Sharks-
Ugh. For the third year in a row, the Sharks win six games in the post-season and then hit a wall… They had their chances against Detroit though. In Game 2, they had a two-goal lead and let in a short-handed game-tying goal in the third and then the game winning goal with under two minutes to play. In Game 5, they had another two-goal lead and gave up the game-tying goal in the last minute and lost in overtime. If either of those games went differently, it could’ve been a whole different series. Frustrating, and a lot of people think we should blow up the team after the loss. Trade Marleau, trade Nabby, dump Bell, etc., but I don’t agree. If I were Doug Wilson, here is what I would do:
1) Sign Thornton and Marleau to extensions now. It seems like they enjoy playing in San Jose, so hopefully, they’ll sign for a hometown discount. Marleau didn’t play that well against Detroit, but he hasn’t been the same since February with that separated shoulder. Years ago, everyone in Boston was on Joe’s case for not getting a point in the Boston-Montreal playoffs when he was playing thru a rib injury. I guess thankfully for San Jose, Boston dumped Joe to us.
2) Resign either Hannan or Rivet, you can’t afford both. Hannan is a great shut-down guy, but he’s got no offense, and is not a great passer. If he’s looking for Chris Phillips’ type money in the $3.5mil/year range, you have to let him go. Resign Rivet, if only for his right-handed shot on the point and for teaching the youngsters.
3) Guerin is probably gone, unless he’s willing to resign for really cheap for one year. I think they’ll probably give Devin Setoguchi a shot to make the team next year.
4) I love Mark Smith, but he deserves a raise and another team will probably offer him more. Bye Smitty! Not a lot of skill, but a ton of heart.
5) Mark Bell… such high hopes, but he had a bad year. I’m hoping he’ll bounce back strong next year.
6) I think one of the goalies will be traded. I love them both, but one of them will probably be gone. Nabby has the big contract and the no-trade clause, so Toskala is probably gone. Maybe they can trade Toskala for the vet D man we need.
7) Our main target in the offseason should be a vet defenseman who is solid on D, can pass, and can actually hit the net with a shot. Mathieu Schneider from Detroit is unrestricted (unless he’s mad at Patty for breaking his wrist in the playoffs). I’ve always liked Brian Rafalski from New Jersey, even if he’s a little on the small side. I wouldn’t want Souray from Montreal. He’s too bad defensively to make up for his offense. Not very easy to find though. Maybe Boston would be willing to do another 3-for-1 trade for their captain.
Here’s what I think the 2007-2008 Sharks should look like:
Clowe-Thornton-Cheechoo
Michalek-Marleau-Setoguchi
Rissmiller-Goc-Bernier
Bell-Brown-Grier
Vlasic-????
Rivet-Carle
McLaren-Erhoff
Nabokov
Bench-Pavelski,Davison,Murray,Patzold
I believe Doug Wilson is holding a press conference tomorrow to talk about the team and the past season. We’ll see what happens…
As for the remaining teams vying for the Stanley Cup this year, I was rooting for Buffalo (because they were robbed by Dallas and Brett Hull’s in-the-crease goal in the finals years ago), but they just got knocked out. Anyone but the Ducks… but since everyone I’ve been rooting for has been losing, maybe I should cheer for the Ducks. Puck Fronger!