Adam Burish didn't hesitate when asked whose ear he'd been in tonight against his old Blackhawks teammates.

"Well, Sharp's always at the top of my list," the Sharks winger and noted agitator said. "Kane's a close second."

Hawks captain Jonathan Toews was happy to hear that.

"Sharp should be a given, right?" he said with a smile. "I'm excited to play against Bur. It's always kind of entertaining to watch him. He's as entertaining on the ice as he is off the ice, if that's even possible. Glad to see him doing well here."

Burish, a member of the Hawks' 2010 Stanley Cup championship team, signed with San Jose after spending the last two seasons with Dallas. He hasn't registered a point yet, but has played in all nine games for the Sharks, who are one point behind the No. 1 Hawks in the league standings.

By coming to San Jose, he joined Antti Niemi, who backstopped that Cup run as a rookie in Chicago. Also on the Sharks is former Hawks forward Martin Havlat, as well as Evanston-native Tommy Wingels

"This is a good team, it's a fun team to be a part of," Burish said. "A team that's real high on skill. So it's been a fun change. The weather's great, there's no snow here like you guys are dealing with in Chicago. So that's nice."

Burish said the offensive-minded Sharks remind him of the Hawks.

"You give them too many chances and they're going to kill you, and that's how it is here, too," he said. "The skill level's high, just like it was in Chicago. You see guys making plays that you shake your head at, just like you'd see Kane do or Sharp do. If a team gives us too many chances, they're going to pay. So it's a lot like it was in Chicago."

This will be the sixth time Burish has dressed for a game against his old teammates. And Hawks center Dave Bolland knows the drill by now.

"We just tune him out now," Bolland said. "We just don't even listen to him anymore."