Back when I was younger, smaller and swifter, I spent a few anxious nights worrying about final exams. In high school I had to make a few last-minute attempts to catch up on the curriculum, and I was usually able to skim over my notes, piecing together enough about photosynthesis or globalization to salvage a decent grade. In college I never crammed, taking a more fatalistic approach to my impending doom. If I didn’t know it 12 hours before the exam began I wasn’t going to learn it overnight, and there are few feelings worse than grinding through a political science final when you haven’t attended class in two months.
Tonight the San Jose Sharks’ final exam will begin – resulting in either elusive playoff success or another franchise-crippling disaster – and we’ll forget everything the team accomplished during the regular season. Tonight the previous 82 games will fade into the background and statistics will retreat to the history books. There’s no time left to cram or catch up, and all those lessons learned over the last seven months will have to be executed over the next seven weeks, so I figured it would be a good time to take a look back and hand out some report cards, analyzing each player’s attendance and competence over the course of the regular season.
Rob Blake – C
70: 7-23-30, +14
Handing the captaincy to Blake might have been a decision made for his benefit just as much the team’s, keeping the veteran going during a season when he turned 40 years old and his play took a significant step backward. His stats received a major boost from the nine points and +9 plus-minus he accumulated over the last nine games of the season. However, he was a defensive liability and his shot was ineffective from the point for the majority of the season.
Dan Boyle – A+
76: 15-43-58, +6
Boyle has an outside shot at a Norris Trophy nomination and his numbers were surprisingly similar to last season right across the board. Offensively, he was a monster on the power play and gave the Sharks their only serious threat from the back end. Defensively, his struggles in his own zone were magnified by Brad Lukowich’s absence, and it took him some time to adjust to Douglas Murray on the opposite side. Overall, another excellent season for the veteran.
Ryane Clowe – A-
82: 19-38-57, 0
After a year spent playing like a passive cod rather than a menacing shark, the Newfoundland native entered the season with a new contract and questions about his on-ice demeanor. The concerns were compounded by a slow start, but Clowe worked himself back into shape and his game gradually improved over the course of the season. While he was the worst Shark over the first 20 games he was arguably the best over the last 20 and enters the playoffs with a ton of confidence.
Jason Demers – C-
51: 4-17-21, +5
Demers surprised everybody by winning a job out of training camp, suiting up among San Jose’s top six defensemen to start the season. He stepped into the offensive void left by Christian Ehrhoff’s departure and enjoyed some power play time, but it quickly became apparent that his competition had been pretty slim and he didn’t have the defensive game to hold down a permanent roster spot. He’s a work in progress, but further along than anyone expected at this point.
Thomas Greiss – B
16: 7-2.68-.912
Doing all he could to cement himself as a bona fide NHL backup goaltender, Greiss only received 11 starts and it was difficult to gauge his performance since he had such long stretches between appearances. He played well in limited action, and even though he performed terribly when called upon to mop up Nabokov’s occasional mess his numbers were excellent when he got the starting nod. Why didn’t he see more action? Apparently McLellan felt Nabokov would benefit from 70+ starts.
Dany Heatley – B+
82: 39-43-82, +14
Considering all the hype that surrounded Heatley when he was united with Joe Thornton, I don’t think you can summarize his season as anything other than an underachievement. He failed to crack 40 goals, he had the lowest shooting percentage (13.9%) since his rookie season, and he had only one goal in his last nine games and three in his last 16 games of the season. Heatley was spectacular early in the season, but petered out down the stretch and fell short of expectations overall.
Kent Huskins – C+
82: 3-19-22, +6
At least Huskins stayed healthy the entire season, because things are pretty ugly on the depth chart once you get past him. To his credit, he wasn’t as bad as many people envisioned, and he actually made some decent progress during the season. Still, anyone who feels this Sharks team is better than last season should remember that a healthy Huskins didn’t suit up for the Sharks once after he acquired at the trade deadline. This season, he’s an everyday bottom-pairing defenseman.
Jay Leach – D+
28: 1-1-2, +3
Scooped up off waivers, Leach was brought in to provide some defensive depth after Demers faltered, while Derek Joslin and Mike Moore were too expensive to garner regular time with the big club. He had a lengthy audition before Niclas Wallin arrived in town and didn’t perform too badly. Of course, that also coincided with the team’s most successful stretch of the season. Unfortunately, he was atrocious in eight games after the Olympic break and doesn’t use his 6-foot-5 frame effectively.
Manny Malhotra – A-
71: 14-19-33, +17
One of the best dollar-for-dollar values in the league, Malhotra was worth every penny of his one-year, $700K contract. Of course, he didn’t look like a steal early on, opening the season with a 10-game scoring drought and collecting only three points in his first 17 games, but he came on gradually and scored 30 points over his next 54 games. Malhotra is versatile, dynamite in the faceoff circle, and a strong penalty killer. He’s quietly exceeded expectations and developed into a fan favorite.
Patrick Marleau – A+
82: 44-39-83, +21
Regardless of whether he’s playing to earn respect, silence the critics, or secure a massive payday in unrestricted free agency, Marleau enjoyed a career year and established himself as one of the best left wingers in the NHL. His 44 goals were good enough for fourth in the league, he led the team in plus-minus, he was a standout on both the power play and penalty kill, and he was named the team MVP for the second consecutive season. Now it’s time to do it in the postseason.
Jamie McGinn – C-
59: 10-3-13, -3
When training camp began, the third-line left wing spot practically had McGinn’s name on it. Unfortunately, he struggled with consistency throughout the season and racked up more frequent flyer miles as a result, shuttling back and forth between San Jose and Worcester. He wasn’t exactly playing with snipers when he was in the lineup, but three assists in 59 games is abysmal and he had only one in his first 45 games of the season. McGinn still has a long way to go to prove he’s an NHL regular.
Torrey Mitchell – D
56: 2-9-11, +6
We’re not really sure of the prodigal son’s actions after he made his well-documented return, but if they were anything like Torrey Mitchell’s I don’t understand all the hype. With two measly points in his first 31 games, Mitchell arrived in the lineup and immediately retreated to the shadows. He’s been hesitant to get involved in the play, his physical nature has completely evaporated, and he barely resembles the explosive rookie we saw two seasons ago.
Douglas Murray – B-
79: 4-13-17, +3
There’s been a lot of talk about Evgeni Nabokov or Dany Heatley’s play decreasing down the stretch, but you won’t find any Sharks player who struggled more during the second half of the season than Murray. While he entered training camp in great shape, his minutes jumped from 16:39 to 20:20 this season and the big defenseman wore down under the increased workload. By March he resorted to swatting at speedy forwards rather than moving his feet and he became a statue in front of the net.
Evgeni Nabokov – A-
71: 44-2.43-.922
Nabokov was the team’s MVP heading into the Olympic break, but a few ugly post-Olympic losses and a lengthy losing streak caused his stock to plummet back to earth. Who’s to blame for Nabokov being overworked? If the coach is running him out there every night the goaltender’s in a no-win situation, because he’s not going to refuse starts. If Nabokov is demanding to start 70+ games the coach has to be more responsible managing his most important player. Either way, blame McLellan.
Scott Nichol – C+
79: 4-15-19, -1
Shark fans raved about Nichol when he first arrived in San Jose, embracing the team’s first true agitator since Ville Nieminen. However, they lost sight of the fact that he isn’t very good at hockey. Sure he wins faceoffs and throws his 5-foot-8 frame around with the reckless abandon of Super Dave Osborne; he’s just mediocre defensively and brings practically zero offense to the table. Nine years younger and $200K cheaper, Marcel Goc would benefit the Sharks more at both ends of the ice.
Jed Ortmeyer – C
76: 8-11-19, +4
Any notions that Ortmeyer belongs on the third line have been put to rest by the two points he has in his last 20 games. Playing out a career spent on the edge of NHL regularity, he’s never been much more than roster filler and the coaching staff seems to have realized that since the Olympic break. Over his first 62 games, Ortmeyer saw less than 10 minutes of ice time in nine games. Over his last 14 games, the gritty winger saw less than 10 minutes of ice time in 11 games.
Joe Pavelski – B+
67: 25-26-51, +1
Pavelski’s production remained steady this season, but his numbers have been hurt by mid-season slumps each of the last two seasons and he can be even better than he’s shown thus far. Not the most talented player on his own line, he does a lot of things well because of hard work and attention to detail. Pavelski can’t wait for the big boys to do it. While he’s mad progress, he has to take his game to another level in the playoffs and live up to the potential many see in him as a future NHL captain.
Devin Setoguchi – D+
70: 20-16-36, 0
If the Sharks were looking for someone to replace Jonathan Cheechoo they found their man. Coming off a 31-goal, 65-point season, Setoguchi bounced from the first line to the fourth line and was unable to find much consistency with any set of linemates. It seems every time you checked the score sheet the third-year winger was in the midst of a five or six-game goal scoring slump, and it was just as much his personal failure as the coaching staff’s inability to motivate or find a spot for him.
Brad Staubitz – C
47: 3-3-6, 0
His cheap price tag meant Staubitz was little more than a warm body to fill a roster spot, skating up and down for six minutes a night while offering the Sharks some cap relief. He’s about as one-dimensional as they come, and he doesn’t have the size, strength, or pugilistic ability to make much of an impact at the NHL level. Staubitz is just keeping the spot warm until Frazer McLaren steps in next season and offers the Sharks an enforcer who can bring a little more than willing fists and a cement head.
Joe Thornton – A-
79: 20-69-89, +17
A hot start put Thornton in position to battle for his second Art Ross Trophy, but the big center fell off the pace and faded in the second half of the season. Despite playing with Heatley and Marleau, he didn’t average a point per game after the calendar turned to 2010 and only had two multi-point games over his last 21 games of the season. Thornton scored more points (89) than last season (86) but you could argue that he produced less and ultimately failed to live up to preseason expectations.
Marc-Edouard Vlasic – B
64: 3-13-16, +21
Vlasic’s offensive production fell off from last season and some defensive lapses crept into his game. Having said that, the Sharks felt Vlasic’s absence when he missed nearly two months with a lower-body injury and he helped right the ship when he returned to the lineup in late March. He’ll never be an intimidating presence, but he skates and moves the puck well and his stats would look a lot better if he wasn’t forced to make up for Rob Blake’s coverage mistakes so often.
Niclas Wallin – D
23: 0-2-2, 0
Wallin sat out the Sharks’ regular season finale with “bumps and bruises,” which must be some kind of code for defensive ineptitude. Acquired from the Carolina Hurricanes for a second-round pick prior to the Olympic break, he didn’t provide much stability along the blueline. The Sharks should have waited another month and used the pick to deal for Denis Grebeshkov, Jordan Leopold, or another younger, better defenseman who would have had a positive impact.
***
I was hoping to have a SharksBuzz Playoff Preview Show before things get rolling, but I got running around and just couldn’t squeeze it in. Luckily, the SharksBuzz Postgame Show will be going live tonight after the final buzzer, breaking down Game 1 and taking your calls at (724) 444-7444, talkcast ID# 74909. There’s no better time of year than playoff time, so tune in and join the conversation.
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