The San Jose Sharks have two games left in the 2015-16 regular season. Both games will be played in the Tank, where winning has been at a premium for the leagues best road team.
Winning away from the Shark Tank has been a breeze for the boys in teal. San Jose set a new franchise record for road wins (28) on Tuesday night when they shutout Wild in the State of Hockey.
It was a fitting way to close out their road schedule.
By finishing 28-10-3 on the road and setting a new club record, it helped solidify what we already knew about this team...they are not a good, but a great road team.
However...
The way they struggle at home, especially against inferior competition, is what still has us a bit concerned. I'm a bit of an optimist and I hope a strong final two games can help fix that.
If San Jose can win out with games against the Jets (tonight) and the Coyotes (Saturday), they will end the season with win in 6 of the final 7 games and improve the home record to 19-19-3. That's a far cry from from the 5-12 team we saw through the first three months of the season.
I think many people forget that this team was 18-18-2 and in last place in January. The way they managed to turn the season around is fairly remarkable. If they can win out, reach 100 points and finish strong at home, I will feel really good about this team and more importantly, they will feel really good about themselves.
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I read a Sports Illustrated article by Alan Muir and it basically lists reasons for Canadian hockey fans to jump on the Sharks band wagon and he gives a pretty convincing argument.
I mean think about it....Canada had ZERO teams qualify for the playoffs while California had all THREE teams qualify. And what Candian wants to see the Kings or Ducks hoist another Stanley Cup?
Since 1993 the Sunshine State has three Stanley Cups to....ZERO....for Canada. That has to sting just a bit, no?
Whether Canada embraces the Sharks or not is of little consequence to me. I just think it's sad that our friends north of the border were shutout of another race for the Cup.
So sad.
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I should have know what was going to happen when I asked about some of the readers favorite Sharks playoff memories. And while I know the Sharks have been involved in a plethora of positive playoff memories for other teams I was specifically asking for the Sharks good memories.
Here's just a couple to reflect back on.
How about the Vincent Damphousse short-handed goal in '99? The Sharks would go on to lose this series in six games, but who doesn't love a good shorty, and against Patrick Roy?