The Fifth Liners

This year was one to forget for San Jose Sharks as they crawled home only 11th overall in the Western Conference. For the first time in over a decade, the Sharks failed to make the play-offs. This lapse in form also led to sacking of Todd McLellan as Head Coach. What exactly went wrong? Well not having a clear leader seemed to affect the direction on the team. Long time leader, Joe Thornton had the 'C' removed from his jersey in the off-season. Copying Montreal, the Sharks went with four alternates instead. While the Habs made it work, production seemed to slow at the SAP Arena. Joe Pavelski was top scorer with over 70 points and the other big four Logan Couture , Brent Burns , Thornton and Patrick Marleau all contribute around the 60 point mark. But outside of these guys, the higher points score was 36 points. The Sharks need to find a way to round the side more, because right now it is just a party of five. Former Devil's boss, Peter De Boer has been installed ...

It's time to grade the NHL teams' overall performance for 2014-15. The grades range from A* to E-. Another tail of woe, this time from north of the border. There are two fundamental  rules in hockey: the first is 'don't try and fight Zdeno Chara', the second is 'score more goals than your opponents'. The Oilers average goals per game was a paltry 2.35, 24th worst in the league (or 24th best if you're an optimist). Meanwhile at the other end of the ice, the team conceded an average of 3.37 goals per game, officially the leakiest defense in the NHL. The goalie situation at Rexall Place is dire, in 2014-15 Ben Scrivens, Victor Fasth, Richard Bachman, Laurent Brossoit and Tyler Bunz all clocked up ice time for the Oilers in front of net. With the lack of consistency at the back, coupled with a defensive corps who couldn't manage a single positive +/-, it's a wonder the Oilers were able to finish higher than Arizona and Buffalo. There were a...

So once more, the Edmonton Oilers are looking towards a new man to lead them back towards the promised land. That man comes in the shape of former San Jose coach, Todd McLellan . After recently being given the chop in California after a seven year stint, this guy has been given the tough challenge of actually getting something out of a beleaguered Edmonton side! When former boss, Dallas Eakins was given the boot back in December, the damage had already been done to their season as Edmonton as usual limped home dead last in the Western conference to claim another wooden spoon. But what does McLellan offer that other coaches will not? Well for one he brings a consistent play off run with him! In his seven seasons in charge he led San Jose to over six playoff appearances (including two conference finals). His record of  311-163 from a possible 434 regular season games is a fine record to take across to Alberta. Eakins was an ambitious experiment that sadly went array. His youthfu...

It's been a busy week, what with the Champion's League final, the Go Karts in Monaco and Daft Punk releasing their new album. Anyway back to hockey. Things are sewn up in the east now, the Penguins will beat  play Boston in the Eastern Conference Final. In the west however, it's a different story with Detroit and LA still fighting it out, touch wood Detroit will make the most of the home ice advantage and win the series. San Jose on the other hand are the little train that never gave up. Despite the Kings dominating game five and shutting out the Sharks, Coach Todd McLellan must have slipped some kangaroo juice into his players' Gatorade cos last night they bounced right back*. I've heard of rushing the goal, but the Kings' initial strategy seemed to be 'rush the penalty box'. Kyle Clifford, Mike Richards and Anze Kopitar all made visits to the box in the first five minutes of play. Presumably Darryl Sutter will rethink this strategy as it al...