Every team needs good grinders. The guys you send out to take tough faceoffs in their own end, to shadow the other team's best scoring lines, to provide some energy to a listless team, or just to chew up minutes and give your stars a break.
In 2008-09, general manager Doug Wilson decided he was not getting enough from his third and fourth lines, and had dumped five of the six players by the Olympic break of 2010. While the new players actually scored fewer goals for the San Jose Sharks than the previous season's, the team saw improvement on defence and in the faceoff circle.
Manny Malhotra was a big part of that. Perhaps the biggest...
He had the highest faceoff percentage on the Sharks (although was inexplicably on the wing so much that he did not take enough faceoffs to qualify for the league lead).
He recorded a career-high in goals (14) and his second-best ever point total (33).
Manny was second among forwards and third on the team in plus-minus with a career-high plus-17.
He was good enough to play on the second line when a shakeup was needed or an injury occurred, and contributed on special teams. He was ...
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Article written by MJ Kasprzak
San Jose Sharks Player Analysis: Manny Malhotra
June 20th, 2010 by MJ Kasprzak Leave a reply »
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