San Jose Sharks Face a Tough Offseason

There are now many questions to be addressed in San Jose where the Sharks, who won the President's Trophy with 117 points, once again failed to get past the first round.

Having a dangerous team consisting of a world class goaltender in Evgeni Nabokov (41 regular season wins) and explosive scoring in the likes of Joe Thornton (86 points) and Patrick Marleau (71 points), many were expecting San Jose to win the Stanley Cup.

On Monday night, those lofty aspirations came to a crashing halt when the eighth seeded Anaheim Ducks officially eliminated the Sharks in a six-game series.

"It’s just disappointing," said Sharks captain Patrick Marleau, who had three points in the first round. "I can’t say much else besides that. I think having the team that we’ve had, going through a great regular season, we expected more out of ourselves, and we didn’t live up to that."

The Sharks, who have now gone four years without making it out of the first round, will have many players under the microscope for this latest disaster.

The second line unit of Joe Pavelski, Milan Michalek, and Ryan Clowe, who combined to score 70 goals this season, registered only two against the Ducks.

Also under the miscroscope will be forward Travis Moen, who was shut out in the series, posting a disappointing -4 rating.

Getting the blunt of criticism will be the two stars, Joe Thornton and Evegeni Nabokov, who were being counted on to lead the team to a Stanley Cup.

Some believe it’s not fair that Thornton, who has always been known as a postseason underachiever, will be questioned this spring despite scoring five playoff points. Meanwhile, Nabokov posted a sub-par .890 save percentage.

In reflecting on the series, Nabokov pointed to losing the first two games on home ice as the turning point of the series.

"Those first two games at home were the key," Nabokov told reporters after being eliminated.

"You lose two games and go down, and it’s hard after that. … Does it really matter to say it’s my fault or it’s not my fault? We win or lose as a team."

Forward Jeremy Roenick, who produced one point in the series, is leaning heavily toward retirement, and defenseman Rob Blake, who had a great series, hasn’t made up his mind on whether he wants to play next season.