commentary...

NHL.com has their "30 in 30" analysis of every NHL team focused on the San Jose Sharks,today... an early first round playoff loss,to St. Louis Blues,after two consecutive Western Conference Finals appearances does not look good to the fans... the addition of Brad Stuart,and assistant coach(and nine time Stanley Cup Champion,six as a player)Larry Robinson should help their 29th ranked penalty kill(it was 79.5%,last year),but nothing else has changed in San Jose,and with their major stars,all over the age of 30 years of age,and no major help coming from their American Hockey League affiliate(Worcester MA. Sharks),in terms of younger back-end talent,the Sharks' window to win the Stanley Cup appears to be closing... since Logan Couture was drafted,they have had only two first round NHL draft picks(one of those,in 2012)... i told you last season that trading goals,for goals was not going to work,because the trades took out the younger talented Sharks out of their major team rotation,and left the Sharks with very little back-end talent on their roster.. the top two lines,on their roster are very good,but Houston,they have a major problem,the team balance is way off,because they need somebody young to give them major contributions in terms of goalscoring(12 to 15 goals,next season),and team defense(remember 79.5% penalty kill,last season)... that will improve because of Stuart,and Robinson,but the talent on the ice has not changed that much,which is the team killer,because,in San Jose,no Stanley Cup means frustration,the clock keeps on ticking,and the window is closing... they should have cleaned house and started over,not in terms of talent,but the problem is the inept front office,but now they are stuck in a position that no NHL team would like to be in,because the major contenders,and even the teams(not in playoffs,last season) have improved in both conferences,and the Sharks have stayed basically the same,which is the major problem,in San Jose...