Originally Posted on Tuesday December 16, 2008 @ 02:40 PM EST at http://fans.nhl.com/members/JuiceinLA/boards/25586
Confession time for the Joocer.
Last night as the Wings played our arch rivals, the Avs, I did the unthinkable.
I attended the Kings-Sharks game.
Yea I know. I am filled with a self loathing so deep that not even the bottom of my 5th $10 Blue Moon and a mug of Theraflu could mask the guilt or stop my shame spiral. Here is my list of pathetic excuses and rationalizations, pick your favorite or come up with your own.
Excuses and rationalizations
1. The seats were dead center ice, 13 rows up. A gift from a DIE-HARD hockey fan, who gave up one of the best games of the year just so I could go.
2. The Wings game ended before the Kings-Sharks started.
3. I was tricked, he said “Kings-Sharks” I thought Wings-Sharks? In LA? Santa got my list!!!!I do believe!!!!
4. I blame you all. Ever since becoming involved in this place and with all you rapscallions I have grown as a hockey fan. Result? I am completely obsessed with the GAME and any opportunity to see it live.
5.It was a legitimate excuse to wear my Larionov sweater in public, because marching around my neighborhood every time a Wings game is on wearing the jersey, a replica Stanley Cup hat and a red foam finger chanting “We’re Number 1” gets old after a while. (Hookaay, THAT never gets old…)
6. I needed to go to the game on behalf of my Wings.
Yea. I said it. I went to the Kings-Sharks Game to scout the Sharks on behalf of the Wings.
For Thursday’s game.
And if Monday night’s Wings-Avs game is any indication, the Wings need a quick jolt. Last night’s Wings game was a debacle. No excuse for it whatsoever.
Yes, the Wings need a jolt of life indeed. Having shipped my cattle prod to Miss jleWings in Detroit, I knew I would have to resort to my own guile and wit to help my boys in red figure out what Tiburonian weaknesses exist, can be exploited and how. (Insert, “The Wings are SCREWED” joke here.) I have never tried to scout a game, and I wanted to see if I could do it. Turns out to be pretty hard actually. I kept getting caught up in enjoying the game, cold medicine and the orangey Belgian malts.
Funny, it also turns out that there may not be a better game to scout than the Kings-Sharks to learn a little about Tiburonian weaknesses. Why, you ask? Well. First: All good teams are underestimating the Kings, who are quietly becoming the hardest working, most unsung team in the league. Second: The Kings broke down the Sharks system and really did an excellent job neutralizing the Sharks for 60. Third: Kings and Sharks play a game closer in style (and by “closer”, I mean Sharks play an identical style) to the Wings than other teams in the West, so it was ideal for anticipating how Thursday’s game might play out. And Fourth: I WAS GIVEN AWESOME SEATS!!!!!!! Did I mention the awesome seats?
This game did not disappoint, and I hope I have some decent scouting tips for my boys in Red. I don’t actually profess to be a brilliant hockey analyst, but how else are you supposed to learn?
Truth is, the Kings took the Sharks off their game and controlled 60 minutes of that game last night, and I saw first hand how they did it: Speed, lock up both wingers, force the turnover, chip it out in the corners, solid pressure out of your own zone. Nothing fancy, nothing pretty.
To Wit, Juice’s Scouting Report: San Jose Sharks
Kings played a far better game than the final score indicates. They owned that game for almost all of the 60 minutes. Containing the Sharks did not turn out to be rocket science. But for a terrible shootout, the Kings should have stolen that game, even after losing their King Midas, Ersberg to a groin pull. (So painful to see go down. Get better Iceberg, LA needs you!)
Speed kills.
The Kings were able to disrupt the whole Shark system and had them chasing/fighting to keep up with the play for most of the game just by out gunning them. This was the key to the Kings 60 minutes of dominance. It was so noticeable that I actually thought “This will be fun for 2 periods, but then the Kings will have exhausted themselves” (It turns out they held strong through 65 minutes). Kings executed a rather clever (but not necessarily pretty) game of run and chase. Just gain possession and rush down to the other end as fast as you can. Don’t worry about pretty passing, do not pass go, do not collect $200.
The Kings out skated the Sharks, or at least had the Sharks struggling to keep pace, the whole game. Kings were able to force multiple shark turnovers in their own waters (three alone in OT) and drive down at the speed of light.
Rather than executing a pretty passing game, the Kings drove down, taking the sharks off their system and before the sharks could set up, they were able to corner the pucks, and dig in, retain possession and set up scoring opportunities. No pretty passes or cherry picking (per se).
Bait and Hook the Wingers
This is a biggie: Like a silver tip on a bucket of chum, KINGS KEPT A MAN ON EACH SHARK WINGER, rendering Thornton and the other centers largely ineffective.
Sharks D
Sharks play vintage Wings LWL defense. It works. Kings play a very similar defense to the Wings too. I had Homer’s butt flashbacks watching the play at both ends of the ice.
Sharks kept 2 men in the neutral 80% of the time, but if you can tie up the wingers and then bolt, it shows its cracks. On nearly every play the Kings would get two or three men across, and I don’t think the Kings had more than one or two bad turnovers (could be wrong).
Physical Game
Once the Kings got into the Sharks zone they took the game to “relatively” physical level. I say relatively because neither of these teams are physical bruising teams, despite the Ivanais-Shelley scrum in the second. There weren’t a lot of hard checks, in fact, neither of these teams can finish a forecheck.
Smear the Grier
One caveat- Watch Mike Grier. He’s a thug, especially behind the net. And he never gets called. Of course, he is the fastest thug I have ever seen. When he can get to the right, he flies! Lock him up on the left and I bet you neutralize him. And while we are on Grier- he was one of the only Sharks to force any turnovers.
Goalies
Boucher likely won’t be in goal on Thursday, so I didn’t pay that much attention to goal tending. Boucher’s blocker side is his weak link- if he really has one. Goaltending must be reckoned with. Nabby is great. Wings need to find his weakness, just like we used to: Keep putting the puck to the net, something will go in.
Our own goaltending will need to be on for sure. Sharks aren’t proficient with the long range slappers- or if they are I didn’t see it in this game, but they are very patient goal scorers. They don’t get flustered after 4-5 shots on net, they find ways to get the rebound.
Penalty Kills
The Shark’s kill is totally disrupt-able, The Kings were able to easily set up at the points and the Sharks just let them cycle, without challenging the point at all. As a result Kings were able to close in and to push the Sharks defense into net. Surprisingly, the Sharks were using the body to stop shots.
Power Play
Hmm. I have nothing insightful to say about this. Watch Clowe. He scored on the PP, after patiently chipping away forever.
Face-offs
Marleau is slow on the face off- Draper and Z should be able to beat him every time. Heck, Homer could probably beat him.
Lines/Ice Time
Marleau never left the ice, Clowe, Grier, Vlasic and Setoguchi logged a lot of ice time too, telling me the Sharks eventually realized the Kings were not a push over. Thornton and Marleau get tired. Speed will kill them.
Bottom Line?
Sharks are beatable. That said I realize its probable that they will bring an entirely different intensity and energy level to the Joe in Thursday. But still if you out-gun them and tie up their wingers you will have neutralized a huge part of their game.
LET’S GO RED WINGS!
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