Blogging the Blackhawks and Sharks…LIVE from San Jose.

My typically erratic work schedule has me in San Francisco this week.  In a fortuitous bit of scheduling, my adopted home town Blackhawks are in San Jose to play the Sharks; a battle of two of the league’s hottest clubs early in this abbreviated season.  And while most of the Bay Area (and one loan Steeler fan) remain chronically depressed over the 49ers' Super Bowl loss; the local hockey gentry were clearly fired up for this early season grudge match.

If I’m 2,000 miles from home and headed to a sporting event, it can only mean one thing...a Bill Simmons style recap of the evening.  Rest assured this is approved for all audiences including Penguin and Philly fans.  All times pacific standard time and HEAVILY estimated. 

1:20pm – The miracle that is Stub Hub.  It takes me 5 minutes to find, purchase, and receive tickets to a hockey game in San Jose. 

6:20pm – Call me a technology curmudgeon but I simply do not trust GPS.  Alas, I fire up Siri and let her be my guide rather than using the old school printed Google directions our forefathers relied on.  By the time I return to my hotel five hours later I will conclude that Siri took me a solid 15 minutes out of my way.  Grrrr.

7:10pm – Parking by the HP Pavilion is $25, which is a bit steep in my humble estimation.  News flash, the Silicon Valley billionaire era ended in 2001.

 

 

7:15pm – A quick check of the IPhone shows the Penguins win their 4^th straight, 4-2 over the Islanders.  This point is fairly irrelevant to the evening’s adventure but for the fact that there is NEVER an inappropriate time to mention four straight Penguin victories.  ALL HAIL THE MIGHTY PENGUIN…BLESSED BE THE PENGUIN, FOR IT IS GOOD.

7:30pm – My seat is in the isle…literally.  You walk up the steps and literally right in to my seat on the edge of row 6.  It makes for an incredible view if nobody is in front of you.  IF…nobody is in front of you.

7:35pm – My issues with Blackhawks’ bird mascot Tommy Hawk are well documented but taking that out of the equation; the Sharks' mascot repels from the scoreboard to the ice on a rope.  I don’t care what team you root for, dopey shark mascots dropping from the sky is simply awesome.

7:40pm – Corey Crawford spits up a brutal rebound and Joe PAVELski pounces it on it for an early goal.  Not the start the Hawks were looking for.

7:45pm – Some guy named Tommy Wiggles fires a wicked wrister by Crawford to make it 2-0.  I’m a Penguin fan by trade but I fear I’ve transferred my usual bad road karma to the Hawks.  In an ironic twist of fate, Wiggles (not his actual name) is a Chicago native.  Go figure.  Laser beam of a shot but Crawford was WAY too deep in his net.  Crawford is playing like…well, he’s struggling.

7:50pm – In yet another incredibly ironic twist, Blackhawks’ forward and Pittsburgh native Brandon Saad scores his first NHL goal to cut the deficit in half.  A Pittsburgh guy who lives and works in Chicago has a big hockey adventure in San Jose.  If Saad was an accountant…he’d be me !  Onward and upward.

7:55pm – Crawford gives up another softie to make it 3-1.  I start gesticulating wildly for Coach Q to pull him for Ray Emery.  I’m not sure what’s worse, that I somehow feel this action will affect Quenville’s decision or that I’m aggressively lobbying to see Ray Emery enter an NHL game.

7:56pm – While the crowd is still celebrating the 3^rd Sharks goal, Andrew Shaw pounds a rebound past by my wife’s all-time favorite player Antii Niemi.  From 2,000 miles away I sense massive conflict and angst.

8:00pm – This game is just nuts.  Marcus Kruger of all people ties it at 3.  Again...Marcus Kruger.  We’ve had 6 goals on about 4 shots in the first period and amazingly neither goaltender gets the hook.

8:14pm – I grab a bite to each between periods.  They actually have Panda Express at the Shark Tank but I’m thinking Kung Pao chicken and hockey, not a match.  Which regrettably leads to the following…

8:15pm – I find a place called Sonoma Chicken which I mistakenly assume will be healthier than burgers or dogs.  I order a jalapeno chicken sandwich and I’m told it comes with tortilla chips.  I notice they also have sides of rice and mashed potatoes which apparently go with their rotisserie chicken meal.  So I ask the guy if I can have potatoes instead of chips.  He responds, “The sandwich only comes with chips.”  I ask him if I can pay extra for a side of potatoes.  He responds, “No, it comes with chips.”  I tell him again, “I will pay extra (i.e. cash) for the potatoes.”  He says, “No, we can’t do that.”  Seriously, they will not SELL me a side of mashed potatoes, let alone just give it to me.  YOU CAN’T MAKE THIS STUFF UP.

8:30pm – The San Jose ushers take their jobs really, really seriously.  They absolutely refuse to let people walk to their seats until a stoppage in play (a policy I support).  They also walk through the sections and enforce that you sit back in your chair because leaning forward obstructs the view of those behind you.  Must be some kind of new liberal social policy in California.

8:50pm – Jamaal Mayers, the guy the Hawks pay to beat people up, absorbs a horrific high speed hit at the blue line and appears to be knocked out.  Duncan Keith of all people comes to his aid and a brawl ensues.  I could spend time lamenting the risks to Keith’s expensive new false teeth but instead I’ll go with my old familiar rant.  How can the NHL claim fighting is necessary as a deterrent to cheap shots but add a 2 minute instigator and 10 minute misconduct if you fight to actually defend a teammate...after a cheap shot?   Keep in mind that if Keith had waited until the next shift and ASKED for a fight, it’s all good.  So apparently fighting is perfectly acceptable as a deterrent to cheap shots, as long as the other guy gives his express written consent.  Cause you know…that makes sense.

8:51pm – End of anti-fighting rant.

9:00pm – Jonathan Toews strips Douglas Murray puck naked, and sets up Patrick Kane for a brilliant one time finish.  Play of the night, hands down. The Hawks now have four goals or TWO more than I’ve been treated too COMBINED in the last FOUR Penguin road games I’ve attended.  Not that I’m bitter.

9:01pm – I come to the random realization that I am no longer repulsed by the presence of Marian Hossa in a Blackhawks’ uniform.  Just five years and all is forgiven.

9:05pm – Kiss cam in San Jose is borderline soft core porn.   

9:15pm – Men’s room at the Shark Tank gets 4 stars.  And trust me…I’m an expert in such evaluations.

9:35pm - Crawford robs (insert Shark name here) with a brilliant point blank save.  Give Coach Q credit for sticking with his guy and for somehow managing to ignore the crazy gesticulations from section 221 just 90 minutes earlier.

9:50pm – The linesmen gets clocked with a slap shot clearing attempt and crumbles to the ice in agony.  Over 17,500 fans cheer in unison because, you know, nothing unites us like a potentially serious injury.  Why on earth would ANYBODY want to be an official?   

10:00pm – Hawks fans know about the crazy, long haired freaky guy who makes bizarre angry faces and gestures on the scoreboard every game to fire up the UC. Well, in San Jose they have their own version; a fat old guy who looks suspiciously like Bruce Boudreau (seriously).  As I watch his stomach and man boobs crescendo like waves in the Pacific, I am officially thankful they for the earlier mashed potatoes rejection.  Just one less thing for me to recycle (read, vomit).

10:05pm – This comment from a Sharks fan behind me is pretty much the GREATEST SUMMATION EVER of the career of Scott Gomez.  “He does not score very often…but he has good ideas.”  Bravo.

 

10:06pm - It's just too good to consider that Gomez, the most overpaid bust in NHL history is added to a team that already includes Joe Thornton and Patrick Marleau.  I'm literally salavating at the amount of smart ass material this gives me for my playoff predictions.  By the way, I finally notice Thornton on the ice when he serves a delay of game penalty against Niemi.  So that's something.

10:10pm – Patrick Kane fires home an empty netter…HAWKS WIN!  Huge win for the red hot Hawks.  I bolt for the exit and beat traffic thanks primarily to my perfectly placed isle seat.

 

10:15pm – My rush to beat traffic leaves no time to program the GPS. The printed directions send the wrong way on the expressway. Technology karma sucks.

10;20pm – I’m listening to a sports talk show hosted by get this…GUY HABERMAN.  Seriously…GUY HABERMAN !!!  Guy knows his stuff although he spends too much time lamenting the life and times of Jim Harbaugh.  By the way, did you know the two head coaches in the Super Bowl were brothers?

 11:30pm – End of a long day?  Desperately needed sleep or completely useless blog?  You guessed it.

Free Ride is Over for Fleury

At his best, Marc-Andre Fleury is one of the top goaltenders in the National Hockey League.

And like most elite goaltenders, Fleury often suffers at the expense of unreasonable fan expectations.  Which is a politically correct way of saying he bears the brunt of the blame whenever the red light goes on, deserved or not.

That’s the life of an NHL goaltender; especially one who plays for a talented team that can be charitably described as “lapse” times defensively from time to time.  Tom Barrasso lived in comparable fashion during his best years in the Burgh, long before he became a local media pariah.  It's fair to say that life as a Penguin goaltender is far more challenging than it is for say, Brian Elliott in St’ Louis.

Perhaps it truly is a matter of expectations.  We have seen that Fleury at his best can be as good as any goaltender in the game.  So to whatever extent he’s not at that level it’s considered a letdown.  That may very well be the case but I struggle to believe that Henrik Lundqvist faces the same level of vitriol as Fleury after a bad performance.

More often than not I think Fleury is an easy scapegoat.  Most fans remember Michael Grabner’s shot going under Fleury’s arm; not the horrendous giveaway by Deryk Engelland that precipitated a 100 foot breakaway. 

So with that preamble in the bank, I will now contradict pretty much everything I’ve stated above.  As great as Fleury is and can be, as great as he was during back to back Stanley Cup finals’ runs, he is officially on notice.  He has to be better, especially in the post season.  And if he is not, he will not play.  The Penguins made that crystal clear by bringing in Tomas Vokoun as their second goaltender.

Ray Shero could have signed any number of back-ups during the offseason.  He could have brought in a reliable second guy like Chris Mason or Al Montoya.  Instead he chose a goaltender with a decade long track record as a 60+ game starter.  That was not an accident or coincidence, it was a message.  The goaltending paradigm in the Burgh has changed.

Simply put, the days where Marc-Andre Fleury can expect to start 4 of 5 games on reputation alone are over.  The Pens have made it clear that if he’s not the best goaltender, he sits.  I truly believe Fleury must outplay Vokoun to keep his job, for better or for worse.

The issue is no longer assessing Fleury’s culpability in losses.  It’s now about whether Fleury can be the difference maker in Penguin wins.  Good is no longer good enough.  Fleury has to be great, and consistently so.

That’s his pedigree and his pay grade.  When you have a $5 Million per year goaltender and a shaky defense, the expectations are clear.  Fleury needs to return to his 2009 and 2010 post season form.  He cannot be a caretaker net minder on this team; he has to be the Jonathan Quick or Tim Thomas style difference maker he is fully capable of being.

There is no getting around the fact that Fleury was terrible against Philly last year.  We can debate the reasons why; including my staunch belief he was grievously overplayed in the regular season (twice starting 4 games in 6 days).  There is no doubt in my mind he wore down physically in April.

And I will not let the Penguins off the hook for what was a historically bad defensive performance in that series.  No goaltender would have thrived behind that defensive abomination.  That loss put everyone on notice; the team has to be better from 1 to 20; including the head coach. 

But simply put, Marc-Andre Fleury must be better.  He has to be a post season difference maker on this team every bit as much as Crosby and Malkin.

 
The Pens have departed early from the playoffs in three straight seasons.  There were plenty of reasons the Pens lost in 2010 and 2011 and Fleury is only one of them.  In fairness, Fleury played better than he gets credit for against Tampa and without 87 and 71 there was little or no chance the Pens would win that series.

Last year however was a different animal.  Yes the defense was exceptionally poor at times but it also became clear that other than game 5, Fleury was not making the big saves when needed.  He lost his confidence and his game fell apart.  Even after the Consol crowd performed mental CPR in game 5, Fleury crashed back to earth in game 6.

His performance was bad at face value; incomprehensible in the context of how great Fleury was for most of the season. 

It was truly the first time since he arrived in Pittsburgh that I questioned Fleury’s future with the organization.  It was also eerily reminiscent of his early season struggles in 2010-11.  That was the year that Fleury struggled terribly for two months; coinciding fortuitously with the greatest stretch of performance in Brent Johnson's life.

Which brings us back to Tomas Vokoun.

I am by no means his biggest supporter.  He always struck me as a great regular season goalie on bad teams; a guy who puts up a high save percentage but never wins anything.  You cannot objectively evaluate Vokoun’s career without conceding that he has only twice appeared in the post season and NEVER won a playoff series.  Even his work for the Czech Olympic team was subpar the one year he was their starter.

But there is no questioning that Vokoun has a number one track record and a starter’s pedigree.  There is also no question that the Penguins have never teamed a goaltender of this caliber with MAF.  At the very least, he’s capable of pushing Fleury; at the most he’s capable of taking his job.  That’s something Johnson could never do; even during his career season of 2010-11.

At face value, Vokoun was brought in to ease Fleury’s workload.  In reality however he was brought in as goaltending insurance and a legitimate threat to the number one job.  To wit, Fleury had a strong game last week in Ottawa and followed it up with a so-so performance against the Islanders; a game where he allowed just one obviously weak goal.   It’s the type of game that you could easily excuse a goaltender for given that the Pens were flat top to bottom.  In past years, that’s exactly what would have happened.

Not this year.

This year, Bylsma went immediately to Vokoun.  And Vokoun responded with a tremendous and stabilizing performance behind the best Penguin defensive effort of the year.  My guess is he will be back in the nets on Saturday against New Jersey.  A strong performance there and he might get the floundering Craps on Sunday as well.  That never would have happened with Johnson last season.

In the end, this is a good thing.  I believe Fleury is at his best when he’s pushed; as shown by Johnson in 2011 and by Ty Conklin in 2008.  Fleury never played better than he did after Conklin set a shockingly high bar with career best work.  When Fleury is at that level he is absolutely a game changing goaltender.  Having legitimate competition for post season playing time might very well push him back to it.

I also recall Bob Johnson doing the same thing to Barrasso during the first half of the 1990-91 season.  Barrasso was coming off a sluggish 1989-90 season and perhaps taking his number one position for granted.  I’m fairly confident that Tommy was not thrilled sitting behind the uninspired likes of Wendell Young and Frank Pietrangelo but ultimately the message got through; you have to be better.  That season ended with Pens carrying their first Stanley Cup.

The Penguins have some work to do to be legitimate Stanley Cup contenders.  That includes addressing a glaring need for grit and two obvious holes; a defensive defensemen and a second line winger.  As talented as this team is, those needs MUST be addressed. 

And just assuredly, they must get elite level goaltending.  Fleury has proven he can give that in the past.  This year, he'll have to prove it again.