Time to Step it up

I think Todd McLellan said it best after the game "I’m tired of hearing in our locker room and around the team that adversity is good for us and will pay off in the end."

Well said Coach.

Indeed, how can a team win when they think that losing is good for them? What happens after we lose 8-2, 3-2, 4-3? We are rewarded with a day off.  I've played a lot of sports in my life, and after you lose 5 straight you need to have you ass kicked in practice.  In fact you should be kicking your own ass after the embarrassment.  But I still hear the players not panicking and saying its good for them.  Its time for that mentality to stop.  If losing 8-2 to dallas and 5-1 against the worst team in the NHL won't do it, I don't know what will.

Look at the oilers.  Our third line could match up against their top line.  There is no doubt that we beat them in raw talent.  But sports is just as much about mental strength as it is about physical prowess.  And that mental strength needs to come from our leaders, which I am not seeing.  Captaincy should not go to someone quiet and withering like Blake.  I think Boyle and Pavelski have both proven to be more deserving.  Its time for the sharks to admit that they are playing like shit, and to step it up big time.  Put some heart into it boys.  It takes more than just showing up.

Here is another problem: we love to panic.  It seems like our lines get shuffled every time we get scored against.  I vote that we go back to what worked almost the entire season!  Here are the lineups i hope to see in the playoffs:

Heatley- Thornton - Marleau

Clowe- Pavelski- Setoguchi

McGinn - Malhotra - Couture

McLaren- Nicol - Mitchell

Boyle- Murray

Vlasic - Blake

Huskins - Wallin

Mitchell and McGinn are kind of interchangeable on the third and fourth lines to me.  But Couture belongs up there.  Time to step up your game sharks.  We have the same pieces we had at the beginning of the season (except Wallin) so I know that we can do it.

Go Sharks