2009/2010 Preview of the San Jose Sharks

2008-2009 Recap: The Greatest Worst Season Ever

The 2008-2009 season was one of the greatest, most disappointing, season in Sharks history. We set a franchise record with 117 points, and won the Presidents Trophy (best regular season team) for the first time ever. On paper, we were amazing, and everyone had us winning the Stanley Cup. However, as everyone knows, we lost to the #8 seed, the Anaheim Ducks, in the 1st round in a huge upset (more on that later).

What happened last season? Looking back, there were numerous reasons.

I think our failures in the 1st round didn't come as a surprise to any true Sharks fan. Yes, the Sharks set a team record with 117 points last year, but we started the season on a tear. By January 1st, we had a 28-6-3 record. It was such a fun time, and we were playing extremely well. But again, that 117 point number can be very deceiving. In the last 22 games of the season, the Sharks only won 11 of them. We were playing poor hockey. I remember being at the last home game of the regular season against the Kings, and I can recall shaking my head the entire game at how bad we looked. You want to enter the playoffs playing great hockey...not poor hockey.

What happened? We couldn't stay healthy. Obviously Torrey Mitchell was hurt the entire season, and key third liners like Jonathan Cheechoo and Jeremy Roenick were battling month long injuries in March and April. We constantly had makeshift 3rd and 4th lines. Things weren't looking good.

Contrast the Sharks to the Anaheim Ducks. While the Sharks were suffering at the end of the season, the Ducks had won 10 of their last 13 games. They were playing some great hockey. Every single analyst I read had the Sharks winning the Stanley Cup, yet every single one of them also said that the most likely upset in the 1st round was Anaheim over San Jose. Remember this is a team that won the Cup only two years ago, and had almost the same exact team.

Granted, the Sharks were extremely unlucky. The battle for the 6-8 spots came down to the last game. The Ducks lost their last game and finished with 91 points. The Blues and the Avalanche finished only one point better, each with 92 points. The way the Ducks were playing in April, they were NOT an 8th seed...they just happened to have a bad start. The Ducks should have been the 6th seed. In the other matchups, Detroit and Vancouver both swept 4-0 series against the Blues and Avalanche, respectively. The Sharks were very, very unlucky to draw the Ducks in the 1st round. Would they have swept the Blues and Avalanche as well? Maybe...but they would have definitely beat them.

But still no excuses. Its the playoffs, and order to be the best, you have to beat the best. Sharks would have probably had to deal with Anaheim somewhere down the road.

The Summer of 2009 Offseason: Trying to Dissect What Happened

It was a tough April, May, and June. Fans were pissed and disappointed. Before, we couldn't make it past the 2nd round...this year, we didnt even make it out of the 1st.

There were calls to trade Thorton and Marleau. There were calls to get rid of Doug Wilson. People criticized the veterans on the team that they didn't have any leadership and grit. Those who wanted Doug Wilson to stay, wanted him to completely revamp the team. Things got pretty heated on various message boards.

I think there was unfair criticism of Joe Thorton and Patrick Marleau, and from the very beginning, I never wanted either of them to leave. They are two amazing players, and statistically, they didnt have that bad of a playoffs against Anaheim. You might say that superstars should carry their team, and despite what they have around them, they will find ways to win. I say yes...to an extent. Take a look at Lebron James, maybe the best player in basketball right now. He can average a triple double in the playoffs and average 30+ points a game, but if he doesnt have a legit team around to support him, he and the Cavs will lose.

Yes. Marleau and Thorton are the stars, but they can't carry a team by themselves. In the playoffs, the Sharks had no production from their 3rd and 4th lines, either in points or energy. That's simply unacceptable. Like I said, Mitchell, Cheech, and JR were all coming back from injuries and banged up, and players like Goc, Grier, and Moen were simply invisible. If the 3rd and 4th lines can not chip in a series, the team will not be successful. Marleau had the "C" on his jersey and Thorton had the "A", but all the veterans on the team needed to step up...everyone needed to be accountable, not just Marleau and Thorton.

Aside from the 3rd/4th lines, our goaltending was just not there, and I believe that Evgeny Nabokov did not receive his fair share of criticism. He is a great goalie, one of the best in the league, but he has NEVER been hot for us in the playoffs. Sometimes in certain series, a team just isn't playing well, and you need your goalie to bail you out. In four straight seasons, Nabokov has NEVER bailed out the Sharks. In the Sharks 4 early playoff exits, they have faced RED HOT goalies: Roloson (Edmonton 06), Hasek (Detroit 07), Turco (Dallas 08) and Hiller (Anaheim 09), and we lost every one of those series. Nabokov played a horrible series against Anaheim. He deserved much more criticism. He needs to perform a lot better in the future in order for the Sharks to win the Cup. I cant think of one team that won the Cup without a hot goalie. Nabby needs to step it up.

A Quiet Summer of 2009...then...BANG!

For almost the entire summer, the Sharks made very little noise. We let go of Goc, Grier, Moen, and Semenov...mainstays on our 3rd and 4th line. Quietly though, Doug Wilson was revamping these two lines by bringing in solid veterans in Scott Nichols, Manny Malhotra, and Jed Ortmeyer. On the surface, these look like minor moves, but improves our team tremendously. We also traded Ehrhoff and Lukowich to Vancouver in salary dump moves...not bad since we have a decent pipeline of defenseman in our minor league team.

Throughout the entire summer, Marleau's name floated around as trade bait...mainly for Dany Heatley. Like I said before, I really didnt want to let Marleau go, even for Heatley. It was a trade that I would have been 100% against. On September 12th, Doug Wilson made his 2nd greatest trade of his tenure with the Sharks (the 1st being the Thorton trade for Sturm, Primeau, and Stuart) when he got Dany Heatley for Cheechoo, Milan Michalek, and a second round pick. There was much debate about this trade, but I like this for many reasons.

1. The Sharks have never had a pure goal scorer with the talent like Heatley. In the 05/06 and 06/07 seasons, he scored 50 goals and had over 50 assist in each season, though his production has "dropped off" to only 41 goals and 39 goals in the past two seasons. This guy is maybe one of the best goal scorers in the league right now, with maybe only Ovechkin better.

2. The Sharks did not give up Patrick Marleau. I love Marleau. I did not want to see him go. Enough said.

3. The Sharks gave up only Cheechoo and Michalek. I love Cheechoo, but we can't afford to pay him $3 million to be a 3rd line player, and there is no way that he cracks the top 6 forwards on the team. Sadly, I truly believe his 56 goal 05-06 season was a fluke, since his goal production since then has been 37, 23, and 12. I love him, but he needs a change of scenery. He needed to go. I wish him the best of luck in Ottawa.

Michalek was slightly harder to stomach. He has the potential, but we dont know if he'll ever reach his full star potential. He can very well become a solid player, or he could very well become a flop. Its still too early in his career to tell. Heatley is a proven goal scorer...he's the real deal. I think Doug Wilson had to make the gamble on Michalek, but I think it was a gamble he needed to make.

4. There was also a lot of talk about "character issues". Heatley is now public enemy #1 in Canada, cause he's pissed off everyone in Ottawa and Edmonton and everyone in between. From what I've read, a lot of is unfair and unjustified. Doug Wilson is a smart GM, and he has done his homework. If Wilson, Boyle, Blake, Thorton, and Marleau can all vouch for Heatley, it's fine with me. A lot of people also criticized the Sharks for not addressing their leadership/grit issues. By signing Heatley, they claim he will make things worse in the locker room. In the playoffs, the Sharks didn't have any one who had the ability and the nerve to score in the clutch. Heatley can. I think a lot of ppl realize that being able to handle the pressure and being able to score in all situations is a form of leadership as well.

5. The trade didn't hurt us salary cap wise, and Doug Wilson still has the flexibility to make future moves.

Looking forward to the 2009-2010 season

I've said this every single year, but this is maybe the best Sharks team they've ever had...on paper.

A top line of Heatley - Thorton - Setoguchi and a 2nd line of Marleau - Pavelski - Clowe will cause problems for every single team in this league. With the additions of Nicols and Malhotra, are 3rd and 4th lines are much more improved. Our defenseman are solid. Our powerplay? That will be deadly. I'm confident Nabokov will have a great year, with this being his contract year as well.

That said. It's Stanley Cup or bust again. Can the Sharks beat any team in a best of 7 series? Absolutely...and they should. We'll wait and see.

Should be a great year.