The San Jose Sharks face almost a week-long gap between their first and second games, but that might not be enough time for Martin Havlat and Antti Niemi to return. Both figure to be key components of an impressive Sharks roster when they do, but each player remains a work in progress, according to CSNBayArea.com’s Kevin Kurz.
It’s unclear if either will be ready for the Sharks’ second regular season game, which takes place on Oct. 15 against the Anaheim Ducks.
Havlat’s involvement in practice should generate a little more optimism than Niemi’s. He was a full participant in an hour-long skate while Niemi didn’t get as many looks as Thomas Greiss and gloriously named goalie Harri Sateri.
Havlat is coming off of shoulder surgery while Niemi had a cyst removed from an undisclosed area. Neither injury is on the high end of predictable problems, so we’ll just have to wait and see with both players. The Sharks looked scary without them during their season opener, but they’ll likely need their full compliment of players to take on more talented teams than the Phoenix Coyotes.