WHooo Are You?

No, we're not going to Vegas to work under the green filtered lights.

We're wondering who you want to see drawn next on the Sharks. Gray was going to do Dan Boyle, but he seemed to cause her a bit of bad luck, so now she's decided she needs to draw someone else on the team. Who do you want to see and why? Comments are open!

NO DEAL!

Past the parts of a wedding ignored, you shall find some info regarding what could have been a deal that would have sent Heatly to San Jose. Apparently SJ is on the "approved" list of teams Heatly would move to, but the trade wasn't good enough.

I am wary of Garrioch, but in this case, it seems very very likely the the Sharks have been going after Heatly, and were willing to toss players at Ottawa to get him. Personally, I (Gray) am not at all comfortable with Heatly moving to the Sharks. Skills aside, past performances have shown us that there's a good chance he'll want out in a few seasons, and we could be stuck having paid a potentially high price for a guy who had no intention of sticking around.

There's no way any sane GM takes Cheech and Ehrhoff for Heatly. That would have been a steal of epic proportions. No, Ottawa is going to want more. A lot more. Picks, another player? (I think they have enough players, but ignoring that) Our Captain, perhaps? (DW DO NOT trade Marleau for this guy. Seriously) For as much as we Sharks fan talk about attitude being important, we seems to be willing to glaze over it somewhat in the case of Heatly.

I'm just not sure this guy has the type of attitude we need to push us over the "wait, how does the post season work?" hump.

As always h/t to TCY over at FTF who refuses to be scooped by anyone.

Meet JOE PA!

At the Sharks store, August 11th. During the day, so, take a long lunch that day and claim it was "mental health time".

I love that store has "a profusion of Sharks merchandise." Such a great word, profusion. In that teal profusion might there be a sweatshirt that would fit Gray both in terms of size and budget?

I like to think yes.

Teh Todd Doll Sketch

Tumble Weeds

This summer feels like it has been especially slow.

What we had to keep up going was "Clowe Watch" and the Batman movie, which morphed into a joint tale of Batshark and Clowe. We don't have the some fodder from which to spin yarns this summer, and that's rather sad. Sure, we could do a Torrey Mitchell watch, but that just doesn't have the same ring to it. I suppose we could do a Harry Potter tie in, but that's nowhere near as cool as a Batman tie in.

I'm not trying to add to the growing discontent over DW's lack of (big blockbuster) moves, but this is a slow summer. I'm just calling it as I see it.

Drawing the Sharks to resume once I'm well again.

Sharkie Doll Sketch

Please Forgive The Interruption

To say we had a long week would be putting it mildly. I have no desire to go into details, in part because this is very public and in part because I will have to tell the tale a lot over the next few days. The short version is I spent the morning discussing the issue with the authorities.

But, that being how it is, we'll be getting back to hockey asap. Sorry for the break in coverage but sometimes life takes a turn down the shitter and you have to deal with it before you deal with hockey.

Schedule Is Out! Rejoice!

Find it here!

We'll be discussing this later, probably this weekend.

Same goes for the signing of Nichol. A man who's name I will inevitably add an S to several times this season. My apologies in advance, sir. Welcome to Team Teal.

Late News Is Better Than None

It's been a whirlwind here the past 24-48 hours, so I have gotten behind on blogging. Sad times. Anyway, here's Pollak's "latest" update on the Sharks moves this summer.

We Used To Dread September. Now We Wait Impatiently For It

Sharks Pre-season schedule!

All TIMES Pacific
Thur. Sept. 17 @ Los Angeles Citizens Business Bank Arena 7:30 p.m.
Fri. Sept. 18 Vancouver HP Pavilion at San Jose 7:30 p.m.
Sat. Sept. 19 Phoenix HP Pavilion at San Jose 7:30 p.m.
Mon. Sept. 21 @ Anaheim Honda Center 7:05 p.m.
Wed. Sept. 23 @ Vancouver GM Place 7:00 p.m.
Fri. Sept. 25 Anaheim HP Pavilion at San Jose 7:30 p.m.
Sat. Sept. 26 @ Phoenix Jobing.com Arena 7:05 p.m.

Home games in bold.

More info found in the article here.

FREE AGENCY & TRADE UPDATES:

Travis Moen has left sunny and warm SJ for the cold snowy winters in Montreal according to TSN. Good luck, sir.

In other news, the Sharks finally finalized all those deal with Blake and Huskins that we'd known about for several days now.

M. Lemieux Annouces His Retirement

Working the Corners has the details. Reaction to come shortly posted.

Update:
Official Sharks article here. I hadn't realize he hadn't official retired back in '03. As a reminder, I wasn't watching hockey in '03. If I had been, I'd have been watching the Ducks or the Kings, and the world would be a darker place.

But I digress.

I think we all knew from the moment he signed with the China Sharks that he would, if at all possible, be up with the big club at some point. I'm still not sure what DW saw in him that warranted such a promotion, but he worked for it, and by all accounts was a huge boon to the WorSharks. When he did make it all the way back up, I really wanted to see it work out for him. He's here, and it'd be a helluva story, so why not cheer the guy on? Unfortunately, it was not in the cards, as Lemieux was sidelined with injuries and illness.

Not only did such long breaks in his play not entirely endear him to some fans, he was seen as taking up space someone else could have been better used in. But as confusing as a move as it may have been, I wasn't going to crap all over the guy for taking a chance to come back. He came so dangerous close to scoring a few times and you could tell that he still had the skill and drive, but the game had changed since he'd last taken to the ice, and his bite had lessened with age. He did try though. I don't think we can accuse him of not wanting to succeed. My hope was that should he find himself down with the NHL at the end of this season (and I figured he might, one way or another), that he'd stay to work or skate with the WorSharks.

The Sharks article says M. Lemieux would like to couch one day. I could see that happening, just one particular city. ;)

And with this announcement, thus ends Gray's great run with calling him "le mew" and picturing this:


No offense intended, M., I just have a nasty habit of leaving that second E out of you name when I type it, so I made a nickname of sorts. Many Sharks have them. It's because I like you. <3

The Monster Signs Elsewhere

Gustavsson signs with Toronto.

This doesn't come as a surprise to me. The Leafs only had one goalie before he signed, and he was injured at season's end. Toronto offered the best chance of getting regular starts this season.

Here, on the other hand, Nabby is the unquestionable number one and work horse of the team. Gustavsson wouldn't have gotten nearly as many starts, and while I think I read that he wanted to work with an experience goaltender, the lure of ice time is undoubtedly strong. I don't blame the kid in the slightest for signing where he feels is best.

Burke was also giving him the hard sell, and I can't imagine it doesn't weigh into your decision somewhat, (either positively or negatively), when a GM is that active in trying to get you to sign with his team.

I'm going to totally ignore the lure of a town like Toronto, with its ravenous fan base and seemingly unquenchable thirst for all things Leafs related, because I have no idea if that was at all part of his decision.

1: 35pm UPDATE:
WTC update on the reasons Gustavsson signed with the Leafs and why DW didn't do anything wrong (that last part is for all you nay sayers out there)

WTC Update Regarding Clowe and Misc.

A few hours old, I know, but here it is. Two updates for today, so I'm just linking to the blog proper.
Working the Corners update

No News Is Good News

No news to report from the Teal front. No Sharks filed for arbitration, and none of Team teal has been on the move since Boosh headed to Philly. I expect moves to trickle out as the summer wears on and other teams start to realize they need this piece or that. Odds are many GMs will realize trades are the way to go, given the cap situation many teams are facing. We will , of course, report any news as we get it.

To help fill the void, Gray will making sure you have some artistic entertainment. Next up on "Drawing the Sharks" is Dan Boyle. No ETA, as I have a busy few days ahead of me, but I'll be working steadily on him all this week. The hardest part of this will be picking Sharks I think have a chance of staying through the summer. Not a problem I had been anticipating!

Don't you love how I dance between 1st and 3rd person? I also enjoy 1st person plural. Whatever fits my needs at the moment.

Happy 4th of July, Everyone!

ESPN Says Clowe Is A Done Deal And Back In Teal

North of 3.5 mil for Cloweverfield.

The Sharks are apparently still waiting on that fax from NHL HQ before making a formal announcement. Someone want to check those wires? That is a slow fax machine, right there. Mmmm hmm.

*cricket cricket*

*how can you not love and utilize that amazingly terrific Kendra quote?

Anyway, slow day today for any fan looking for hot hot UFA action. I guess everyone sat down after yesterday and realized they didn't have any more money. Ah, the economy...

Sharks fans are still waiting for the finalized deals with Huskins and Clowe. How long does it take to fax papers back and forth, guys?

The general consensus is that it's a long summer and DW won't make a splash too quickly. He has a long time to work out the best deals to finish filling out the roster, while also moving some salary around so we don't go over the cap. It will take some creative trade work, but he'll get it done. What's sure is that the team we knew and loved over the last few seasons is no more. The Sharks will have a new look.

Like Garth, we fear change, but we realize it's also inevitable. I'm going to try and reserve judgement on the signings/moves until we have a better picture of what the end result will be, but I'll likely still be unhappy/annoyed/elated/pleased/etc with the moves that are still to be made. So much so, in some cases, that I will feel the need to post about it.

Any player news will obviously be posted, regardless of opinion.

Speaking of which...Joe Pa may find himself staring down some familiar faces come the 2010 Winter Olympics. Assuming all four Sharks make their respective teams, that is.

The Sharks don't have much else to share, but they did make a handy guide for folks new to the free agency thing. It's got some out of date stuff on yesterday's free agency air time here in the states, but it's a good start for anyone confused with what's going down.

Free Agency, day 1 part 2

The Merc, care of Pollak, is saying Clowe is back, jack. Waiting on the league to make it official before any announcements come out from the Sharks themselves.

Same reason the deal with Huskins has been formally announced yet, either. (that and the conflicting reports about how much the deal is for. 1.7 total, 1.7 per year, etc. Maybe that's just amongst us fans though.)

To keep things under control here, (and so she can study/finish getting over her cold), Gray has decided to only post Sharks news. Which means there probably won't be much *ZING!*

However, we'd hate to leave you all high and dry so here's TSN's free agency blog extravaganza.

I am sad about Boucher.

WTC update as of 11am

12:30 update
To no one's suprise: RT @Sean_Leahy: Sportsnet: Brian Boucher signs 2 year, $1.8 million total deal with the Flyers

Some more from WTC:

12:33 p.m. — Nothing official yet but word is out that Boucher is signing with Philadelphia. Makes plenty of sense for a lot of reasons — that’s the team that drafted him, expected to sign him when Doug Wilson swooped in back in February 2008 and operates not too far from his Rhode Island home. Nothing yet on the terms. Boucher came up after panel was kicking around possibility of Sharks parting ways with Patrick Marleau and Evgeni Nabokov with Darren Pang saying Marleau could be going, but Sharks need to hold onto Nabokov even if they get Gustavsson.

12:28 p.m. — Sharks get second mention on the TSN coverage as topic up for discussion is teams that do nothing (or very little) on July 1. Writers talking about the foolishness that goes on and the wisdom of waiting till either the end of the day or a few days to see what bargains are out there and not getting caught up in overpaying. Dave Hodge brings up the Sharks (great regular season, no playoff success) and nobody blames the Sharks post-season problems on the failure to sign big-name free agents to long-term deals. Dave Naylor of the Toronto Globe and Mail pretty much endorses the approach Doug Wilson takes.

Gray does NOT want to lose Patty!

UPDATE! 2:45 (late, sorry)
According to TSn and Working the Corners, the Sharks have resigned Kent Huskins to a 2 year deal for 1.7 a yr.

3PM UPDATE

More over at WTC with Grier's take on being shown the door, so to speak.