Headdesk: Why Won't the Sharks Push the "ON" Button?

VS
SHARKS ------------------ .500 RECORD TEAM

Sharks are relentless, determined, swift, agile, bright and fearless. We plan to build an organization that has all those qualities.

- Matt Levine on the team's new name in 1990

What do the adjectives relentless, determined, swift, agile, bright, and fearless have in common with a .500 record?

They don't.

Numerous fans this season have cried out, wondering how a team with the likes of Patrick Marleau, Joe Thornton, and Jonathan Cheechoo on the ice can play like a team of mediocrities. On paper, this team is the embodiment of the Six Commandments of a Shark. On the ice, they lack the sporting world’s Great Commandment: determination. If thou art better than thy opponent, then thou shalt play like thou art.

The Sharks have some of the best, if not the best, talent assembled on the roster. The problem is, they just don’t seem to want it as much as the other team does. Take the Sharks’ 2-1 loss to the Bruins (the Bruins!) in the fifth game of the season. The Sharks could not take control of the game, despite limiting the Bruins to one goal for most of the game and no shots in the second period. Then, they finally notched a goal to tie 1-1, only to kick back, not execute a simple play to clear the puck, and watch the Bruins score a game-winning goal in the dying seconds of regulation.

Perhaps the Sharks read about the simulation where the sim-Sharks won the whole thing. Sorry guys, but waving a copy of NHL 08 at the other team isn’t quuuiiite the same as winning for real.

Perhaps the better question would be: when will the Sharks pull their heads out of their collective ass?