Postmortem: San Jose Sharks

Image via: lakingsinsider.com

Finally the Western Conference semi-finals have come to a close, and we add two more victims to the list of the deceased. First up, the San Jose Sharks, who once again bowed out of the playoffs sooner than they had hoped. Let's take a look at how the season went for the 2013 edition of the Sharks.

The Sharks dominance over the Pacific division finally ended after the 2012 season, when the team made the playoffs as a seventh seed and bowed out in the first round to the St. Louis Blues. Despite the obvious set-back, San Jose made very few changes in the offseason.
They added Larry Robinson and Jim Johnson to the coaching staff and also Brad Stuart to help on defense. Hopes weren't high for the team, but that may have worked to San Jose's favour as they reeled of seven straight wins to finish undefeated in January. It didn't last long, however, as the team only finished with one regulation win in February. They played more or less .500 hockey the rest of the way, but manged to get into the playoffs again. One thing of note is the incredible difference between their home record and their road record. The Sharks were the best home team in the NHL, losing in regulation only twice in 24 contests, but on the road they were an awful 8-14-2.

The offense was relatively sub par compared to seasons past, as the team finished 24th in goals scored during the regular season. Though captain Joe Thornton and Patrick Marleau are not the elite offensive players they once were, they both had solid seasons with 40 and 31 points respectively. The future of the team will belong to 24 year old Logan Couture, who had another outstanding campaign, finishing second in team scoring while potting 21 goals in only 48 games. The biggest change up front may have been moving Brent Burns from the blueline into the top six forward group. The change provided a different look to San Jose's top lines, with his awkward positioning actually being quite beneficial to fooling opposing defensemen. He finished with 20 points in just 30 games. Overall the Sharks lacked depth, struggled through injuries, and had difficulty getting the puck in the net on some nights.

On defense, Stuart's impact was immediate and obvious. Even though he didn't score a goal this season, that really isn't his job. He provided quality shutdown minutes and veteran leadership to a defense corps made of largely young players. Marc-Edouard Vlasic, Matt Irwin and Justin Braun are all under 27 years old and represent the core of the Shark's defense for the next few years. All three had somewhat inconsistent seasons, finishing a combined -1, but as a group they were able to get the job done on most night. And of course there's 36 year old Dan Boyle, who continued to provide offense and quarterback the powerplay. The other veteran on the blueline, Scott Hannan, was an abomination, finishing with just one point in 33 games and a very ugly -14 rating.

What is it they always say, good defense makes a good goaltender into a great one? It was the exact opposite for San Jose this year, as Finnish goalie Antti Niemi bailed his defense out time and time again. In fact, he has such an excellent season that he was nominated for the Vezina Trophy, the only Sharks player to receive a post-season award nomination. With a 2.16 goals against average, .924 save percentage and 24 wins, his numbers were very good. But even more than that, he provided the Sharks with the quality goaltending that this team so desperately needed. There is no doubt that without Niemi, San Jose would have been looking forward to a lottery pick instead of a playoff spot by the end of April.

However, the playoffs did eventually come around, and the Sharks faced the Canucks in the first round. Some would say you have to be good to be lucky, and San Jose was both against Vancouver. The Canucks put up little fight, and San Jose quickly dispatched them in 4 games, the first sweep in franchise history. Then came a real test, against the defending Stanley Cup champion LA Kings. Niemi was outstanding in that series, keeping the Sharks in many close games against the Kings. For a team that was so up and down all season, it's very fitting that the series went back and forth, good wins followed hard losses. However, and this should come as no shock, the Sharks weren't able to win a single game in Los Angeles and fell 2-1 in game seven.

So what happens now? Fans wills say to blow up the team, to start over, but there are too many good young players on the Sharks roster and in the system to do that at this point. This is Couture and Niemi's team now, and management would be wise not to rock the boat. Thronton, Marleau and Boyle's contracts are all up after next season, and one wonders if any of them will return. The truth of the matter is that this is a team in transition, and they'll need to go through some growing pains such as this season before they can get back to the top of the division.