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Sharks Bite Back - Apr. 1, 1994 - Vol. 47 , Iss. 28 – Mike Brophy
Dean Lombardi isn’t prepared to call the San Jose Sharks’ season a success. Not yet anyway.
His reluctance comes despite the fact the Sharks have a shot at recording the greatest single-season turnaround in NHL history one year after the Quebec Nordiques set the mark by improving 52 points. With 64 points in their first 72 games-40 more than they accumu-lated all last season-the Sharks needed 13 in their final 12 games to set the new mark. At their current pace, the Sharks would finish with 75 points this season.
It’s a record Lombardi would exchange in a second for a playoff berth.
“At the start of the season I would have been satisfied with such a huge turnaround,” said the Sharks’ vice-president and director of hockey operations. “But now we’re so close to making the playoffs we can almost taste it. You get greedy and want it all.”
Only the expansion Ottawa Senators saved the Sharks from being the punchline to the NHL’s biggest joke last season. San Jose won eight games-six fewer than in its initial season-allowed a league-high 414 goals, and scored 218, second lowest in the league.
Coach George Kingston took the fall for not being able to transform a group of American Leaguers into a competitive NHL team.
Kingston’s replacement, 36-year-old Kevin Constantine, was dealt a much better hand. No team did more than the Sharks in the off-season to improve its talent base.
The Sharks added center Igor Larionov, right winger Sergei Makarov, left wingers Bob Errey and Gaetan Duchesne, defenseman Jeff Norton and goalie Jimmy Waite. They also acquired center Todd Elik (54 points 67 games) on waivers from the Edmonton Oilers.
“We had to get respectable in a hurry because we lost so much credibility last season,” Lombardi said. “Last season we had third-and fourthline players on our power play.”
Russians Makarov, 35, and Larionov, 34, are clearly the two key acquisitions. Teammates for eight seasons with Red Army, they have teamed with Johan Garpenlov to give the Sharks a formidable first line.
Makarov, who played the previous four seasons with the Calgary Flames, was traded to the Hartford Whalers and was part of the draft-day swap six days later between San Jose and Hartford that allowed the Whalers to draft second and select defenseman Chris Pronger. Larionov played three seasons with the Vancouver Canucks and spent last season in Switzerland. He was claimed by the Sharks in the waiver draft.
While European players are taking the fall in Winnipeg for the Jets’ misfortunes, the Sharks’ Euro-corps is at the heart of the team’s turnaround.
Makarov, Larionov, Garpenlov, defenseman Sandis Ozolinsh and goalie Arturs Irbe are the team’s top five players. Makarov was second behind newly acquired Ulf Dahlen in scoring with 57 points in 72 games. Larionov, who missed eight of the first nine games with a shoulder injury, was fourth in team scoring with 42 points in 49 games. The important numbers for Larionov, however, are wins, losses and ties. The Sharks were 23-18-8 when he played and 2-15-6 in games he missed.
Ozolinsh, 22, is challenging for the league lead in goals by a defenseman with 22, while Irbe has been one of the NHL’s best and most consistent stoppers.
“You can’t have too many European players,” Lombardi said. “But you can have too many players who play a European style. Our Europeans have adapted to the NHL. Anyone who says Makarov and Larionov aren’t competitive because of their nationality has blinders on.”
The Sharks got off to a 0-8-1 start, but were 2523-12 and holding down a playoff spot in their next 60 games. Constantine has stressed defense-first all the way.
“Maybe it’s because I’m a former goalie, but I feel you have to give yourself a chance to win games and you can’t do that by allowing 45 shots a game,” Constantine said.
The Sharks allowed 37 shots per game last season and just 28 through 72 games this season.
As the trade deadline approached, Lombardi was busy making calls. He got Dahlen and a draft pick from the Dallas Stars for defensemen Doug Zmolek and Mike Lalor in an effort to upgrade the team’s offense.
“A year ago, I was offering guys who couldn’t play in the league,” Lombardi said. “It was embarrassing. This season I have marketable players and holes to fill. It’s a whole new ball game; it takes more work. I’m in a lousy mood. I’m confused and I can’t sleep at night. When I get like this I’m dangerous.”
Beware of the Shark.
Photo Credit: Stan Szeto-Imagn Images