There's Blood In The Water
In the first third of the season, many annalists and rumormongers were calling for the Sharks to be gutted, for lack of a better phrase. The team lacked a real backbone, they were inconsistant, and players werent meeting expectations; all reasons I had seen other people use to explain why we needed to restructure… This team is for real, and their only goal is to bring home a Cup.Something has happened in San Jose within the last fifteen games: they have gelled as a unit. Im not talking about six goals and a win every night, Im talking about sixty minutes of hard skating, stingy defense, and swarming attack. They are currently tied for second place in the West, tied for third overall in the league, own the best road record in the league, and are starting to put together wins at the ‘shark Tank.’ Take into consideration as well that this is a very young squad, with seventeen of their twenty-six current roster players twenty-eight years old or younger. Suffice to say, this is a team with their best years still to come.
A quick look at the roster will give you an idea of the depth that this squad has:
Steve Bernier: The “Baby Bull” has stepped up his game, especially his hitting, with Ryan Clowe absent from the lineup.
Curtis Brown: One of our PK specialists, skates hard and provides a veteran leadership both on, and off the ice.
Matt Carle: Made the All-Rookie squad last year after posting eleven goals and thirty-one assists in seventy-seven games.
Jonathan Cheechoo: Once the train gets back on the tracks, its stops for no goalie…
Ryan Clowe: A brute of a forward, he can put you on your butt and has a nose for the net.
Rob Davison: Call him a sissy… I dare you.
Christian Ehrhoff: One of our smoothest skaters, and has a cannon from the point.
Marcel Goc: Steps up his play in the postseason.
Mike Grier: He NEVER stops skating.
Patrick Marleau: He would whoop ninety-nine percent of the league in a foot race. He runs over that final one percent.
Kyle McLaren: Look up his name and the phrase “hip check” on youtube and you will understand…
Milan Michalek: One of the top two-way players in the game today, and, get this… Is only twenty-three.
Torrey Mitchell: Learning the ropes from J.R., and a fantastic backchecker.
Douglas Murray: When someone throws a hit at Murray, they are the one that ends up on their backside… Leads the team with a +16!
Evgeni Nabokov: Leads the league in wins, second in goals against, third in shutouts, and has started EVERY GAME thus far in the season.
Brad Norton: More depth at the blueline, and another player we could nickname “Mongo.”
Dimitri Patzold: What are the odds of having a starter and a backup, both from Kamenogorsk, Kazakhstan?!?!?
Joe Pavelski: A steal in the seventh round, he is turning into a solid transition player, and shows a great deal of hockey sense at a young age.
Patrick Rissmiller: This hard-nosed forward signed as an undrafted free agent.
Craig Rivet: Right-handed defenseman with a hard shot, and a “no nonsense” approach to clearing the zone.
Jeremy Roenick: Shed around fifteen pounds before the start of the season, and has played with a renewed vigor all year.
Alexei Semenov: When you make McLaren look small in comparison…
Devin Setoguchi: Imagine Cheechoo with a better set of wheels.
Joe Thornton: A man playing against boys…
Marc-Edouard Vlasic: Rounding out last years All-Rookie team defensive pairing.
There’s blood in the water, and the rest of the league is about to be under attack…