Since the 2008-09 season, the blue line of the San Jose Sharks has been defined by Dan Boyle. Maybe the whole team has.
They have fired the puck from the point on the power play and advanced it from their own end better than most. The team has been among the league leaders in both shots on goal and goals scored in each of those four seasons.
Boyle scored more points (213) than any other player on an NHL blue line over that time. The only reason he fell to a low of 48 points in 81 games for 2011-12 is that he played with a broken foot for more than a month, causing him to go scoreless in 11 of 12 games.
Even though Boyle played his best when it mattered most (34 points in 39 Stanley Cup playoff games from 2009 through 2011), the Sharks did not. Their potent power play would dry up, and they would be unable to score enough to win games after the second round.
In the 2012 Western Conference quarterfinal series with the St. Louis Blues, even Boyle could not manage more than two assists. San Jose scored just eight goals in five games, its quickest playoff departure in team history.
The trouble is, they were in the middle of a change ...
Read Full Article at Bleacher Report - NHL
Article written by MJ Kasprzak
San Jose Sharks Blue Line Biggest Change in 2013
July 6th, 2013 by MJ Kasprzak Leave a reply »
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