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Hockey is Back!

Pardon my leave of absence the past few months. It’s been hard to get excited for hockey after the epic meltdown the Sharks had against a team and city I despise so much. I’ve been deliberately away from Sharks news and hockey for a much needed emotional break. And with no real moves by the Sharks over the summer, it made it even easier to not get excited. But now, training camps are starting up around the league (rookies have already started) and I recently received my book of tickets for this upcoming season – my tenth. The Sharks’ first preseason game is set for next Tuesday and I have a few fantasy hockey drafts coming up. With football already into week 3 and baseball wrapping up, hockey is finally coming back to the forefront.

As for the lack of action on the Sharks part, I am neither shocked nor disappointed in Doug Wilson for not making any splashes this summer. He typically makes most of his moves during the season as opposed to the offseason, tinkering with the personnel. Wilson also tends to follow trends of either the Stanley Cup winning teams or the teams that knock the Sharks out of playoffs (sometimes both). Some examples:

  • When the Detroit Red Wings knocked out the Sharks in 2007 Stanley Cup playoffs, then won the Stanley Cup in 2008, Wilson went after and hired assistant coach, Todd McLellan.
  • When the Chicago Blackhawks knocked the Sharks out in the conference finals to go on and win the cup in 2010, Wilson smelled blood with the Hawks not able to retain their team due to the salary cap. He offered restricted free agent Hjalmarsson a contract that forced the Hawks to match, thus making them not able to sign Antii Niemi – the same Blackhawk goalie that owned the Sharks in that series.
  • Doug Wilson also wanted a Dustin Byfuglien-type player after that same Chicago series. A full season later, he got Brent Burns into San Jose via a trade with Minnesota. Burns originally came in as a defensemen but moved onto the right wing soon after, just like a big Buff.
  • After the Kings historic comeback last spring, Sharks fans got to see how a great defenseman Drew Doughty was when he took over the series. That subsequently made Doug Wilson announce that Brent Burns will now be moving back to the blueline, which was very unpopular amongst fans and analysts.

While I am glad Wilson didn’t go the route of the Los Angeles Kings in terms of personal and playing style, I just hope the Sharks can finally get to the Holy Grail this season doing what they are doing. There are already enough “boring” hockey teams in the West: LA Kings, Anaheim Ducks, St Louis Blues, and Arizona Coyotes. The Sharks are banking on filling the gaps in their lineup from within the organization and do not plan on changing their style of play (thankfully). I wouldn’t be surprised if there was another epic failure when the second season starts in April. But I also highly doubt that this will be the same roster we see after the trade deadline.

Overall, I believe the NHL will continue to see scoring drop this season as teams are figuring out how to better stifle offenses and the average goalies are also getting better. The Sharks should still have some great high-scoring games, but they will also have more games that go to overtime and (sadly) shootouts. This same team should deliver the same regular season results – flashes of brilliance followed by flashes of inconsistency. I expect them to make the playoffs again and possibly taking over the longest active postseason streak away from the Red Wings, but we shall see who shows up in April.

The playoffs are a long ways away, however, so Sharks fans should enjoy the grueling 82-game road to get there. The NHL was even nice enough to grant Sharks fans a chance to embarrass the LA Kings on national TV when they host them at Levi’s Stadium in February. I will be there soaking up the view with a tissue for my nosebleed, how about you?

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