Every New Year's Eve we ring in the change of the calendar with parties, drinks and the words of Auld Lang Syne.
Should old acquaintance be forgot, and never brought to mind? Should old acquaintance be forgot, and old lang syne?
I'm really not sure what that song even means....but what I do know is that for the San Jose Sharks and 29 other NHL teams 2016 means a fresh start and new goals to strive for.
For the Sharks specifically, there are some very obvious goals to work towards. I have put together a list of my resolutions for the Sharks to aim for as they slide headlong into the second half of the NHL season.
1. Keep Patrick Marleau in San Jose - Marleau has been the subject of trade rumors for most of this season. The 36-year old was drafted second overall by the Sharks in 1997 and he's spent every season since in San Jose. He is the longest tenured Shark and one of those rare players to have played his entire career with one club. Let's hope he finishes his career where it all started.
2. Bring the advantage back to home ice - During the 2015 calendar year the Sharks won a whopping 14 games total at the SAP Center. That's a total of 14 between the end of lat season and the start of this one. 26 of the final 46 games of this season are in San Jose. For a team on the outside of the playoff picture home must be where the heart is once again.
3. Improve the goals against - San Jose is among the top 10 worst teams in goals against (102) this season despite being tied for fewest games played with 36. That's an average of 2.83 goals per game. Allowing nearly three goals a game is not a very good recipe for success in today's NHL. Just sayin'
4. Stay as healthy as possible, especially Logan - The Sharks have lost a total of 72 man games to injury this season. That's among the fewest by any team in the league. So what's the problem? 30 of those man games lost belong to Logan Couture, the teams second leading scorer from a season ago and a perennial 25 goal and 55 point man.
5. Build off a strong start to the year - San Jose went 7-4-1 in Jan. 2015 but could not sustain that early success. The Sharks took a nosedive in Feb. going just 3-8-2 in the years shortest month. The tanking continued to the end of the season. San Jose earned a mere 28 points from Feb. to the last game of the 2014-15 season on April 11.
6. Get back to the playoffs - By missing the playoffs in 2014-15 the Sharks snapped a 10-year run of regular season success. The Sharks are 18-16-2 with 38 points and in fourth place in the Pacific Division. They sit out of a playoff spot and are already 5 points off of last seasons pace where they were 19-12-5 with 43 points through 36 games. They have some work to do.
It all starts tonight against Winnipeg at the SAP.
So what do you think of my resolutions? Any others you would like to add? Let me know in the comments below.
Happy New Year! Steve