Sports Rant

The Sharks are not an elite team.

After watching the last two games, this one in person, I can unequivocably back this statement up. It is fact.

Here is why...they do not have a killer instinct.

On Thursday night, the Sharks hosted the Blues. They were leading 2-1 with a minute and a half left when the Blues were called for a penalty. The Sharks, instead of going for the kill and trying to score a 3rd goal, instead decided to try and play keepaway in their own zone. Upon realizing that this was the Sharks' strategy, the Blues attacked our puckhandler, stole the puck, and took it the other way. With 6 seconds left, the puck ended up in the back of our net to tie it up. The Sharks lost in the Shootout.

That's bad. They have to be looking to score there. Its the difference between trying to win and trying not to lose.

Tonight the Sharks hosted the Calgary Flames. I was fortunate enough to attend (although no one wanted to come with me, so one of my tickets went to waste...but that's a whole nother rant). In the first period, the Sharks came out with a fire. They were hitting people, not backing down, and taking it to the Flames. They looked good. Coming into the second, tho, they slipped back into a much more passive playstyle, waiting around for things to open up. They weren't fighting for pucks along the boards. There was no apparent fight in them. The Flames attacked the puckcarrier, the Sharks would turn it over, and they only ended up scoring 1 goal.

After watching the last two games, a light went on in my head as to two reasons why the Sharks, if nothing changes, will never make it to the promised land.

First, They are a great team when playing against passive, try to fill the lanes defenses. Their skill can pick those kinds of defenses apart. However, when faced with a defense who attacks the puckcarrier, doesn't give you room to work, and is relentlessly on top of you, the Sharks wilt rather than working hard to create their own chances. The thing is, the only kind of defense you see in the playoffs is the latter kind of defense. You HAVE to work hard to score in the playoffs. There will be no open ice. You have to create your own chances, and the Sharks do not do that.

Second, as I said before, the Sharks lack that killer instinct. When they get up on a team, they many times get complacent and just try to hold onto their lead. They don't attack the net and try to score, they play passively, afraid of giving up an odd man rush. And this gives the other team too much time with the puck to make a comeback. When they get a lead, they need to be looking to pile on, to knock the other team out. Its like they're a boxer who has the points lead and are just trying to ride out the rest of the fight and win by decision. Unfortunately, in hockey, there is no "winning by decision," you can't get style points. You have to knock the other team out! And the Sharks seem to lack that mentality.

Now luckily, its still early-ish in the season. The Sharks are not going to miss the playoffs, so they have time to work on this. However, if they don't make changes to their game playing mentality, they will never get to their ultimate goal.

Man, I'm hella frusterated.