commentary...

simply put.i am disappointed in the way that the San Jose Sharks have played the entire year... their overall defense around the net reminds me of last year's Red Wings,in which Detroit gave up too many soft goals,and it cost them in the Stanley Cup playoffs,against the Sharks... Antti Niemi may be a very good goaltender,but overall he has not shown that much,and the loss of Rob Blake,from a couple years ago,does not help,because they have not made up for that defensive lack(grit),and Blake was known to be a clean,but devastating body checker... as i remember saying on this blog,San Jose traded goals,for goals,and forgot to bring in some gritty players,last off-season... a gritty player is not one who simply fights,for fighting's sake;it is a player who makes the other team hate to face that team,or player,with enough bumps,and a grinder,who digs in around the goal,and refuses to give in,when down a goal,or two... finding that delicate balance,between being a finesse team,and a team who shows some grit,along with scoring touch,and having a rock in goal is not easy,but San Jose has had years of playoff failure,and has not sipped from Stanley,or been deep in playoffs,too often,over the past decade... they do have the right head coach,or do they? i totally blame the Sharks' front office,because they do not have a clue,on how to put a playoff winning team together,and they have tried to copy Detroit's front office:they brought a coach in from Detroit,but they have the same players that have shown little,in terms of grit,and they are basically the same team,in players,for the last five years,and that is the problem,because the players have had a habit of losing in the playoffs,so they beat Detroit the last two years(that is a plus),but the Vancouver Canucks,the Detroit Red Wings,and the Chicago Blackhawks have gotten better,this year,and San Jose has shown very little,in terms of improvement,this year...