SEASON 1 SUMMARY Kelly Hrudey (Goalkeeper) ------------------------- Kelly started the season as second goalie behind Mike Vernon. But the poor start gave him the chance to replace Vernon. He handled this responsibility in a great way and for a while it seemed as the Sharks were on its way back. But the problems in power and box play payed dividence and also the poor defense. Hrudey continued to play well and his position as main goalie was now safe. The season isn't over yet but Hrudey can already be named as the Sharksplayer of the year. He's been batteling brave and hard and actuall gave the team a couple of victories. We will always remeber his heroic achievments against the Flyers, Avalanche and the Coyotes. Great season in a poor team! Jean-Francois Labbe (Goalkeeper) -------------------------------- Labbe hasn't been given the opportunity to play since he joined the team in mid December. Labbe was acquired from Toronto Maple Leafs in exchange for a number of players including Mike Vernon. Labbe is a youngster on the move and is a part of the young squad that GM Victor Fradera is building for the future. He's a talented goalie and in the minorleagues he's achieved a lot of records. Probably we will see his appearence in some games next year when Hrudey needs to rest, but so far he just have to sit and wait. Bill Houlder (Defenseman) ------------------------- Houlder had a difficult start of the season where he suffered from the coaches lacking confidence. He went in and out from the team and his name appeared on some trade proposals. When Tim Hunter took over as coach Houlder was put in the third line together with Mironov. He's been there ever since and has been one of the best defensemen in the team. He's second best in the team defenders in goalscoring and shooting percentage. He's a good powerplay defender with a great shot that has improved during the season. He's ranked as the fifth defender in the team in points. He'll be an important brick next season and hopefully a better start can raise his confidence. Marcus Ragnarsson (Defenseman) ------------------------------ Ragnarsson has played all the games for the Sharks this season. He was for a long time the best defender in the team both in goalscoring and assisting. But when his linemate Doug Bodger signed to the Devils as a freeagent it seems as Ragnarsson lost the track. He hasn't produced much since then and his companionship with his new linemate Sylvain Cote hasn't been successful. He's second best in the team among the defenders in assisting but he hasn't scored a single goal since Bodger's departure. Marcus is still young and his defensive skills are very valuable. Marcus played for Team Sweden during the World Cup and did a great job there. Without the poor ending he would been a prospect of the title, best Sharksplayer of the year. Chris LiPuma (Defenseman) ------------------------- Started the season in the farmteam and was promoted to the proteam right before the amazing Decemberresults. His service lies mostly in shorthanded play. He's still the substitute in 5-5. When he was promoted he had done great in the farm and the management had a lot of expectations on this youngster. He hasn't really answered to these though he still played solid without any major mistakes. He hasn't scored any goals or assists and that is not good at all. He's also spending just a little too much time in the penalty box. But he's young and maybe a name for the future, but this season wasn't good at all. Dennis Vaske (Defenseman) ------------------------- Acquired early in the season from the Islanders. He quickly found a spot among the starters and had the coaches belief for about a month. Later on when Tim Hunter took over as a coach Vaske was sent out in the cold. Vaske's main problem is that he's too fragile. He's a great player but his body can't answer to his great spirit. Therefore he's suffering from long injury periods that keeps him out of shape. If Dennis Vaske could have one healthy season he would most certainly be an asset for most of the teams in the league. No good season at all. Mike Rathje (Defenseman) ------------------------ Rathje's season has been coloured of too many in and outs from the team. For the whole season he's been playing the role of the 7th d-man. Rathje is a talented youngster and definetly a prospect for the future. Maybe he's still a little too weak, but the latest news says that he's been weightlifting a lot and also practised with Domi and Nazarov to improve his attitude on the ice. A matured Rathje will definetly break into the team. He hasn't scored any goals this year but 7 assists can count to his credit. The season could have been better and with a team like this he should definetly have taken the opportunity to break already this year. Al Iafrate (Defenseman) ----------------------- Iafrate was named teamcaptain when the season started. He said that he was happy and felt honoured by this title but we can't say that he did a great job. For a long time the team suffered by too many penalty minutes and Iafrate found it hard to calm the guys down. Iafrate was expected to do a better season than this though he's still best in the team d-men in goals. But his +/- rating is awful, and not worthy a teamcaptain. Iafrate is quite old and his carreer has been coloured by too many injuries so it's hard to predict his skills for next season. But a good advice is too release him from the captain's job and just let him do his job. No good season. Boris Mironov (Defenseman) -------------------------- Boris was acquired as the salvator for the poor Sharks defense. He did actually improve the defense and is undoubtfully the number 1 defender in the team. He's best in points, assists and +/- among the teamdefenders and that says it all. But we have to say that still he hasn't lived up to all the expectations we had. Quite quickly he adapted the teams bad self confidence and it took a while before he scored any points. In Oilers he was outstanding but in Sharks he couldn't even keep up the pace with Ragnarsson from the beginning. He remains as number 1 d-man but he just got to do a better Sharks campaign next season. The summary will be: Great as long as he played for Oilers, in Sharks he became a little more mediocre. Sylvain Cote (Defenseman) ------------------------- Cote is the latest acquirement in the Sharks defense. He was acquired to replace the escaped Doug Bodger. He started off the season in Capitals by then move to Toronto, where he later on was traded to the Sharks. Cote was placed in the second line with Ragnarsson and everybody thought that this should be a great companionship. But it wasn't. Cote did well and his games with the Sharks has actually improved his rating, but he doesn't get along with Ragnarsson. The two fighters will probably not play together next year. Sylvain Cote has been good without being great so far. Mike Ricci (Centre) ------------------- Signed as a freeagent from the Maple Leafs in November 1997. Ricci found it hard to break in to a struggling team. Later on the coaches placed him in the third line with Friesen and Granato. This line has actually been the best since the new year began. Mike Ricci is a good two-way centre and is very useful in box play. He has an awful haircut though that is hard to look at. His body is maybe a little weak and fragile, but if he stays uninjured he's definetly an asset for the team. Began shaky but has improved lately. Claude LaPointe (Centre) ------------------------ Acquired early on from the Islanders. LaPointe hasn't answered at all to the expectations and this season is a complete misery. It looked as he was on the way of improving in the mid season. But when the management gave him more responsibility he fell back to the slump. Miserable season, do better next year!! Murray Craven (Centre) ---------------------- Was one of the best players on the first half of the season and answered also for a surprising +/- rating back then. The line with Craven, Matteau and Shean Donovan was the absolutely best in Sharks LML-campaign so far and has never been beaten. When Donovan signed to the Avalanche as a freeagent the line was broken. Craven has had a tough time ever since and the management has not found a worthy replacement for Donovan. Craven is even out of the starters now and has not produced anything good lately. He's still popular among the fans, but the summary's not good because his poor ending. Travis Green (Centre) --------------------- Green is one of the biggest dissapointments this season. Green was acquired from the Isles in the big blockbuster trade earlier this season. He was expected to compete with Friesen and Nolan as best scorer in the team. But the line with Green, Nolan and Friesen was a great failure. For a while he was even sent out in the cold, but coach Fradera gave him new faith and placed him in the first line as a right-winger with Gratton and Friesen. This line made some fireworks in three games but Green became unfortanetly injured. Gratton was then traded away and the line would never see the daylight again. Green was gone for a long time and has just played one game since his recovery. That was a game where he was completely invisible. A very poor season and a major dissapointment. Derek Plante (Centre) --------------------- Can be named as one of few good trades this season. Plante was acquired from Buffalo Sabres for Stephane Guolla and draftpicks. He's been doing a good job since his arrival and has also answered for a different spirit. Plante tries hard, but with slumbering teammates it's hard to get things going. Derek Plante has the ability to grow into the role as the star of next season. With the right environment he can be a killer. Good season in Sabres and kept his level in the Sharks. Andrei Kovalenko (Left Winger) ------------------------------ When "Lenko" was acquired from the Oilers he's been one of the best forwards in the whole league. So the expectations on him was very high. The team had to give up Nolan for this one, so the fans would watch him carefully. Kovalenko's still a good player and he is definetly one of the best in the Sharks, but we have to say that he hasn't kept the dominance he showed in the Oilers. We expected more from him. Good season but his talent requires better results. Joe Dziedzic (Left Winger) -------------------------- Claimed as a waiver from Pittsburgh Penguins in the mid season. Dziedzic had a wonderful start and seemed as a fresh wind for the struggling team. But he slowly faded away and for the moment he finds himself out in the cold. Dziedzic is still young so he's go many years ahead of him but it's hard to say if the management should protect him later on. His season was a lot better with the Penguins than in the Sharks. His acquiring goes into the big group of failed deals. Dave Lowry (Left Winger) ------------------------ Signed as a freeagent from Florida Panthers where he so far had done a great job by leading the team in powerplay goals. In Sharks he's been absolutely invisible and hasn't produce any power play goals at all. For a long time he played with the starters but now he's among the substitutes in the 4th line. Another failed deal... Stephane Matteau (Left Winger) ------------------------------ Matteau has been after Kelly Hrudey the best player in the Sharks this season. He's the only player that has played with his standards. Matteau never does a bad effort and he's always hungry for points. He's got a tough time lately since the so succesful line with Craven and Donovan split up. He's continued better than Craven though and he's still one of the favourites for the fans. If everybody in the Sharks followed Matteau's example of giving it all in every game the Sharks wouldn't be where they are today. A great player with great spirit and moral. A good season overall. Jeff Friesen (Left Winger) -------------------------- This youngster hasn't got an easy time this year. All the expectations seem to bother him too much and he looks way too nervous on the ice. GM Fradera wanted him to bloom out this season, but he's still the forthcoming star of the Sharks. He's the centrepoint in the young squad that's about to be built and sooner or later he will blast off. Jeff Friesen's potential has no limits so let's see what he can produce next year. This season was way too mediocre. Alexei Yegorev (Right Winger) ----------------------------- A lot of ups and downs for Yegorev this season. Sometimes he's given the chance to battle with the big guys, but sometimes he's not even selected to play. Yegorev is young and has the future ahead of him. He's a part of the young squad and surely we'll see a lot more of him next season. A lot of teams were bidding on him but the Sharks management turned them all down. They still believe in the future for Alexei Yegorev. But not a good season this year. Tony Granato (Right Winger) --------------------------- Probably the player in the Sharks with the highest amount of linemates this year. The coaches have laborated a lot with Granato and of course it has affected his play. After a very slow start coloured by penalties he finally found his play in mid December to be one of few dangerous forwards in the Sharks now. At the end of the season Friesen and Granato finally found themselves and their line with Ricci seems to be the only one that works. But overall Granato hasn't had a too good season, it's OK but it could have been better. Pat Verbeek (Right Winger) -------------------------- The most dissapointing player of the year. Verbeek was acquired to salvate the fans and bring more experience to the team. He was given the assistant captain role and everybody seemed happy. But after a couple of games things weren't so happy anymore. Up to this date Verbeek hasn't scored a goal and just two assists. That is unacceptable from a player of his standards and this deal is the most embarrasing of all the failed deals this year. The man should be ashamed, awful season in the Sharks so far. Andrei Nazarov (Right Winger) ----------------------------- Well first he played 10 games with the Sharks, but he was put aside because of too many penalties. Later Penguins showed their interest so he went to Pittsburgh. But Nazarov never found himself there so after a couple of months he was traded back to San José. He did a magnificent return and started succesfully in his first couple of games. He's still doing good but looks a little tired. After the bad start and the not so good journey to Pittsburgh we have to say that we expect more from this big Russian bear. Tie Domi (Right Winger) ----------------------- Slip slided into the team as a part of the blockbuster deal with the Maple Leafs. He has so far found it hard to gain his coaches confidence and hasn't been able to take a permanent spot with the starters. Domi is a tough guy and extremely popular for the fans. The opponents have another opinion where he's almost the most hated one. His talent was never needed in the Sharks who have suffered from both a bad box play as too many penalty minutes. Domi did great in the Leafs and should definetly look for another contract with another team. Corey Foster (Defender) ----------------------- Foster played 19 games with the Sharks before he was sent down to the farm. He didn't score too much and was named as a dissapointment. In the farm he hasn't so far showed any improvements. Chris Tancill (Right Winger) ---------------------------- Has only played one game for the Sharks. He did that when Shean Donovan got injured in the beginning of the season. Tancill was invisible in that game and has never been close to be selected since then. Some months later he was sent down to farm where he's still residing.