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Players fight for jobs in 6-2
win over Canucks
Lilja shows he's serious about
staying
The Sharks wrapped up their North American
pre-season on Wednesday night with a big 6-2 win on HP Pavilion ice. The Sharks
converted four power play goals in the white washing, which was an about face
from the 3-1 loss to the same Canucks just 24-hours earlier in British
Columbia.
San Jose will now embark on a two week trek to Europe to
finish up the pre-season, before kicking off the regular season with two games
against the Columbus Blue Jackets in Sweden. The sharks are scheduled to leave
from San Jose Airport on Thursday at 3:00pm.
After the home and home
series with the Canucks, the Sharks are left to decide on the fates of four
more players. The league has allowed both the Sharks and Blue Jackets to bring
extra players to Stokholm in the event either team suffers any injuries during
the two-game series.
Obviously getting players flown from a
development affiliate is unreasonable, so having extra bodies present allows
the Sharks to delay their decisions on the final 23 roster spots.
Whose stock went up on Wednesday night:
- Andreas Lilja
– The defenseman had a goal and an assist in just under 20 minutes of ice
time. He’d have to have a catastrophic performance in Mannheim to not earn
a contract before the start of the regular season. He’s been steady Eddie
even though his invitation to camp came late in the game.
- John
McCarthy – The left winger has made it tough to ignore his game. His goal
on Wednesday night was the result of strong hockey sense. He sniffed it out by
going to the net, cleaning up on a chance that would have gone by the wayside.
- Antero Nittmaki – After giving up a softie to start the game,
the Finish netminder turned in a solid performance.
- Mike Moore
– An honorable mention to the prospect for pumping a little energy into
the building after Raffi Torres put the Canucks up in the 1st period. Moore
dropped the gloves with Guillaume Desbiens, sparking his teammates and the HP
Pavilion crowd.
Whose stock went down:
- Frazer McLaren
– His role this season is crystal clear. Take care of the rough stuff and
protect the star players on the roster and don’t become a defensive
liability. Not sure McLaren did either on Wednesday night. Joe Pavelski can
take care of himself, but he shouldn’t have to. McLaren should have dealt
with the Christian Ehrhoff situation in the 2nd period.
- Ryane Clowe – The veteran doesn’t have
anything to worry about in terms of securing a roster spot, but his
disappearing act on Wednesday night was reminiscent of the first 30 games of
the regular season last year. He needs to pick things up where he left off last
spring.
Just wondering:
- What’s the point of
Christian Ehrhoff dropping the gloves with anyone? Does he think that’s go
to serve as a deterrent for anything or anyone?
- Are the Sharks
trying to toughen up their image with those Bad Boys Bail Bond ads behind their
bench?
- Does it matter who plays with Dany Heatley. He’s scored
in three straight games, and seems to be sniffing out the net right now.
- Did Jamal Mayers hurt himself bad enough on Tuesday night to free up
a roster spot at the start of the season. Mayers speared himself, when his
stick became wedged in the boards, then jabbed him in the chest as he skated
past it.
Wednesday Moves:
- The Sharks assigned
defenseman Nick Petrecki and right wing Cam MacIntyre to Worcester on
Wednesday. The roster now consists of 27 players, which includes goaltenders
Nittymaki, Antti Niemi, and Thomas Greiss.
- Darren Dreger reported that
the Sharks have fielded several inquiries on the availability of their
goaltenders. Greiss is the most likely to be moved, which would only require
the team to figure out how to reduce the roster by three players.
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