Sometimes I think leadership in sports is just like chemistry- it matters only if you’re losing. So the Sharks have gotten thoroughly embarrassed the last few games, getting shutout in both Nashville and Columbus, and only barely showing up in Dallas. It brings one to the question of chemistry and leadership, and if the Sharks have it. Marleau is said to be a silent leader, not one to chastise players in the locker room, and Joe is the same way- he leads by example, and not be speaking out. Grier and Brown are vets who have been there before, but no one on the Sharks today will stand up in the locker room and grab people by the scruff of the neck.

So does that mean the Sharks need to make a move? Sure, the last month has been kinda brutal, but do you trade someone like Bernier or Cheechoo to gear up for the playoffs? As I said in the last post, the Sharks are a young team. Maybe this year isn’t their year to win the Cup. But who would have said last year was the Canes’ year? You do the best you can, and hope to get hot in the postseason.

I do wonder if there is enough grit in the locker room, and enough experience. Take this quote from Joe Thornton in ESPN The Magazine about Josh Gorges:

Really sensitive young man, ready to give you a hug anytime you feel down. He’s just concerned about his teammates. He also watches chick flicks. “The Notebook” is his favorite. And he’s secure in that.

I can’t say I’m reassured.

So many people are blogging about the Forsberg deal, and I figure I’d pile on. For those in the dark, Forsberg was traded from the Flyers to the Nashville Predators for Scott Upshall, Ryan Parent, a 1st round pick, and a 3rd round pick. Forsberg’s contract is up at the end of the year, so it’s possible (even likely) that he will only play about 3 months of hockey for the Preds. For which they gave up two players and two good draft picks.

If you put it like that, it sounds like the Preds got robbed. I knew the Flyers were asking a lot, but that’s even more than I expected. However, think of it this way- the best team in the NHL just got better. They beat down the Sharks a few nights ago, and have the most points in the NHL. Now they got one of the best players in the game (when healthy) who is playing as good as he’s played all season.

The Preds have to win now. Players over 30 – Zidlicky, Vokoun, Timmonen, Sullivan, Nichol, Mason, Kariya, Forsberg, and Arnott. That’s more or less the core of the team. Why hold onto those draft picks and players when you can give yourself a good chance to win the Cup?

Sharks players over 30… Brown, Grier, and Nabokov. Not nearly the same situation as Nashville- two third line players and the backup goaltender.

The Sharks returned to a modicum of respectability last night in winning 3-2. It was an all around better effort than Tuesday. Has anyone else noticed that Milan Michalek is jumping again? It seemed like he had made several power moves in the last few games, after being invisible for the better part of two months. If we can get that second line humming (hopefully Joe Pavelski will be back soon) we will be a lot more dangerous. Marleau playing with Joe makes the #1 more potent, but certainly answers the question as to which line the top D should play against. I think Pronger/Niedermayer were on the ice for every one of Patty’s shifts.

Also, I should mention that even though the Sharks are 2-3 against this Ducks this year, they’ve been outscored 22-13. All the Sharks’ victories have been close, and two of the Ducks’ victories have been blowouts, amongst the worst the Sharks have had this season.

I must say, the circumstances of the next Ducks matchup don’t exactly bode well for the Sharks. It’s the first home game after a long road trip. The Sharks are 2-2 after road trips of 3 games and longer. And the Philly win shouldn’t really count. I wish I had the data to easily crunch W/L records after long road trips, but I don’t feel like poring over the schedules of all 30 teams by hand.

After a fairly good outing against the always-bad Blackhawks on Thursday, the Sharks go completely in the tank (believe me, no pun intended) against the Ducks last night. It was 2-1 after 1, but 6-1 after two periods. The Sharks showed a little pluck in the 3rd en route to a 7-4 loss.

The Ducks are better than the Sharks. It’s just that simple. They have better D, better O, better goaltending. The Ducks first line matches up almost even with our first line, but their second line is head and shoulders better than ours. Penner, Getzlaf, and Perry made the Sharks’ young D look foolish, and even the third line played well. Travis Moen went right around Marc-Edouard Vlasic on two occasions, scoring on the first, and barely missing on the second. Matt Carle might get sent back to the minors after last night’s effort, including an outlet pass that was intercepted between the Sharks’ circles, for God’s sake. I think Rob Niedermayer thought it was Christmas.

After the Ducks put the game out of reach, they sat back a bit, and the Sharks surged. But even Philly could protect a 5 goal lead, and the Ducks managed. There were several tense moments after Cheech made it 6-4 late in the third, but after inexplicably keeping Toskala in the net on a Sharks power play, the Ducks scored an empty netter as soon as the PP expired. Generally you keep a goalie in net on your power play, because the other team won’t get penalized for missing an empty net (no icing on the kill), but in this case, I think the Sharks should have gone for broke. Try and salvage some worth out of the game.

I think I’ll be watching tonight’s game while peeking through my fingers.

Man, if the last two games are any indication, the Sharks are in trouble. Dallas’ top goal scorer has only 16 goals, and their top two points players are defensemen. If you can name their top scorer without looking it up, my hat is off to you. Possibly too easy hint: he has won the Selke.

Anyway, the moral of the past few games is, as the power play goes, so do the Sharks. Their recent stretch is 1-for-32. Doug thinks that Ron Wilson is skating on thin ice, but I think we need to have a bit of a wait-and-see attitude. The upcoming stretch is going to be huge, with a home-and-home against Anaheim, and road games against Nashville, Dallas, and Calgary all in February. If the Sharks continue to stink, maybe they’ll pull a Robbie Ftorek. I’m obviously way too emotionally invested in this, but I like Ron Wilson. I think if he got canned and they bring in somebody like Pat Burns or Jacques Demers, it won’t be for the better. On one hand, they would install a defensive-minded system, which might help shape up some of the poor defensive efforts (Jonathan Cheechoo -10, I’m looking in your direction), but I think it’ll squash some offensive creativity. With young talents like Michalek, Bernier, and Clowe, I want to see them turn into Kovalchuks, not Daigles.