Where Do We Go From Here?

It had been anticipated by many, and has now come to pass. Ron Wilson has been fired.

It's hard to argue with the notion that something had to change after yet another disappointing playoff exit. Part of the reason this malady is so distressing is that a diagnosis is so elusive...the Sharks seem like they ought to be a hockey team capable of bulldozing their way into the Stanley Cup Finals the way Pittsburgh and Detroit apparently are. All the pieces seem like they're there, but somehow things just never quite work when the playoffs come.

The Sharks' regular-season record was fantastic--second only to the Wings--but as I look back at my posts in this space over the course of the year I can see that I was continually beset by anxiety about the direction the team was heading. In this post, for instance, I worried about the team being fragile--a concern that appeared to be all-too-grounded when the Sharks collapsed in Game Two of the Dallas series after a bad break. My mid-season comments reflect concern about where the scoring was going to come from, despite the good record the team had posted to that point. Here I fretted about the Sharks' apparent lack of those intangibles that are so important come playoff time. And on and on. Indeed the team looked headed for a middle-of-the-pack finish before that twenty-game points streak swept them to the top of the Pacific and the two seed in the West.

But a twenty-game point streak is a twenty-game point streak...surely Coach Wilson deserves some credit for that, right? Well, maybe, maybe not. This is an immensely talented bunch of hockey players, and the thing that's so hard to gauge is whether their performance is at the level one ought to expect--or better, or worse. Looking at the above, and reflecting on my own analysis of the team as the season progressed, I have to say that I feel that this team ought to be better. Not just in the playoffs--that goes without saying, by now--but during the regular season as well. Somehow the team's talent just hasn't quite translated to results on the ice, and if the head coach of a professional sports team has a fundamental duty, it is to get the most out of the available talent.

In my mind, now that the Ron Wilson situation has been resolved (for better or worse), there are two major questions facing the organization in the offseason. First, of course, is who replaces Wilson? Second, will the firing of the head coach be the beginning or the end? Can we expect a major overhaul in player personnel, or is GM Doug Wilson hoping that this one surgical strike will win the war?

In any event, don't weep for Coach Wilson. With several coaching vacancies opening up around the league, he'll certainly find a home, and in fact will probably have multiple offers to choose from. We'll see him and his awesome suits behind an NHL bench next season.

Cheechoo Hat Trick. 'Nuff Said.

I spent this evening hanging with my fantasy football buddies (yes, for those who may be wondering, I am in a fantasy hockey league...but I do play fantasy football as well, because, you know, it's the law) and getting my posterior handed to me at poker, so I missed tonight's 4-3 victory over Nashville. When I checked the score on my cell phone after going all in and getting stomped, I didn't have to look far for the exciting news of the night, which of course is Jonathan Cheechoo's hat trick. He's been playing noticeably better hockey for several games now (as I've noted in this blog), and the feeling that he's finally back on track is growing continually stronger.

If the Sharks continue to get the strong defense and goaltending that they have had all year, and continue to get brilliant work from Big Joe (three helpers tonight) as they have all year, and add to that regular goal production from Cheechoo, they become a team that even the best teams in the West will have trouble with. Catching the Red Wings at this point is too much to ask, but winning the Pacific and getting the #2 seed in the playoffs seem like very legitimate and achievable goals.


Congrats to Coach Wilson...

...on becoming just the eleventh coach in NHL history to reach the 500-win mark. When you read that he's now tied with the legendary Toe Blake, that really makes you sit up and take notice. I'll admit I've done a bit of grumbling about Coach Wilson now and again over the years of his tenure in San Jose, but tying someone like Toe Blake in career coaching wins is one hell of an accomplishment. Well done, Coach.