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Mid-season
musings
Observations on the Sharks' year so
far
With a bit more than half of the regular season -
43 games - having been played, here are some observations on how things have
gone for the Sharks so far:
* After Saturday's game against Tampa Bay,
fireworks were set off downtown. These undoubtedly were part of the festivities
for the college football championship game, to be played at Levi's Stadium on
Monday night. But no Sharks regular season game was more appropriate for
fireworks this year than the Sharks' masterful 5-2 win over the league's top
team.
Down some key defensemen, including Justin Braun and
Marc-Edouard Vlasic, the Sharks nonetheless played an almost-perfect game,
maintaining puck possession, having shots go in, playing tight defense and
Martin Jones getting the job done in the net. The win snapped a 16-game point
streak for the Lightning. The Sharks never trailed.
* After watching
him for a few dozen games now, it is apparent to me that Eric Karlsson is,
indeed, one of the league's top players. He takes control of the game when he's
on the ice. And his point totals are starting to add up. It will be devastating
if he doesn't sign with the Sharks after this season.
Related to this,
I cringed whenever I heard Josh Norris's name mentioned during the
just-concluded World Junior tournament. A member of Team USA, he's the prospect
the Sharks gave up to get Karlsson. That deal could come back to haunt the
Sharks for a very, very long time.
* It's a real head-scratcher how
the league could suspend Karlsson for two games for his hit on Austin Wagner of
the Kings while Sam Bennett of the Flames gets absolutely nothing for leveling
the Sharks' Radek Simek.
* Our goaltending situation, which has been a sore
spot for most of the season, appears to be getting a bit better with Martin
Jones getting his act together lately. He'll need to keep that up.
*
Alex Ovechkin's bowing out of the upcoming All Star Game in San Jose is a
disappointment, to say the least. The guy probably has the most personality of
any player in the league. I was counting on Ovechkin to put on an All Star
show, as he has done in the past. But now, he's not coming. Is the NHL All Star
Game going to become like the NFL Pro Bowl, known for players declining to
participate? Let's hope not.
Contact Paul at at
paulkrill@letsgosharks.com
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