The Sharks face their greatest test of the season on Saturday night when the Red Wings come to town hoping to repeat the whoopin’ they laid on the Sharks last time these two met. The two biggest questions that linger…

– No Rob Blake. Ouch. This means a heavy dose of Frankenstein on the blueline and Ehrhoff and Murray thrust into featured roles against the best team in hockey. This hurts, this stings. Our depth will be put to a true test.

– First home loss. Gut check. How will this team respond?

The Sharks have every reason to come out with a major chip on their shoulder and a point to prove. They got schooled by Detroit in Detroit and they lost their first home game, and 2nd in a row to Calgary. Will their determination be able to conquer the fact that they will be without Blake, Luko and JR? Can Semenov, Joslin and Staubitz hold down the fort? Detroit is 10-1-2 since they skunked the Sharks on their own ice. They are only missing Darren McCarty, so they are coming in at full strength. We’ve taken some heat lately for being too negative, but I guess I’m just trying to be realistic. My first reaction is that the Sharks won’t be able to match a healthy Red Wing team but I’ve been wrong lately – so I’m going against all logic and saying the Sharks coaching staff and their star players in Boyle, Marleau and Thornton will will the team to an extremely emotional victory.

On another subject, and you know how I like to comment on rumors and the Sharks are linked to New Jersey Devils defensemen Johnny Oduya in the rumor mill. It’s an intriguing thought because Oduya is an intriguing player. While I haven’t seen him play that much, he is described as a gamer, which sounds like a Todd McLellan guy. He leads the Devils D in points with 16, is 2nd in minutes with over 21 minutes per game, plays on the PP and short handed. Could the Sharks give up on the more expensive, slumping but filled with “potential” Ehrhoff and acquire the less expensive, pending UFA in Oduya? Not likely….but it’s fun to talk about.