A TEAM THAT'S (GASP!) BETTER THAN THE BRUINS?

The Bruins hot start has shocked many in the world of hockey. It's been another team, however, the seems to be pushing hockey slowly back into sports fans' collective consciousness: the San Jose Sharks. The Pacific Division leading Sharks are actually off to the best start in NHL history, with 53 points in 31 games, surpassing the 1929-30 Bruins for most points (52) in a team's first 30 games.

The Sharks raw numbers are staggering. They are 25-3-3, and lead the (more) talented Western Conference by eight points, and the Pacific division by 15. Through 31 games this year, San Jose has scored 110 goals, most in the NHL. On average, the Sharks score the second most goals per game in the league (3.55), and allow the third fewest (2.32).

Most impressively, though, is the fact that the team is only 15th in home attendance. Now, why would that be impressive? Because even without that advantage, the Sharks are so damn good at home. Inside "The Shark Tank", they are 16-0-2, and have potted 68 out of their 110 goals.

Here are three reasons the Sharks have had this kind of success so far, and will continue to dominate the NHL in 2008-09.

EVERYBODY CONTRIBUTES
Much like the Bruins, the Sharks seem to have the right mix of developing youngsters, and veteran stars who show them how to play the game "the right way." Devin Setoguchi, San Jose's 21-year-old right wing is an emerging superstar, and has taken off playing on a line with former Bruin Joe Thornton and captain Patrick Marleau. Setoguchi has 16 goals and 17 assists (33 points) in 31 games, compared to last year when the rookie appeared in 44 games and scored 11 goals with 6 helpers (17 points) for San Jose.

Starting goaltender Evgeni Nabokov has struggled with injuries at times in his career, so the stellar play of backup Brian Boucher has been a tremendous boost as well. Boucher is 8-1-1 in 10 starts this season, with a goals against average of 1.88, and two shutouts to boot. Should Nabokov go down for an extended period of time, Boucher has proved that he can hold down the fort until the starter comes back.

SPECIAL TEAMS
The Sharks penalty killing unit has been solid, and their play with the man advantage has been huge. Ryane Clowe, who scored a career high 16 goals for the Sharks in 2006-07, already has eight power play goals so far this season, good for third in the league. As a team, San Jose is also third in the league in power play goals with 34 , and second in the NHL in short handed goals, having tallied seven shorties so far this season. Special team success, of course, comes from puck possession, and the Sharks face-off percentage is up to 52.8%, trailing only Detroit and Nashville in that category.

DEPTH
San Jose, like most teams, has struggled with injuries at times this season. Jeremy Roenick is now out three weeks with a shoulder injury, but that shouldn't hinder the Sharks approach much at all. Torrey Mitchell, a breakout rookie one year ago, fractured his leg in the preseason and hasn't played a game yet. Young bucks like Riley Armstrong and Tom Cavanaugh have filled in when necessary and San Jose hasn't lost a beat. Of course, the team's every day lineup is plenty strong, with Thornton, Marleau, Jonathan Cheechoo, and Joe Pavelski up front, and Rob Blake, Dan Boyle, Marc-Edouard Vlasic (pickles!), and Christian Erhoff on defense, so it will take a lot more than one injury to slow this team down.

The Sharks dominance is an extraordinary story, and hopefully they will continue to put hockey back in the spotlight, at least for a little while. Of course, San Jose is a team that has struggled in the playoffs before, so they will need to buck that trend to truly make this season a success. Through 31 games though, they are off to a start nobody could have possibly imagined.