Jumping the Shark
In years past, the San Jose Sharks were the WCHL. Few teams could hold a candle to the Sharks, who ran rampant through the WCHL's Western Conference, claiming divisional and conference titles at will before winning the Western Conference championship five straight times at one point. Their dynasty ended with three WCHL Cup titles and a permanent ranking as the first dynasty of the WCHL, if not the greatest dynasty ever.
Today, it's not as if the Sharks have fallen into the abyss, but the days of dominance have faded away somewhat. While San Jose finished second in the Western Conference and again claimed the Smythe Division title with a 106 point season, going 49-25-8 along the way, that success once again could not be translated into post-season success. After two straight years of being bounced in the first round of the playoffs, this year San Jose reached the second round before being knocked off by the Los Angeles Kings in six games.
"It's not what we wanted, for sure," said Sharks GM Kurt Fulmore. "We really felt we should get to round three this year as a minimum, but we weren't able to get past Los Angeles. We still have a good core in pace and hopefully next year will be a different story."
Sharks General Manager Kurt Fulmore, seen here during game five action in round two against the Los Angeles Kings, says things can improve from within for the team.
Round three wasn't just a pipe dream for San Jose. Aside from a 7-2 beatdown in game three of the series with Los Angeles, the Sharks and Kings other five games were all decided by one goal, including a pair of overtime victories by the Kings.
"We split those overtime games instead of losing both and it's game seven then, and anything can happen in a game seven. I'd have liked our chances in a game seven," said centre Jonathon Toews who finished the playoffs with five goals and nine points in 11 games.
Jonathan Toews feels like the Sharks were much closer to another cup run than most people realize.
So really, the Sharks aren't to far away. With a youthful line up filled with the likes of Toews, Tyler Seguin, Chris Stewart, Zach Bogosian and Jared Cowen, and several solid prospects in the minors and developmental leagues, the Sharks are still more than capable of regaining elite status in the WCHL.
"We're still there. Some rules that have come into place over the years make it harder to stay that good, and easier for the lower teams to rebuild and move forward, which is good for the league, but for us, we just need to overcome those and move forward," assessed Fulmore. "We can do that."
Oddly enough, the lone area of concern for the Sharks is their discipline. Traditionally a good character team, the Sharks finished 26th in penalty minutes this year but taking 17.46 per game. That only increased in the playoffs where they were the second most penalized team in the post-season, taking 20.55 penalty minutes per game.
Not surprising then, that Los Angeles scored eight of their 21 goals with the man advantage, including two game winning goals, one of which was in overtime. Discipline alone could turn around San Jose misfortune.
Five players in total on San Jose averaged more than two penalty minutes per game, including three defensemen. Bogosian led the way with 40 in just 11 games.
Zach Bogosian, seen here in his Atlanta Thrashers days, will need to show more discipline on the ice after piling up 40 penalty minutes in just 11 games for San Jose, taking almost one-quarter of the teams total penalty minutes in the playoffs.
"I do take some responsibly on myself for that," said Bogosian. "Maybe if I stayed out of the box more often, things could have been different for the team."
Maybe things will be different next year as well. San Jose is in unfamiliar territory these days, playing as the team that is failing to live up to expectations. It will be interesting to see how long that continues.
In years past, the San Jose Sharks were the WCHL. Few teams could hold a candle to the Sharks, who ran rampant through the WCHL's Western Conference, claiming divisional and conference titles at will before winning the Western Conference championship five straight times at one point. Their dynasty ended with three WCHL Cup titles and a permanent ranking as the first dynasty of the WCHL, if not the greatest dynasty ever.
Today, it's not as if the Sharks have fallen into the abyss, but the days of dominance have faded away somewhat. While San Jose finished second in the Western Conference and again claimed the Smythe Division title with a 106 point season, going 49-25-8 along the way, that success once again could not be translated into post-season success. After two straight years of being bounced in the first round of the playoffs, this year San Jose reached the second round before being knocked off by the Los Angeles Kings in six games.
"It's not what we wanted, for sure," said Sharks GM Kurt Fulmore. "We really felt we should get to round three this year as a minimum, but we weren't able to get past Los Angeles. We still have a good core in pace and hopefully next year will be a different story."
Sharks General Manager Kurt Fulmore, seen here during game five action in round two against the Los Angeles Kings, says things can improve from within for the team.
Round three wasn't just a pipe dream for San Jose. Aside from a 7-2 beatdown in game three of the series with Los Angeles, the Sharks and Kings other five games were all decided by one goal, including a pair of overtime victories by the Kings.
"We split those overtime games instead of losing both and it's game seven then, and anything can happen in a game seven. I'd have liked our chances in a game seven," said centre Jonathon Toews who finished the playoffs with five goals and nine points in 11 games.
Jonathan Toews feels like the Sharks were much closer to another cup run than most people realize.
So really, the Sharks aren't to far away. With a youthful line up filled with the likes of Toews, Tyler Seguin, Chris Stewart, Zach Bogosian and Jared Cowen, and several solid prospects in the minors and developmental leagues, the Sharks are still more than capable of regaining elite status in the WCHL.
"We're still there. Some rules that have come into place over the years make it harder to stay that good, and easier for the lower teams to rebuild and move forward, which is good for the league, but for us, we just need to overcome those and move forward," assessed Fulmore. "We can do that."
Oddly enough, the lone area of concern for the Sharks is their discipline. Traditionally a good character team, the Sharks finished 26th in penalty minutes this year but taking 17.46 per game. That only increased in the playoffs where they were the second most penalized team in the post-season, taking 20.55 penalty minutes per game.
Not surprising then, that Los Angeles scored eight of their 21 goals with the man advantage, including two game winning goals, one of which was in overtime. Discipline alone could turn around San Jose misfortune.
Five players in total on San Jose averaged more than two penalty minutes per game, including three defensemen. Bogosian led the way with 40 in just 11 games.
Zach Bogosian, seen here in his Atlanta Thrashers days, will need to show more discipline on the ice after piling up 40 penalty minutes in just 11 games for San Jose, taking almost one-quarter of the teams total penalty minutes in the playoffs.
"I do take some responsibly on myself for that," said Bogosian. "Maybe if I stayed out of the box more often, things could have been different for the team."
Maybe things will be different next year as well. San Jose is in unfamiliar territory these days, playing as the team that is failing to live up to expectations. It will be interesting to see how long that continues.
