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		Nine game road trip challenge is ahead for the Sharks By Ivan S. Makarov February 10, 2012

	With the 5-3 win at home against Chicago Blackhawks last night, the Sharks are packing their bags for the toughest stretch of their regular season – nine game road trip. Not only do they get to play in some of the toughest buildings in the NHL, but they will also play the next nine games in just 15 days. Speaking after last night’s win, Sharks head coast Todd McLellan said “[The win] made us a feel a little better , but we know the task ahead of us is a very tough one. It’s a great challenge for our group. We talk about that, and it’s something we have to embrace and take one day at a time. All clichés, but it’s really the way we’re going to approach it.” Here are five hardest challenges of the upcoming road trip. 1. First week’s schedule. In the next seven days, the Sharks will play five times and in five different buildings. After flying all the way to St. Louis today, they will play two sets of back-to-back games in five days, and then play again before that first week is over. Quite a contract to the early stages of the season when it was not unusual for the Sharks to have 4 and 5 days long rest between games 2. Second week’s opponents. During the second week, Sharks will play four teams in six days and three of those teams are in the midst of the survival for playoffs spots in their respective conferences. Toronto Maple Leafs are currently the eighth seed in the East. Nashville Predators are fifth in the West. Minnesota Wild is still only two points away from making playoffs. All of these games will have playoffs atmosphere and level of play. 3. Playing matinee game in Detroit. Sharks will face Detroit Red Wings on Sunday, February 19. Because NBC will broadcast the game nationally, it will start at 12:30pm Eastern time. It is a same challenge for athletes on both teams to play during that time of the day. None of them like to get their gameday routines interrupted. But which team will overcome that challenge better? 4. Possible injuries. When athletes play so much in such a short time frame, injuries often happen. Being on the road makes it even harder to deal with them because the team is on the move all the time. Will Sharks battle through the injuries, or will they let injuries affect them? 5. Thomas Greiss’ coming to Antti Niemi’s rescue. With such a challenging schedule, Sharks’ goaltender Antti Niemi will need to rest on back-to-back game nights. Will Thomas Greiss be up for the challenge, or will be look as shaky as he did in some of the losses this season? Sharks do not play another game in San Jose until the end of February. They are currently third in the Western Conference. Even .500 outcome of this road trip will not have any serious implications on their chance to make playoffs this season. However, as San Jose Sharks get ready for the upcoming quest for the Stanley Cup, now is a good time to stock on both points and team confidence. There is no better place to do than on the road.