Tuesday, November 11, 2008

How they're doin

No Nabby, no Cheech, and up until last Sunday, no problem.

The Teal are clearly motivated to do something this year, because they're playing strong, 60 minute contests. They're hitting, forechecking, shooting, crashing the net, anything it is taking to win, they're doing the job. A quick recap of some highlights recently...

* The Boys in Teal took down both Cup finalists in the same week defeating the Penguins 2-1 and the Wings 4-2.
* A 7 game win streak was only snapped on Sunday with a loss in Phoenix
* Brian Boucher is 1-1 since taking over for the injured (unknown injury) Evgeni Nabokov.
* The Sharks are 9-0 at the HP Pavilion this year

Say what you will about this Sharks squad, but they clearly look like a different team. Games are no longer being won by sitting on leads for 30-40 minutes, they're being won with 60 minutes of pressure. Sure its still November, and the Sharks do have a history of finding themselves on top of the league until April/May when they head out on their annual golf trip only to return and start the whole thing over in September, but I like this team, and think that they could be on their way to something good this year.

Tonight the Sharks look to become only the third team in NHL history to start the season with 10 consecutive wins at home (the record is 11 by Chicago set in the 63/64 season) when they take on the Nashville Predators (7:30). To further pile on the jinx, the Sharks are 7-0-1 against the Predators in San Jose since 03/04. This year, Nashville is 1-6-1 away from home.

GO SHARKS (10?)
-Jess