Joe Thornton Swatch Card

The San Jose Sharks are 6-3-1 in their last 10 games, so does that mean they're back on track? Or is this just another lull in a potentially awful season?

Who knows, really?

They're still the team run by GM Doug Wilson, who dresses three players who have been the team's captain (current one Joe Pavelski, as well as Patrick Marleau and Joe Thornton) on a nightly basis, and whose #1 goalie is Martin Jones, the 26-year-old unproven commodity who came over from the Los Angeles Kings by way of the Boston Bruins last summer.

The one thing the Sharks seem to change more often than captains and goalies (at least since Evgeni Nabokov) is their uniforms. Their initial one was okay, but their best one was this one, save for the jersey numbers on the front, which make it too busy, though the amount of black, orange and white is perfect in contrast to the teal:

It's card #GG-JO from Panini's 2012-13 Titanium set (and Game-Worn Gear sub-set), which I got as a "hit" in a pack of various repackaged in 2014 or 2015. It features none other than the much-maligned Thornton, who was recently voted onto San Jose's 25th Anniversary Team (other notable centers in Sharks history include Mike Ricci, Vincent Damphousse and Jeff Friesen, so it was a no-brainer to vote former the Art Ross winner onto it).

Regular readers know I never trust the Sharks to win, or even make the right moves; they are the Western Conference's Toronto Maple Leafs without the continuous embarrassment of finishing in the bottom-5 but with the added weight of always choking in the playoffs when viewed as contenders. Oh, and no Stanley Cups. Ever.