The Shoe Is On The Other Foot Now

from Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle, In three-plus seasons under McLellan, San Jose is 15-10 against the Red Wings. In the previous three seasons, during which McLellan was an assistant with Detroit, the Red Wings held an 11-7 advantage, and all-time, the Wings lead 49-23 with four ties. The Sharks have won playoff series against the Red Wings the past two seasons, and they’ve won four consecutive regular-season meetings heading into tonight’s game at HP Pavilion, including a 4-2 victory at Detroit last month. Were this a Disney movie, at some point, a sidekick would have muttered, “Ah, the student becomes the master.” “It’s nice,” said forward Patrick Marleau, who has been a Shark for 14 seasons and remembers the years of struggles against Detroit. “Over the years, they’ve had a lot of really good teams. They still do, and we’ve gotten better. They passed the torch over there, they learned from the best, but now we’ve built our own identity.” read on