Since I just got back from NYC and I haven’t had time to watch all the games yet, I won’t go into a long discussion about them.  But it certainly seems like the lessons supposedly learned in the 4-game winning streak before Christmas were quickly forgotten.  Here’s a quick snapshot of the stuff Doug and I were up to while we were out:

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mXkRMYJFGxE[/youtube]

Have a great New Year, and don’t forget to watch the Winter Classic tomorrow.  I hope you all have been watching the HBO series, it’s the best hockey show I’ve ever seen.  I had to say ‘show’ because if I said ‘thing’, I would have to stack it up against “The Love Guru”.

It’s the yearly holiday special, and there’s lots to talk about.  The Dude recap the last Sharks games, and they are on a 3 game winning streak, with Logan Couture 3rd in the NHL in goals.  There are some fun listener emails to get to, and Mike and Doug wrap it up with their Christmas hockey wishes.

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This week there are four games to discuss, and while the Sharks could be on a slight upswing, the Dudes’ individual takes on it differ.  In addition to the ups and downs of the Sharks week, there’s lots of other news to discuss, including the return of Evgeny Nabokov to stateside.  Mike and Doug try and guess where he’ll end up, and take some other questions from listeners.

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Sharks well on their way to another disappointing loss, and they wake up again.  I think I need a mood stabilizer.  I shut off the TV a couple of times in anger during the game, then the Sharks roar back, get a couple of decent calls, have the clock expire literally hundredths of a second before the puck goes in, and then show up Bobrovsky in overtime.  Two fantastic moves by Clowe and Couture, both going to their “bread and butter”- deke to the backhand.  Clowe goes for the roof, Couture the five hole.

Again I’m impressed by the Sharks mettle.  And again I’m disappointed they have to get their butts kicked for a while before they figure out what to do.  On a road trip, against a Stanley Cup finalist, I’ll give them a little more latitude.  But I still feel the same way about tomorrow as I did about tonight- the Sharks could get murdered, we just have to wait and see.

Don’t forget to listen to the podcast.

The Dudes may be better than ever, but you can’t say that about the Sharks- they lose bad in Montreal, and have a horrible first period against the Wings.  Mike and Doug weigh that against their very good play against the Sens and the same Wings, and pick apart their lineup, looking for bright spots.  A few rookies and a goalie are in that category.

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I wasn”t aware the Sharks’ new goal was not to reduce the inconsistency, but to decrease its period.  The Sharks went from their worst performance of the year to their best during an intermission.  What I would give to have been a fly on the wall for that ‘Rudy’ speech.  Whatever was said, it worked.  I imagine it was this:

T-Mac : Hey guys, just a thought.  TRY PLAYING HARD.

Joe Thornton : <takes shirt off> hmm yeah.

Patrick Marleau : Oh yes.  Absolutely.  Try hard.  Uh huh.

Dan Boyle : Jeez, we suck.  We can play better than this.

Ryane Clowe : Dude, I gotta shave this mustache off.  It’s getting ridiculous.

Niclas Wallin :  Hamburgers.

Trent Yawney : THAT’S IT!  YOU WIN, YOU ALL GET HAMBURGERS!

Sharks : YEAAAAHHHHHH!

Podcast tomorrow.

The win-loss-win-loss train rolls on, this time the Sharks posting their first shutout of the season on Dany Heatley Princess Night in Ottawa.  Best game of the season for several players, Antti Niemi and Justin Braun among them.  I know I’ve been critical of T-Mac for his choices of when to play Niemi in the past, but last night was the right time.  Ottawa has had a bad stretch lately, and you probably want Niitty to play against Montreal on Saturday.  One thing that did amuse me last night was the ‘storyline’ that Niemi has just gotten ‘better and better this season’ (according to Drew Remenda).  I’m a Drew fan, but he got this one way wrong.  Here’s the string of Niemi’s save percentages in his last five games: .903, .878, .938, .813, 1.000.  That’s not ‘better and better’.  That’s up and down, just like the Sharks have been.

The Sharks were utterly dominant at times last night, which is encouraging for Sharks fans, but also frustrating in a way.  It’s the same or less stacked lineup than we’ve seen against recent losses against Columbus, Dallas, and Colorado, yet it was night and day the way they played.  I know I thought the Sharks might reel off some good wins after the performance at home against Chicago- I’m not nearly as confident this time.  Maybe we can get Joe Pavelski or somebody to bash Montreal as a hick town or say that poutine tastes like barf.  Then the fans will boo that player every time he takes the ice, throw flaming jerseys in effigy, and the Sharks roll to another win on the backs of the charged atmosphere.  Maybe the Sharks should plan a 30-city Disparagement Tour, finding a systematic way to infuriate the fans in every arena in order to light the fire they apparently need.

One down, 29 to go.  Although if they keep going hot and cold this way, San Jose may be added to that list without even trying.

Sorry, our schedules won’t permit it.  There literally isn’t an hour between 8am and midnight free for both of us any day this week.  As for the Wings game, it was depressing to witness first hand, but my kneejerk reaction is, how can you expect to beat the best team in the west with half of an AHL blueline?  Don’t want to beat up the new guys, but there were several times where that was readily apparent.  More later.