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Feeder Fodder
All-Star notes and a little Miracle
2/9/04 - by Mike Lee

Not a bad weekend for San Jose's All-Star contingent in Minneapolis. Patrick Marleau made his first appearance as an All-Star and held his own among many of the games great names. He failed to record any points in the 6-4 Eastern Conference victory, but he certainly represented the Sharks and the City of San Jose well. Marleau's three shots on goal were highlighted by a nasty glove save on his 2nd period shot the Montreal Canadiens goaltender Jose Theodore snagged in the 2nd period.

The Sharks captain was held out of the fastest skater competition because of a lingering ankle injury he sustained in Vancouver two weeks ago. Marleau did participate in the breakaway relay for the Western Conference, but was stopped by Theodore on his shot attempt. Fret not for Marleau. It sounds like he made out like a bandit, by bringing home several autographed items.

The Sharks also had two tenderfoots playing the Young Stars game on Saturday. Jonathan Cheechoo and Christian Ehrhoff were impressive in their showings on and off the ice. Cheechoo recorded four assists in the game and Ehrhoff bagged a goal in the game that pegged up and coming superstars of the NHL. Three of Cheechoos' assists led to goals by Jeffrey Lupul.

Ehrhoff honed his media skills during the All-Star Game on Sunday by providing color commentary for the game's feed back to his native Germany. Cheechoo also participated in a diversity event staged by the NHL.

Miracle

Got a chance to catch Miracle, the story of the 1980 US Hockey Team's triumph at the Lake Placid Winter Olympics. I was pleasantly surprised by the film's adaptation of the events that led up to the United States stunning win over the Soviets, although it killed me to see Kurt Russell prancing around in plaid slacks. My mother dressed me up in the those things when I was kid, and the scars are deeper than the one's Vladislav Tretiak carries from his semi-final benching versus the U.S.

I had no intention of even seeing the film, because I figured it was just another fell good flick that Disney threw together to capitalize on another piece of Americana, but I ended up spending half the movie reminiscing about that wonderful time. I got a tingle, not from the sappy win one for the Gipper speeches, but from the accuracy of the events that the movie recreated. Everyone like an underdog and the US hockey team was about as big an underdog as they come.

Knocking off a team like the Soviets was just good stuff back then. We hated the Ruskies. They hated us. It was a good old fashioned rivalry and we showed them up on the world's largest stage. They got this one right. Even down to Victor Tikhonov's crazy eyebrows.

If you remember the story, go see the movie just to experience some of that emotion again. If you don't know the story, go see what all us sentimental saps are talking about. It's worth the nine bucks.

Let the dealing begin

With trade deadline time right around the corner, the market for the missing piece of the puzzle will begin to get hot and heavy around the NHL. A few deals may even go down over the next couple of days as the league's general managers convene in Las Vegas for their annual meeting.

Four teams actually swung deals on Monday, including the St Louis Blues acquiring Eric Weinrich from Philadelphia for a fifth round pick in 2004. The Flyers then acquired goaltender Sean Burke, and forwards Branko Radivojevic and Ben Eager in exchange for Mike Comrie.

Will the Sharks try and supplement their roster by wheeling and dealing? Probably not, but don't be surprised if GM Doug Wilson tries to tighten up his blueline with a veteran defenseman. The Sharks have two rookie defensemen in Ehrhoff and Tom Preissing, and casting them into the flames isn't something that the Sharks want to fool around with.

As long as the offense continues to clamp down on the opposition and score opportune goals, there's really no need to tinker with the offense.


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