This season’s start has felt weird, thanks the the team’s excursion to Europe while the rest of the league was still in preseason, but now that the whole league is on the same page, the Hockey Gods wasted no time to slap San Jose Sharks fans in the face with evidence of just how different the 2022-23 team is from its previous regime.
Don’t get me wrong, they’re still losing. That part hasn’t changed.
But seeing Brent Burns in that bright red Carolina Hurricanes jersey is jarring. For the first time since 2011, the Sharks had to find out what it’s like to play against Burns.