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31 Thoughts

Why 31 thoughts? Well, December has 31 days. Elliotte Friedman gives out 30 thoughts regularly, and I\'m not going to let him one-up me. And finally, there are 30 teams in the NHL, but only one I* care about - the San Jose Sharks

*am paid to**
**sadly not really :(

1. Was firing Doug Wilson the answer, and was Wilson the problem? The Sharks were 6-9-2 with Wilson, and are now 5-6-3 with new head coach and former Worcester bench boss David Volek. The jury is still out, but to be fair, Wilson\'s new team - Montreal - isn\'t doing so hot with him either.

2. One big problem: the powerplay. A week ago, its efficiency was sitting in the single digits, by far the worst in the league. Recently it has crept back up to 12%. If it were a merely average 19%, the Sharks would have scored 10 more goals to date, and their goal differential even.

3. Another big problem: the penalty kill. At 78.3%, it\'s only just outside bottom 10 in the league.

4. One way to allow fewer powerplay goals? Take fewer penalties. The Sharks have taken just 6 penalties in their last 4 games, and two of those were clean sheets.

5. Unfortunately, 2 of the last 4 games were also losses to Edmonton. The first is understandable - an away game the night after a dramatic win vs Calgary. The second at home, with the Sharks managing just 16 shots? That\'s more difficult to explain.

6. Yet more problems: goaltending. All three of the Sharks goaltenders have save percentages in the vicinity of .870. Only 6 starting goaltenders have managed worse. Meanwhile, in Vancouver, Andrei Vasilevski rocks an .892 sv% - too bad the Canucks just can\'t score goals to support him.

7. On the road, the Sharks sport a pitiful 4-12-2-0 record. They\'re much better at home, going 7-3-3-0. Having played 5 more road than home games, there\'s still room for the overall record to rebound.

8. How well do the Sharks need to play down the stretch to make the playoffs? With 27 points in 31 games, they need 63 in 51 to reach 90 points, which could be just enough for one of the last 2 spots.

9. Considering the Sharks managed point percentages around .700 the last 3 seasons, running .600 in the final 51 games isn\'t out of the question. Even 77 points in the final 51 games wouldn\'t be impossible... would it?

10. How about that Ilya Kovalchuk? 21G, 21A in 31GP. He has been everything the Sharks expected when they acquired him this offseason, and is probably the main reason why the coach was first to be fired over the GM.

11. On the less positive end, countrymate Alex Radulov has seen his play slip. With 21 points in 31 games, he\'s on pace for just 55 points, which would be his lowest total since 2007. A recent demotion to the third line doesn\'t seem to have helped.

12. A minor issue - penalties. Radulov has 38 PIM, and teammate Blaine Byron has 39 (34 less one fighting major). Neither play particularly physical hockey, and both have cut down on their antics recently, but they\'re still on pace for well over 80 PIM each, mostly in minors.

13. Giveaways, giveaways - Radulov also ranks second last on the team in takeaway-giveaway differential, with -19. Kovalchuk is first, but he scores enough to make up for it, no?

14. Perhaps more problematic is Derek Forbort\'s differential of -17, good for third worst on the team. It\'s sometimes hard to remember that he\'s just 22, but those number need to improve.

15. On the more positive side, Forbort leads the team in shot blocks as usual, averaging one per game.

16. One way to get Forbort going? Cut down on his minutes. At 27 per game, he is far and away the ice time leader for the Sharks, and ranks eighth in the league.

17. On another positive note, how about rookie Matt Killian? Once looking like an inevitable preseason cap casualty, the puck-moving defenseman leads the Sharks\' blueline with 16 points in 31 games and is a serious Calder Trophy contender.

18. Back to the negatives, former Calder Trophy winner Oscar Klefbom is struggling, with just 9 points and a team-worst minus 10 rating.

19. One way to pick up production - get more powerplay minutes. Unusually, though, Klefbom has been skating as a forward on the Sharks\' mostly unproductive second unit. Coach Volek figures that lining Klefbom alongside burly Canadians Ryan Getzlaf and Ryane Clowe is good way to put the fear of god in opposing goaltenders.

20. As much as the league has been fixated on smooth-skating, slick-passing blueliners, the defensive men are doing their jobs on the Sharks. Mike Komisarek, Matt Smaby and Keith Ballard lead the team in takeaway differential at around 1 per game each, and are a combined even in plus-minus.

21. Every Sharks defenseman should be looking over their shoulders. 2013 second-rounder Ian McCoshen is tearing up the AHL, with 24 points and a +31 in 31 games. The 19-year old only needs some strength and conditioning training to be ready to challenge for a roster spot next season - or maybe even sooner.

22. Ivanhoe! Rugged Russian winger Ivan Telegin is earning his nickname this season, with two suspensions totalling 12 games so far. They\'ve put a slight damper in his production, though, as he has just 7 points and a -5 rating in the 20 games he\'s managed to play.

23. Not so sharp after all? Patrick Sharp now has 8 points in 11 games after a hot start; meanwhile, Andrew Cogliano has 9 for the Hawks (albeit just one goal and with a -4). The next 50 games will determine if Sharp can improve the Sharks\' special teams enough to justify this deal.

24. Valtteri Filppula\'s attempts to center the third line have met with little more success than Cogliano\'s did. The Finn has just 2 points and a -6 in 8 games since being brought over from Montreal, in yet another mutually detrimental transaction between these two teams.

25. Has everyone forgotten about Kevin Hayes? The strapping winger has 39 goals in his last 64 AHL games, without a hint of a recall coming soon.

26. At least the sauce is still cookin\'. Worcester is 4th in the AHL with 42 points and is tied for 3rd best with just 77 goals against.

27. Funnily enough, Worcester\'s powerplay is struggling badly as well, running at just 15% in a league where 7 teams have managed 30% or better.

28. Jaroslav Pavelka is on fire in the AHL, managing a 2.35 GAA and .896 sv%. Unfortunately, that translates to a 3.81 GAA and .869 sv% in EHEC.

29. The Pacific division remains a major stumbling block for the Sharks\' playoff hopes, if there are any. 5 of the Western Conference\'s top 6 teams are in the Pacific. The Sharks would love to join that club, eh?

30. McDavid McEichel McNothin\'. As bad as the Sharks have been, there are still 6 other teams with worse records in EHEC. With the new draft lottery odds, the 7th worst team has a 6.5% chance of winning the McDavid sweepstakes.

31. Merry Christmas everyone! Ho ho ho ha ha ha, you knew the last point would be a cop out, didn\'t you?


San Jose Sharks
Posted: 2014/12/14

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