FanHouse Milan Michalek

It's been a couple days since Dany Heatley was shipped from Ottawa to San Jose, so we've all had a little time to take a step back and look a the trade. Today, some of the best and brightest in the two blogospheres involved have taken the time to share their views on the trade with us. I have an odd feeling that the Senators' bloggers feel a lot of relief now that the trade has been mad but, to find out, follow me through the jump.

Sharks 5, Bruins 2: In what was the premier matchup of the night, San Jose scored four unanswered goals in the third period on its way to a 5-2 win over the Bruins.

After Milan Michalek gave the Sharks their first lead of the night midway through the third period, Joe Thornton helped burn his former team when he chipped in his 13th goal of the season. Ryane Clowe recorded three assists in the win, while Evgeni Nabokov made 28 saves.

The Bruins and Capitals helped kick off the second half of the NHL season on Tuesday, and the top two teams in the Eastern Conference did not disappoint in Boston's 3-2 overtime win.

While it was an exciting game for much of the night, the best action came in the overtime period as goaltenders Tim Thomas and Jose Theodore exchanged incredible saves at each end of the ice. Following a Niklas Backstrom hooking penalty, David Krejci sent a pass through the slot only to have it bounce off Shaone Morrison's skate and find the back of the net behind Theodore for the game-winner.

Fantastic game in San Jose between the top two teams in the Western Conference, as the Sharks and Red Wings entered Saturday's tilt separated by just one point in the standings. In a game that featured 11 goals and 75 shots on goal, San Jose emerged with a 6-5 win, extending its lead to three points for the top spot in the conference.

Patrick Marleau's goal with 6:36 to play in regulation proved to the be the game-winner, while Detroit goalie Chris Osgood surrendered six goals on 42 shots. Ryane Clowe picked up four assists for the Sharks, while Milan Michalek registered a goal and an assist in the win.

Okay, so maybe the title is a bit of an overreaction. Still, that doesn't change the fact the New York Islanders are a terrible, terrible third period hockey team, and they proved it once again on Tuesday, giving up four goals in the final 20 minutes on their way to a 5-4 loss to the Rangers.

The Islanders actually entered the third with a 2-1 lead, only to watch the Rangers beat Joey MacDonald -- starting in place of Rick Dipietro -- four times on their final 12 shots. Petr Prucha, playing for the first time in eight games, tied the game just 49 seconds into the third period, while Michal Rozsival gave the Rangers their first lead of the night two minutes later. Markus Naslund and Nigel Dawes also tallied late goals for the Rangers, while Scott Gomez tapped in a tic-tac-toe pass from Nikolai Zherdev and Brandon Dubinsky in the second period, opening the scoring for the Rangers.

Mike Sillinger, Kyle Okposo, Blake Comeau and Mike Comrie scored for the Islanders.

Physical game between the crosstown rivals, resulting in a pair of fights in the first 10 minutes, and capped off with a crushing hit by Ryan Callahan on Trent Hunter early in the third. Callahan smashed the Islanders forward into the penalty box door, forcing it open, resulting in Hunter's midsection smashing off the boards. He was down for quite a while, and appeared to be in severe pain, resulting in a stretcher being brought on the ice. Hunter, however, managed to bring himself to his feet and skate off because, you know, he's a hockey player.

There was a time when Dallas Stars goalie Marty Turco was among the best in the National Hockey League. It appears as if those days are over, at least for this year, as the 33-year old netminder was lifted for the third time this season, after giving up five goals on just 19 shots Friday night. In the end, the Stars fell to the runaway locomotive that is the San Jose Sharks, 6-2.

Honestly, San Jose may never lose again, as it now has a league-best 39 points.

Turco's save percentage is just about ready to drop below the .870 mark, which is pretty hard to comprehend for an NHL goalie, and Stars head coach Dave Tippett sort of agrees, saying "our goaltender has to be better." Indeed he does. And while he wouldn't announce anything after the game, Tippett left open the possibility that Tobias Stephan could start Sunday's game against Edmonton. I guess the question is: could he really be any worse?

San Jose received a pair of goals from Dan Boyle, while Joe Pavelski, Milan Michalek and Rob Blake slipped shots behind the struggling Turco before he was lifted following the second period.

Evgeni Nabokov, making his second start since returning to the lineup, turned aside 25 of 27 shots in the win.

The San Jose Sharks were my pre-season pick to win the Stanley Cup. With excellent goaltending, quality coaching, the magic of Joe Thornton, and a roster full of speedy, determined workhorses, I figured the time was ripe for the Sharks to take a bit out of Western Conference.

That being said, I am both quite amazed and not surprised by how well the Sharks have done this season. Yes, I expected the Sharks to do well, but when I look at the kind of individual stats the players have put up, I can't believe these guys win so many games.

Patrick Marleau appears like he is trying to play his way off of the team, the team has just two 20-goal scorers, and their top offensive defenseman is Craig Rivet(!).

How do these guys do it?

One of the many themes of this NHL offseason has been teams inking their young stars to very-long-term contracts.

Florida locked up Steven Weiss to a 6-year deal just recently, and now the Sharks have done the same with sniper Milan Michalek.

"Milan defines what a multi-dimensional player should be," said Wilson. "He has size, speed, strength, skill and the drive to not only play, but excel in both ends of the ice. He has gained so much experience in the last few years, both as a player and as a person. We are lucky to have him be a core part of our organization going forward.

Normally, NHL teams have been burnt like toast when signing players to such long-term deals, but there is nothing dumb about signing your best and brightest young talent to capture some of their UFA years. Why pay for past performance and get little when you can pay for future performance and get your dollar's worth?

To say Michalek is one of the league's underrated and best-kept-secret players is a bit of an understatement. Between playing on the West Coast, away from the key media outlets, to playing in the shadow of Joe Thornton and Jon Cheechoo, very few appreciate just how good Milan is.

SEASON    GP  G  A PTS
2005-06   81 17 18 35
2006-07   78 26 40 66
 

Overall, it's been a great summer for Sharks fans. With just Patrick Marleau's contract extention talks to worry about, the Sharks can bask in the fact that they have Thornton, Cheechoo, Rivet, and now Milan Michalek under long term deals. The Sharks are well set up to be a Western powerhouse for years to come.