CALGARY, CANADA – JANUARY 24: Andrew Desjardins #69 and Jason Demers #60 of the San Jose Sharks skate against the Calgary Flames on January 24, 2012 at the Scotiabank Saddledome in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. Mandatory credit: Gerry Thomas

San Jose Sharks fans have been waiting a long for this day to come, the start of the new NHL season.  The Sharks start their season on the road against the Calgary Flames.  When San Jose last played, they were eliminated by the St. Louis Blues in five games in the Western Conference Quarterfinals.  In the offseason Doug Wilson made a series of moves on both sides of the team.

He made his first trade with the Detroit Red Wings since being the GM with San Jose on June 10, 2012.  That trade sent forward Andrew Murray negotiating rights plus a conditional 7th round draft pick(2014) to Detroit in exchange for Brad Stuart contracting rights.  Stuart was originally drafted by the Sharks in the 1998 NHL Draft as the third overall pick.  On June 18, 2012 Stuart and San Jose agreed to a a three-year $10.8 Million deal.  Doug Wilson made another roster move by signing UFA Adam Burish to a 4-year deal at $1.8 million per year, thus reuniting him with University of Wisconsin teammate Joe Pavelski.

The Sharks were not done making moves as they made the most prominent addition with the organization came behind their bench.  Former Devils assistant and Hall of Fame defenseman Larry Robinson joined the staff.  His primary task will be improving a penalty kill that ranked 29th last season. The offensive end shouldn’t be a problem for the Sharks, who last season ranked second in shots, face-offs and power-play percentage.  San Jose also brought in assistant coach Jim Johnson to help out with the teams defense.

For the Flames, General Manager Jay Feaster elected not to re-sign Olli Jokinen.  He decided to tap into the free agent market by signing former Red Wing’s forward Jiri Hudler to a four-year contract worth $16 million and traded for former Washington Capitals defenseman Dennis Wideman rights.  In the Wideman trade, Feaster sent Jordan Hendry and a fifth round draft pick to the Capitals.  Furthermore, he made another move by adding Czech Republic forward Roman Cervenka to his roster.  Cervenka spent last season playing in the KHL with Avangard Omsk.

Injury report: For the Sharks, Brent Burns is questionable following hernia surgery. Justin Bruan (hand) and Jason Demers (wrist) are out.  The Flames could be missing new additions Cervenka and Hudler.  Cervenka is out with a blood clot, and Hudler was nursing an abdominal injury before returning to the Czech Republic to attend his father’s funeral. Anton Babchuk (shoulder) is out; Jarome Iginla (groin) is expected to play.

2011-2012 NHL Season Series Statistics:  Calgary Flames tied San Jose Sharks 2-2.

Today’s contest has a 3:00p PST puck drop and can be seen on Comcast Sports Net California and can be heard on 98.5 KFOX.

LET’S GO SHARKS!!!!!!!!!!!

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Blades of Teal: Tape to tape “WITH THE PASS” of expert analysis on San Jose Sharks, Worcester Sharks, and San Francisco Bulls hockey

Mar 10, 2012; Glendale, AZ, USA; San Jose Sharks goalie Antti Niemi (31) makes a save as defenseman Marc-Edouard Vlasic (44) looks on during the second period against the Phoenix Coyotes at Jobing.com Arena. Mandatory Credit: Jake Roth-US PRESSWIRE

Tomorrow night the Sharks play game one of a back to back Canadian adventure. First the boys in Teal will face T-Hall and the Oilers in Edmonton. Now, glancing at the current state of affairs in the Western conference, we see the Oilers hanging out in 14th and the Sharks in 9th, a solid 16 points ahead of the Oilers. Not that points and stats have been a reliable gauge when it comes to what is going to happen in a Sharks game these days. I would be more inclined to say that it’s more likely for them to beat Calgary on Tuesday, a team only 1 point behind the Sharks in the Western conference, just because it would make less sense than beating a team as far behind them as the Oilers. I know how confusing that must read…but seriously, I’m sort of at a loss at this point with what is going on with the Sharks. One minute our PP is ok, then the next its falling apart. One day the boys seem on fire and passionate, the next they look lethargic and disinterested in the game at hand. Maybe some crisp Canadian air will wake up the team and we’ll see a couple W’s before they return home to face the Predators on Thursday. What do you think fans? What (aside from some passion in their game) do the Sharks need in order to succeed?

~ALH

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Feb 8, 2012; San Jose, CA, USA; San Jose Sharks goalie Antti Niemi (31) saves a shot from Calgary Flames center Olli Jokinen (13) during the second period at HP Pavilion. Mandatory Credit: Jason O. Watson-US PRESSWIRE

Olli Jokinen’s scored three goals for a hat trick and Mikka Kipprusoff made 33 saves as the Calgary Flames took the San Jose Sharks 4-3 at The Tank Wednesday Night. The Sharks turned in another performance that was marred by a slow start and a key turnover which the Flames would ultimately redeem for a key road win. For the Sharks, it’s their second straight loss after a three game win streak. The Sharks despite this two game slide still lead the Pacific Division over the L A Kings by two points with three games in hand. The Flames came out as the more desperate team and had the Sharks pinned in their defensive zone for a good portion of the game. The victory for Kipprusoff was his 300th career win, getting it in the same place he got his first win in 2001 as a member of the Sharks. Dan Boyle missed this game as he has the flu. (more…)