All is quiet on the Western Front. That is to say nobody is talking about the San Jose Sharks.
I suppose that's because by the time the media is done gushing over the L.A. Kings and Anaheim Ducks there is not much left for our friends up north.
Going into tonight's game in Vancouver the Sharks are 3-1-1 in the past five games and 16-4-4 in the past 24. Yet not even a whisper about how good this team is. San Jose is third in the Pacific and has a very comfortable 14 point lead over the fourth place Canucks.
So it is a bit strange that a team playing this well is mostly an afterthought.
- ESPN has them ranked #12 and falling in their weekly power rankings.
- CBS has them at #13.
- SI has them ranked a bit higher at #8, but still below the Blues and Kings.
- TSN giving San Jose some love by jumping them up six spot from #12 to #6.
I don't think the Sharks mind very much though. By all accounts this is a confident group and gaining confidence with every win. That's good news for Sharks fans that have suffered through a history of let downs.
Listen to some of these quotes after the big win against Monteal.
"I love our group," ..." We have a great group, and I'm really excited going forward here." - Joe Thornton."We're trying to hunt down the teams above us and push Anaheim and L.A. here to the finish," - Head Coach Pete Deboer
"I feel like I'm having a lot of fun with this team this year, and the guys are going every night," .... "You can just feel the energy that the team brings every night. We're in a good spot right now and hopefully we build up to the playoffs and try to make a run at it." - Chris Tierney
BUT....
The Sharks still have a long way to go., while they are winning games and even winning games in dominating fashion, they continue to struggle against the leagues upper tier of teams.
San Jose is 9-12 against the other seven Western teams in playoff position. Not exactly encouraging news. Especially when you consider they could possibly meet the media darlings in Anaheim or L.A. in the early rounds of the playoffs.
The Sharks are 2-2 against the Kings and 1-3 against Anaheim.
With exactly 20 games left in the Sharks season there is definitely a lot to get excited about. Whether there will be much to cheer about in April remains TBD.
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Other Notes:
- Five Sharks were named to their home countries World Cup Rosters: forwards Pavelski (USA), Hertl (Czech Republic) and Joonas Donskoi (Finland), and defensemen Marc-Edouard Vlasic (Canada) and Roman Polak (Czech Republic).
- The Sharks have 10 players with at least 20 points and could end the season with as many as 15 players in that range. Now that's a balanced roster.
- Martin Jones will make his 10th consecutive start tonight in Vancouver. Don't expect any more double-digit streak for Jones though. James Reimer is ready to finally join the team.
- Joe Thornton is working another another point streak. Two games, but still.
- Joe Pavelski has 29 goals. When he scores his 30th it will mark the third time in four seasons that he's hit the 30-goal mark. Pavelski never scored more than 25 goals in his first five NHL seasons. Aging like a fine wine.
Thanks for reading, Steve