Yesterday in Chicago, the San Jose Sharks were defeated by the Blackhawks 4-2. The loss ends the season for San Jose as they were swept by Chicago four games to none. Today, we will take a look back at the season for San Jose. How they got here, what went wrong & where they go from here.
How they got here:
San Jose finished with a record of 51-20-11. That was good for 113 points, a Pacific Division Title & the number one seed in the Western Conference. In the playoffs San Jose defeated Colorado in six games in the 1st round and Detroit in five games in the 2nd round before facing Chicago.
What went wrong:
Everything San Jose did to Detroit in the previous series happened to them against Chicago. Chicago was beating them to the puck, their goaltending was better and their defense was able to contain the forwards for San Jose.
Patrick Marleau, who I am usually critical of this time of year, was the best player on the ice for San Jose this series. Marleau had five goals and one assist against Chicago. The other top forward provided little to no offense for the Sharks.
Forwards Joe Pavelski & Dany Heatley only provided two assists each while the much maligned Joe Thornton only had one assist in the series. Evgeni Nabokov wasn't bad in goal for San Jose but he was outplayed by Chicago's Antti Niemi. This is the fifth time in six post-seasons where Nabokov has been outplayed by a goalie that he is thought to be better than.
Where they go from here:
San Jose did reach their 1st Conference Final since 2004 but once again failed to reach the Stanley Cup Finals. The two constants between playoff failures for San Jose are Marleau & Nabokov. Now that their season is done both men become free agents.
This series shows how good of a player Marleau can be. He has been with San Jose since 1997 and became the face of their franchise through their ascension into one of the top teams in the Western Confernce.While he showed he can produce in the playoffs I think we may have seen his final game with the Sharks yesterday.
He will be 31 when the next season starts and the play of Joe Pavelski & Devon Setogucchi through the season may have made Marleau expendable in San Jose. He can play the centre & left wing. I can think of at least one team in the area that could use a player like him on their roster.
Like Marleau, Nabokov may have also played his final game for San Jose. He will be 35 when the next season starts. Salary cap rules make teams very selective as to signing players that are 35 years or older. If a player retires during that contract the team is on the hook for the entire length of the contract.
Since goalies always seem to be in demand the Sharks will have to ask themselves if they still want to make a significant financial investment in Nabokov where in the past they haven't really gotten their money's worth. They may be better off going in a different direction.
As for the rest of the team you can't say they underachieved like they have in previous seasons. There was only a one point difference in the standings between them & Chicago. Chicago just proved to be better than the Sharks when they played head to head. That only provides minor consolation for a team that has been good for so long only to watch a team that wasn't in the playoffs two seasons ago now playing for the Stanley Cup.
What they do with Marleau & Nabokov and if/how they choose to replace them will determine where the Sharks end up going from here.
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