Sharks Third Line Taking Shape

October 2, 2006

With all the attention on the Patrick Marleau and Joe Thornton lines for the Sharks, the two remaining lines will be extremely overlooked throughout the season. Not that the valuable veteran role players are concerned with that. In fact, they could thrive in the situation.

Hockey fans know that the checking lines will be extremely valuable to the Sharks success. Right now, it appears that Mike Grier, Curtis Brown and Ville Nieminen will round out the third line, at least to start the campaign.

All three players have played higher end roles at various points in their careers, but are more than happy to tackle significant checking duty with the Sharks.

“We all knew about those two guys (Thornton and Marleau) when we came to San Jose,” said Nieminen. 

The three veterans don’t need the limelight, they just want to play a strong role for a winning team.

“We know we will be a big part of everything and that we have big jobs to do,” said Nieminen. “You need to have a good core.”

With the rules changes for 2005-06 still being enforced in 2006-07, the top two lines will see plenty of time on the power play, but Head Coach Ron Wilson now won’t be forced to use them on the penalty kill as well. It is safe to assume that even a minimally penalized team like San Jose will still be shorthanded quite often.

“There are so many power plays. You have to have strong special teams,” said Brown.

Then there is the defensive aspect. Wilson doesn’t like to sit and match lines all game, but there are times when he wants a defensive catalyst against a certain opponent.

“Even with the rules changes, you still need to slow down the other team’s top line,” said Brown.

“Our job is to play good defense, bring energy to the forecheck and be physical,” said Grier. “We’ve all had relative success in the League.”

Grier, Brown and Nieminen have a combined 1,578 games of regular season experience and an additional 185 Stanley Cup playoff games. Grier reached the Conference Finals with Buffalo last year. Brown did the same with San Jose in 2004 and led Buffalo in goals in their 1999 run to the Stanley Cup Finals. Nieminen struck gold in helping Colorado win hockey’s Holy Grail in 2001.

The addition of Grier and Brown are essential because they not only strengthen the penalty killing units, but Brown is an excellent faceoff man and those were the two biggest weaknesses for Team Teal in the 2006 postseason.

“We have a lot of experience from the playoffs,” said Nieminen.

The NHL is a long campaign and if injuries do happen, as is more often the case over 82 games, all three players can move up to fill a gap.

“Nimo, Grier and myself have all played in other roles, but we’re not trying to take those roles here” said Brown.

And in games where there are limited penalty killing situations, the trio knows they have another role to accomplish.

“The role of the third and fourth line is not just to give the other guys a break,” said Brown. “We have to help the club offensively. The top two lines can’t do it by themselves.”

“If we play a lot of five-on-five in a game, I expect them to score on offense,” said Wilson. 

And with so much defensive energy directed toward the Marleau and Thornton lines, don’t be surprised to see necessary points coming from Brown’s line.