There's no sugar-coating this: San Jose is a decided underdog again tonight. The Sharks visit the regulation-unbeaten Chicago Blackhawks, who after beating Vancouver earlier this week will attempt to be the first team in history to start a season with 17 consecutive games without losing after 60 minutes. So no pressure, Joe Thornton, Patrick Marleau, Dan Boyle, Ryane Clowe and Todd McLellan. You're not expected to beat this team right now, not after losing seven of eight games and falling from grace as one of the NHL's feel-good stories in the first couple weeks. Now, the Sharks are supposed to be the Blackhawks' latest victims after losing to them twice already in the past two weeks.
So no chance, right? The Sharks should just show up, give a decent account of themselves, let the Blackhawks pump up the volume on that hideously annoying Fratelli's theme song that still rings in my years from the 2009-10 Western Conference finals. Don't get anyone hurt, and focus on Saturday's back-to-back finale at Dallas, get home and put another disappointing February road trip behind them.
OK, enough of this self-pity shtick. This is a major opportunity for the Sharks to send a message they remain a viable threat in the Western Conference. Tuesday's 2-1 victory in St. Louis finally snapped the losing skid at seven, and the quirky extra day off between games allowed McLellan to get a couple of rare back-to-back practices in Chicago on Wednesday and Thursday. The Sharks are also dealing with trade rumors involving -and it's shocking to believe this is possible- Boyle and/or Thornton, if you buy into what respected TSN reporter Darren Dreger has been told. (but I have to think General Manager Doug Wilson will make some kind of move for a forward in the hope to bolster his team's scoring woes if the Sharks continue to scuffle for goals).
So no excuses for the Sharks to not be significantly better than they were last Friday. That game seemed more like Fright-day in a 4-1 stinker of a defeat to that same Blackhawks team now 60 minutes away from making history. Of course, the Sharks would gladly take overtime or a shootout, as winning the game in any manner supercedes beating Chicago in regulation. And I don't believe Chicago's dressing room is likely fretting over what amounts to just a footnote in an anything but ordinary season. Late February is generally the dog days of the hockey season, when teams have been battling it out since October and are trying to keep it together with the playoffs approaching but still over a month away. But this 48-game sprint is difficult to measure given some teams are simply going to be much better by playoff time, while others who started quickly are going to lose steam. So you could actually argue the Blackhawks are ripe for the Sharks to take down tonight.
Last Friday, I wrote the Sharks were not going to win in Chicago, and they made me look smart for a change. Tonight, I have a better feeling. I did correctly predict a San Jose 2-1 win in St. Louis Tuesday, so let's hope I am on a mini-roll: San Jose 3, Chicago 2; in overtime, so the Hawks can play "Chelsea Dagger" to celebrate their season-opening record for 17 games without a loss in regulation, and the Sharks get that big victory they need. Everyone's happy, right?
So no chance, right? The Sharks should just show up, give a decent account of themselves, let the Blackhawks pump up the volume on that hideously annoying Fratelli's theme song that still rings in my years from the 2009-10 Western Conference finals. Don't get anyone hurt, and focus on Saturday's back-to-back finale at Dallas, get home and put another disappointing February road trip behind them.
OK, enough of this self-pity shtick. This is a major opportunity for the Sharks to send a message they remain a viable threat in the Western Conference. Tuesday's 2-1 victory in St. Louis finally snapped the losing skid at seven, and the quirky extra day off between games allowed McLellan to get a couple of rare back-to-back practices in Chicago on Wednesday and Thursday. The Sharks are also dealing with trade rumors involving -and it's shocking to believe this is possible- Boyle and/or Thornton, if you buy into what respected TSN reporter Darren Dreger has been told. (but I have to think General Manager Doug Wilson will make some kind of move for a forward in the hope to bolster his team's scoring woes if the Sharks continue to scuffle for goals).
So no excuses for the Sharks to not be significantly better than they were last Friday. That game seemed more like Fright-day in a 4-1 stinker of a defeat to that same Blackhawks team now 60 minutes away from making history. Of course, the Sharks would gladly take overtime or a shootout, as winning the game in any manner supercedes beating Chicago in regulation. And I don't believe Chicago's dressing room is likely fretting over what amounts to just a footnote in an anything but ordinary season. Late February is generally the dog days of the hockey season, when teams have been battling it out since October and are trying to keep it together with the playoffs approaching but still over a month away. But this 48-game sprint is difficult to measure given some teams are simply going to be much better by playoff time, while others who started quickly are going to lose steam. So you could actually argue the Blackhawks are ripe for the Sharks to take down tonight.
Last Friday, I wrote the Sharks were not going to win in Chicago, and they made me look smart for a change. Tonight, I have a better feeling. I did correctly predict a San Jose 2-1 win in St. Louis Tuesday, so let's hope I am on a mini-roll: San Jose 3, Chicago 2; in overtime, so the Hawks can play "Chelsea Dagger" to celebrate their season-opening record for 17 games without a loss in regulation, and the Sharks get that big victory they need. Everyone's happy, right?
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