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The Change In The Sharks
by Paul on 12/02/08 at 07:35 AM ET
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from Eric Duhatschek of the Globe and Mail,
In an interview, (Doug) Wilson listed three primary factors for the Sharks’ strong play — tactical changes by the coaching staff, the overall personnel upgrades and the growth or improvement of his team’s holdover players, many of whom had discouragingly average performances last season.
From the first day of training camp, McLellan stressed a more aggressive fore-check and less play on the perimeter. He especially wanted to see more shots directed toward the net. Last year, Detroit led the league by a wide margin in terms of overall shots on goal. That was a philosophy McLellan imported to his new gig.
It helps that Blake and Boyle both demonstrate strong offensive sensibilities from their defensive positions. Last year, the Sharks received only 113 scoring points all season from their top six defencemen (Craig Rivet, Christian Ehrhoff, Sandis Ozolinsh, Matt Carle, Marc-Eduard Vlasic and Kyle McLaren).
This season, the top six point-getters (Boyle, Blake, Ehrhoff, Vlasic, Lukowich and Alexei Semenov) already have 76 scoring points, with 41/2 months to go in the season.
Filed in: NHL Teams, San Jose Sharks | KK Hockey | Permalink
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