Loistava artikkeli Temestä ja Sharkseista...Huomatkaa kommentit Nolanista...
http://www.faceoff.com/columnists/story.html?f=/news/20020111/1103917.html
Teemu in limbo
By TONY GALLAGHER
The Vancouver Province
It's hard to imagine there has been such a flap over San Jose Sharks coach Darryl Sutter allegedly telling Teemu Selanne that he could "drive his Ferrari back to Anaheim."
Chances are his words were much stronger than that. Sutter did chew out Selanne after the Ranger game in San Jose some 10 days ago, and there is a certain familiarity in the alleged choice of words.
Everyone is naturally denying it, but Sutter once told members of his team he didn't care whether they drove home bombed, such were his feelings about a particular performance.
A couple of years ago after Tony Granato came to the bench after a particularly uninspiring 60 seconds of ice time, Sutter quipped, "Nice shift, Cammi," a reference to the player's high-profile sister.
What's happening in combustible San Jose these days is a rude meeting between expectation and reality. The team is expected to do well. The pressure is on Sutter to produce, but he has just one outstanding offensive centre in Vincent Damphousse and two right wingers who need such a playmaker -- Selanne and Owen Nolan. And if you know anything about the way the Sharks operation is run, the Finn has no chance of winning that tug-of-war.
In a nutshell, Selanne doesn't fit. He would if Patrick Marleau had blossomed in the four and a half seasons he's put in under Sutter, but he is hideously underdeveloped given his shortage of ice time.
That's why the Sharks were talking with the Devils about doing a Marleau-for-Jason Arnott trade. Arnott is a little further along and the feeling was perhaps he would be able to strike some chemistry with either Selanne or Nolan. If so, the Sharks would then have two super offensive lines and be a genuine threat to anyone they met in the playoffs.
But as presently constituted, both Selanne and Nolan need to play with Damphousse. And Nolan's power is such that he tells everyone what to do, including the coaches and management. He has a long-term contract for a monstrous amount of money and his personality is abrasive to the point where virtually no team would pick up the deal, even if any no-trade provisions were waived.
He is captain of the Sharks because he thought it would be a good idea to have a sweater with a 'C' on it. He had that one superb playoff two seasons ago when he won a round all by himself against St. Louis, but everyone pretty much acknowledges Mike Ricci should be captain.
Then there is Selanne. He was originally brought in to play the left side with Nolan on the right, on what would figure to be a great line. But Selanne never liked the idea of playing out of position and neither does Nolan.
Remarkably gifted but floating like Will Smith these days, Selanne is going into unrestricted free agency this summer, but you certainly couldn't accuse him of turning it on in his contract year.
Skating has virtually been removed from his performances. He waits for an opportunity and occasionally turns it on. He admits to close friends that he doesn't have the drive he once did.
When he plays with Damphousse, he produces. When he doesn't, his ice time slips to 10:39 as it did last week in one game. Other recent game totals have been 12:59 and 13:05, hardly numbers you expect from a guy making $9 million US.
Selanne, who ended a 10-game goal drought against Phoenix on Wednesday, says he needs more ice time. Sutter, who is so old school he doesn't even have a video guy, says he wants to see some determination before he'll put him out more.
This Catch-22 will end either with a deal involving Selanne or another short playoff for the Sharks.