the boards, good shots, and reasonably able playmakers. As I said last week, you don’t need Mike Richards on that line but you do need someone who brings a lot more than energy and toughness.

Not so long ago people recognized that space on the bench could no longer be spared for designated fighters who could not do more than fight. Now the bar has been raised still higher: you need four lines that can play more than ten minutes and be better than “not a liability.” Your top six should not need more than 25 minutes per player to get the job done, and your fourth line should merit more than ten. Energy efficiency is about more than Gatorade.

————-

Dustin Tokarski. Folks who actually follow the Habs probably were not very surprised to see him chosen over Peter Budaj. Putting a rookie goaltender in a high pressure playoff situation is not unheard of, it just doesn’t often work out so well. A rookie comes in with some intangibles in his favor. Even if he has been scouted as much as possible, he simply has not played enough to be thoroughly scouted so the opponent won’t know how to beat him right away. That advantage fades fast. Another benefit can be that his team will rally around him, tighten up on defense to protect him. Or they might let him get shot to pieces like the Habs did in the first period of Game 3. That is where the real surprise was lurking, when Tokarski held the Habs in the game despite a 14-4 shot advantage for the Rangers. Tokarski may not be ready to steal a series but he certainly silenced the death knells in Montreal for now.

I find the Eastern Conference Final much more compelling than the Western, but I like upsets and underdogs. Both the Canadiens and the Rangers are sort of underdogs who achieved upsets. They are good teams, but the Canadiens were not supposed to beat the bestest team ever, aka the Bruins, because winners are supposed to play a big bruising game like the Bruins do. The Habs won anyway, and they did it their way.

The Rangers were not supposed to beat the Penguins because the Penguins have high performance superstars like Malkin and Crosby, while the Rangers had so many underperforming superstars like Nash, Richards and St. Louis. On top of that, the Rangers had to muscle through a brutal schedule to get where they are, and they did so anyway. Personal tragedy is getting a lot of credit for their turnaround, but they had all of these pieces from the get go. It is satisfying to see them go ahead like a dark horse people forgot about.

Speaking of dark horses, the Condors’ Friday win gave them a 2-1 lead in the series against the Alaska Aces. Saturday, the Aces thumped them 4-1 and tied the series back up. That is not very surprising. The Aces are aces. Nonetheless, the Condors are making a little Central Valley history this weekend. That the Condors ever took a lead in the series is impressive and inspiring. This is their first appearance in a Conference Final, and they have held their own. They have earned the nickname “Cardiac Condors” with numerous comebacks thus far and the Aces would be foolish to back off now. If the Aces come back tomorrow and stomp them like they did tonight, Condors fans have still gotten their money’s worth from a team that made an amazing turnaround in a season. After so many years of being perpetual playoff also-rans, this is a mighty accomplishment for Bakersfield.

Goalies and Go-Getters: NHL Playoffs

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By Mary Walsh

Watching the French team beat the Canadians in the World Championships was one of the most entertaining viewing experiences I have had in a while. Even though I had to keep clicking through ad popups, exposing my computer to who knows what kind of hazards, the game was riveting. Sure, it went to a shootout, after a couple of power play goals from the French kept them in the game. Goalie Cristobal Huet also kept them in the game, neutralizing the not yet ready for prime time Canadian team. But who doesn’t love to see an underdog steal one?

The French are not the only underdogs playing right now. The Montreal Canadiens, though their record hardly looks like an underdog’s, had the Boston Bruins on the ropes for a bit. I wonder how many people became Habs fans then? It isn’t that the Bruins are so easy to root against, but they won the Cup so recently, and they are reputed to be big tough guys. The Habs are supposed to be quick and light in the way they play. (Hence the utter confusion about the Douglas Murray signing.) Yet even if the Bruins are the hounds and the Canadiens the foxes, it usually takes several hounds to take down one fox. That makes us root for the fox. We know one hound could never catch a fox on his own, but it still seems unfair to gang up on the little fox like that.

The thing is, it isn’t true. Apart from Zdeno Chara, the Bruins are not bigger than average for an NHL team, and the Canadiens are not small. Even their playing styles are exaggerated– the Bruins play fast whenever possible, and the Canadiens don’t scamper around the rink without standing their ground defensively.

Neither team shows the defensive recklessness of some teams (hello Pittsburgh), though both teams get reliable goaltending. Tuuka Rask and Carey Price are both exceptional, in their prime, and playoff hardened. Neither has been surprising in a good way or a bad way. They have performed as expected: very well.

The teams were more evenly matched than advertised, but hyperbole makes it a better story.

What is not exaggerated are their respective playoff records. The Bruins won the Cup in 2011 and made it to the Finals last season. The Habs haven’t been to the Conference Finals since 2010, and they haven’t won a Cup since 1993. One of these teams is due, the other has won recently enough to remember the way clearly. The latter will not go quietly, if at all. The Bruins demonstrated as much by taking the lead in the series on Saturday.

Here in the West, Sharks fans may or may not be watching the Freeway Series between the Los Angeles Kings and the Anaheim Ducks. If they are watching, they may have noticed how strange it is that two teams that did so well at home have now turned into road warriors, if across town really counts as a road game. In any case, it is strange to see the Ducks cast in the underdog role, since they were so dominant in the regular season.

One of the more talked about issues is the way Bruce Boudreau has been handling the Anaheim goaltenders. He pulled Frederik Andersen twice before he had to be replaced for injury, always putting Jonas Hiller in. Hiller has played well, has experience, and probably deserved to start Saturday. But the Ducks started the season overloaded with young goaltending talent. They even traded one away to the Oilers, they had so many goalies. Now they can’t seem to find one the coach can rely on.

It doesn’t really breed confidence, to keep switching goaltenders. It also doesn’t breed confidence to have a goalie the team doesn’t trust to make all the stops he needs to make. Here is the problem with that– some teams play better defense with a backup in the net, precisely because they don’t trust him. Doesn’t it make more sense to give defense extra attention, no matter who is in goal? What if your awesome unbeatable goalie has an off night? It wouldn’t matter if you were helping him out enough.

See the Minnesota Wild and Ilya Bryzgalov for how to make it work. Bryzgalov has one of the most mercurial records in the NHL. This season alone, he had to claw his way back into the league after starting off signed to a PTO with an ECHL team. He is not stealing games for Minnesota, but they are doing pretty well for a team working on its fourth goalie in the season. In response, he is playing better behind them.

See the LA Kings and Jonathan Quick in Games 1 & 2 against Sharks for how to let it take you down. No matter how the Sharks lit him up, it took the Kings two games to figure out that their super-duper goalie was not going to win the game for them and he needed some help. Once they gave it to him all was well, but how it could take them so long to get their act together is mind-boggling.

They say that a goalie has to steal a couple of games along the road to a Stanley Cup. That may be true but it seems awfully risky to assume that your team is going to simply fall apart for a game or two along the way. Yes, if a Sharks goalie had stolen a game, or two, maybe they would still be in it. But after the way the Sharks played in Game 5, did they deserve to be?

Sometimes a team has no choice but to flip flop goalies through the playoffs. The 2010 Flyers made it as far as the Finals, changing starting goalies mid-playoffs due to injury. Michael Leighton had only been cleared to play the day before he replaced Brian Boucher, and each goaltender gave exceptional performances in turn. In the end, they were still being swapped mid-game, I suspect because neither was truly 100% healthy. Through it all, the rest of the team held it together, killed themselves on defense (Ian LaPerriere almost literally) and went further than the Sharks have ever gone.

Maybe confidence is over-rated. Maybe will is all.

Antti Niemi was a raw rookie in his first season of North American hockey when he won. He didn’t even play in the minors. The Blackhawks made due. There really is no sure-thing formula for the role goaltending plays in a Cup run. Everyone needs to pull their weight and a little more if possible. Should it matter to the Ducks whether Anderson or Hiller or Gibson is behind them? No. If the puck is behind them, they need to get it back in front of them ASAP, no matter who is perched in the paint. That’s a good rule for any team to follow.

Sharks win in shutout

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By Phillip Torres

MONTREAL-The San Jose Sharks (9-1-1) defeated the Montreal Canadians (6-5-0) 2-0 on Saturday night. Logan Couture scored both of the goals for the Sharks to propel them to the victory. Antti Niemi recorded 22 saves to earn the shutout.

Patrick Marleau earned both of the assists to Couture’s goals. Couture’s first goal was scored in the second period, as the first period went scoreless. The first goal was scored at the 6:20 mark on the power-play. The score remained 1-0 going into the second intermission.

The third period remained very defensive as just one goal was scored. The goal was from Couture once again and made it 2-0. The goal was scored at the 4:09 mark in the third and final period. The goal was his sixth of the season.