Sharks get ready for Montreal after disappointment in L A….
The good news for the Sharks is they got a good two days off and should be able to refocus for their next opponent, the Montreal Canadians Thursday Night at The Tank. The Canadians much like the Sharks got off to a slow start and a much harder early season slump. They will come into the Tank with a 10-11-4 mark, having just lost to the Anaheim Ducks 4-1 (in a game that just ended as of the time this article was being written). The Canadians have their share of players that are both fast and productive, including top point getters Tomas Plekanec, Max Pacioretty, Erik Cole, Brian Gionta, David Desharnais. and Michael Cammalleri. The Canadians also feature former Sharks Josh Gorges and Travis Moen. In net the go to guy for Montreal is Carey Price who’s posted a .916 save percentage, with his back up being former Colorado Avs goalie Peter Budaj.
After the Canadians invade the Shark Tank, the new homestand will continue as the Sharks host to revamped Florida Panthers on Saturday, followed by the return of the Minnesota Wild on Tuesday Dec 6th (i.e. Devin Setoguchi’s and Dany Heatley’s 2nd trip to the Tank in 3 weeks, and last one for this season baring a playoff matchup in the spring). The Sharks have played three tough opponents in a row in Chicago, Vancouver and ofcourse the Kings in L A. Nobody ever said this was going to be easy and if nothing else, the Sharks winning just one of those three games should be proof of that. Honestly, this is no great shakes for team teal. A loss or two are going to happen along the way. There are certainly going to be a fair share of bumps along the way in an 82 game schedule. About 99% of the games in which the Sharks lose, I remind myself that this is a marathon now and will be up until March when the playoff races become more in focus and the trade deadline has passed.
At 13-7-1, the Sharks have played 21 games (about a quarter of their season schedule). Right now I would give the team a “B” grade on their first midterm if you want to call it that. The reason for not giving the “A” now is only because of a slow start and bad losses to St Louis, Phoenix and Anaheim early, and a little inconsistancy here and there. This is nothing that can’t be corrected or won’t be correct as the season moves along. Sharks color commentator Drew Remenda coined a phrase a few seasons back, and the phrase is “puck luck”. Simply put, you need luck on your side as much as anything when you have good scoring opporunities. The Sharks have run a little hot and cold so far this year, and have been more cold as of late. Back to back losses to hot goalies (Corey Schneider and Jonathan Quick) will do that. Keep in mind that this works both ways and the Sharks should soon break out of their scoring droughts, there simply is too much talent on this roster from Joe Pavelski, Patrick Marleau, Logan Couture, Joe Thornton, Brent Burns and on down. Antti Niemi is one of the best goalies in the business and come spring he will be on top of his game, it’s what he lives for.
Finally, for the glass is half empty crowd I offer this because I will find myself saying this alot as I did last season during January when the Sharks went into a bad slump before catching fire in the spring, “Just wake me when the playoffs are here.”…
GO SHARKS!!! Beat Monteal!!!
The King Shark