By the time the Sharks take the ice tonight for their home opener, they will have had six long days off.
That's the break the team got after traveling to Sweden to start the season, but time began to drag as the Sharks prepared and prepared some more to face Atlanta tonight at HP Pavilion.
"It seems like a lot of other teams have already played five or six games, and we've played two. We're all well-rested right now," forward Ryane Clowe said. "We've had some good practices; we're pretty energized."
Center Scott Nichol added, "It will be nice to get back into the swing of things. That's when you start climbing the ladder, gaining some points."
Sharks coach Todd McLellan agreed that the time off was starting to feel excessive, but he said, "We're never happy as coaches. If we'd played today, we'd have said, 'Jeez, it would have been nice to have another two more days off.' There's no perfect scenario.
"They want to play. I know they're tired of practicing. They want to apply it, find out where we're at."
McLellan described the trip to Sweden - a win over Columbus followed by an overtime loss to the Blue Jackets the next day - as "75 percent" positive, given that the team earned three out of a possible four points. There's still plenty he'd like to spiff up, starting with San Jose's effectiveness at full strength and in transition.
McLellan's lines remain unlike last year's, with the elite scorers sprinkled more evenly around. Joe Thornton is centering Jamie McGinn and Devin Setoguchi, Joe Pavelski has Patrick Marleau and Torrey Mitchell on the wings, and rookie Logan Couture is with Clowe and Dany Heatley.
The Thrashers have an ominously familiar look - Atlanta's new general manager, Rick Dudley, was an assistant GM in Chicago, and during the summer, he swung two deals with the Stanley Cup champs, bringing in Andrew Ladd, Brent Sopel, Ben Eager and Sharks postseason nemesis Dustin Byfuglien.
"Very much a Chicago flavor," McLellan said. "They bring a winning ideal with them."
Byfuglien, who gave San Jose fits as a scoring force in front of the net in May, is playing defense for Atlanta.
"He's had success up front, and he's a very good defensive player," McLellan said. "It's very nice to have a utility player like that. They see him as a power defender - either way, he has an impact on the game."
