As the Sharks enter their final home preseason game tonight, there are still some unanswered questions and quite a bit of drama for your mama.

For one, the uninspiring play of Kent Huskins this preseason has many quaking in their boots, including head coach Todd McLellan. In the three games that Huskins has played (twice vs. Vancouver and at Anaheim) he was on the ice for nine of the 12 goals scored against the Sharks. WHAT? That’s terrible, like somebody check to see if Semenov is hiding under a Huskins mask. He is one to watch tonight after being called out by McLellan for poor conditioning in David Pollak’s blog – can Huskins respond to the challenge? I have to believe that he isn’t a loser, he played big minutes for the Ducks last year and was solid and was a part of their Cup run. He has to snap out of it. Huskins is paired with Mike Moore tonight, who with his 1M price tag is the biggest long shot left in camp to make the blueline. It sure is looking like Derek Joslin will be the 6th d-man – and possibly Joe Callahan gets the nod as the scratch since he won’t benefit from the AHL development like Demers would.

While the Sharks got Manny Malhotra for a song, Mattieau Dandenault must not have been willing to give much of a discount, or the coaching staff wasn’t that impressed with what they saw. I mean, the guy was healthy by all accounts last year and couldn’t get on the ice for the Canadiens. The emergence of Benn Ferriero might have cost Dandenault a roster spot because the Sharks don’t need his flexibility.

The bottom six has a few spots up for grabs and tonight Mike and I will get our first peak at Jed Ortmeyer. He’s playing with Malhotra and McGinn on the third line and the 4th line is Nichol, Shelley and Ferriero to start, so that leaves Staubitz, Frazer McLaren and Hinote in the pressbox. Hinote must still be getting strong consideration or else he would have been let go today too.

On a side note, I was caught offguard by the Flames releasing Theo Fleury today – he was the feel good story of the preseason and would have captivated the Calgary crowd and possibly propelled them to a great start. Will someone else pick him up or is he going to hang them up? Don’t bet on the Sharks acquiring Fleury for a second time – the ship has sailed in San Jose on retread veterans resurrecting their careers.

Six more days til these games actually mean something.