The Sharks Need to Start From Scratch

The San Jose Sharks playoff loss to the St. Louis Blues was probably the most embarrassing series I ever watched and it proves that big changes need to be made to this roster. Year in and year out, the Sharks tweak their roster with hopes of winning the Stanley Cup and each year they come up short. Tweaking the roster will no longer do the trick. This team needs to be blown up.  The Sharks need to get rid of most of their current players and start all over again with a brand new team. The reason I say this is because the Sharks are not getting any younger. As the players age on this team, the Sharks are only going to get worse and pretty soon they will not even make it to the playoffs. Most of the players on the Sharks have been with the team for quite a few years and have failed to win the Stanley Cup for San Jose. So what makes the Sharks think they will win it all when the players are getting older? If this current Sharks team couldn’t win it all in the prime of their careers, they certainly won’t when they reach the end of their careers. Better to trade many of the current Sharks now while they still have value to other teams, rather than wait for the players to get older and then not have any trade value.

                The Sharks currently do not have many prospects in the minor leagues and their farm system was ranked by some as one of the worst in the NHL.  This happened because the Sharks traded so many prospects and draft picks in the years past for players who could help the Sharks win it all. The risk hasn’t paid off for the Sharks and now they need to rebuild their farm system by trading away current players for draft picks and prospects.  Rebuilding the Sharks will not be easy for some Shark fans to take as it will mean that they will miss the playoffs for a few years and will be a team that no longer is contending for the Stanley Cup. I admit that it will be hard for me to see this team in a rebuilding mode, but in the long run it will be good for the future of this franchise. A few years of being a bad team will mean the Sharks can get some high draft picks and those picks can be used to rebuild their farm system.

After a few years of rebuilding their farm system, the Sharks will have many prospects ready to play for the team and give them a better identity then they had before. Maybe after years of rebuilding the Sharks, the team will have players who have heart and will play big in the postseason when it matters most. A new identity for the Sharks may mean the team no longer has a reputation of being playoff chokers but rather a team that can win the Stanley Cup. The Sharks current roster has an identity of playoff underachievers.

Guys like Joe Thornton and Patrick Marleau have been the face of this team and they are the reasons this team hasn’t gone all the way. It is because they don’t have the heart to win the Stanley Cup. You can’t have a new identity and a new team until those players are gone. Yes, both of those players have no-trade clauses, but I am pretty sure if Sharks General Manager Doug Wilson made it clear to them that they are not wanted anymore, they would waive their no-trade clauses. Who wants to play for a team that doesn’t want you?  Thornton was a good Shark and brought a lot of excitement to this team especially during the regular season. He is without a doubt the best player to have played in a Sharks uniform. However, his postseason numbers are not as great as his regular season numbers. Add to the fact that Thornton will be 33 next season and he is already shown signs of aging.  His passing isn’t as great as it use to be and he has gotten slower. Thornton should be traded while he still has value to other teams, and the Sharks can easily get prospects and draft picks for him.  Marleau should be traded for the same reasons as Thornton. Marleau has been a great Shark with great moments in the regular season and postseason. However, he also will turn 33 next season, and he also shows no heart in games that matter the most. Wilson should trade Marleau while the team can get good players in return.

Wilson shouldn’t stop with Marleau and Thornton. He should also trade an aging Dan Boyle, a slower Douglas Murray, an average goalie at best in Antti Niemi, an inconsistent Ryan Clowe, a physically weak defenseman in Marc-Edouard Vlasic, an injury prone Martin Havlat, and an overrated Torrey Mitchell.  All of the players I just mentioned have flaws to their game and can also bring the Sharks some players from other teams in trades.  It would also free up salary cap space to give the Sharks a chance to sign new players. The only players I would not trade are Logan Couture and Joe Pavelski. Both of those players are still young and have a lot promise in the future with the Sharks. Everyone else is trade bait to me.

Last but not least, Wilson needs to fire head coach Todd McLellan. McLellan clearly had a horrible system in place for a talented team like the Sharks. Instead of having the team use its speed to bring the puck into the offensive zone, he had them play a game of dump and chase the puck in the offensive zone. The Sharks had a horrible year at scoring because of this system. Plus the Sharks penalty kill was horrible and that blame should be on the coach for implementing a flawed defensive game. McLellan for four years had one of the best teams in hockey and yet he couldn’t win them the Stanley Cup. It’s obvious he didn’t do a good job at motivating this team.

All of the changes I mentioned above have to happen for the sake of the franchise. They had a great run with the current group of Sharks but all great runs have to come to an end. The Sharks need to start from scratch. If they wait till later, it could hurt the franchise in the long run. Better to cut your losses now while it’s not too late.

The Sharks Proved They Are Weak

There was a lot to not like about the Sharks loss to the St. Louis Blues in Game 2.  They couldn’t score one single goal. The only goal they could score was in the wrong net (thanks Vlasic).  The Sharks constantly were playing defense instead of offense. They couldn’t get many shots on the St. Louis net. They also allowed St. Louis to take many shots on the Sharks net.

                While all of those above problems irritated me, it didn’t bother too much. I figure the Sharks can bounce back from those problems. What really bothered me was at the end of the Sharks game, when the team had a chance to send a message to St. Louis, they got beaten up really bad, literally. I was hoping to see the Sharks physically fight the St. Louis Blues at the end of the game. I wanted to see them beat the heck out of those players. I wanted the Sharks to send a message that this series isn’t over. I wanted the Sharks to show they were a tough team that was a force to reckon with. Instead, the Sharks tried to fight the Blues, and then they lost the fights.  They looked like a bunch of wimps who couldn’t fight if their life depended on it. The Blues showed that they were the tougher team and that they were not going to be pushed around by a bunch of wimpy players like the Sharks.

                It was embarrassing to watch my team get manhandled by the Blues. In the middle of the game Joe Pavelski, got into a fight with a Blues player and the Blues player beat the heck out of Pavelski.  Pavelski proved that he can’t fight for squat. Later in the game Marleau got punched in the face by a Blues player and Marleau didn’t punch back. That upset me as it shows that Marleau is a coward who isn’t willing to stand up for himself. Then when the game was over Dominic Moore was thrown to the ice by a Blues player and punches were thrown at Moore. Then Justin Braun was at the receiving end of punches thrown by another Blues player.

What made me upset the most was how Douglas Murray handled his fight with a Blues player at the end of the game. Murray is a big strong man who I always enjoyed watching because he knocked people over with hard checks. He also has had a good number of fights where he beat up other players. Against the Blues, however, Murray was a big coward. All he did was hug the Blues player and hang on to dear life. While he didn’t lose the fight, he certainly didn’t win it. He didn’t throw any punches when he could have easily done so. I was disappointed in him. As big as he is, he obviously was small in his heart.  He should have beaten the tar out of the Blues player. I can see players like Marleau, Pavelski, Moore, and Braun all losing fights. They are not the fighting type of players and they are not paid to be enforcers. Murray, on the other hand, is one of the tough guys for the Sharks and he acted like a wimp. He should have been there for his team and stood up for them and he failed to do so.

So I say to the Sharks, congratulations! You have shown the Blues that they can push you around and that you will not respond well. You have shown that you can’t fight when you need to. You have shown that you will have a hard time beating the Blues in this postseason because you cannot play the physical postseason type of hockey that is needed to win a series. Hopefully, you Sharks can prove me wrong and will fight the next game. However, if you are going to fight, win!

A Preview of the Sharks vs. Blues Playoff Series

One of the biggest reasons why I wanted the Sharks to win the Pacific Division was because I wanted the team to avoid playing a team like the St. Louis Blues in the first round of the playoffs. Well, I didn’t get my wish and the Sharks are going to play the team that dominated the Sharks the most this season. Not only do I not like the Blues as a Sharks fan, I do not like the Blues as a hockey fan. The Blues are the most boring team I have ever watched in hockey. They play a very conservative style of hockey that makes soccer look like a game of basketball. I don’t think the Blues are good for the growth of hockey as they are a team that doesn’t score a lot of goals. All they do is get that first goal of the game and once they get that lead, they play prevent defense the rest of the game. They clog up the middle of the ice so that it is hard to get the puck past the blue line into the opposing team’s offensive zone. If a team is lucky to get past the blue line the Blues usually prevent the other team from getting a shot on goal. That is why the Blues have two goalies that have a lot of shutouts. It’s not because the goalies are as good as Patrick Roy. It’s because the goalies don’t face a lot of shots.

                Watching the Sharks face the Blues during the regular season made me want to fall asleep. The Sharks scored just three goals against the Blues in four games. They got shut out by the Blues twice in St. Louis. What was even more amazing is that the Sharks were one of the best teams at shooting pucks to the net as they were one of the top teams in the league in shots on goal. However, against the Blues the Sharks had a hard time even attempting shots on net.

                There are a few keys the Sharks have to do if they want to beat the Blues in the playoffs. The first and biggest key is to score the first goal in the game. When the Blues score the first goal of the game, it is very hard to catch up in the score as they thrive on playing prevent defense. By scoring the first goal, the Blues have to change their entire game strategy and that is playing from behind. They are not a good offensive team so if the Sharks can score first, it makes the Blues play in unfamiliar territory that they are not good at.

The second key is to stay out of the penalty box. Out of the 11 goals the Blues scored against the Sharks this year, five of them came on the power play. The Sharks were a very discipline team during the regular season and they will need to be disciplined against the Blues. However, penalties are going to occur no matter how much a team tries to avoid them. That is why the Sharks need to be a much better team on the penalty kill than they were in the regular season. They need to block more shots and they need to put more pressure on the player that has the puck. They need to use their speed to force the Blues to make a play faster than they are prepared for.

The third key for the Sharks is to put shots on the net. Wayne Gretzky once said, “You miss all the shots you don’t take.” That is the biggest reason why the sharks lost every game against the Blues this season. It is because they were afraid to take shots. They were always trying to play cute with the Blues and tried passing the puck too much looking for that perfect shot. The problem is the Blues don’t give you time to make a shot so you have to take one as quick as you can. That means the Sharks have to take ugly shots. They may be easy shots for the goalie to save but it’s better than not shooting the puck at all. The more the team shoots the puck the better. That’s how the Sharks won their games this year and that was by outshooting their opponents. There will always be a few ugly shots that a goalie doesn’t stop cleanly and it sometimes causes the puck to deflect for a rebound that a player can shoot right in the net.  The Sharks probability to score is higher the more shots they take.

The fourth key to the Sharks winning is to make more clean passes. During those games against the Blues the Sharks were just dumping the puck into their zone hoping to chase the puck down by the net before the Blues get the puck. The problem is the Sharks are not that fast and whenever they dump the puck in the other team gets there first. I hate the dump in type of hockey play and it’s a type of hockey play that I think is overrated. It never seems to work. The Sharks do their best when they pass the puck smoothly and quickly. This spreads out the defense and it opens up the ice for the Sharks.

The final key to the Sharks winning this series against the Blues is to play Sharks hockey. That means playing the high offensive style hockey that suits to the talents on the Sharks. They have skilled offensive players such as Joe Thornton, Patrick Marleau, Logan Couture, and Joe Pavelski. I hate when I hear the Sharks coaches talking about “grinding out” for wins. They think that by playing conservative hockey, the Sharks can get those ugly goals and win by a small margin. The problem is “grinding out” is not the Sharks style of hockey. That’s the Blues style of play and they would love nothing more than the Sharks to play to the Blues boring style of hockey. Unfortunately, the Blues are better at “grinding out” victories. That is why the Sharks got to stop with the conservative hockey approach and make the Blues play a high scoring offensive game. When it comes to a more high power offense, the Sharks win in that game.

The Giants Pitchers Have to Wake Up

            I never thought I would see the day where the Giants’ offense performed better than the Giants’ pitching, but that is what is happening to the team right now. While I am happy that the Giants offense has been able to score some runs in the first three games against the Arizona Diamondbacks, I am just as irritated with the Giants pitchers in that same series. The Giants gave up five runs in games one and two of that Arizona series. They were even worse in game three of that series as they blew a six run Giants lead and gave up seven runs.

Seven runs is not going to cut it for the Giants. The Giants pitchers are better than that. They should only be giving up around two runs per game. If they did that, they would have won all three of those games against Arizona. Unfortunately, the pitchers are not themselves right now. Lincecum looked terrible on Opening Day. He gave up five earned runs, including two homers. Bumgarner didn’t do much better as he gave up four earned runs in his start against Arizona, including two homers. Cain pitched decent at the beginning of his start against Arizona but he cost the Giants a six run lead by giving up five earned runs himself, putting Arizona right back into the game.  

It makes me cringe to think that things can get worse for the Giants but they can. Barry Zito is pitching next and I usually count that as an automatic loss for the team. That means the team could easily start the season 0-4. I hope Barry Zito can prove me wrong. Either way, the Giants cannot afford to have their pitchers playing as lousy as they are. For once the Giants offense is actually producing and this is how the pitchers repay the offense? This is the same pitching staff that used to lose games 1-0, yet now they can’t take advantage of an offense giving them five or more runs of support. This series against Arizona should have been a walk in the park for the Giants. Cain and Lincecum would have been happy to get five runs in a game with last year’s offense and they would have won easily. This year has been different so far. They are giving up too many homeruns and are giving up to many extra base hits.

Pitching wins games in baseball and the Giants won a World Series in 2010 because of great pitching. So far this season, I have not seen even average pitching. I don’t know what’s wrong with the Giants pitchers, but I hope it’s just the pitchers getting the rust off of them from a long offseason. Well they better get that rust off fast. After Zito pitches against the Rockies, it will be Lincecum’s turn in the rotation again on Wednesday. Hopefully every pitcher in the rotation got the first start of being nervous off their chest and go back to their winning ways. That is because the Giants are built on its pitching staff and it is going to win and lose games on its pitching staff. If the pitchers continue to pitch like they did this past weekend, it is going to be a long season for the Giants.

Mixed Emotions About the New Contract for Matt Cain

            Let me be the first to say that I am glad the Giants gave Matt Cain a new contract. He has been a great pitcher for the Giants organization and was instrumental in the Giants winning its first World Series in San Francisco.  I still have not forgotten the fact that he didn’t give up a postseason run during the Giants run to a World Series victory in 2010. Losing him would have been hard for us Giant fans.

            Having said that, I talked previously about the consequences Cain’s contract would have on negotiations for a new contract for Tim Lincecum. As you probably already know Lincecum is under contract through the 2013 season. After that he can leave the team as a free agent. Cain’s contract is certain to determine how much Lincecum is going to demand from the Giants. With the contract that was just signed by Cain, I am concerned about the value of it. Cain will be getting paid 20 million dollars annually during the length of the contract. At 112.5 million dollars, the contract is a record setting contract for a right handed pitcher. That is a lot of money to be giving to a pitcher who is not even the ace of your team and has never won a Cy Young award. The Giants have now set the bar so high for the value of a pitcher that Lincecum is probably going to demand between 25 to 30 million dollars a year and rightfully so. That is a lot of money that the Giants would end up paying for just two pitchers if the team gives Lincecum what he wants. So unless the Giants plan on raising their payroll, they will have a hard time signing new free agents and resigning their own players. Luckily, the Giants will have Aaron Rowand’s 12 million dollar contract off the books after this season and Barry Zito’s contract will be finished after the 2013 season. Even though the Giants are now going to pay Cain 20 million dollars a year, I still believe the team should put the same effort at keeping Lincecum even if it means paying him 25 plus million dollars a year. Luckily, Lincecum is still under contract for two more years and the Giants could worry about his contract at a future date.

            On the other hand, I am pleased with the length of Cain’s contract. I previously said that the Giants should only give Cain around five years on his deal. Five years is what Matt Cain was signed for, although there is a team option for a sixth year. That is reasonable for a pitcher like Cain and it means that Lincecum will probably ask for a seven to eight year deal. That is better though than giving Cain a seven year deal and then being forced to give Lincecum a ten year deal. Cain is only 27 years old so he will be 33 years old when the contract ends after the 2017 season. That means he will not be too old for a pitcher when the deal ends and he should still be young enough where injuries will not break him down. However, Cain is built like a pitcher who can have a long career so injuries shouldn’t be a concern. Cain has been a very durable pitcher during his career and I don’t see that changing. A strong pitching body is the one thing that Cain has over Lincecum and maybe that is the leverage the Giants hope to use against Lincecum in contract negotiations.

            Overall, I am just happy that Cain and Lincecum will be together for at least another two years. I am concerned about the money being given to Cain, but the Giants are a wealthy team. They should have no problem raising their payroll considering the team always has sold out crowds at AT&T Park. It could have been worse. We could have lost Cain to free agency after this season and that would have put more pressure on the Giants to bring back Lincecum. Now the team can breathe easily until the next offseason when the Giants will seek to give Lincecum a new contract. When that time comes, the Giants must be smart and give Lincecum what he wants just like they gave Cain what he wants.