Honestly, the coaching connections between the two teams are crazy. Over the summer, it was joked about how the Sharks traded Todd Richards for Matt Shaw, and how we were hosed in the deal. But seriously, I don’t think that even the Sutter family has this many coaching connections. Well, at least not as convoluted. The Sutters are just like, “he’s his brother,” and they’re done.

And on the coaches note, Jacques Lemaire, the head coach of the Wild since their inception, was let go over the summer in lieu of Todd Richards. Let’s have a moment of silence for this now-dated meme parody:

Okay, now let’s bring out the new one!

Wait, no, sorry, that’s the old-old one. Here’s the new one:

Much better, don’t you think?

Anyways, enough with the picture foolishness. Down to the game!

Basically, Sharks started out flat-footed as usual, going down 2-0. But then Jed Ortmeyer (yes, Jed freaking Ortmeyer) had a goal on a beautiful setup, which prompted San Jose’s floodgates to metaphorically open. Marleau then got on the board after shooting at Backstrom and then chipping in his own rebound over flopping goalie. Oh, and then he went around the net and stuffed the puck back in, just in case. The assists on that play? Huskins and Shelley. That’s never going to happen again.

Heatley also one-timed a goal for the Sharks lead and the eventual game winner, which was really pretty. But the back-breaker was really Marleau’s second goal, nine seconds into the third period when Marleau turned on his jets and sped past Minnesota and scored on a breakaway. Bet they miss Gaborik now, huh? Then again, he’d just hurt his groin trying to catch up to Marleau, so maybe not.

Other notes:

• Hits record-holder Cal Clutterbuck and general beast Douglas Murray met tonight. Clutterbuck tried to hit Murray. Murray hit back. Clutterbuck is now injured. Therefore, Murray is better.
• Owen Nolan scored against the Sharks. Also: water is wet, Pope is Catholic.
• Wild got a 2 minute 5-on-3 and failed to score. Actually, they took a penalty and gave up two shorthanded chances to the Sharks. Probably the worst 2 minute 5-on-3 you can achieve without allowing a goal.
• Good things come to those who plant their asses in front of goalies.
• Remember the Evgeni Nabokov of 2007-08? Yeah, that one showed up tonight. Honestly, there is no goalie better than him when Super Nabby shows up.
• Marleau has tied Heatley for the team lead in goals. Don’t think many have expected that.

Darryl Sutter

Sutter’s teams were fairly mediocre, borderline playoff teams. The team was abysmal on the PP, with 18.1% being both the highest and almost a good two percentage points above the second-highest. The PK and overall defensive-mindedness on special teams made the Sharks an absolutely average team overall in both STP and aSTP, although the aSTP did drop in 02-03 when they practically imploded and finished 14th in the West. The fact that the aSTP was largely higher than the STP backs up the defense-first method that Sutter used, as the PP didn’t give up more goals than the PK scored.

Ron Wilson

When Ron Wilson was brought in, both the team’s special teams and its overall play improved dramatically, even earning the team’s only WCF appearance. Both the STP and aSTP are above average, and were for three of his four years as head coach (05-06 is the anomaly, strange considering Thornton’s Hart and Cheechoo’s Rocket Richard). But while the special teams are good overall, the STP and aSTP are bolstered by strong defensive play, as evidenced by the good PK percentage and the somewhat mediocre PP conversion rate. The last year of his position of head coach saw him garner much criticism for a stagnant PP, and the numbers don’t exactly refute that. The average aSTP being higher than the average STP can partially be attributed to the defensive-minded play, but a look at the season-by-season breakdown shows that only 06-07 was where the PP played really well defensively. It looks like the PP just was not that good under Ron Wilson, and was bolstered by the strong PK.

Todd McLellan

It’s almost unfair to judge Todd McLellan’s performance at this juncture with only one year of coaching under his belt, but there is no question that compared to his predecessors, the Sharks’ STP and aSTP was much better. Both metrics exceeded both Wilson’s and Sutter’s highs, although it could be attributed to a higher-skilled team. The PP was also much more effective, and when backed up with strong defensive play as well, the special teams were much better. The PP was not very good defensively, but with a greater offensive threat on the PK it made up the difference. Overall, McLellan exceeded his two most recent predecessors in the case of special teams, although one season is a bit too soon to completely draw a conclusion.