Math is hard. Neither CT nor I are any good at any of it - which is why we have our crack staff of HOCKEENIGHT Mathletes, pictured to the right here.

Now that there's a long layover, due to television and arena scheduling - to be fair, can you blame the people at HP Pavilion for not expecting the Sharks to make it this far? They've authored some pretty spectacular flameouts in years past, and they squeaked by Detroit with 4 one-goal victories.

Anyway, so we can break it all down for you, our Mathletes here have some interesting statistical data which can at least placate you until there's some actual hockey played this weekend:

Number of games between the Sharks and Blackhawks this season: 4

Record in those games: Blackhawks 3 wins (2 in OT) Sharks 1 win

Goals by team: Blackhawks 17 Sharks 11

Number of times Evgeni Nabokov got lit up like a Christmas tree: 1

Number of times Cristobal Huet beat the Sharks: 3

Number of minutes Cristobal Huet is expected to play against the Sharks: 0

Career high in goals for a single playoff season by Joe Thornton: 3

Number of goals this playoff season by Joe Thornton: 3

Number of articles chronicling Joe Thornton's playoff struggles: 521

Number of articles written by Barry Rozner so filled with manlust for Trent Yawney that you decide to forego taking a shower and just walk through a car wash instead: 832

Number of wins by the Sharks over the Blackhawks this season that Rozner credits to Yawney: 1

Number of playoff power play goals by Joe Pavelski: 5

Number of playoff power play goals by Sharks not named Joe Pavelski: 6

Number of playoff power play goals allowed by the Blackhawks this playoff season: 6

Number of teammates killed by San Jose Sharks: 1 (Dan Snyder by Dany Heatley)

Number of teammates killed by Chicago Blackhawks: 1 (Kim Johnsson, presumed dead)

Average weight of Sharks' offensive lines, in pounds: 605

Average weight of Sharks' offensive lines, in Wellwoods: 0.3

Number of Sharks players who have names that sound like trendy clothing stores: 1 (Logan Couture)

Goals for, regular season (per game) : Blackhawks 3.20 Sharks 3.13

Goals for, playoffs (per game) : Blackhawks 3.33 Sharks 3.09

Goals against, regular season (per game) Blackhawks 2.48 Sharks 2.55

Goals against, playoffs (per game) : Blackhawks 2.75 Sharks 2.54

Number of goals against by the Blackhawks that lead to profanities in the Shoutbox, per game: Regular season 2.48 Playoffs 2.75

Number of games played by the Blackhawks and recapped by HOCKEENIGHT, 2008-09 season (reg & playoffs): 99

Number of games played by the Blackhawks and recapped by HOCKEENIGHT, 2009-10 season (reg & playoffs): 94

Number of in-game photos of Patrick Sharp looking very handsome: All of them

Number of in-game photos of Jonathan Toews looking very goofy: All of them

Number of Dany Heatley vehicular homicide jokes to be told in this series: 49

Number of Patrick Kane cabbie-beating stories to be told in this series: 23

Number of games played by Brian Campbell as a Shark (including playoffs): 33

Number ot times he's been booed in HP Pavilion in the subsequent two seasons: 78

Hope this breakdown helps. Enjoy the series, and see you in the Shoutbox.