Cheechoo Looking To Click Once Again
February 16, 2007

By Shawn P. Roarke | NHL.com Senior Writer

San Jose forward Jonathan Cheechoo understands he led a charmed life
last season. Now, he is just trying to recapture the magic.

The arrival of Joe Thornton in San Jose -- an unexpected surprise
last November after a blockbuster trade between the Sharks and
Bruins -- catapulted Cheechoo almost overnight from a player with an
unlimited future to a superstar in the here-and-now.

Capitalizing on the amazing and immediate chemistry shared with
Thornton, a crafty, pass-first pivot, Cheechoo, a shoot-first, ask-
questions-later right winger, started scoring goals in bunches as
soon as the two players were put together.

Teammate Patrick Marleau says the symbiotic relationship forged by
the two players was breathtaking in both its simplicity and brutal
effectiveness. When all was said and done last season, Cheechoo had a
League-leading 56 goals, double his previous career best. Thornton
had a League-best 125 points and was voted the Hart Trophy as the
League's Most Valuable Player.

"He and Joe clicked last year and it was something special to watch,"
said Marleau. "Just how (Cheechoo) evolved, working hard all the
time. He's always had a pretty quick shot and been able to get to
scoring areas and you end up with a guy like Joe and he scores 56
goals".

Cheechoo also earned his first All-Star appearance, an honor he
enjoyed last month as a member of the victorious Western Conference
squad at the 2007 NHL All-Star Game in Dallas.

"It's an unbelievable experience," Cheechoo said while basking in the
Dallas spotlight. "My dad came in early for this and he's like 'Did
you see Joe Sakic, did you see this guy, did you see that guy?' It's
exciting just to be involved in this type of game."

Exciting, sure. But is it intimidating?

"I wouldn't say intimidated, just more so exciting to be around these
great guys. It's fun to just be in that atmosphere."

It also proved to be a brief respite from Cheechoo's struggles for
much of this season.

Unlike last season, Cheechoo is not on pace for 56 goals this year.
In fact, at his current pace, he will finish the season with 31
goals. Most players in the NHL would pay dearly to top the 30-goal
plateau, but Cheechoo set the bar far higher during last year's
magical ride.

It should be noted that Cheechoo did miss six games earlier this year
with a knee injury, an ailment that hindered his skating for a
substantial period of time.

"That's not really an excuse," Cheechoo insists. "It's just something
where maybe I got away from the way I was playing last year. I have
to get myself closer to the puck and get to the scoring areas a
little quicker. Now, maybe I'm turning away from the puck a little
too much and staying more on the perimeter. I've got to get into the
areas where I score my goals, 10 to15 feet outside the net."

Cheechoo also admits that some of his offensive woes can be traced to
his uneven play in his own zone, a startling admission for a player
who has made his bones by concentrating on what he does in the
attacking areas of the ice. Yet Cheechoo insists that you can't
separate one from the other in today's NHL.

So, the big forward has been more diligent about coming deeper into
his own zone and exerting influence on the back check instead of
taking a more lackadaisical approach without the puck.

"Maybe I got away from that a little this year and it's showed,"
Cheechoo said. "I didn't have a very good plus/minus (a minus-9) and
I was letting things slip a little defensively. Now, I'm trying to
get back to that and go back to the way I was playing a couple of
years ago. In doing that, I just realized I had more chances
offensively when I was playing good defense."

And the offense has come, mostly in spurts, since Cheechoo has
rededicated himself to a more all-around game. From Dec. 31 to Jan.
18, Cheechoo had five goals and seven assists during an eight-game
span. More recently, he turned in back-to-back, two-goal games
against rival Anaheim in a huge home-and-home series.

Thornton believes Cheechoo is too good not to recapture his form.

"We haven't found the chemistry yet this year, but we have a lot of
time for him to be on my right side," Thornton said. "He's just a
great player, a great all-around player. He knows where to be in the
scoring areas and he works really hard to get there. He's just a
complete player."

Cheechoo says he has become more accustomed to not always playing on
Thornton's right side. His demotion from top-line duty, he says, is
no longer a concern.

"It was a little frustrating, but at the same time the team was
winning, so I couldn't be too down on myself," Cheechoo
explained. "It is just something that I think I have to work through
it. Things are starting to go in for me now and I'm starting to feel
a little better on the ice."

Those words are certainly comforting to fans of the San Jose Sharks,
who have high hopes for their team this season. The team has 73
points through 57 games.

Cheechoo has enjoyed this playoff race, especially after experiencing
the highs and lows of San Jose's furious charge into the postseason
last season, a charge that was forged mainly through the heroics of
himself and Thornton.

He knows if his team can maintain the momentum it has flirted with so
often in the second half, the Sharks will be OK down the stretch and
will have the opportunity to compete for the Stanley Cup many thought
might be claimed by this highly talented team before the season even
began.

"It's just a thing of coming out and being more consistent," he
says. "We had a problem earlier on of having a really good game and
then following it with a not so good game and you can't gain any
ground, winning one, losing one, winning one, losing one. We need to
find a way to be more consistent and put some winning streaks
together."

Sounds like advice that Cheechoo himself is eager to follow.