What an amazing game last night.  Just as much, if not more, intensity as the tough, hard fought Calgary game on Thursday (and by the way, thanks for not broadcasting the first period of that game in HD, DirecTV.  Jerks).  Plus, this game had a dizzying number of goals and lead changes.  It’s as close to a playoff feel as you can get in the regular season.

And, miracle of miracles, without two of their starting six defensemen, the Sharks managed to pull it out 6-4 6-5.  Let’s be serious- it wasn’t a game the Sharks had to win.  They would have dropped behind Detroit and Boston in the overall NHL standings, but the Sharks would have to go on a skid of Met-like proportions to fall out of the playoff picture.  Of course, it certainly was much more than an ordinary January regular season game.  After missing their comeuppance on Calgary by two posts, the Sharks didn’t want to miss their chance against the current champs.

I’m glad the Sharks had more stomach than I did.  After the Wings gained the lead two different times, each time I felt that sinking feeling, and each time the Sharks battled back.  The Tank hasn’t been that loud since last year’s playoffs.  With Jumbo Joe held off the scoresheet, Marleau and the second line stepped up.  Pavelski and Cheech got off the schneid.  Michalek showed his power and speed to score the go-ahead in the 3rd.  And Nabby, while far from perfect, made several fantastic saves at crucial moments.  Even Semenov played pretty well.

It’s gonna be hard to recapture that kind of intensity again this regular season, but the statement was made- the Sharks, with or without key players, still have the sand to beat the best.

And by the way, I haven’t mentioned this in a while, but the Sharks call-in radio show is tonight from 9-10pm on KDOW 1220AM.  The internet stream is the best way to listen.  Please call in to 1-800-512-1220 with your takes on the Calgary and Detroit games, I know we’ll have lots to discuss.

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.

Ok, ok, I guess I called the Tampa Bay game a bit wrong.  I mistakenly thought the Lightning were something resembling an NHL team, and they just aren’t.  They’re a motley collection of players and coaches, most of whom aren’t very good.  We break all this stuff down and more on this week’s podcast.

Nice to see Pavelski off the schnied- that second line sure looked good.  Not quite as good as the first line (which happens to be the highest scoring line in hockey), but still very good.  Michalek puts in a goal after one was disallowed.  Pavelski and Clowe both score.  This game really had everything, except a good fight.  I don’t know about you, but I’m glad the refs separated Mike Grier from Artyukin late in the third, because Artyukin makes Semenov look like a shrimp.  Not sure if he can fight, but why tangle with a guy like that when you’re up six goals?

The Sharks got a good momentum going into two very tough games this week, and I know we can be sure that the focus will be there.  It’s going to be exciting to watch.

Latest news is Lukowich needs another surgery for a sports hernia, and he’ll be out three weeks.  Word is they scheduled it now so some of the recuperation time falls over the all star break, and Luko may only miss seven or eight games.

But that adds Luko to a fairly long list of players that have missed considerable time this season.  Nabby, Mitchell, Cheech, JR, and Shelley have all missed time, and Pavs was playing hurt there for a while.  It’s nothing like Washington, which (if I remember correctly) had six or seven regulars out back when we played them in November, but it still shakes things up.  Luko is one of those vocal guys on the ice and on the bench, constantly rallying the guys, jabbering about one thing or another.  Every team needs at least one guy like that.  With JR out too, who’s going to speak up?

This might be my time to sound like a Chicken Little here- I know grier picked the Sharks to lose to the Islanders at home nine days ago.  Now, with Calgary and Detroit coming up later this week, both teams that beat the Sharks’ ass pretty badly in the last month, could this mean the Tampa Bay game is a trap game?  Tampa just beat the Ducks last Friday, and they may boost their confidence further with a Kings win tonight.  I’m not go so far as to calling a loss here, but watch out.

In his recent column for TSN Scott Cullen hands out midseason NHL honors and got some right, including the Calder to Blue Jackets rook Steve Mason, but I must take exception to his choices for Norris. Extreme exception. Does he know there’s hockey on the West Coast?

Picking Shea Weber to win the Norris is sooooo October, Mr. Cullen. Have you taken a look at his recent numbers?

SHEA WEBER (Last 20 games): 2 goals 6 assists -4

Eight points and a -4. Those are pretty average, let’s be honest. By that standard, then Adrian Aucoin (7 points and +2) and Michal Rozsival (7 points +2) should be in the conversation, no? I know, I’m being an #$%hole. Weber got off to a blazing hot start, posting 21 points and a +10 in his first 20 games…Will the real Slim Weber please stand up? He’s come back down to earth people. Norris Trophy. Please…..When looking at a Norris winner, don’t you have to factor the success of the overall club? The Preds with Weber are hanging on to thin playoff dreams and only six points ahead of lowly St. Louis. Get some recent stats, Mr. Cullen.

Here is the look of a Norris winner. Dan Boyle. He has more points than Weber, a better +/- than Weber, and he has changed the outlook for a franchise overnight. Has Boyle slacked off in his last 20 games? I beg your pardon.

DAN BOYLE (Last 20 games): 6 goals 10 assists +2

Those are way better numbers than Weber’s. Come on people. Dan Boyle, if he stays healthy, should walk away with the Norris. The numbers don’t lie.

Sharks are saying all the right things going into tonight’s battle in Edmonton. I’m not super confident, given Rolo’s success against the Sharks and the effort on Tuesday, but I expect the Sharks to come out and prove a point. Time after time they have answered the bell. Let’s see them do it again.

The Sharks recent minor skid can be attributed to a number of things. Facing tougher competition? Check. A barrage of injuries to key components? Check. A rapid decline in effectiveness of your fourth defenseman who sees over 20 minutes of ice time per game…..Apparently, Check.

Christian Ehrhoff has lost his mojo, baby. Here are his numbers for the last ten games, where the Sharks have gone 6-2-2.

0 goals
1 assist
-10
21 shots for a shooting percentage of 0%

Oh man. That’s not very good is it? I know what you’re thinking, everyone’s numbers must be off during this period, right?

Rob Blake 1 goal 4 assists +4
Dan Boyle 2 goals 5 assists -3
Brad Lukowich 0 points +2
Pickles 0 goals 2 assists +2

Oops. Ehrhoff’s -10 is a glaring WTF is going on here type of stat!!! It’s alarming actually. No wonder McLellan benched The Hoff for the Dallas game. Isn’t it time to sit him some more? While I applaud his physical play in the Islanders game, it’s not like he exactly got the message about being responsible since being benched since he’s a -5 in his last three games. YEEESSH. With one point since November 17th, what has happened here? He has regressed into the Ehrhoff of old. According to Andrew Peters of the Buffalo Sabres, “His game bites” (Sorry couldn’t resist).

So, I’m calling for the benching of the Hoff. Let’s see what Joslin has to offer, since it can’t be worse than what Christian has been bringing to the table, right? Joslin has earned the chance and was chosen as an AHL All Star this season. Let him play for a four game stretch and see what the results are. If Joslin can wheel and deal, then DW has some roster flexibility at the deadline. If he stinks, then back to the Hoff.

What do you say, Sharks fans?

I, for one, am glad that Joe is doing such a public service.  I’m learning about him and what to do in certain sticky situations.  Thanks, MYFO!

So Thornton and Boyle were named to the All Star team; grier and I had both of them right in the podcast.  Who we also picked (maybe because we’re shameless homers) is Patrick Marleau, who wasn’t chosen.  We both forgot that a player from every team needs to be there, and because of a crazy restriction like that, I present to you Milan Hejduk, tied for 68th in the league in scoring, -6, and a 2009 All Star.  That is crazier than Giguere being voted the starter.

Because a person on ChompBoard requested it, and because I’m also into such things, I made a list of Sharks all-stars, culled from hockey-reference.com

• 1992 – Doug Wilson
• 1993 – Kelly Kisio
• 1994 – Sandis Ozolinsh, Arturs Irbe
• 1995 – no game because of lockout
• 1996 – Owen Nolan
• 1997 – Tony Granato, Owen Nolan (the called shot goal)
• 1998 – none, it was North America vs. World
• 1999 – Marco Sturm (again NA vs. World)
• 2000 – Owen Nolan (NA vs. World)
• 2001 – Evgeni Nabokov (NA vs. World)
• 2002 – Teemu Selanne, Owen Nolan, Vincent Damphousse (NA vs. World)
• 2003 – Teemu Selanne (back to West vs. East)
• 2004 – Patrick Marleau
• 2005 – no game because of lockout
• 2006 – no game because of Olympics
• 2007 – Jonathan Cheechoo, Joe Thornton, Patrick Marleau
• 2008 – Evgeni Nabokov, Joe Thornton
• 2009 – Joe Thornton, Dan Boyle

You’re welcome.

Bit of intensity difference in that first period, huh?  I don’t think the Sharks had a single possession in the offensive zone in the first 15 minutes.  And as we all know, they didn’t have a shot in that time either.  It was a few minutes into the second when the Sharks finally woke up, and they had already spotted the Flames four goals.  Not exactly a winning game plan.

We talk about all that and more in the latest podcast.  Frankly, I think swapping all the lines around had something to do with the Sharks’ collective incompetence in the first period, and we saw Marleau and Thornton on the same line again late in the first, and from then on.  But McLellan has a response for that:

(On the poor showing the same night the lines were revamped) “If that shuffling affects our team that much, then we’ve got bigger problems than we can imagine. There’s been a number of teams throughout the years that continually shuffle there (sic) lines around and continue to win.”

True enough, but those teams ‘continually’ shuffled the lines.  They probably didn’t keep the same lineup for 30 games, then shuffle the deck against one of the hottest teams in the league.  Maybe the Sharks do have some serious problems,  but I still think the monkeys-with-typewriters method of line combinations hurt the team here.  And frankly, McLellan realized it, made a change, and the Sharks played much better.  If he wants to go all Ron Wilson on us and swap lines around according to the tides, that’s his perogative, and I’ll probably blast it every step of the way.  It’s the change in system yesterday that did ’em in.

Of course, the total lack of effort, positioning, and physicality probably didn’t help either.

Now that Shelley is out, and the Sharks facing the physical Calgary Flames tonight (24th in PIMs), McLellan has decided to switch the lines around again.  Pavelski, either because of lack of production or the stated reason of it being “.. more a reflection on mixing people up.  But it also gives us what I’d like to think are three responsible centers,” will now be centering the third line between Plihal and Grier.

And the initial 2007 first line is back together again tonight- Jumbo, Cheech, and Michalek, with Marleau centering Clowe and Seto.  Maybe it’s time to shuffle the deck, but I have a feeling it’s a little more like rewarding Cheech for playing well, and reducing minutes for Pavs and Seto for being a bit off.

The other wobbly plate is Semenov, skating as a forward on the fourth line.  We’ll be recording the podcast tonight after the game, and I have a feeling we’ll have quite a bit to say about that.  If there are other issues you’d like us to discuss, feel free to drop us a line.