Jeff Friesen

[TheHockeyRant]

Something that many of us always forget about is that this guy is only 3 years older than Marleau but has not played in the NHL since 2007 due to injuries. He was only 30 years old at the time

Friesen's GP before 05 lockout- 770
Friesen's Pts before 05 lockout- 493
At this time he was only 27 years old

Marleau's stats by age 27
Games Played- 717
Points- 491

If circumstances were different he probably would have reached 1,000 pts and done it faster than Patty too as he never had the luxury of playing with Thornton or Damphousse much at all.

At least he won a Cup...which is more than we ever got. Damn you Selanne.

Click to read more...

 

[Nighthock]

Loved Friesen. Still have a signed 8x10 on the wall in my office.

 

[Le Rosbeef]

Yeah, but he's no Rob Gaudreau...

 

[Quid Pro Clowe]

Friesen became a solid offensive player at an earlier age than Marleau, but his skill diminished very quickly. It was sad that one time he was on tv during a game a few years back. He seemed like he was fighting back tears when he talked about not playing anymore.

 

[Eid Ma Clack Shaw]

Loved Friesen.

I also think this post highlights just how good Marleau is/was. His career really took off after the 04-05 lockout and his numbers have still been good halfway into his 30s.

I know this last season was tough, but he still put up the normal amount of assist numbers he gets, while posting the lowest shooting % of his career BY FAR. And it's not like his shot numbers decreased dramatically either. I would not be surprised to see him hit 30 goals next season, even when factoring in age decline.

 

[ME Punymeier]

Friesen became a solid offensive player at an earlier age than Marleau, but his skill diminished very quickly. It was sad that one time he was on tv during a game a few years back. He seemed like he was fighting back tears when he talked about not playing anymore.

I remember watching this too, it was tough. I think it was Remenda interviewing him and telling him to keep his head up and stay positive, and you could tell that Friesen knew his career was over.

I still have a Friesen jersey. His style was very dependent on speed and when he started to lose a step it just seemed to fall apart. As the OP said, at least he won a cup with NJ. Always seemed like a nice guy and was a young player on Sharks teams that were difficult for young players.

 

[chris39bong]

Friesen was my favorite player growing up. The "39" in my handle is for him, not because of Logan. Was really pulling for him to make the Sharks 4-5 years back. I think he was the final roster cut that preseason.

Anyway, Jeff was a good player but simply didn't have the shot that Marleau is blessed with. Patty is slightly better offensively in just about every way, but IMO its really only his elite shot that elevated him from a Friesen type player to a great player. Had Friesen been a few years younger and remained on the Sharks after the first lockout eliminated the "clutch and grab", I'm sure he too would have put up consistent 30-35 goal seasons with Jumbo, rather than just a single 31 goal campaign in the late 90's.

As the poster above me said, his style and main threat offensively was his speed. Toward the end of his career in SJ, I remember reading that Sutter wanted Friesen to bulk up and be more of a grinder. That, along with the advanced age, contributed to him slowing down and becoming less effective.

 

[Quid Pro Clowe]

I remember watching this too, it was tough. I think it was Remenda interviewing him and telling him to keep his head up and stay positive, and you could tell that Friesen knew his career was over.

I still have a Friesen jersey. His style was very dependent on speed and when he started to lose a step it just seemed to fall apart. As the OP said, at least he won a cup with NJ. Always seemed like a nice guy and was a young player on Sharks teams that were difficult for young players.

I remember watching him score that deciding goal late in the ecf vs ott in game 7. He had a great series against the Ducks, too.

 

[BCShark]

whats next a korolyuk thread

 

[Sharksrule04]

whats next a korolyuk thread

Haha 2 of my all-time favorite Sharks, Friesen and Korky. Friesen was a beast. He was lightning fast, hit, scored, played good two-way hockey. He PK'd. Man he was fun to watch. Would have loved to see what he could do with a big time center. I was legitimately on the brink of tears when we traded him for Selanne.

 

[TheHockeyRant]

Haha 2 of my all-time favorite Sharks, Friesen and Korky. Friesen was a beast. He was lightning fast, hit, scored, played good two-way hockey. He PK'd. Man he was fun to watch. Would have loved to see what he could do with a big time center. I was legitimately on the brink of tears when we traded him for Selanne.

The Friesen trade was the first time as a fan that I did not like everything the Sharks did. It broke my fragile 10 year old mind.

 

[Quid Pro Clowe]

whats next a korolyuk thread

You say that like it's a bad thing.

 

[Strata21]

Something that many of us always forget about is that this guy is only 3 years older than Marleau but has not played in the NHL since 2007 due to injuries. He was only 30 years old at the time

Friesen's GP before 05 lockout- 770
Friesen's Pts before 05 lockout- 493
At this time he was only 27 years old

Marleau's stats by age 27
Games Played- 717
Points- 491

If circumstances were different he probably would have reached 1,000 pts and done it faster than Patty too as he never had the luxury of playing with Thornton or Damphousse much at all.

At least he won a Cup...which is more than we ever got. Damn you Selanne.

Anybody remember those Joey Grasso Powerbodies commercials back in the day? Friesen was a client and got too bulky. He lost a lot of his speed as a result. Nolan was also a client but it was probably more beneficial to him since he played more of a physical style.

 

[Bleedred]

I had just started more than casually following the Sharks in his last or second to last season in San Jose.

I did love him in his first season as a Devil though, and during that 03 cup run. He scored some HUGE goals in that run.

He kind of fell off sometime in the next season. After the league had passed the salary cap, I remember wanting him gone from the Devils. I had this bad feeling that he was about to completely grenade. And he did become a casualty of the cap, we traded him to the Capitals for a bag of donuts.

And he eventually did grenade, it was all downhill the last two seasons in the league. Think he hurt his groin or leg or something like that. I felt bad for him when they showed him on the telecast of the stadium series game this past February, he looked terrible and like he had been down miles of hard road.

Sometimes I forget that he was brought in as a training camp tryout by Doug Wilson in 2008 or 2009. Such a shame that he fell apart before he was even 30, seemed to have his whole career ahead of him.

 

[spintheblackcircle]

sad, only highlights of Jeff as a Sharks is on this clip which was shot with a potato

 

[OrrNumber4]

I'll always remember Friesen as the guy being compared to Marleau. At times, Marleau struggled with Sutter's no-nonsense, defense-first approach. But Friesen, a similarly-aged player, had no issues. I think he helped defuse some of the "Sutter hates young players" hysteria. A lazy guy who Sutter actually motivated.

Anybody remember those Joey Grasso Powerbodies commercials back in the day? Friesen was a client and got too bulky. He lost a lot of his speed as a result. Nolan was also a client but it was probably more beneficial to him since he played more of a physical style.

I would say his size/strength/physicality was the most heavily criticized aspect of his game during his time in San Jose. And, a lot of that no doubt came from comparisons to Nolan, an in-your-face tough guy.

Bites that trying to correct that issue might have hastened the end of his career.

 

[Quid Pro Clowe]

Yeah, I like the fact teams now try to take a players strength and work with that instead of trying to make them what they aren't. Friesen's game was all about vision, speed and instincts, and without the speed, his game fell apart.

 

[TheHockeyRant]

Yeah, I like the fact teams now try to take a players strength and work with that instead of trying to make them what they aren't. Friesen's game was all about vision, speed and instincts, and without the speed, his game fell apart.

Eee teams still do that. Try to put 3rd liners in top six roles. Or rush the development of players. A perfect example is Zach Kassian. Canucks grabbed him solely because they saw what Lucic did to them. And to this day Kassian is still nothing but a 3rd/ 4th liner being thrown out on the top 6.

Heck a perfect example for SJ would be Michal Handzus. SJ kept trying to use him as a 3rd or 4th liner center despite having pretty abysmal wingers to support him. Then he goes to Chicago and is thrown on the 2nd line (which is where is was playing before coming to SJ) and dominated due to having better wingers. Essentially Zues was similar to say a Vinny Damphousse (not in overall skill but principle) in his twilight years, terrific passer and faceoff taker, but unless the best guy on your wing is Torrey Mitchell goals are just not going to happen. He was truly a 2nd line center and SJ never used him as such simply because they had no vacancy in that position.

 

[Helistin]

Eee teams still do that. Try to put 3rd liners in top six roles. Or rush the development of players. A perfect example is Zach Kassian. Canucks grabbed him solely because they saw what Lucic did to them. And to this day Kassian is still nothing but a 3rd/ 4th liner being thrown out on the top 6.

Heck a perfect example for SJ would be Michal Handzus. SJ kept trying to use him as a 3rd or 4th liner center despite having pretty abysmal wingers to support him. Then he goes to Chicago and is thrown on the 2nd line (which is where is was playing before coming to SJ) and dominated due to having better wingers. Essentially Zues was similar to say a Vinny Damphousse (not in overall skill but principle) in his twilight years, terrific passer and faceoff taker, but unless the best guy on your wing is Torrey Mitchell goals are just not going to happen. He was truly a 2nd line center and SJ never used him as such simply because they had no vacancy in that position.

In what world Handzus dominated in the Chicago's 2nd line? Sure he was very good in the defensive end but he dragged the whole line down in the offensive end.
Chicago's board is full of bald people that pulled their hair out because of Quenneville's obsession to play him there.
Handzus was maybe the slowest player in the NHL in his Chicago days , had a bad puck possession numbers(even with mostly playing with good possession players) and shut his own star wingers down. Even Kane went solid 300 minutes once without scoring a goal when Handzus was on the ice with him.
If there ever was a example of a player not a good fit for a top 6 role anymore , it was Handzus in Chicago.

 

[TheHockeyRant]

In what world Handzus dominated in the Chicago's 2nd line? Sure he was very good in the defensive end but he dragged the whole line down in the offensive end.
Chicago's board is full of bald people that pulled their hair out because of Quenneville's obsession to play him there.
Handzus was maybe the slowest player in the NHL in his Chicago days , had a bad puck possession numbers(even with mostly playing with good possession players) and shut his own star wingers down. Even Kane went solid 300 minutes once without scoring a goal when Handzus was on the ice with him.
If there ever was a example of a player not a good fit for a top 6 role anymore , it was Handzus in Chicago.

Kane had a two horrific scoring slumps in 2013. Their 2nd line was abysmal due to inadequate 2nd line centers. Then the second Handzus was traded to Chicago and eventually put on the 2nd line Kane went on a tear through the playoffs. Zus despite being one of the slowest NHLers solved their problems offensively.

Timeline
Pre Handzus in Chicago Start of 2013 season to until his first game on 4/4/13
Patrick Sharp had 10 points (4,6) in 25 games
Patrick Kane had 23 points (8,15) in 35 games (including a 10 game goal-less streak in February)
These two would be his eventual line-mates during the playoffs
--------------------------------------
Handzus played his first game 4/4/13 but during the regular season his line-mates were anyone among the bottom 6 )Michal Frolik, Dan Carcillo, Bradon Bollig)
It was not until April 24, 2013 that Handzus was put on the 2nd line against Edmonton. During the last two games of the season Kane scored 2 goals...Over the 14 previous games before that he only had two goals.
------
Even after Handzus was acquired Kane continued an 11 game goal-less streak in April
Sharp only played in 4 games after March 9th due to injury.
Handzus only played in 11 games before the playoffs, posting 5 points (1,4)
----
Between the 3, they posted 44 points in the playoffs the most by any line that year (19 by Kane, 14 by Sharp, 11 by Handzus)

All data courtesy of War-On-Ice and Behind the Net.