Sharks vs. Wings: A battle for top spot

The underdog San Jose Sharks are in a race against the Detroit Red Wings for their first ever Western Conference championship

April is an exciting time for NHL fans - we're in the heat of the playoff run with 16 teams pushing for those 8 final slots in the battle totowards the Cup.

San Jose, Detroit, Boston, Washington and New Jersey have all secured their place in the playoffs, leaving only three spots up for grabs.

The Western Conference contenders have been fairly surprising this year, with many unexpected teams making their way through. The biggest fairy tale story, though, would have to be none other than the San Jose Sharks.

This underdog team has given the righteous Red Wings a real run for their money, with the two teams currently battling it out for the Western Conference title.

The Sharks have actually never won a conference championship or a Stanley Cup in the team’s history, compared to the Red Wings’ 11 Cups and 5 conferences.

And even with nine key players in and out of the roster due to injury, the Sharks have proven that they’re a force to be reckoned with.

San lose has been slowly building a winning team over the years, and shown what it takes to make a name for themselves in the league.

Everyone has come to expect Detroit to be the humble, quiet and under-spoken powerhouse, but it seems that San Jose is taking a well-deserved allowance of the spotlight.

Rob Blake and Dan Boyle are undoubtedly two of the best defensive players.

Goaltender Evgeni Nabokov has a .912 save percentage, six shut-outs, and 2.41 goals against; and Joe Thorton and Patrick Marleau are top forwards with over 70 goals each this season.

Then we can look at Detroit; sadly, back-up goaltender Ty Conklin holds a better record than starting goalie Chris Osgood with a considerably lower .884 save percentage and a slew of forwards performing, well, just the same as they do every year — average.

Detroit's mediocre and unexciting team has lost its lustre, making San Jose an easy-to-root-for underdog.

The Sharks are four points ahead of and one game up on Detroit.

Six more games will reveal the President’s Trophy winner, and my money's on San Jose.