The Curse of the Sharks

Today I want write about something I have been batting around in my head for the last 24 hours. Are the San Jose Sharks cursed?

The Sharks lost Game 3 of their playoff series against Colorado on Sunday night 1-0 when Sharks defenseman Dan Boyle accidentally shot the puck into his own net. This is the latest in a series of misfortunes that have plagued this franchise in the post-season. In Game 1 of this series the Sharks when a puck deflected off of "Rob Blake's skate" and into the Sharks goal with 50 seconds to play in Game 1.

Add in the fact that the Sharks won 6-5 in overtime in Game 2 you could say they are lucky that they are not down 3-0 in the series right now to Colorado.

If this was the 1st time the Sharks were facing post-season adversity it wouldn't be a big story that they are trailing Colorado 2 games to 1 in the series. After all the Sharks were the best team in the Western Conference and finished with 18 more points than the Avalanche in the regular season. But the Sharks have been the favorite before in the post-season and each time they have failed to deliver.

In 2004 the Sharks came in as the #2 seed out west and reached the Conference Finals where the played the # 6 seed Calgary Flames. With Detroit out of the post-season the Sharks were heavy favorites to reach their 1st Stanley Cup Finals. Instead they dropped the 1st two games at home. They were able to go into Calgary and win the next two games only to lose Games 5 & 6 to Flames allowing Calgary to win the series and advance to their 1st Stanley Cup Finals in 15 years.

Most people thought that the loss to Calgary was a small setback and that the Sharks were ready to break through and become the next elite team in the West. After missing the 2004-2005 season due to the lockout the Sharks qualified for the playoffs as the # 5 seed in the West. With the top four seeds all losing in the 1st round the Sharks became favorites once again to reach the Stanley Cup Finals. The addition of Forward Joe Thornton, who won the Hart Trophy as MVP in 2006, to go with Sharks Captain Patrick Marleau was a 1-2 punch up the middle that no team could counter. At least that's what we thought.

Against Edmonton in the Western Conference Semifinals the Sharks won the 1st two games on home ice. They then proceeded to lose the next four games to the Oilers giving Edmonton a 4-2 series win. The Sharks were done earlier than expected.

In 2007 the Sharks entered the post-season as a #5 seed once again but the acquisition of forward Bill Guerin made them a team that people expected were capable of defeating the top seed Detroit Red Wings in the playoffs. They met in the 2nd round and the Sharks got off to a good start, shutting out Detroit in Game 1 2-0.

After trading wins with Detroit for the 1st four games of the series the Sharks came into Game 5 and got beat by a score of 4-1. Detroit closed out the series a couple nights later shutting out San Jose 2-0. Another spring, another early exit for the Sharks.

In 2008 the Sharks added Defenseman Brian Campbell from Buffalo at the trade deadline and went on a hot streak, not losing a game in the month of March. They entered the post-season as the # 2 seed and many people thought they were the biggest threat to the Red Wings. They never got the chance as they dropped the 1st 3 games in their 2nd round series to Dallas. They were able to stave off elimination in games 4 & 5 and force overtime in Game 6 before Stars forward Brendan Morrow scored in the 4th OT to give Dallas a 2-1 win and the series win 4-2.

In 2009 the Sharks acquired Defenseman Rob Blake & Dan Boyle giving them one of the deepest bluelines in the NHL. Add that in with a talented group of forwards up front the Sharks finished the season with 117 points. That was good enough to give them their 1st President's Trophy guaranteeing them home ice in the entire post-season. Unfortunately their post-season lasted only six games as they lost their 1st round series to Anaheim 4 games to 2.

This season the Sharks acquired forward Dany Heatley from Ottawa in the off-season making their group of forwards even stronger than they were in previous years. Once again they finish as one of the top teams in the Western Conference and once again they are struggling early in the post-season.

People ask what is wrong with this team and for me there are two things constant with each post-season failure. Patrick Marleau & Evgeni Nabokov. Marleau was named captain of the Sharks in 2004 when they started their 1st of six consecutive post-season appearances. Whenever a team in hockey falls short in the post-season the 1st person the media always ask what went wrong is the team captain. This past season Marleau was replaced as captain by Rob Blake hoping that it would take some pressure off of Marleau.

As for Nabokov, it is the same thing every year. He is outplayed in the post-season by a goaltender who he is suppose to be superior than. Take a look at the goalies he has lost to each post-season

2004- Calgary: Mikka Kiprusoff

2006- Edmonton: Dwayne Roloson

2007- Detroit: Dominik Hasek

2008- Dallas: Marty Turco

2009- Anaheim: Jonas Hiller

I see only one person in this group making the Hall of Fame. All the other goalie Nabokov should have been able to beat in a seven game series. And now this post-season Nabokov is being outplayed in net once again, this time by Craig Anderson of Colorado. Nabokov is a free agent after this season. I'm guessing if the Sharks fail to reach the Finals he will not be back wearing teal next season.

Now there is still plenty of time for San Jose to turn things around and win this series but with all their past haunting them once again I have to ask if they are mentally tough enough to overcome this. They have already changed coaches during this span, they have changed captains. At this point other than changing goalies I'm not sure what else the Sharks can do to get over the hump.

The Sharks resume action tonight in Colorado. It is one of 5 games this evening. Other match-ups tonight are Pittsburgh vs. Ottawa, New Jersey vs. Philadelphia, Phoenix vs. Detroit, & Chicago vs. Nashville.

Thanks for reading & enjoy the hockey.