5 Moves That Ended San Jose Sharks' Cup Drought
SAN JOSE (CBS SF) – The wait has ended for San Jose Sharks fans who have suffered through a litany of heart-wrenching playoff collapses during the team's 25 years of existence.
San Jose defeated the St. Louis Blues 5-2 Wednesday night to advance to the Stanley Cup finals for the first time ever.
Since 2003-04, the Sharks have made the playoffs 11 times and won 12 series. Only the Detroit Red Wings have made the playoffs more often (12 times). Only the Blackhawks (16), Red Wings (13) and Pittsburgh Penguins (13) have won more series.
So what has made the difference this year compared to past seasons when the Sharks were dominating in the early rounds only to collapse with the Cup final within reach?
Here are five key off-season moves that have helped bring an end to the Stanley Cup drought.
No.1. -- Hiring Peter Deboer as the head coach
General manager Doug Wilson knew he had to shake up the team in the off-season after missing the playoffs the first time in 12 seasons. His search for a spark led him to Deboer, who enjoyed great success at the helm of the New Jersey Devils during his first season there, leading them to the Stanley Cup final in 2012.
The Devils never returned to that playoff form and Deboer was fired in Dec. 2014. But his reputation as developing teams with a strong finishing touch remained.
With Wednesday's win, DeBoer is 6-1 in playoff closeout situations.
"I can tell you that with the type of leadership, with the type of people we have here, it wouldn't have surprised me if this group had won two or three over the last 10 years," Deboer has said. "They've had great coaching. Who knows why? It's a hard trophy to win. You've got to have a lot of things go right."
No. 2 – Trading for goalie Martin Jones.
Jones spent two years as a backup to Jonathan Quick with the Los Angeles Kings before he was traded to the Boston Bruins in the off-season. He was immediately sent packing again as the Bruins sent him to the Sharks for a first-round draft pick and prospect Sean Kuraly.
In the playoffs, Jones has been outstanding for the most part. He has a three shutouts in 18 playoff games with a 2.12 goals against average.
"He's been good all playoffs," Logan Couture said of his goalie. "We just expect that from him now."
No. 3 – Naming Joe Pavelski captain
One of DeBoer's first actions as the new head coach was to select Pavelski as the team captain for the 2015-2016 season. The veteran has thrived in the role all season.
In the regular season, Pavelski scored 38 goals, picked up 40 assists and accumulated 78 points. He also has a team high 11 game-winning goals.
In the playoffs, he's been red-hot with 13 goals, nine assists and four game-winning goals.
"You try to learn from experiences," Pavelski said. "You like to not have to. But that's the course we've taken. Now that we're here, again, this was a great step for us. It was another step. ... But we realize there's more out there. That's what we're going to turn our attention to."
No. 4 – Signing unrestricted free agent forward Joel Ward
A tough veteran with proven goal scoring ability, Ward has been a great threat and a solid anchor for San Jose's third line teaming up with Melker Karlsson and Chris Tierney.
In the Western Conference clinching victory, Ward scored a pair of goals running his totals in 18 playoffs games to six goals to go along with five assists. He also has a power play goal.
"Joel is an identity player in that he plays exactly the way I want our team to play," DeBoer said at the time of his signing. "He's big, strong, fast and hard to play against. That's exactly what we are looking for."
No.5 – Not trading away veterans Joe Thornton, Patrick Marleau and Logan Couture.
While DeBoer knew the team needed to make some changes after the disappointing 2014-2015 season, he resisted from just clearing out the lockerroom. He kept a veteran core to build the team around and it has proven to be a wise move.
Thornton, Marleau, Couture, Pavelski and Brent Burns have formed the playoffs best power play unit.
In the Western Conference clincher, Thornton set up Pavelski for the first goal, Marleau had two assists in the third and Couture had a goal and two assists to give him a league-best 24 points this postseason.
TM and © Copyright 2016 CBS Radio Inc. and its relevant subsidiaries. CBS RADIO and EYE Logo TM and Copyright 2016 CBS Broadcasting Inc. Used under license. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten. The Associated Press contributed to this report.
