The Dudes are thrilled about the wins over Vancouver and Minnesota, and hope the good streak continues.  Also, the Nabokov saga is interesting fodder for the podcast, as well as your emails…

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Two new Sharks joined up today, and the Dudes have much to say about the additions.  And does two wins after six losses mean they’ve turned it around, or just another small positive in a sea of negatives?  Mike and Doug tackle it all, along with plenty of listener emails.

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It’s not like me to use a lot of puns in post titles, but it’s early in the morning, and I’m at San Jose airport waiting for a flight.  Instead of paying $8 for a cup of water, I decided to use the free wifi and do something productive.

The Sharks, through 44 games, are 21-18-5, with 47 points.  Last year at this point, they were 28-9-7 (63).  That’s quite the dropoff.  Instead of going into the myriad reasons why this is so (Mark Purdy’s got a pretty decent theory) I want to compare with some other teams in recent history to see where they might end up at the end of the year.

One is the Philadelphia Flyers.  At this time last year, the veteran Flyers were 22-19-3 (47 points).  They had changed their coach a month before, in early December 2009, and promptly went on a 2-8 tear.  They righted the ship a bit after that, going 6-2 before getting to the 44-game mark.  Of course, we know how the season ends up.  They won on the last day of the season against the Rangers to squeak into the playoffs, and had a historic series against Boston en route to the Stanley Cup Finals, where they lost to the Hawks in six games.

The other is the 2010 St. Louis Blues.  This team of young upstarts that made the playoffs in 09-10 skid the first half of 2010, going 18-19-7 (44) in their first 44 games.  Despite decent years from youngsters Perron, Oshie, and Backes, their best player the year before, Brad Boyes, fell off the table, going from 33 goals to 14.  They stayed inconsistent the rest of the year, and finished five points out of the postseason.

So will the Sharks turn it around a la Flyers (perhaps with a new coach, as some fans are already calling for), or struggle with mediocrity the rest of the year, as the Blues did?  I certainly think the Sharks have much more in common with last years’ Flyers than the Blues.  This isn’t a young team trying to find its footing- it’s a veteran team, like Philly, that just couldn’t find a clear path the first half of the year.  That’s not much consolation for Sharks fans at this point, nor is it any sort of guarantee San Jose will get their heads out of their asses and get this thing going the right direction.  But it’s interesting to know the full gambit of options is still available to the Sharks, using only last year as a guide- postseason success is still attainable, but so is crushing disappointment.

The Sharks are down in the dumps, and the Dudes are reflective about it.  They address what possible remedies are even available, and more importantly, likely.  Is it a situation where the Sharks have to stand pat?  Or are the trade remedies available, or even coaching changes?

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Mike and Doug are back from their NYC vacation, and there’s much news to talk about.  The Sharks have been up and down, per usual, but put in a good effort against the best team in the West, the Canucks.  It wasn’t enough to win, but the Dudes try and figure out what the main difference is between them and us.  Hint:  the same thing that’s been talked about all year.

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