NHL 2011 Playoffs: Can the San Jose Sharks Win the Stanley Cup?

Is this finally the year the San Jose Sharks win the Stanley Cup? 

The Sharks have made the playoffs in each of the last six full seasons, but they have never played in a Stanley Cup final. Earlier this season it didn’t appear that San Jose was a Stanley Cup contender, but in their last 35 games they have gone 26-5-4.

The Sharks will begin the playoffs as either the second or third seed in the Western Conference. San Jose is now getting some serious respect in Stanley Cup odds as they are the co-second choice with Washington at 5-1 behind only Vancouver who is 2.5-1.

Sharks Chances

Last season the Sharks made it to the Western Conference Finals, but were swept by the eventual Stanley Cup champions the Chicago Blackhawks. This season, the only team that has a better record than San Jose in the West is Vancouver.  

San Jose will be favored against every other team in the Western Conference, but can they beat the Canucks?  Let’s look at the numbers. 

The teams have split their last ten games overall. This season, the teams met four times and the Canucks won three of the games. You can throw out the game in November, though, as the Sharks were not playing well. The other three games were one-goal games and the road team won each time.

So yes, the Sharks do have a chance against a Vancouver team that relies on a lot of Europeans and has had even less success than the Sharks in the playoffs.

Positive Changes

General manager Doug Wilson realized that the Sharks needed to make some changes if they were to win a Stanley Cup. The biggest one was getting a goalie in Antti Niemi who can make the big stops. Last year it was Niemi who led the Blackhawks to the Stanley Cup and he may be able to do the same thing for San Jose. 

Heading into the last two games of the season, Niemi had 34 wins and six shutouts. The other big difference for San Jose is that they have more balance. Calder Trophy candidate Logan Couture is having a great season with 31 goals and 54 points, while Patrick Marleau leads the team with 37 goals and 71 points. Joe Thornton has 20 goals and 68 points and looks more relaxed since he doesn’t have to carry the entire scoring load.