At the Break - Random Musings

Well, I haven't been able to access this as much as I'd like. Ok, I've been too busy watching hockey and playing WoW. But just when the Sharks started to go on a slide, they got their @#$ kicked by Phoenix. Since then, 7-1. Too bad the All Star break came up but then again, time to get over some of those little nagging injuries.
*Marleu has just been flying lately. He's stepped it up as leader too, evidence by his first fight in 4 years. He seems to score every game and is picking up the points.
*Erhoff had his firs NHL fight a few weeks ago and picked up the Gordie Howe hat-trick. He's been a good threat on the power play.
*Speaking of the PP, oh, my, God....incredible. What, over 50% for several games and still over 26% for the season. Teams know not to make a mistake against the Sharks.
*While there has been a shortage of 5-5 goals, the Sharks have showed, at times, they can manage to accomplish these too.
*Cheechoo is finally starting to hit the back of the net again; hopefully he'll continue to regain his confidence while remembering to work hard and play defense.
*The rookies, Pavelski, Vlasic, and Carle have helped stabilize this team. Ryan Clowe's emergence as a scorer on the line with Thornton and Marleu has been great too.
*Bernier's broken foot bites, but at least the Sharks have depth. Hopefully he'll have the hunger to score and play a hard game when he returns in 6 weeks.
*Nabokov and Toskala have been great, with like a 2.16 gaa. Not bad for a platoon. I'd like to see more consistency from Nabby who's had some rough outings, and it will be interesting to see if the rotation continues.
**Anaheim's Andy McDonald scored a nice goal in the All Star Shoot-out competition last night. Not bad for a last-minute replacement who had to borrow Selanne's gloves and where brand new equipment thanks to his stuff getting lost on the flight from LAX to DAL...I'm guessing it was non-stop, so how do you lose that?
**Anaheim's had a chance to try and recoup from a bunch of injuries to some major players: Pronger, Neidermeyer, Giguere, Beauchemin...let's see how they play once they start to get some of these guys back. Sharks have moved within 4...can they pass them by? We'll have to wait for Part 2 of the Season.