The Sharks missed the playoffs last season and there was a lot of concern that the Sharks' fear factor has dropped significantly. They still had Joe Thornton, Joe Pavelski, Logan Couture, Patrick Marleau, and Brent Burns but they were no significant actions this past summer that made you think they would even contend to get into the playoffs. The oddsmakers in Vegas even had them as a 33-1 odd. Those are the same odds given to the Edmonton Oilers this season, and that team hasn't made the playoffs since 2006.
And now things have changed, thanks to the two wins they've had this season against the Kings and the Ducks, two California teams and divisional rivals. Two wins may just be that, but now there's talk about the analysis having to be rewritten to include the Sharks back into the division race.
The Sharks GM Doug Wilson has done several moves this past offseason to make the team look more menacing, bringing in Peter DeBoer as head coach and signed both Paul Martin and Joel Ward as free agents. His most significant move, however, was bringing in Martin Jones as the new goaltender to replace Antti Niemi. Plus, Niemi was growing stale in net and the Sharks needed a retool at that position and with the whole team in general. Hey, Martin Jones does have quality to be a Number 1 goaltender.
I think the question I would raise from this entire thing is: Are the Sharks for real yet? Can we take them seriously, after what's happened last night? My answer is: Not yet. Yes, it's only two games and it's against division rivals, but like I said with any other team, too early. Two games is not enough for me to make a real serious accusation that the Sharks are ready to turn the corner. They're always threatening to win the division, no doubt about that. But they did miss the playoffs last season because of problems in goaltending and I think Doug Wilson has addressed that with Martin Jones. I saw them play in the NHL opener against the Kings and they did actually look good at all sides of the ice. Offense, defense, and goaltending looked good. And they really stuck it to the Kings and then the Ducks. Right now, I'm not sure I'm ready to make that move to say they're ready to turn the corner. Right now, they look like a threat and they can contend but it's gonna take more than two games for me to really say they are a serious threat. And even if they are, what will happen in the playoffs? We've seen them look really good in the playoffs and never make it to the Stanley Cup and what will happen there. So right now: Not yet. They look for real and they look good, no doubt about that. But I think there's a waiting game on this one to see if they can really turn the corner and threaten either the Ducks or the Kings for the top spot in the division.
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