November 1, 2011, San Jose Sharks column for HockeyPrimeTime.com

Poor road trip finish opens concerns about Sharks

Columns

Written by Denis Gorman

Tuesday, November 01, 2011 17:02

The San Jose Sharks consistently perform well during the regular season but flame out in the postseason. This year's team just finished a successful road trip, but headed back to the West Coast feeling unfulfilled. What will happen if this year ends in postseason disappointment again? The concern was evident in San Jose Sharks coach Todd McLellan’s voice Saturday night. His team had just completed a come-from-behind, 3-2, overtime win over the Islanders at the Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum, the result of an incomprehensibly baffling delay of game penalty on New York defenseman Travis Hamonic that led directly to Brent Burns’ slapshot goal with the man advantage. Where some would enjoy the win, McLellan was focused on the flaws he observed. “We have some work to do,” McLellan said. “The danger we have is getting happy and fat. We can’t have that.” Nearly 48 hours and 30 miles later, the Sharks completed their six-game road trip with a 5-1 record with an unsightly 5-2 loss to the Rangers at Madison Square Garden. After the game, in which it was rumored that he played, Joe Thornton told reporters that the Rangers were “the softest team we played against on the road trip and we should have had the two points.” Thornton had a secondary assist on Joe Pavelski’s first-period goal that cut New York’s lead to 2-1, and finished with a minus-1 rating in 20 minutes and one second of ice time. Thornton was not the only Shark to express his frustration. “When we left we would have been happy at 5-1 but the problem is you get on the plane and feel good about your trip – and you should – but you go home on a losing streak," McLellan said. "It’s important to win the next game and end it. I’m not overly pleased with what we threw out there on the ice tonight. We are a better team than that individually and collectively. It’s a little bit disappointing. “I didn’t like our game from the get-go. We had too many men on the ice. We had very few forechecks. We turned outnumbered rushes of our own into two-on-ones and three-on-ones for them. Our game management was poor. We got spread out on line changes. Things that we do well when we are playing well weren’t happening.” In the what-have-you-done-for-me-lately world of team sports, the short term often takes precedence over the big picture. The overriding theme of San Jose’s road trip won’t be the five wins over New Jersey, Boston, Nashville, Detroit and the Islanders. It will be the 45 minutes Monday night that the Sharks were unable to match the Rangers’ desperation. And that is what concerned McLellan Saturday night on Long Island. San Jose being among the NHL’s elite teams is only news if you've spent the new millennium outside the Milky Way Galaxy. Dating back to the 1999-2000 season, the Sharks have a record of 492-285-51-85. They are 684-647-121-84 joining the league in 1991. Fair or not, the label of underachiever will be attached until San Jose qualifies for the last playoff series in the NHL's calendar year. San Jose has qualified for the playoffs 14 times in its 20 seasons of existence. The lone non-playoff season in the 21st century was 2002-03, in which Darryl Sutter, Cap Raeder and Ron Wilson coached the team. San Jose has advanced to the Western Conference Finals three times in franchise history, losing in six games to Calgary in 2004, getting swept by Chicago two years ago, and falling in five to Vancouver last spring. Yet for all of the Sharks' success, they have never competed on the league’s marquee stage. Being unable to reach the Stanley Cup Final is the addendum whenever the franchise’s success is discussed. Fair or not, the label of underachiever will be attached until San Jose qualifies for the last playoff series in the NHL’s calendar year. It is an actuality that the organization is well-versed in. Following San Jose’s six-game elimination by Anaheim in the first round of the 2008-09 season – a year in which the Sharks won the Presidents’ Trophy – GM Doug Wilson said that the team owed “an apology to our fans and our ownership,” and later added an “autopsy” had to be conducted. In came Dany Heatley prior to the 2009-10 season to add goal scoring to an already potent team. San Jose was successful with Heatley, as the Sharks won the Pacific Division in 2009-10 and 2010-11. But Heatley was not acquired to strengthen an already strong regular-season franchise. Consecutive Western Conference Finals series losses to Chicago and Vancouver led Wilson to jettison Heatley, Devin Setoguchi and draft picks to Minnesota in three separate deals for Burns, Martin Havlat and James Sheppard. Through San Jose’s first 10 regular-season games, the early returns on the deals have been mixed. Playing alongside Marc-Edouard Vlasic, Burns has three goals, five points and is plus-five. Havlat has played in six games, has recorded five assists and is plus-two. Sheppard has not played. The trio’s production dovetails with San Jose’s inconsistency. The Sharks are 6-4 following Monday night’s loss. This leads to questions regarding the franchise and its leadership. Is the problem with San Jose the athletes or those in positions of responsibility? Is it the message or the messengers? Should the Sharks fall short of their quest this year, will owners Kevin Compton and Greg Jamison determine that Wilson, McLellan and Thornton must be the fall guys? On Twitter: @HockeyPrimeTime and @DenisGorman

Last Updated on Tuesday, November 01, 2011 21:13

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