Sharks getting ready to go?

April 16, 2012; San Jose, CA, USA; San Jose Sharks right wing Martin Havlat (9) skates with the puck against the St. Louis Blues during the first period of game three of the 2012 Western Conference quarterfinals at HP Pavilion. St. Louis defeated San Jose 4-3. Mandatory Credit: Jason O. Watson-USA TODAY Sports

The guys over at Fear the Fin reported earlier today that we now have 5 Sharks who’ve returned home from their brief European sojourns   Galiardi, Murray, Niemi, Couture and Havlat are all now back on U.S. soil.  Couture has even gone as far as to say he’s good to go if the season starts.  I’m not saying there’s a connection between these player returns and the recent talks that’ve been happening between players and owners, I’m just saying.

I’d also add that while the players certainly aren’t simpletons, these negotiations have to be somewhat lopsided.  Putting a bunch of guys in a room who’ve done nothing but focus on playing hockey their whole lives and having them sit across from a bunch of guys who’ve done nothing but focus on negotiating their whole lives seems like a Gretzky vs. Probert kind of fight.  Think of the most shrewd person you know, and imagine them trying to negotiate with one of these guys.  He’d get torn apart faster than a guy in a Hawaiian shirt at a Don Rickles show.  Wait, more current analogy…faster than a video of a dog getting sick on Tosh.0.  Whatever, you get the point.

Anyway, as of the writing of this post, the league and players were engaged in another marathon negotiating session.  We’ve been promised by one owner that the negotiations would go on until there was a resolution.  So let’s all wait and see.

In the meantime we can enjoy the most recent Joe Thornton highlowlight that’s been making the rounds.

~BB