I Promised Some Analysis

Okay, I guess a few thoughts about the end of the Sharks' playoff hopes before they slip from mind...

1. Guts? Sure. Now let's worry about that space between the ears. Many questioned whether the Sharks had the guts and heart to make a deep playoff run. I think we can all agree after last night's courageous performance, and the valiant but ultimately futile attempt to dig out of the 0-3 hole, that guts and heart were present in abundance. The sheer desire to win that was absent in Game Six of the Calgary series (for instance) finally appeared consistently against Dallas.

But this team showed itself, once again, to be vulnerable to the type of psychological collapse that has plagued the Sharks in the past. In this series, it occurred in Game Two, when San Jose, leading by a goal in the opening seconds of the third period, caught a bad break (Joe Pavelski lost an edge and Brad Richards, in the right place at the right time, netted an easy one) and promptly panicked and fell apart. Dallas went on to win that game 5-2 and took a 2-0 series lead back to Texas. That was the turning point of the series, which established the Stars as the team firmly in control and the Sharks as the team desperately fighting their way back with no margin for error.

I am hereby convinced that this team--which ought to return largely intact next year--can play an entire playoff series with guts and heart and courage and effort. I have yet to be convinced they can play an entire playoff series without hitting the panic button.

2. No Shark emerged as a dominant playoff force. Patrick Marleau, Joe Pavelski, Joe Thornton, Ryan Clowe, Evgeni Nabokov...at times all of them played extremely well. But no player in teal ever really threatened to dominate a series and make a decisive difference the way R. J. Umberger has for Philadelphia, Johan Franzen has for Detroit, and Brenden Morrow has for Dallas. If future editions of this team are to be successful, someone is going to have to get that look in their eye that says "I will not be stopped and I will get the job done, even if I have to eat glass to do it." Who will that someone be?

3. My man-crush on Brian Campbell is over. Campbell's arrival keyed the Sharks to an astonishing stretch run, but his performance in the playoffs was mediocre at best. The power play he was supposed to run sputtered, and his puck-moving skills seemed to be of little help against Dallas' relentless forecheck. Before the playoffs, I was one of many screaming at Doug Wilson to sign Campbell at any cost. Now I'm not so sure... If we can keep him, let's keep him, but don't handicap the rest of the organization to do it.