Pacific Division breakdown-San Jose Sharks...

the Sharks are going through their third incarnation of a power team by trading away players,who were the core of a team that got to the Western Conference Finals,the last two years,in a row... getting rid of Dany Heatley,and Devin Setoguchi,to Minnesota Wild,may be easy to replace for offense,and grit,with Brent Burns,and Martin Havlat,but losing Kent Huskins(to St. Louis),and Ian White(to Detroit)may hurt more,because they are young studs,and their careers are just starting... looking at both their statistics,the Sharks just brought both of them in,as,"rent a player" candidates(Huskins played 50 games,and 5 in playoffs,and White played 23 games,in season,and 17 in playoffs;a classic case of "rent a player")... they want to improve their team,but it seems like they can not seem to find the right team chemistry(problems with front office),but they are a contender for Stanley Cup,because of last two years,but they may have changed their roster,but losing some grit on the back end of roster,does not impress me,at all... it is very difficult to go to the Western Conference Finals three years in a row,let alone,to three Stanley Cup Finals,in a row... ask Detroit,who went to the Stanley Cup Finals,in 2008,and 2009? the Sharks have a very good team,but very little has changed for them for a couple of years... they may have the team to win the Pacific Division,but there are other teams,who have more overall talent to win the Western Conference(Vancouver Canucks,for one)...
the Sharks have a goaltender,in Antti Niemi,who won Stanley Cup,in 2010,with Chicago,and a very good one,at that,so that is not the problem... they have target on their backs,as a Western Conference finalist in the last two years,but Detroit,Vancouver,and Chicago have hunger to be there again,so it is will be very difficult to get there(Western Conference Finals)three years,in a row,let alone,win the Western Conference Finals,for the first time... have they done enough to really improve to that ultimate level? no,because they simply have replaced players,with other players,not built on the core of the team,which is the key to building a consistent winner in any sport,and even though,the Sharks have been to the Western Conference Finals the last two years,i,honestly,do not see the Sharks getting there,for the third time,in a row,but will be in the hunt for the Western Conference Finals,again... the Sharks should fight for Pacific Division honors,with Anaheim,grab one of three top spots,in Western Conference,but getting past everyone in the playoffs will not be that easy anymore,because the Western Conference is the tougher of the two conferences(eight to one,being very tough teams),because seven of the teams were eight points apart(in final standings),meaning that it was a dogfight to get to the playoffs,in the Western Conference,and in the Pacific Division,four teams,made the playoffs,and if Dallas had beaten Minnesota(lost,5-3,in last game of season)every team,in division,would have made playoffs,which makes the Sharks' path tougher to get to the promised land...