Avalanche defenseman Scott Hannan played 508 regular-season games in eight seasons with the San Jose Sharks, and twice went up against Colorado in playoff series.
He probably can identify the guy who wears the “S.J. Sharkie” costume — when the mascot is out of uniform and in street clothes.
And Hannan certainly knows the strengths and weaknesses of the Sharks’ veteran star forwards, Joe Thornton and Patrick Marleau — the natural centers who likely will continue to play on the same line in the Avs-Sharks playoff series that opens tonight at San Jose’s HP Pavilion.
“It’s exciting every time you get to play against your old team,” Hannan said Monday. “They’re a great organization, top to bottom, first-class in everything. I have good memories, but I’m looking forward to this one too.”
The Avalanche likely will have Hannan with Kyle Quincey in what has been Colorado’s top defensive pairing most of the season. In this series, they’ll be out often against the line of Marleau, Thornton, and Dany Heatley, the right wing who was acquired from Ottawa in the offseason and scored 39 goals for the Sharks.
Putting two longtime centers on the same line doesn’t always work in the NHL. When Colorado tried that with Joe Sakic and Peter Forsberg, the results weren’t as good as when they were pick-your-poison centers on different lines. In this case, the teaming of Marleau and Thornton on the same line has been a boon for the Sharks.
“They’re fast, they’re big, they’re physical,” Hannan said. “They’re a dangerous combination. Anytime you get a passer like that (Thornton) with Patty’s speed and shooting ability, and they read off each other well, they’re going to be dangerous.
“You just try to stay in their way. You try to limit their time with the puck. You know they’re going to get their chances and they’re great players. You just try to limit them as much as you can, and any way you can.”
And what kind of guys are they?
Hannan, on Thornton: “He’s a great guy, fun to be around, a good personality.” And Marleau? “He’s the same,” Hannan said. “Well, he’s quieter and more reserved, but he has a passion in him. Playing with him those years, I could see that.”
Hannan has one season remaining on a four-year, $18 million contract with Colorado he signed as an unrestricted free agent in 2007. He signed and was introduced at the same time as Ryan Smyth, whose contract eventually was viewed as undesirable and expendable in the rebuilding process, and it’s fair to say the Avalanche probably would have shed Hannan too, for the right offer.
Although he filled the top-pair role well for most of the season, Hannan also is a bit of a lightning rod in the sense that being out primarily against top lines leads to defensemen being shown in the highlights of opposition goals, and that’s why plus- minus for defensemen in those pairs sometimes is misleading.
Hannan is a plus-2, the fifth-best figure among the Avalanche defensemen — behind Ryan Wilson (plus- 13), Quincey (9), Adam Foote (8) and Brett Clark (6). He averaged just less than 22 minutes of ice time, second only to Quincey (who also got power-play time) at the position. He finished with two goals and 14 assists.
“I enjoy playing against top lines, knowing what it means at the end of the night if you’ve done your job,” Hannan said. “In this series, we know we have a big challenge here, but we feel we’re up to the task.”
