The Character of the Team

April 3rd, 2006 by ironsoap

The Sharks needed a superstar. Granted, it could have been Marleau. He’s got the stuff to put up 100 points. But Marleau isn’t there yet. You know the difference between Thornton and Marleau? Thornton was ready for the NHL faster. I guess that’s why he was picked first and Marleau was chosen second. So the Sharks got both. They had to give up some fan favorites like Sturm and Stuart, but look what they got in return. 57 assists. 16 goals. +21. My only concern about big Joe is that he’s so good that sometimes the other players look to him too much to bail them out of a jam. I’ve mentioned this before but Thornton is enough of a threat to other teams just being an option, if he becomes the Sharks’ only option, the team is going to be easy to beat. Also I’ve noticed during the last few games (in which the Sharks have been in something of a slump not coincidentally) that Thornton has started to almost have too much confidence, giving up odd man rushes or breakaways due to trying to do too much by himself. Maybe he’s buying into his own hype, maybe he’s just getting too much pressure from other teams that don’t want to fall victim to the Thornton/Cheechoo machine, whatever it is he’ll need to straighten it all out if the Sharks want to make the playoffs this year. And no matter what he’ll have to keep bringing it full on next year or the Sharks are (ahem) dead in the water.

Scott Thornton

I can’t believe this guy is still on the team. Repeat after me Mr. Wilson: “I must trade Scott Thornton. I must trade Scott Thornton.” 19 points in 63 games with a -10 and 75 PIM? Buh-bye.

Vesa Toskala

I’ve been down on Toskala in the past. I’m not here to repent or try to kiss up now. I’ll grant you that he’s been the guy during this last push for a playoff spot. But is that really that he’s been spectacular or that Nabokov has been stunningly so-so? Okay, Defensive Player of the Week is good, but Toskala still makes me nervous because he doesn’t make routine stops, he always seems to fight the puck. Honestly, I don’t care as long as he wins. At this point in the season he’s beating Nabokov in virtually every non-cumulative stat category and I guess that’s why he keeps getting the nod. I still think it wouldn’t be a crime to trade him off for some added depth in the offense or bundle him with Scott Thornton for a big name defender like a Visnovsky, but I’m not sad to see him still here. Competition is good, and hopefully it will make Nabokov rise above. Then again, we’ve gambled on him before and lost Kiprusoff in the process so maybe I’m suggesting we make the same mistakes again.

Ron Wilson

Whenever a team does poorly people look at the coach. Whenever a team does really, really well, the coach gets some credit. When a team could be great but is underachieving, it seems like no one really thinks about the coach. I think Wilson did a bang-up job when he first stepped in for Beaker Sutter. He cleaned up the penalty kill first thing. But what’s up now? The Sharks penalty kill has flat out sucked most of the year. Their power play is streaky at best and Wilson can’t seem to decide if having Marleau on the point is a good idea or not. They’ve lost so many opportunities on failed 5-on-3 advantages that it simply can’t be all the players’ fault. I suspect—and this is only speculation—that Wilson is too nice of a guy. He seems to only get heated at the refs. Where’s the fire for the players that act like turds on ice? I want to see him up in the grill of a guy like Goc when he’s out there fumbling around, staring at the hot dog vendor. I want him to flat out bench a guy like Fahey when he lets a winger draw him into a bad penalty. Instead he seems oddly indifferent to his own players and that concerns me. I’ll be the first to take it all back if the Sharks pull it together but as a team they’ve been inconsistent enough and slumped often enough in critical portions of the season that some of the blame has to be levelled at the coaching staff for not making these players aware of what they’re capable of and inspiring them to live up to those expectations. I’m certainly not suggesting it’s time to start thinking about a leadership change, but I think the talent is there or nearly there, the front office seems to have a clear picture of what they want to do and the only thing that’s lacking is the day-in-day-out execution on the ice. It’s something to keep in mind.

Oh, and One Other Thing

Dude, I totally do this all the time. Now I know what to call it!

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