head coach: Darryl Sutter

roster: C - Bernie Nicholls, Ron Sutter, Patrick Marleau, Marco Sturm, Mike Ricci, Jeff Friesen, Alex Korolyuk; LW - Shawn Burr, Murray Craven, Stephane Matteau, Dave Lowry; RW - Tony Granato, Owen Nolan, Todd Ewen, John MacLean, Andrei Nazarov; D - Ken Sutton, Todd Gill, Bill Houlder, Al Iafrate, Marty McSorley, Marcus Ragnarsson, Mike Rathje, Andrei Zyuzin; G - Mike Vernon, Kelly Hrudey.

injuries: Todd Ewen, rw (knee, out for season), Al Iafrate, d (knee surgery on 12/29, back after Olympics).

transactions: None.

standings:

Western Conference - Pacific Division
Team         GP   W   L   T   PTS   GF   GA  
Colorado     58  29  13  16    74  172  138
Los Angeles  55  26  20   9    61  161  146
San Jose     56  21  28   7    49  139  152
Edmonton     57  19  28  10    48  141  164
Anaheim      56  19  28   9    47  137  170
Calgary      57  16  30  11    43  149  179
Vancouver    57  16  33   8    40  153  203

game results:

1/27 Anaheim     W 4-2
1/29 Chicago     L 3-0
1/31 Colorado    W 5-2
2/02 NY Rangers  L 3-2
2/04 Edmonton    W 3-0
2/05 Calgary     L 4-2
2/07 Vancouver   L 6-3 

team news:

by Al Swanson, San Jose Correspondent

For the past three years, being a Sharks fan was safe. No edge of your seat, end of the game jitters in the one-goal games. No worries about a post-season filled with tension and tough games. You could leave your seat, get a beer (or other beverage, but beer helped blur the inevitable) and not worry about missing 'the play.' The only anxiety was in waiting for the period, the game and the season to end. There wasn't any of that uncomfortableness that comes with a race for the playoffs. Well, who the hell are these guys and what have they done with my Sharks?!!!

The Finned Ones just came off their second .500+ month. And that was mostly fought at home, where they couldn't win to save their lives earlier this season. And they are winning against division and conference teams (sometimes), another sore spot. And another no-loss streak of five games. Not to mention currently sitting in the eighth playoff spot in the West. So just what has changed?

Defense: The Sharks are currently third in shots allowed in the league. Not for most allowed, rather, for least! The Sutter D-line is strong in the trap and since they are concentrating on the most productive of the opposing players, it has been successful in limiting chances for opposing teams. The team still does play to the level of the opposition for the most part, but even against the teams at or near the Sharks level, they have been steadily improving. Against the Oilers on the 4th, no Oiler had a shot on goal until the 11th minute of the first. (And all this without Iafrate!) Zyuzin, Houlder, Rathje (yes, even the Sloth is picking it up. He was a +3 in the Oiler game) and McSorley are all strong factors in the Sharks re-emergence. McSorley currently has the best +/- on the team at +11. Zyuzin is showing his prowess as a future power defensemen and is constantly in the face of opposing players in their zone. Houlder is perhaps the best all-around d-man on the team right now, showing he can score as well as defend.

Offense: Still one of the lowest scoring teams, the Sharks have discovered an amazingly simple fact: You only need one more goal than the other team to win! So, by allowing fewer shots on goal and even fewer goals, even the Sharks low production will win games. Jeff Friesen is simply the best front man the team has and maybe the best they have ever had. He is picking up his game in every facet, even willing to take the punishment of the garbage collector. Patrick Marleau is right behind him, learning and improving with every outing. Sutter sat him for two games to watch the others play and it seemed to have an effect. His first night back at work, he opened up the scoring against the Oilers. Shawn Burr is also back in the lineup (and for at least three more years, as he just signed a contract extension) and scored his first since the injury against the Oilers as well. Sturm has put a couple in, his first since the "NHL Rookie of the Month" honors back in December. Of course, the man everyone is waiting for is Owen Nolan. God help the NHL if this boy comes back to work.

But another legend comes back to work soon. Al Iafrate plans to be on the ice following the resumption of play after Nagano. For how long? No one can say. He received a $1.85 million salary for this year, with an option on the next. For eight games, so far. Not that it's the Planet's fault. The Sharks knew his conditions prior to ever signing him. But they still - at least in their hearts - counted on his production.

So where does that leave the team with three weeks to 'learn'? 31 games left in the season and in eighth place, that's where. In those 31 games, Sutter hopes to play almost .600 hockey. Not impossible. The last two months have been above .500. But the team is as inconsistent as testimony from Monica Lewinsky. The longest no-loss streak has been seven games and they've only managed one other no-loss streak worth mentioning. They still falter against teams they need to beat. And Owen Nolan still is at home watching Baywatch reruns. So your humble corespondent sees two futures in his plastic ball: One has Iafrate for at least half the remaining games and at least a semi-conscious Nolan. The end of that future shows men in teal hugging and screaming as they beat Dallas in the first round of the playoffs. (The rest of that remains fuzzy, though) The other future is not so bright. Iafrate returns, only to be sidelined again after a few games and only Nolan's spirit skates the ice in the Tank. Visions of misery and gloom fill my eyes - much like the ending of other Shark seasons. Only one thing is clear in both visions - Just wait till NEXT year!!!

An Olympic Moment...

Marcus Ragnarsson and Marco Sturm are the only two Sharks headed for Nagano. The rest of the team is headed for Banff. Coach Sutter doesn't see the reason to let the boys sluff off a couple of weeks. After the horrible performances in Calgary and Vancouver, your humble correspondent couldn't agree more. Rags (Sweden) and Sturm (Germany) face 17-hour flights and then grueling play at Nagano. But they'll probably have it easy compared to the guys in Canada.

game recaps:

I'm sick of Ducks, Mom! - Anaheim in the Tank
Once again, the Sharks allow the Ducks to take an early lead in the game as Teemu Selanne and Paul Kariya each scored in the opening period. At least it wasn't a 3 Duck goal frame. But also once again, the Sharks roared back in the second, shutting down the Ducks and burying three of their own. Houlder, Friesen and Matteau all scored, giving SJ the lead going into the third. Marco Sturm shot in his first of the month past backup goalie Mikhail Shtalenkov and sealed Anaheim's fate. Although the Sharks play them twice more this season, the series belongs to San Jose. A come-from-behind Fins win, 4-2.

Blackhawks kill Sharks, no retaliation - Chicago at San Jose
Daze, Suter and Shantz combined to shutout the Sharks in the tank. San Jose seemed lackluster to say the least in the 3-0 whipping. There was no physical play from the Sharks and the Hawks once again put the Fish to rest. This was another big game for the Sharks as the Hawks hold the number 7 playoff spot in the West and that's the spot SJ is shooting for next. A disappointing 3-0 SJ blanking.

It's an Avalanche! - Nope, just a snowball! - Sharks vs. Colorado
As much as they were terrible against the Hawks two nights before, the Sharks were dominant over the Avs. It was 5 to zip before Colorado even scored and the Sharks could have held the line. Mike Vernon was huge in net stopping 23 of 25 shots. But it was the offense that was the story this game. Nolan and Friesen both recorded a goal and an assist in the Sharks fourth win in six games. Crawford pulled Roy at the end of the second and Billington stopped everything else. Sturm scored, so did Zyuzin (his 3rd) and Granato. A brutal 5-2 Shark win.

Ricki Ranger takes his Shark limit - New York at San Jose
The New York Rangers have never lost to the Sharks in regular season play. Still. With the Sharks on a roll, NY comes in to the tank like they owned it. And they left the same way. Eastwood, Stevens and Stock all scored to make it 3-0 by the end of the second. And San Jose defended Kelly Hrudey's honor much the same way as they've done all year when he's in net: they scored less than the opposing team. True, they did manage two in the third (Nolan and Nicholls), but the Rangers took home the 3-2 win.

Sharks clean up Oil slick - Sharks in Edmonton
To keep the win-loss-win game going, the Sharks needed to beat Edmonton at home. Against conference teams, San Jose has been hard pressed to pull that off. With Vernon in net, the Sharks pull off their fifth shutout of the season (Vernon's fourth) and win in a huge game. Huge because the Oilers were in 8th place. A place the Sharkies currently hold. Marleau and Burr both put one past Cujo in the first and Matteau made it 3-0 when he put his 8th of the year in. It was Burr's first goal since his return to the ice. This gave the Sharks a 2-2-2 in their last sixth games and moved them (again) into the last playoff spot in the West.

Flames serve Shark - blackened - San Jose in Calgary
With Tabaracci out of the net, the seemingly strong Shark team moved in against (relatively) weak Calgary, hoping to extinguish the Flames. But it wasn't to happen. The Win-Lose-Win-Lose scenario took hold and the Flames made the Sharks remember the 6-1 beating they took just two weeks earlier. At the end of that one, the Calgary Sutter was heard to yell to the San Jose Sutter, "Enjoy that one." Apparantly, he meant it. The Flames burn the Sharks, 4-2.

How to succeed in Hockey without really trying - San Jose on the road in Vancouver
As part of their three city Canadian tour, San Jose stopped last in Vancouver. Hoping to return with a winning road trip, Sutter and Company faced the lowly Canucks, headed by "Evil" Mike Keenan. Recently promoted to Hockey God by the powers that be in Vancouver, Keenan sent Canucks to all ends of the country in preparation for this showdown. It worked. At one end, the almost angelic Mike Vernon. At the other, the hideous dog-boy, Arturs Irbe. In a deal with the Devil, Keenan's troops hungrily devoured the helpless Goldfish. Though they fought valiantly, SJ was defeated. Routed, actually. Destroyed, even. It wasn't pretty, although the goals by Sturm, Matteau and Ricci were. Too little, too late. A disgusting loss, 6- 3.

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