Tom Walker covers the San Jose Sharks

All too frequently I would hit the road after midnight for the hour-long drive from a concert venue to my home in San Diego, and somewhere south of Camp Pendleton it would occur to me that I didn’t remember any part of the past 40 miles. It was as if I had been transported from Irvine to Oceanside in the blink of an eye, which was a bit disconcerting and left me reflecting upon the words of the Talking Heads’ David Byrne, “You may ask yourself, well, how did I get here?”

And thus it is, eighteen games into the San Jose Sharks 2011-2012 season, that I find myself writing my first column since training camp after several false starts which never got past Guadalupe Parkway.

The Sharks came out blazing in the home opener against the Phoenix Coyotes, continuing their pre-season success with a 6-3 victory in front of an enthusiastic sell-out crowd. But then it all came to a halt while waiting for six days upon their next opponent, the Anaheim Ducks, to return to California from their season opener in Scandinavia. The long pause proved detrimental as the Sharks would go on to drop their next three games in a four day stretch.

It was at this point that my extremely passionate Sharks-fan friends began engaging me in discussions about what was going wrong, and expressed concern about the possibility of missing the playoffs altogether this season. My answer at the time was that I considered this year’s squad to be at least as good, if not better, than the team which won the Pacific Division and made it to the Western Conference finals a few short months ago. They wanted very much to believe, and the Sharks have done their part to make believers out of fans and foes alike ever since.

The turnaround began with a 5-1 road trip through the eastern time zone. It continued in November with a 4-1-1 home stand. And over this past weekend, the Sharks added a pair of 4-1 road victories against the Dallas Stars and Colorado Avalanche to surge into 1st place in the Pacific Division with a 12-5-1 record overall. For those keeping score, that’s a run of 11-2-1 since the early 3-game losing streak.

If that weren’t enough, the Sharks’ 25 points puts them within a single victory of the Western Conference and overall NHL lead, with 2 games in-hand against the conference-leading Minnesota Wild and 3 games in-hand against the Chicago Blackhawks, each of which is sporting 27 points in the standings at the conclusion of Sunday’s contests.

So how did the Sharks get here at this point of the season?

Captain Joe Thornton leads the squad with 20 points. (5 goals, 15 assists)

Joe Pavelski is tied for 4th in the NHL in goals with 11, which together with his 8 assists ties him with Patrick Marleau for points with 19 on the season.

Marc-Edouard Vlasic leads all Sharks with a +11 rating, and leads the defensemen with 11 points.

Goaltenders Antti Niemi and Thomas Greiss have each performed well thus far. Niemi is 8-2-1 with a 2.52 GAA and .915 SV% while Greiss is 4-3-0 with a 1.99 GAA and .929 SV%.

Of interest at this stage of the new season are the performances of the players which traded places between Minnesota and San Jose during the off season.

New Sharks defenseman Brent Burns has quickly become a fan favorite with his energetic play and engaging personality. In 18 games, Burns has amassed 4 goals and 3 assists with 3 of his goals coming on the power play for a share of the team lead (with Pavelski & Marleau).

Right winger Martin Havlat is settling in with 1 goal and 8 assists in 14 games.

In Minnesota, former Shark Dany Heatley is 2nd on the Wild roster with 12 points (5 goals, 7 assists) in 20 games.

Devin Setoguchi is 2nd on the Wild roster with 6 goals (4 assists, 10 points overall), also in 20 games.

Considering that the Sharks and Wild are both at the top of the NHL standings, it appears at least for the time being that the trades benefitted both teams in the areas that were needed.

The Sharks are home this week to face the Chicago Blackhawks on Wednesday and the Vancouver Canucks on Saturday in a rematch of last season’s Western Conference finals.

Around the League

Sid the Kid returns with a vengeance

The ageless wonder, Teemu Selanne

Fantasy leaguers who drafted Phil Kessel and/or Joffrey Lupul of the Toronto Maple Leafs have to be feeling pretty good about themselves right now. Kessel leads the NHL with 16 goals and 29 points, while Lupul registers 3rd in the league with points at 25 (10 goals, 15 assists). Regardless what happens in his career, Lupul will go down in history as the guy who was traded for Chris Pronger twice.

If you missed the opportunity to purchase a bracelet in memory of the Lokomotiv Yaroslavl hockey team and wish to make a donation to support the families of this terrible tragedy, you can do so at http://www.loveforlokomotiv.com/

Follow me on Twitter @insidesharkstom for live game updates when I am at HP Pavilion, or for other occasional Sharks updates.
– Tom Walker

*Note – Sidney Crosby scored two goals, had two assists and was named #1 star of the game in his return; a 5-0 Penguins victory over the New York Islanders.

By brightest day, by blackest night, no evil shall escape Jake's sight -

“Forget hindsight, you knew at the time you should’ve done more. You were told about a grown man on your football staff having sex with a minor in the shower. That doesn’t just go up the chain of command. You were Joe Paterno, King of State College, your voice carried more weight than anybody, you had to act, you knew it, but you protected your program and your friend. And don’t tell me it’s a great sorrow of your life. You still don’t want to accept it’s not about you, it’s about the young boys.”
- Excerpt from Jake Stevens blog regarding Penn St icon Joe Paterno’s statement about the recent scandal.
Click here to read the full story.

Stanford is looking to go undefeated and USC looks to give them their first loss on the season. The Trojans advance to 6-1 after winning their first rivalry game of the season against Notre Dame (4-3). South Bend hosted their first night game in 21 years, and although the Irish put up a good fight they fell to the Trojans 31-17. USC returned the favor of winning on their turf, after Notre Dame beat USC last year at the Coliseum.

The running and passing game seemed to work for the Trojans as QB Matt Barkley was 24-35 for over 200 yards and 3 touchdowns. RB Curtis McNeal had 24 carries for 118 yards, and WR Robert Woods had 12 receptions for 119 yards and 2 touchdowns.

The Trojans aren’t the only 6-1 team the Oregon Ducks are as well, and after pulling an impressive win over Colorado they plan to completely dominate the rest of the season. Oregon beat Colorado (1-7) 45-2, the landslide score didn’t shock many after Oregon took a 29-0 lead in the first quarter alone. Freshman QB Bryan Bennett was 11-20 for 156 and 2 touchdowns, while RB Kenjon Barner ran for 115 yards on 10 carries and 2 touchdowns.

Amongst other high scoring Cal released its anger on Utah redeeming themselves from the loss USC gave them last week. The Golden Bear beat the Utes 34-10, Oregon State also had a high scoring game beating Washington State 44-21, and Arizona improves its record to 2-5 after beating UCLA 48-12.

High scoring keeps fans coming, but the lingering questions remains if offense is having so much success is that reflecting on lack of defense?

Here’s a tip for all you coaches out there…on 4th and inches when your team is rallying and the opposition is in the middle of an epic collapse and your QB is a great runner, just have him take the snap and fall forward so you have four chances to score the tying touchdown….just trust me on this.  OK, now that I’ve vented, here’s the rest of the weekend recap.

CHEERS for the San Francisco 49ers and Detroit Lions.  Nobody expected it before the season started, but their game was the marquee NFL matchup Sunday and played a game that went down to the wire, with much-maligned QB Alex Smith outdueling heavily-praised QB Matthew Stafford and throwing the game-winning TD pass on 4th down with less than two minutes remaining.
BOOS to head coaches Jim Harbaugh and Jim Schwartz, who marred the conclusion by getting into a shoving and yelling match after the 49ers win.  Harbaugh has a history of run-ins when shaking hands, notoriously being asked, “What’s your deal?” by former USC and now Seattle Seahawks head coach Pete Carroll after running up the score against the Trojans when he was at Stanford.  Schwartz is a certifiable lunatic on the sidelines during games, so I’m not sure why he took offense at Harbaugh’s overexuberance, but maybe losing the game had something to do with him losing his mind.
BOOS to Dallas Cowboys head coach Jason Garrett, who played not to lose late in the 4th quarter against the New England Patriots, which of course led directly to his team losing.  First, with the game tied at 13 and less than six minutes left, he called a shovel pass on 3rd and goal from the five-yard-line, instead of having QB Tony Romo throw it up to monster WR Dez Bryant, who was being single covered.  Then, clinging to the field goal lead after that disaster, the Cowboys forced a three-and-out, but Garrett ran three times and then punted it right back, leaving plenty of time for QB Tom Brady to drive the Pats to the winning TD.
CHEERS for the Oakland Raiders, beating the Cleveland Browns despite losing QB Jason Campbell to a broken collarbone.  Last year, they finished the season 8-8 for their first non-losing campaign since going to the Super Bowl in 2002.  This season, they have started out 4-2 and are a legitimate threat to the Chargers in the AFC West.
CHEERS for the St. Louis Cardinals and Texas Rangers reaching the World Series.  The Cardinals made a late season dash to steal the NL Wild Card and then knocked off the favored Phillies and Brewers.  The Rangers are going back to the Fall Classic for the second straight season with a team that overpowers opponents.  In a season that could’ve been marred by the death of fan Shannon Stone, the Rangers have done everything right off the field and are doing everything right on the field.
BOOS to the Michigan State Spartans, who played one of the dirtiest games I’ve ever seen on Saturday.  LB William Gholston dove late into a pile and then twisted the facemask of QB Denard Robinson, in what could only be described as an intent to injure.  Gholston later punched a Michigan lineman, yet amazingly wasn’t ejected.  After the game, Gholston said, “I was just trying to play with reckless abandonment. Just gotta watch the film. … Everybody make mistakes when you’re trying to go hard.”  Neither of those plays was a mistake.
DEAFENING BOOS to Michigan State’s defensive coordinator Pat Narduzzi, who said the Spartans were trying to play, “60 minutes of unnecessary roughness. I’m just happy it didn’t get called on every snap.”  It’s no wonder the players played dirty when their coach encourages it.  I wonder if Michigan State or the Big Ten conference will say or do anything about the despicable display.
CHEERS for the University of Virginia Cavaliers, defeating the previously unbeaten Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets, 24-21.  At least my sister, Alyse, had a reason to be happy about her school’s performance on Saturday!

THERE IT IS!

-Jake Stevens

Stern ducks, lets NBA players take hit – NBA – Yahoo! Sports.