Sharks’ position to be settled Saturday
Time to clean out the notebook for the final weekend of a wild season that — even after 81 games — could see the playoffbound Sharks finish second, third or fourth in the Pacific Division.
How crazy is this? If Anaheim beats Arizona, Los Angeles beats Dallas and San Jose loses in regulation to Minnesota on Saturday ... then the Ducks, Kings and Sharks finish 2-3-4 behind the Golden Knights. That sets up San Jose-Vegas and Anaheim-L.A. first-round playoff matchups. The more likely scenario, however, is a series for the Sharks against either the Kings (again!) or Ducks, who they’ve faced in the postseason once (2009).
Even more crazy? While California’s three teams have all reached the playoffs in five of the past eight years, the three Western Canada teams — Vancouver, Edmonton and Calgary — have not all qualified for the same postseason in 27 years. The last time was 1991, or the spring before the Sharks debuted. It was a fitting end indeed as
Henrik Sedin fed Daniel Sedin for the winning goal in OT on Thursday in the final home game for the retiring twins after 17 years in Vancouver. It made for amazing theater inside Rogers Arena, especially as each received thunderous standing ovations upon completion of every third-period shift. And, to no one’s surprise, they shared the No. 1 star as no second or third stars were announced.
Going into Saturday’s regular-season finale, Sharks defenseman Marc-Edouard
Vlasic has committed only two minor penalties — both delayof-games — all season. His other 30 minutes came after a final horn when he was assessed 10-minute misconduct penalties — two on March 31 and one on Jan. 25. In other words, Vlasic waited to vent as to not impact his team and miss time during a game. Vlasic did not visit the penalty box in October, November and February.
Right or wrong, it’s common for NHL coaches to be fired during the season. Heck, Chicago axed Paul Thompson after an 11-5 loss in the 1944-45 opener. More recently, Philly booted
Peter Laviolette three games into the 2013-14 season. Well, none were fired this season. And any speculation the Blackhawks’ fall would cost Joel
Quenneville his job was dashed Thursday when ownership announced Quenneville and general manager Stan
Bowman will return next season.
Had Quenneville been let go, that might have triggered other teams to speed up their firings in order to secure Coach Q. Instead, there still may not be a lot of teams tempted to look long and hard behind the bench besides Calgary and a couple teams with high playoff expectations who lose early. Quality veteran coaching candidates Dave Tippett, Dan Bylsma and Darryl Sutter probably didn’t figure they’d have to wait this long for another opportunity, assuming all want back in the game. One team that doesn’t figure to boot its first-year coach despite falling out of contention earlier than any other team — Arizona. Under Rick Tocchet, the Coyotes have gone 17-8-3 since Feb. 6, a spoiler run that has cost a number of playoff hopefuls points over the past two months.
Speaking of surprises, take a look back at what bookmakers projected at the outset of the season. Vegas has earned 41 more points than Bovada’s forecast of 68. Colorado (+23) and New Jersey (+22½) are the next two overachievers. Montreal (-28 ½), Edmonton (-28) and Buffalo (-26) are the top three to fall short of projected final point totals. The Sharks were expected to finish with 96 points, so they’ll land over after hitting the 100-point plateau Thursday for the eighth time in club history.
Will Brent Burns win a second straight Norris trophy? The San Jose defenseman is second in blueline scoring (65), second in assists (54) and third among all skaters with 328 shots. That minus-18 sticks out. Conversely, isn’t it time to add Vlasic to the conversation? He has as many goals as Burns (11), but more important, he’s a plus-10 while assigned to neutralize top forwards on a nightly basis.
Logan Couture should get recognition in Selke voting as being among the league’s best defensive forwards. The Sharks’ versatile two-way center is a plus-1 entering Saturday. While he was busy matching up against top forwards all season, he’s managed to score a careerhigh 34 goals and only taken nine minor penalties. And don’t sleep on third-line pivot Chris
Tierney for Lady Byng consideration. He has career highs in goals (17) and points (40) in addition to only eight penalty minutes as one of only three Sharks with a chance to appear in all 82 games.
Briefly: The Sharks signed forward Noah Gregor to an entry-level contract Friday. Gregor, 19, had 29 goals and 65 points for Victoria and Moose Jaw in the Western Hockey League this season. He was a fourth-round pick in 2016 by San Jose. … All but one of Thursday’s 12 games were decided by one goal, the most in NHL history. The previous mark was 10 one-goal decisions, which happened seven times. … Nashville clinched its first Presidents’ Trophy.