San Jose Sharks Shake 'Choker' Label, Make Finals After Long Wait
San Jose Sharks fans have seen great teams before - in fact, they've been accustomed to them for more than a decade.
There was the first Stanley Cup threat of 2000 when the No. 8 seeded Sharks knocked off the highly favored No. 1 seed St. Louis Blues in the first round. After the upset, they flopped to the Dallas Stars in five games.
Next came Joe Thornton and Jonathan Cheechoo bursting onto the scene in 2005-06. Cheechoo led the league in goals with 56, while Thornton took home the MVP Art Ross trophy with 125 points. In the playoffs, they steam rolled the Nashville Predators in five games, only to fall flat in the next round to the Edmonton Oilers in six games.
Then Dany Heatley was traded to the Sharks in 2009, throwing their name in Cup contention yet again. With a stacked top line, even the President Trophy winners couldn't get past the first round.
Year after year of regular season success, blockbuster trades, and veteran leadership additions, such as Jeremy Roenick, Rob Blake, Dan Boyle, Craig Rivet and Bill Guerin, and the Sharks still couldn't sniff the Stanley Cup finals.
Now, after 25 years, the San Jose Sharks are playing one last team in the Stanley Cup Finals.
This franchise may be young compared to the "Original Six" or most of the teams in the East, but the amount of consistent success they have seen has been remarkable.
Of the 25 Sharks teams, 18 have made it into the postseason with six of those teams placing first in the division. Thirteen teams have won 40 or more games in a season - four of those won more than 50 games.
This franchise has seen Hall of Famers come and go, upsets go for and against them, an 11-win season as well as a 53-win, 117-point season years later. They have seen everything but the Stanley Cup in San Jose and this may be the year that drought ends.
Since the start of the postseason, Sharks fans have been saying this team is not like the others they have seen in the past.
Besides the fact that this team has already made it further than any other sharks team in history, the additions of Peter DeBoer, Joel Ward, Paul Martin, Martin Jones, Joonas Donskoi and promoting Joe Pavelski to team captain have reshaped this team into something bigger.
This postseason, the Sharks have averaged 3.5 goals for per game - best in the league - and are allowing just 2.28 goals against.
They aren't just winning games by the skin of their teeth, they have been scoring consistently throughout the playoffs. In 18 playoffs games this year, the Sharks have scored 2 or fewer goals in just 4 of them. To compare, they have allowed 2 or fewer goals in 11 of those games.
Meanwhile Pavelski keeps padding his reputation as a playoff hero as he leads the league in playoff goals (13) and is second in points with 22, just behind Logan Couture's league-leading 24. Joe Thornton is still playing like the elite player he has always been and even Patrick Marleau has picked up his game with 12 points this postseason.
Another aspect the Sharks have been missing is the "hot goalie" that many teams run into. Nabokov had spurts, but could never put together a shut down postseason. Antti Niemi had one, but unfortunately it was when he was still with the Chicago Blackhawks when they won the cup in 2010.
This year, Jones has been terrific in his first year as the primary starting netminder. His three shutouts lead the league and he currently owns a .919 save percentage with only 2.12 goals allowed per game - third best in the league.
If the Sharks can continue to play their brand of hockey, this may finally be the year they shake the "choker" label. With just four wins away from a Cup victory, the Sharks are young, deep and determined enough to get there.