Chris Townsend

Welcome Home

It was a warm welcome home last night at the Shark Tank not only for the home team but also for fan favorites Milan Michalek and Jonathan Cheechoo. The classy fans that filled the arena gave both players a well deserved round of applause. The sub plots thicken as Patrick Marleau played his 900^th game in the NHL at the ripe age of 30 years young and this was Dany Heatley’s first game against his old team the Ottawa Senators. To the delight of the 17500 plus that filled the HP Pavilion, Thomas Griess who was giving Evgeni Nabakov the night off and the Sharks came out on top with a 5-2 victory.

There was quite a bit going on last night and this was all before the puck dropped. Once the puck did drop according to Joe Thornton you forget who you are playing against and focus on the task at hand. There was no lack of focus last night from the top line. Heatley had great jump in his step recording 6 shots on net in the first period. Although he was unable to bulge the twine it was Heatley’s second effort on the back check that kept the puck in at the blue line which created a 2 on 1 down low that saw Marleau score on a one timer shot from Joe Thornton for the Sharks first goal of the night. Less than a minute later Scott Nichol feathered a home run pass from his zone to a streaking Jamie McGinn who made no mistake on the break going top shelf on Ottawa goalie Brian Elliott. Just like that the Sharks were up 2-0 and it looked as though they may run away with it.

Milan Michalek is a player who did remember who he was playing against last night and like Heatley he also came out flying. The former Shark was the key player going the other way in the blockbuster trade and is off to a career start with the Senators. Michalek was responsible for both Ottawa goals last night. On his first goal he patiently out waited both the Sharks defence man Douglas Murray and starting goalie Thomas Griess on a 2 on 1 break and found the back of the net with ease to cut the lead to 1 at 12:03 of the first period. Milan’s 2^nd goal of the night came on an Ottawa power play with 4 minutes remaining in the second period.

Patrick Marleau’s other tally of the night came seconds after a power play expired in the second period banging in a rebound from a Dany Heatley shot. Thornton and Heatley each recorded assists on both of Marleau’s goals giving the top line 6 points on the night. It appears that the less responsibility he has the better he plays. Strip the “C” from him in the off-season and he has a career start. Take him away from the center position and put him on the wing with Thornton and Heatley, all of a sudden you have 3 Sharks among the league scoring leaders .

After a slow start to the season Ryan Clowe has been quite consistent scoring the 4^th goal of the game for the Sharks giving his team a 3 goal lead. Clowe has recorded 18 points in the last 18 games netting his 6^th goal of the season. Manny Malhotra potted an empty net goal with seconds remaining in the game to round out the scoring for San Jose.

Coach McLellan commented in the post game press conference that he was happy with Marleau’s all around game and that Heatley was good on both sides of the puck. Moving the former captain up to the wing to play on the top line can only be done on a team with depth. It was certainly worth the risk. The number one line for San Jose has been on fire since they were brought together and are showing no signs of slowing down. The best description for this trio while watching the game last night was suffocating. There is not another line in hockey that is more of a threat than the Sharks combination of Heatley, Thornton, and Marleau. Their average weight is 225 pounds and their average height is 6’4 feet tall. Their speed is exceptional and the league has not seen softer hands than Joe Thornton’s since Wayne Gretzky retired 10 years ago. No doubt from ice level you can see the fear of opposing players who are given the task of defending them. On the flip side the Sharks have been getting plenty of output from the other 3 lines on the roster. All lines are contributing offensively which makes it hard for the opposition to focus solely on the top unit.

Aside from a good win at home the night went pretty well for the home team. Many thought that some of the Ottawa players would take liberties on Heatley after causing a stir in the organization over the summer by asking to be traded. They did get the body on him a few times but all the hits were clean and there weren’t too many scrums after whistles blew to stop play.

The Sharks will try to continue their strong play at home tomorrow night as they host the St Louis Blues.

Thanks for reading,

Cam Gore