Expectations run high, but returning to finals difficult
SAN JOSE — The Sharks made their own expectations for the 2016-17 season clear on July 1 when they signed speedy forward Mikkel Boedker and versatile defenseman David Schlemko each to four-year contracts.
After coming within two wins of capturing the franchise’s first-ever Stanley Cup, and getting a taste of what it takes to reach that stage, this was no time to retreat.
But while expectations among the Sharks, who begin training camp Friday, have perhaps never been higher, history suggests that getting back to the Stanley Cup Final and tak- ing that last step won’t be easy.
Only five NHL teams in the past 20 years have reached the final in back-to-back seasons — Pittsburgh and Detroit in 2008 and 2009, New Jersey in 2000 and 2001, Dallas in 1999 and 2000, and Detroit in 1997 and 1998. Parity has increased,
bad luck has intervened, free agents have left and offseasons needed to recuperate have gotten shorter.
With an experienced core, increased depth and the infusion of at least one promising young prospect, the Sharks look to be in good shape to make the playoffs again and challenge for the Pacific Division title. On the other hand, four key members of that experienced core — Joe Thornton, Patrick Marleau, Joel Ward and Paul Martin — are age 35 or older.
“An optimist would say that this is the beginning of something good for the Sharks. A pessimist would say, did they play above their ceiling last year?” NBCSN hockey analyst Brian Boucher said.
“I think I sit somewhere in the middle of the optimist and the pessimist. I’m not really sure what to make of the Sharks coming up.”
There won’t be a feeling-out process like there was in last season’s camp when the Sharks were getting used to first-year coach Pete DeBoer and his staff. They won’t be starting from scratch this season and perhaps the only way they can exceed expectations — one of DeBoer’s mantras inside the Sharks’ dressing room — is to win the whole thing.
“My expectations are probably what theirs are, too,” said John MacLean, a NHL Network analyst and former New Jersey coach who won a Cup with the Devils as a player in 1995.
“I think they have the wherewithal to get back to where they were. How well they played and probably more so, what they learned and the experience that they gained from it will be a big help for them to get back to where they were.”
Any chance the Sharks have of enjoying another memorable season will have to start at the top.
Thornton is coming off a renaissance year in which he had 82 points in 82 games. He, Joe Pavelski, Brent Burns, Tomas Hertl, Marleau and Ward combined for 151 of the team’s 241 regular season goals. Logan Couture came on in the second half of the season to finish with 36 points in 52 games and was the Sharks’ leading playoff scorer with 30 points in 24 games.
With the addition of Boedker and touted prospect Timo Meier knocking on the door, it appears the Sharks enjoy more forward depth now than they had at the start of last year. But that nucleus, with Thornton, Marleau and Ward all north of 35, will still likely have to drive the bus.
“Age is a factor, it always is,” MacLean said. “But those guys feed off of what’s around them as well.”
Recapturing the emotion the Sharks felt for the second half of the season and into the playoffs could also present a challenge. The 2015 Stanley Cup champion Chicago Blackhawks got off to a decent 11-8-2 start through the first quarter of the 2015-16 season, then rounded into form and finished with a 47-26-9 mark. The Blackhawks lost in the first round of the playoffs to the St. Louis Blues in seven games in a memorable firstround series.
“To me, I think the worst thing that can happen to them is to struggle at the beginning of the year,” Boucher said. “I think it’s important for them to get off to a good start so they can get that good feeling back in the locker room.”
The Pacific Division should be more tightly grouped this season, although it appears the California teams will again be the ones to beat. Anaheim has a new coach with Randy Carlyle and Los Angeles still has an impressive nucleus with Anze Kopitar, Drew Doughty and Jonathan Quick. Edmonton, Calgary and Arizona should make strides.
The Sharks have to feel like they are ready for all of them.
“I’m in between with this club,” Boucher said. “I want to believe in them, I want to think that they just didn’t play over their heads last year.
“To be honest, I didn’t pick them to beat L.A. (in the first round of the playoffs). They were way faster than L.A., they abused them in every area of the ice that you can think of. I’d like to think that’s the San Jose Sharks team that we’re going to see this year.”