Marek vs Wyshynski #0110 (Apr 23, 2012) Question of the Day:
Which of the eliminated teams is in the most trouble?
I'd have to say the Sharks. The Canucks might be a bigger clusterfuck, and consequently, they'll be a lot more entertaining to follow this offseason. Of course, a large part of that comes from the fact that they still have a good team put together for next year, and are facing a lot of pressure to commit the organizational equivalent of building a brand new house and then burning it down because the wood floors got scratched. The Red Wings have been on the downswing over the last couple seasons, so their position isn't a shock. Additionally, most scouts that I've seen still rate the Red Wings' prospect depth as being pretty decent, with guys like Tatar, Jurco, Smith, and Nyquist. Pittsburgh has some interesting decisions to make, but no one can deny that they have a pretty solid team entering next year.
No other team crashed the way the Sharks did. No one else underwhelmed like the Sharks. The Sharks watched their championship window slam shut in their face. They lack flexibility to make significant roster changes. They lack prospect depth to inject fresh blood via promotions to the NHL or trades to acquire roster players. The Sharks have pretty much blown their load, as far and as hard as they could. And it still fell well short of their goal, and they have nothing left with which to reload.
The Burns and Havlat trades were their last two shots of the cannon, and this season has largely amounted to standing on the wall of The Alamo, screaming "You'd better not try it, look at this big cannon we've got here!" and hoping no one notices that they're out of ammunition. Funny thing about the NHL though, is that you can't really hide the fact that you're all out of bullets. Someone will always call your bluff. Now everyone knows that they don't have anything left, and as Marleau and Thornton get older and the team slinks back out of the playoffs, they have nothing with which to pull themselves back up the standings, and will likely have to bottom out for a year or two.
Showing posts with label San Jose Sharks. Show all posts
Showing posts with label San Jose Sharks. Show all posts
04 May 2012
11 April 2012
MvsW #0102 QoD
Marek vs Wyshynski #0102 (Apr 11, 2012) Question of the Day:
Give us one "rock solid" prediction for the playoffs.
I think this is the year that the hockey community is going to mark historically as the year that we saw a definite shift in the balance of power in the Western Conference. Specifically, I think this is the year that we will point to when we say "This is when the Detroit Red Wings and San Jose Sharks stopped being the cream of the crop, and the baton was passed to St. Louis, Nashville, and Vancouver". Maybe you can take Vancouver off of that list, as they've obviously been a top-shelf contender for the last two years or so, but the point is the ascension of Nashville and St. Louis, and more so, the end of the Sharks and the Wings as elite Cup contenders.
We'll point to this playoff in particular, not just because of the seedings of each team or their somewhat-less-than-expected regular season performances, but largely because of the way each will meekly bow out of the playoffs, with the new contenders climbing over the bodies of those who came before to take their place at the top of the conference.
That's not to say that these two teams will sink into complete failure and join such perennial failures as the Blue Jackets and the Oilers in the bottom of the conference. Neither franchise may stay down long (though Detroit will rebound faster than San Jose, with a surprisingly healthy prospect pool), but the both of them will fall into the #10 to #5 seed area, where you see the teams that can regularly make the playoffs, but aren't truly contenders. A good example of a team like this would be the Maple Leafs of the late 90's/early 00's. Those Maple Leafs always made the playoffs, they could frequently upset a pretender, but they couldn't get past the elite contenders in their conference. In the end, Detroit and San Jose will both be forced to yield to stronger powers in their divisions, and it will take time to reload from the losses that they're going to incur over the next year or two.
But in a few years, they'll be back. At least, Detroit will be. So enjoy it while it lasts, Predators and Blues.
Also worth noting: Nashville's stay at the top of the conference could be extraordinarily short. This is an interesting situation, in that in their playoff series provides a remarkable opportunity for Detroit, allowing them a fantastic chance to crush Nashville's contendership for the next several years, and maybe in doing so, restore the Red Wings to elite status. I'll post on this later this week.
Give us one "rock solid" prediction for the playoffs.
I think this is the year that the hockey community is going to mark historically as the year that we saw a definite shift in the balance of power in the Western Conference. Specifically, I think this is the year that we will point to when we say "This is when the Detroit Red Wings and San Jose Sharks stopped being the cream of the crop, and the baton was passed to St. Louis, Nashville, and Vancouver". Maybe you can take Vancouver off of that list, as they've obviously been a top-shelf contender for the last two years or so, but the point is the ascension of Nashville and St. Louis, and more so, the end of the Sharks and the Wings as elite Cup contenders.
We'll point to this playoff in particular, not just because of the seedings of each team or their somewhat-less-than-expected regular season performances, but largely because of the way each will meekly bow out of the playoffs, with the new contenders climbing over the bodies of those who came before to take their place at the top of the conference.
That's not to say that these two teams will sink into complete failure and join such perennial failures as the Blue Jackets and the Oilers in the bottom of the conference. Neither franchise may stay down long (though Detroit will rebound faster than San Jose, with a surprisingly healthy prospect pool), but the both of them will fall into the #10 to #5 seed area, where you see the teams that can regularly make the playoffs, but aren't truly contenders. A good example of a team like this would be the Maple Leafs of the late 90's/early 00's. Those Maple Leafs always made the playoffs, they could frequently upset a pretender, but they couldn't get past the elite contenders in their conference. In the end, Detroit and San Jose will both be forced to yield to stronger powers in their divisions, and it will take time to reload from the losses that they're going to incur over the next year or two.
But in a few years, they'll be back. At least, Detroit will be. So enjoy it while it lasts, Predators and Blues.
Also worth noting: Nashville's stay at the top of the conference could be extraordinarily short. This is an interesting situation, in that in their playoff series provides a remarkable opportunity for Detroit, allowing them a fantastic chance to crush Nashville's contendership for the next several years, and maybe in doing so, restore the Red Wings to elite status. I'll post on this later this week.
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