The San Jose Sharks had a pretty decent week, going 3 – 1, with all three wins coming at home. But with Tomas Hertl out long-term the Sharks already had some decisions to make. Though they seemingly answered them by shrugging and running out a boat anchor by the name of Micheal Haley, bigger decisions must be made now that Melker Karlsson hasn’t healed and Tommy Wingels died or whatever. On the brighter side of things, the defense has been relatively healthy and now Brent Burns is signed ’til he’s 92. All this and more on this week’s podcast discussion.

It started out to be such a good week — the Sharks played one of their strongest games of the year, top to bottom, against the Tampa Bay Lightning. And then, as the games progressed, the Sharks lost Melker Karlsson (short term?) and Tomas Hertl (who knows). On the bright side, Kevin Labanc has continued to look pretty good and scored his first goal in the NHL. On the not-so-bright side, the Sharks may have to fill a Hertl-sized gap for some significant amount of time. And they already have been pretty mediocre over seventeen games. What’s the solution to all these problems? A call up for Daniel O’Regan or Nikolay Goldobin? A trade for Martin Hanzal (as had been weirdly rumored even before the fatal wounding of Tomas Hertl)? Or some combination of those plus patience that a galactically-unlucky team will start finding the back of the net? Colin and I discuss all this and more this week.

This week began with the Sharks being embarrassed at home by their Stanley Cup foes, the venerable Pens. But immediately following that travesty the Sharks left the Tank behind, perhaps for the better. They went on to beat two venerable teams on the road (the Caps and the Panthers), in no small part perhaps thanks to the elevation of Kevin Labanc (and better goalie play as well). It would be good, though, if the Sharks could get Joel Ward and Mikkel Boedker going. We talk about all that and more in this week’s podcast.