Mmmm hmmm...told you so

Last night, the Sharks managed to win game 3 to push the best-of-seven series against the Anaheim Ducks to at least 5. Just as I said. They'd win at least one...just to make things interesting.

In other news, last night's game marked the return of my favorite inappropriate crush, Torrey Mitchell. Early in the pre-season, he suffered a very serious tibia/fibula (boot top) fracture that required surgery and lots of hardware to repair. Original estimates had the Sharks' center returning to regular season play roughly two months after surgery. When I heard this, I laughed. I've seen athletes with tib/fib fractures who, regardless of a successful surgical outcome, cannot return to their sport at all. A similar fracture, remember, ended Joe Theismann's career (If you've got a strong stomach, Google that shit. It's unreal). One can only imagine the immense stresses the lower leg experiences in a game like hockey, and to throw out a time frame of two months seemed a bit arbitrary to me. I turned to DJC , shook my head and said, "He won't be back before the playoffs. Trust me on this one." Seeing as that I really like watching the kid play, I was bummed. I think all Sharks fans were.

Aaaaand, I was right. Although Mitchell was skating and playing in AHL games several months ago, he had a few setbacks with the injury and extra rehab time was needed. Last night, in game three, Mitchell looked a bit tentative, but very eager to contribute. And boy do the Sharks ever need his speed and finesse! What else does this energetic youngster bring to the party? Well, have a look-see at this:

The video quality isn't the greatest, but one can easily see that Mitchell (in white) gets hauled down on a break-away, draws a penalty, gets up, maintains possession of the puck and manages to score a fantastic goal. Amazing. And coincidentally, he did all of this against Anaheim. I think I speak for all Sharks fans when I say that I hope we see more fireworks from #17. He brings something to the team that they seem to be lacking lately: desire, hunger,and drive. He wants it. Hopefully, the rest of the team will feed off of his energy and finish the Ducks off...

...but then again, probably not. I'm still sticking to my 5 game ousting. =(