Today the Sharks play the Avalanche, who are currently in 14th in the West and have been making odd trades for the past week, swapping mediocre goalies with the Senators and then trading away some good young talent to the Blues. Looking at the standings Colorado fans have to be pretty pissed off about this season - which is good for me. Anything that makes those spoiled Avs fans sad is a major plus in my book.

As has been discussed, Ian White should be a great fit for the team. The defensive pairs are up in the air for now, until it's determined whether Vlasic will play, but most speculation has White on the second pairing. This gives the Sharks two solid offensive defensemen on their top two pairs, and, more importantly, will let Vlasic concentrate on stay-at-home defense instead of the offense he has struggled to provide this season.

Prediction: Sharks win 5-2, with goals from Thornton, Heatley, Setoguchi, Pavelski, and White.


* = today I briefly considered titling my gameday post "White Power." This dude is going to get me in trouble.