My Introduction and My first Blog

Hello everyone, my name is Eric Ritter and Christian A. has asked me to join the ranks of the Islanders Crazy Blog and I am very happy to do so. Some of you may recognize my name if you have seen any of my Youtube videos throughout last season, my channel name was TalkinHockey. Christian discovered me on there and asked that I join this blog and bring overall NHL coverage outside the normal Islanders he and other Long Island diehards post; and I will be happy to do so throughout the year. If you like my work, there are a few other places I'd like you to check out. One is hockeytube.com/us/ the domain owner for that website also discovered me on Youtube and ask that I be the NHL analyst for his site. It is a very new site and just launched and is still in its early stages, but as we get rolling closer towards the NHL season the site will start to take shape. The other place I'd like you to visit is my Twitter, please follow me at EricHockeytube. I promise no personal tweets, only short quips about the NHL that are noteworthy, but not necessarily deserving of an entire blog or video. Checking out my Twitter and hockeytube.com/us/ would mean a lot to me, but being a part of this blog is also important to me and I hope to bring reading worthy blogs to your fine site.
Below is the first blog I would like to post on your site, it is about the San Jose Sharks and I wrote shortly after they were eliminated from the playoffs back in April. So while the main idea of the article/blog may be a bit outdated, the general idea/opinion is still there, plus it gives you all an idea of my writing style and ability. I look forward to any and all feedback, questions and comments and look forward to spending this season with the Islanders Crazy blog readers. Thanks for welcoming me, I'm quite happy to be aboard!

Time For San Jose Roster Renovation is Now

It seems as if heading into October each of the past three seasons, all you heard was that “this is San Jose’s year.” With a new head coach in rookie bench boss Todd McLellan and a face lifted defense, that was enough for prognosticators to overlook three straight years of second round playoff exits and proclaim the Sharks favorites to win the Stanley Cup in the 09 season.
And when you consider the start San Jose got off to, many doubters started to become believers.
The Sharks burst out of the gate going 16-3-1 in the first quarter of their 08-09 campaign. They shot to the top of the league standings and camped there most of the season.
Despite struggles during the third-quarter of their season, the Sharks pulled it together down the stretch, setting team records for wins (53), points (117) and winning the franchise’s first ever Presidents’ Trophy.
Heading into the first round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs, Shark fans and players alike felt confident with their opponent. Anaheim seemingly did its best down the stretch to not make the playoffs despite getting in as the eighth seed. The Sharks won the season series 4-2 over the Ducks and boasted 11 more wins and 26 more points than their California adversary.
But six games in, the Sharks were out.
After an abysmal start to the 05-06 season coming out of the NHL lockout, it took the acquisition of Joe Thornton to turn the team and the season around. Thanks mainly to the Thornton trade and solid goaltending by Evgeni Nabokov, San Jose made the postseason that year, and the next two years to follow.
The Sharks had been good for one series win each of the last three years, but had also been good for getting the boot in the second round.
So how could San Jose regress and not even win a series the same year they set franchise records and lead the league?
When Detroit eliminated San Jose from the playoffs in 2007, the speculation of a roster renovation in the offseason began. But the team kept its primary pieces together, only to again get eliminated in the second round by Dallas last year.
But rather than redoing the roster, former coach Ron Wilson was fired, and McLellan was brought in. Having been groomed under Mike Babcock in Detroit, Sharks Vice President and General Manager Doug Wilson thought that the puck-possession style of play McLellan would teach the players would be more beneficial than blowing up the roster and starting over.
The success achieved in the regular season now means nothing since McLellan and the Sharks were sent home in the first round for the first time since 2001. The six game series loss gives San Jose a 20-21 playoff record since the lockout; a losing postseason record for a team that has won 197 games in the last four regular seasons.
The top players always receive the largest amount of blame, so fingers once again are likely to be pointed at the likes of Thornton, Jonathan Cheechoo and now former team captain Patrick Marleau, none of which are older than 30. The team as a whole is primarily young, the only two players on the opening roster that were over 35 were Jeremy Roenick and Rob Blake.
So, in a league where a large percentage of the superstars are under 25, why would San Jose want to have a fire sale and shake up the roster? The answer: Chemistry.
Chemistry is one of, if not the most important aspect of a hockey team. No matter how good a roster may look on paper, if there is no chemistry, there is no success. Just look at the rosters of the New York Rangers and Washington Capitals at the turn of the century for proof; all-star players littered their line up, but that still wasn’t enough to get either team close to the playoffs.
It’s apparent after four straight years of failure in the post season that San Jose has a group capable of great things during the regular season, but they also have a group that lacks the spark necessary to collectively raise one another’s game come April.
San Jose shouldn’t move any of the 25 and younger players on their roster, they are the true foundation. And Nabokov logically isn’t going anywhere. So revert to the aforementioned Thornton, Cheechoo and Marleau, trade them for pieces that could better benefit your team.
Thornton is one of the top set-up men and playmakers in the league, the type of center Columbus has been searching for to play with Rick Nash. Cheechoo can be a brilliant goal scorer; there's a team on Long Island that had trouble finding the back of the net last season, give them a call. And Marleau is a gritty veteran that can score but isn’t afraid to get his hands dirty. There’s a mess in Ottawa a leader like him could certainly help to clean up and San Jose has shown interest in Dany Heatley. Heatley for Marleau anyone?
Big disappointments calls for big change, and after four years, it’s time for San Jose to pull the trigger on some blockbuster deals that’ll shake up the appearance, and hopefully success, of the team. With a solid cast of young players on both offense and defense, and one of the best goalies in the league manning their net, San Jose may be just a trade, or three, away from finally bringing a Cup to the fans at the Shark Tank.
-ER