Sharks Update: They’re Back with a Bite

Sharks Hockey has returned, and with some drastic changes to the team and structure – which should be no shock to anyone who watched the playoffs. Here is what’s new and can be expected out of the new season.

Captain Position

Yes, it’s true. Patrick Marleau, former Shark’s captain of approximately four years, has been removed from the position. According to the San Jose Mercury News, he is ok with the change and will still give all that he can to the team and its success. Rumor is still in the air that he may be traded, but if that were the big news, the fuss would be over that instead. Joe Thornton is in a different boat; he is no longer assistant captain, but he is one candidate to take Marleau’s place. There is no final decision on this though, and Head Coach Todd McLellan has said the decision should be made by the middle of September, during training camp. The Mercury News also said that Dan Boyle is an “obvious candidate to replace Marleau as captain,” and the third option is Joe Pavelski. One thing is certain though; with new leaders in both captain’s positions, the upcoming season will definitely have some changes. 

Who Won’t Be Returning

There’s a large list this year of who to say farewell to: Alxei Semenov, Tomas Plihal, Marcel Goc, Travis Moen, Lukas Kaspar, Brian Boucher, Jeremy Roenick, Mike Grier, and as of Saturday, Jonathan Cheechoo and Milan Michalek. Roenick originally planned to retire after the 2007-08 season, but with a new coach he had decided to give it one more shot. Not even making it to the second round, though, he finally called it quits. At the last home game, he gave a farewell speech to fans that many will always remember. Also, with Boucher gone, there will be changes in the goaltending. With the case of Cheechoo and Michalek, some are shocked but some are not surprised. Cheechoo in the past few seasons has not been playing to his usual expectations, and many have been disappointed in his performance. The two players were traded Saturday for Dany Heatley from the Ottawa Senators.

Who’s New

The team’s coaching staff signed four new members (all with one-year contracts) to the team: defenseman Joe Callahan and Danny Groulx, center Dwight Helminen, right wing Jed Ortmeyer, and as mentioned above, Dany Heatley. Callahan played his first NHL season with the New York Islanders last season. General Manager Doug Wilson described Callahan on the Sharks website as, “a poised defensemen that is a good puck mover. He is an experienced professional who brings a great deal of competiveness to our organization.” Groulx played 80 games last season in the American Hockey League (AHL) and placed 14^th in points. He acquired 130 points in 415 regular season games in his AHL career. Wilson feels his experience is valuable and strong. He said, “He’ll add good depth to the organization and has a wealth of postseason experience at the American Hockey League level.” Helminen has played five years of professional hockey, and during last season he made his NHL debut with Carolina. Wilson said that the organization has been watching him for a long time and feels he “helps build our organizational depth.” Ortmeyer has played with Nashville for the past two seasons, and also earned 23 points playing for Milwaukee (AHL). Wilson feels his energy will help push his teammates, something the Sharks seem to need. Dany Heatley, the most recent addition to the team, was obtained through the trade of Cheechoo and Michalek. The coaching staff hopes that he will pick up the slack the team seems to have been experiencing. His 50 goal-per-season average should help the team tremendously, especially when it comes time for the playoffs.

Goaltending

The Sharks signed two goalies for the new season: Thomas Greiss (with a two-year contract) and Henrik Karlsson (with a one-year contract). Wilson said of Greiss, “After a tremendous season in Worcester and an outstanding playoffs, we are excited to have Thomas under contract for the next two seasons. His development towards becoming an NHL goaltender has continued to progress. We were very impressed with the work ethic and dedication he has put forth and the results have shown in his play.” According to the Sharks website, his save percentage is 0.86, which isn’t too far behind Nabokov’s regular season save percentage of 0.91. Karlsson spent last season playing the sport in Sweden, where in 32 games his save percentage was .921 in 32 games. With these two new goaltenders and Nabokov, the goaltending for this year can be predicted to improve from previous seasons.

Coaching

There is a new member to the coaching staff: Matt Shaw. The announcement was made on July 17 that he would now be working alongside McLellan. “Next year is a big year for all of us as players and as coaches and he and I have worked together in the past so there is a comfort level,” said McLellan. “He has tremendous character and a strong ability to interact with the players and coaches.” With his work for the past two years on the Minnesota Wild, he has desirable skills in pre-scouting opposing teams and in-game analysis. He has worked for 1000 professional and college level hockey games, and played 138 games as a defensemen on his college teams, so it’s no doubt that his experience will be useful on the coaching staff.

The 2009-10 season is expected to bring new and great advances for the team. With almost every aspect of the team being revamped, only time will tell how great these advances will be.