I’ll be the first to admit, I’m shocked that not only did a team remain standing undefeated until this past weekend in the NHL, but that it was the San Jose Sharks. While I’ve never been a big Sharks fan, they definitely deserve a good look this season after becoming only 1 of 11 NHL teams to start 7-0 since it’s inauguration in 1917.

The real questions though, are how did the Sharks get here and can they continue the rest of the season like they played in January? The Sharks aren’t at the top because of any one person but because they’re playing together as a strong team. We obviously can’t ignore ex-captain and Sharks’ longest employed player, Patrick Marleau. He’s leading the NHL with 9 goals and is just the second player in NHL history to have four consecutive multi-goal games, the only other being Cy Denneny (Ottawa Senators) in the 1917-18 season.

Also on the first o-line, is Sharks’ captain Joe Thornton, who happens to have a league-tying best 11 assists so far. Having such a solid first line, and offense, is a big key to their success. The Sharks are connecting with the net this year scoring consecutive goals, quite often a minute or less apart. They win the faceoff 57.6 percent of the time and then they don’t let go of the puck.

The offense is not by any means carrying the team though; the Sharks have the best defense in the league allowing a mere 1.62 goals per game.  Goaltender Antti Niemi, has played 7 out of 8 games with an impressive save percentage of 93.6 percent.  Whether you’re a die-hard Sharks fan, casual hockey viewer or stats freak, it’s easy to see how the Sharks has only lost one game in regulation this season. 

Now, prior to their loss I was contemplating how much longer they could remain undefeated and I figured their time was short, but hoped they could hold it a little longer. On a positive note, one loss was in an OT shootout, so they did still earn a game point. While they have a lot going for them right now and could potentially hold their regulation time winning streak a little longer, their history suggests it won’t be for long.

They’ve never won a Stanley Cup or a conference championship. They’ve only been division champs six times, and have reached the conference finals just three times in their 21 years as a team. While the Sharks have circulated a decent number of coaches and players in the past trying to increase the length of their postseasons, they’ve yet to succeed.

The Sharks started their 2012-13 season playing weaker teams and almost entirely at home, six of eight games, giving them a nice leading edge in the standings.  However, after their losses, they’re trailing just one point behind the Chicago Blackhawks and one ahead of Boston. While they haven’t and won’t face Boston this season, they will finally play Chicago today in hopes of avoiding a third consecutive loss. Thus far, the Sharks have been playing overly aggressive, averaging roughly 16 penalty minutes per game; that’s almost an entire period being down players. They did add a coach this season, hall of famer Larry Robinson, to work with them and improve, but they ranked almost last in the previous season for their inability to kill a penalty.

San Jose, truthfully has a lot going for it this year, but a lot to work on too. If they want to be serious Stanley Cup contenders this season they are going to need to seriously step up their game.  In the meantime, I look forward to seeing how much longer they stay neck-in-neck with the Blackhawks. 

Here’s to another good month of hockey!