Question of the day

Megadolon has graciously given you his time machine to travel to the 2011 postseason. He asked you to do some terrible things in the back of a biker bar with him in order to obtain the device, but once you make the jump into the future, everything to do with that economy sized tub of mayonnaise and tennis racket signed by Andre Agassi is forgotten. Your memory wiped as clean as your col–

Stop. Moving on.

In this future, the San Jose Sharks have made the postseason, but anything outside of that is an unknown. They may or may not have debuted a third jersey that has orange as the primary color. Players such as Patrick Marleau may or may not have been re-signed, Joe Pavelski may or may not have been lured away with a gigantic offer sheet.

There are no clues as to what this team looks like except your gut feeling about Doug Wilson’s approach to this offseason. Alexei Yashin could have come out of retirement to play in San Jose. Pierre McGuire could be behind the bench in a coaching role.

Just before exiting the wormhole, you are presented with a choice.

In the first choice you are taken to mid-April, an hour before the puck is set to drop in game one of the NHL playoffs. Tickets to each and every game will be provided, both home and away. If the Sharks win the Stanley Cup, you would watch them throughout their journey and witness the Captain raise it over his head in supreme jubilation. If they lose in the second round, you will see a dejected team leave the ice with their heads hung low. Regardless, you experience every single twist and turn that the grueling emotional marathon provides.

However, twenty four hours after the Sharks final series is completed, you are forced to return to your previous existence. Your memory is erased, and the 2010-2011 NHL season is eventually canceled. It never happened. You have become Joel Barish in The Eternal Sunshine of The Spotless Mind, but unlike him, will never realize what you went through. It never existed, except in the moment when you were present within it.

In the second choice, you are once again taken to mid-April an hour before the puck is set to drop in game one of the NHL playoffs. Just like the first scenario, they could lose in the first round or go on to win the Stanley Cup. But this time, it is different. You are given a roster sheet containing the players and coaching staff but are unable to watch the Sharks go on their postseason run. All you are provided is the final score at the end of each game via text message. San Jose could have come back from a one goal deficit in the waning moments of game seven to win their first championship in franchise history, but the message still reads Sharks defeat Team X 3-2, win the Stanley Cup. No one can describe the action to you. You are essentially blind to the total experience, but filled with the knowledge of what happened.

Twenty four hours after the Sharks final series is completed you do not return to your previous existence, and instead continue on with your life. The 2011 NHL season was never canceled unlike the first scenario following your trip. Everything that happened was real. You are then presented with a DVD. This DVD contains a three minute highlight video of the Sharks postseason that you are only able to watch one time. When you decide to sit down to watch that DVD is completely up to you, but once it is finished, it can never be seen again. Every attempt by friends and family to describe to you the tiny details of the playoff run are fruitless. Your brain cannot comprehend anything about the 2011 postseason other than the final scores and three minute highlight reel you were provided.

In both scenarios, everything returns to normal for the 2011-2012 regular season, and you continue to observe the San Jose Sharks as you did this year.

To experience, or to know. That is your question of the day.

Go Sharks.