Metro assistant Clark enjoying coaching

Sean Clark feels politics is a lot like hockey.

“It’s competitive and you get your share of body contact,” laughed the Metro Jets’ assistant coach recently.

Away from hockey, where Clark is also a scout for the Sioux City Musketeers of the United States Hockey League, he ran for Michigan state representative of the 25th district last fall, but didn’t win, losing by a little more than four percent.

“I’m a people person and it was nice to get out into the community and meet my neighbors and leaders from my community and talk about things that are affecting them,” said Clark, a Royal Oak native now living in Warren with his wife of almost four years, Melissa, a school teacher in Detroit. “I went through three pairs of shoes and five pairs of pants. It was a lot of fun, that’s for sure. I knocked on 16,000 doors from June 15 until the election. I had a blast with it, but is it in my future? We’ll see.”

Coming aboard midway through this season, Clark knew what he was getting into when his phone rang and it was Metro head coach Jason Cirone.

“Jason asked me to come help and knew me from our past together at Motor City (of the North American Hockey League) when he was my assistant,” explained Clark. “He asked if I had some free time and if I’d want to come out and help and here we are.”

Clark has come full-circle with the Jets as he previously served as an assistant coach when he was 21 years old during the 2002-2003 season.

“It was a lot of fun,” quipped Clark, who worked under John Romine and Fred Costello during that season.

Clark also practiced with the Jets during the 2000-2001 season, never played a game, and was traded to the NAHL’s Capital Centre Pride, where he played in 10 games. Prior to that, he skated with the Walpole Express of the Eastern Junior Hockey League.

After getting cleared to play, Clark played three full seasons with Division III Wisconsin-Eau Claire (he was hurt when he coached with Metro in ’02-03) and then had a “cup of coffee” by playing four games in the ECHL with the Bakersfield Condors after his college career ended in 2006.

His playing days done, Clark’s coaching career got off to a rousing success when he was an assistant coach with Michigan Jaguars Midget AA national championship team (pictured) and then landing with the Motor City Machine (now Metal Jackets) in 2008-2009 where he started as an assistant and then was named head coach when Matt Romaniski was relieved of his duties.

Last year, Clark was the director of player personnel for the Metal Jackets.

While politics may not be in Clark’s future, he’s positive coaching will be.

“I just like going out with the guys in practice and teaching and doing things like that,” said Clark. “Any time I can get on the ice and work with young hockey players, it’s a lot of fun for me. I get a lot of enjoyment out of it.”

LOOKING BACK, LOOKING AHEAD

After losing Friday night in Toledo, 5-2, the Jets returned home and could fare no better against Queen City, getting swept by the Steam Saturday night and Sunday afternoon at Lakeland Arena.

The scores of 5-2 and 11-3 notwithstanding, Cirone was clearly unhappy after Sunday’s game.

“It is what it is, but the way we played all weekend had the signs of a team that’s not going to the playoffs,” Cirone said. “Some of our guys don’t understand the implications of what they’re still playing for and that’s jobs for next year. Some feel comfortable enough to think that they’ll have a job here next year, but with 12 wins this year, changes will need to be made for next year if we want to succeed.”

In the first game against Queen City, Matt Stirling and Justin Bennett scored the Jets’ goals and Eric Trunick stopped 26 shots in goal.

Sunday afternoon, Bennett, captain Morgan James and Mike Moroso tallied for Metro, while Trunick and Matt Braun combined for 25 saves.

“I was extremely disappointed with our effort this weekend,” added Cirone. “This applies to the whole team. I think our captain showed up, but you can only lead so long before the other guys stop following. A lot of our guys are playing for all the wrong reasons right now.”

The Jets (12-27-1-0) close out the home portion of the season this Saturday night against Cleveland at 7:40 p.m. after what Cirone said will be a normal practice week.

“We have looked so well and done so many good things at practice, but it never transfers over into games,” said Cirone. “Repetition is the only way to get things done, so we’ll keep doing what we’ve been doing and see what happens Saturday night.”

JET STREAKS

Stirling was Metro’s lone player selected to the NA3HL Top Prospects Tournament and played in two games at the Ice Cube in Ann Arbor, Mich., Sunday afternoon and Monday afternoon.

He scored the game-winner for Team Black in Monday’s 4-3 win over Team Red.

“Matt has been our most consistent player this season and shows up every game and every practice,” said Cirone. “He definitely earned his way onto that team.”

Team Black topped Team Red, 4-2, Sunday afternoon.

Ex-Jets defenseman Tyler Schofield, now playing for the Michigan Mountain Cats, recorded an assist for Team Red Monday afternoon.

WHERE ARE THEY NOW?

Eric Ehn is a 1st Lt. in the Air Force working in the space and missiles career field at Minot Air Force Base, N.D.

Ehn played for the Jets during the 2000-2001 season before eventually playing Division I hockey for Air Force, where he was a Hobey Baker finalist in 2007.

Raffi Torres, Human Bowling Ball: Photoshop Gallery 2

Welcome once again to the Raffi Torres BallTor photoshop gallery. If you're new to this, I recommend starting either with the original photo, or with the first photoshop gallery, posted yesterday. Otherwise, let's just dive headfirst into the awesome:


I think this image is real. I hardly have to suspend my disbelief at all. If Raffi were in plainclothes, I'd swear up and down this was taken by Jeff Vinnick in Calgary. BoggyDepot, you are awesome.

Ill Bill Necro gives us Raffi, the human wrecking ball. Unfortunately, this building was a mom & pop shop forced to close by mean landlord Mr. Snively. It's a sad story, really.

This had better be a PSA for how not to go down a waterslide, because otherwise, Raffi's doing it all wrong. Sirwilliam with the image.

I like Raffi's desperate attempt to avoid looking directly into Darcy Hordichuk's nipple. This one's another gem from egatti, who also did today's header image.

In this visual metaphor, Raffi Torres represents small government. The patriotically named canadian hockey style brings the politics.

Here's MrWiggles with a solid effort. What a dig by number seven.

Something about that ball doesn't look right. I think Tiger Woods is cheating, but what else is new? Zing. This one's by MikeyD.

Ill Bill Necro gives us Raffi, the human cheese wheel. As a ginger, Raffi's definitely got the colouring to be cheese.

BoggyDepot gives us the first BallTor image in which he's right-side up. I like how concerned Raffi appears to be. I also like how he's ducking, in case another flaming bag of excrement falls from the sky.

Kudos to BoggyDepot again. I saw this movie when I was younger, and I don't remember Raffi Torres being in it. But I could be wrong.

Here's another MikeyD image. It's amazing to me how Raffi's wide open mouth can go from excitement to horror, depending on the situation pictured. Here, he's clearly terrified, and rightly so. No good can come of this.

Egatti earns PITB's "Too soon" award for this creative animated GIF. If you're offended by this image, ignore it for now, then come back in three months or so and you'll find it hilarious.

Here's something just as topical and much less offensive, again from egatti. Raffi makes a good Tron battle disc. By the way, thank goodness he plays on the same team as Sami Salo, because this is actually a simulation of what would happen if they ever collided.

GALLERY 1 - - - - - - - - - - GALLERY 2

I Watched This Game: Canucks vs Blues, February 24, 2011

Canucks 3 - 2 Blues

I feel like we've been spouting this statistic a lot lately, but the Canucks still haven't lost two consecutive regulation games since November. I used to be impressed; now I'm just annoyed. I mean, they keep alternating wins and losses, forcing me to point to this statistic every second game. No more, friends. Here's a new stat: the Canucks haven't won two consecutive games in regulation since the beginning of this month. In short, the Canucks are probably sellers.

Okay, maybe not, especially not after a victory (he said, sounding a lot like a shortsighted NHL GM). I'm not a fan of the alternating wins and losses, but I'm a fan of the wins, and I quite enjoyed the effort the team put forth in order to get one last night. The Canucks had another solid response game, bouncing back from the loss to the Montreal Canadiens with a complete team effort versus the St. Louis Blues. Every line was effective, Cory Schneider played great in net, and the Canucks fended off a team in dire need of points to collect two of their own. Additionally (and most importantly), I watched this game:

• The Canucks' third line has been excellent since being reunited the last time the Canucks played the Blues on February 14. How appropriate that their chemistry would be rekindled on Valentine's Day (for inappropriate ways to build chemistry, see the Lonely Island). The third line has 11 points, combined, in their last six games, and has contributed 6 goals. For the slow-witted: that's a goal a game. If you can count on your third line for a goal each game, you'll probably do all right.

• I was impressed that John Garrett's Hockey Know How segment (often a strange segment in which Garrett seems oddly unacquainted with the clip he himself has selected), managed to actually inform me for once. He went over the game-winning goal (above), pointing out the way Torres's hit on Colaiacovo not only freed up the puck, but took his man away from the net and out of the play. In fact, Torres didn't even really hit him--he just moved him. There was more, though. Hansen picked up an assist on the goal in the only way he knows how: with a pokecheck. Gosh, Hansen loves to poke. If he ever commits a serious crime, we need to make sure the judge doesn't order him to do trash pickup for community service. He'd have way too much fun.

• Manny Malhotra scored the game-winner, which was a major windfall for him and his line, but I don't like the way people are talking as though he's finally contributing. Malhotra took 2 faceoffs in the offensive zone and 12 in the defensive zone. Vigneault doesn't put him on the ice to score.

• Raffi Torres had a game-high 5 hits, a couple impressive backchecks (2 takeaways), and zero baffling passes to nowhere. Kudos.

• I watched tonight's game with Cam Davie of Canucks Army, who is a quality dude. Just wanted to throw that out there.
  

• You want to talk Wizardous Sedinerie? How about Mikael Samuelsson's goal, which comes by way of some remarkable cycling by the Sedins in the corner. Seriously, they make the St. Louis defensemen look like the Washington Generals. The Sedins cycled so spectacularly nobody even noticed they were on motorcycles the whole time. And make no mistake: Tanev may have been sneaking in the backdoor, but that pass really was meant for Samuelsson. Only Henrik Sedin thinks of passing into someone's gut, but that's what he did.

• You might not have noticed, but Aaron Rome finished the game with less icetime than Keith Ballard. To quote Werner Herzog in Encounters at the End of the World, "Is this a great moment?" Yes it is. Ballard simply brings more to the table than Rome, and it appears that he's finally earning his coach's trust. Of course, Rome's reduced icetime might have to do with his play on the David Backes goal. Word of warning to amateur hockey players: never lazily sweep the puck to David Backes in the high slot. That's like giving a baby a loaded handgun. Worse, a baby with a history of assault with a firearm, like Maggie Simpson.
  

• Another reason for a reduction in Rome's icetime might have been the pairings: after Vigneault built himself a top four of Hamhuis with Ehrhoff and Ballard with Salo, Rome defaulted to the bottom pairing with low-minute man Chris Tanev. It definitely didn't take Hammy long to return to form. He played a game-high 23:53, finishing with four shots, two hits, and two blocks. He also acted as a steadying presence for Ehrhoff, from whom we've seen some jittery play lately. Meanwhile, Ballard and Salo were paired together, which made a lot of sense. Once everyone's healthy, this is likely the bottom pairing for the Canucks, so it's wise of Alain Vigneault to put them together right away.
  

• It was great to see Sami Salo score, too, especially in the vintage way they he did it. Nobody is better at shading in from the point for that exact one-timer, and it's nice to see this weapon return. Salo's shot remains a laser. Heck, it's not just any laser, either; it's a moonraker. Short of the golden gun, Sami Salo's shot is the best weapon in Goldeneye 64.

• Tanner Glass only played five minutes in this game, but he was granted third star honours for his play in that time, as he finished a goal short of the Gordie Howe hat trick. He did, however, pick up a Tanner Glass hat-trick, which is a goal, an assist, and bevy of Scrabble jokes from the broadcast team (the best one courtesy of Dan Murphy, postgame). His pass to Salo showed some great vision, and his fight with BJ Crombeen gave the Canucks some life early in the first period. That fight, by the way, came after Crombeen claimed, just prior to the faceoff, that MENSWEAR was two words.

• The Canucks did a great job of keeping Alex Steen, somehow the Blues' Canuck-killer, off the scoresheet. He finished a minus-1 and had 4 of his shots blocked, more than any other player. Think Vigneault talked to his guys about this? I do. Mind you, the Canucks were blocking shots all over the place. They blocked 17 shots overall, including 11 from their defense alone, and 7 from the Ballard/Salo pairing. It worries me to think of Sami Salo blocking a lot of shots, but now that his bones are mush, how much damage can it really do?

• Welcome Damien Cox to Sportsnet, everyone. and stop throwing things at your televisions, that's what he wants. And you, get down from there. Don't you dare kick that chair out from underneath you.

• Rough second period for the Canucks, but that'll happen. Look no further than the Blues' first period. I could have sworn the Blues got a defenseman back when they traded Erik Johnson, but it looked to me like one of their defense pairings was missing a guy for the first twenty minutes. Did anyone notice that the Blues gave up 17 shots and about seventy-six odd-man rushes?

• And finally, Mason Raymond played a very good game. No goals and he missed some chances, but he generated more, and had six shots on net. I haven't been happy with his play of late (and I suspect, neither has he), but I hope he stays with the team through the deadline. If he can continue to play like he did tonight, it wouldn't be worth the jolt to team chemistry to bring someone else in.