Sharks Have To Decide Between Marleau And Nabokov

When the goal is hoisting the NHL Stanley Cup, anything short of that is perceived as failure, so here are the San Jose Sharks once again going thru the annual post-mortem of a season that ended too soon. Only two members of the Sharks have played in both of the team's NHL Western Conference finals appearances.

Will both be back for another run at the Cup? Patrick Marleau, the franchise's all-time leading scorer, and goaltender Evgeni Nabokov are among San Jose's five most notable unrestricted free agents, and it might be tough for the team to keep both.

Three days after being eliminated from the post season, the Sharks packed up their gear, signed some final autographs, and said goodbye. But it still stings that they're not in the Stanley Cup finals.

Each is an elite player and will be pursued by other clubs, and though there are breakdowns that show how teams can get all their current players to fit under the salary cap, several Sharks executives Wednesday emphasized that the figure that San Jose really considers is its own budget.

Maxing out the cap (which is expected to be about $58 million) isn't something the Sharks are looking to do, and forget long-term back-loaded deals that might hog-tie future payrolls. That means the team is unlikely to retain all its unrestricted free agents.

"Systemically, that's not a reality," Sharks general manager Doug Wilson said at the team's practice facility. "Every team has to go through tough decisions, that's part of the business. Right now, sitting here, it would be premature to assume anything."

"When you lose, you think the world is going to end and then you kind of have a couple of days to think about it, reflect on the year and I think we had a pretty darn good year. It was a big step we took this year, and we just have to learn from it and build on for next year," says Sharks center Joe Thornton.

The team will now begin putting together next year's roster with three key free agents: Sharks center Patrick Marleau, Sharks goalie Evgeni Nabakov, and Rob Blake.

"People should not get into the point of premature assessments or jump to any conclusions. We will make those decisions going forward. These are people who have done tremendous jobs for this organization," says Sharks general manager Doug Wilson.

Patrick Marleau and Evgeni Nabakov have the longest tenure in this locker room and both would like to come back and finish what they've started.

"Sometimes when you're part of something for so long, and you get the job done so you want to be here to get the job done," says Evgeni Nabokov.

"To help put that work in and get that feeling of winning a couple of series, it's an experience you've got to build up," says Patrick Marleau.

"This season is a success as long as we do something with the growth next year. If we take a step backwards, we can't look at this as being a successful one," says Sharks head coach Todd McLellan.

Two restricted free agents, forwards Joe Pavelski and Devin Setoguchi, are looking at hefty raises, making it even less likely that both Patrick Marleau and Evgeni Nabakov - who each made more than $6 million last season - can return.

There are good arguments for keeping each man: Patrick Marleau is coming off a 44-goal season and he was San Jose's best player in the conference finals. Evgeni Nabakov is among the game's top goaltenders, and the Sharks have few other options in net.

Should the team part ways with Nabokov, Wilson would have to look to the free-agent or trade markets; there are some notable restricted free-agents there, including Montreal's Jaroslav Halak and ... Chicago's Antti Niemi.

Patrick Marleau , Nabokov and useful one-year contract additions Scott Nichol and Manny Malhotra all expressed a desire to come back.

"We've put down roots here and love the area," said Marleau, whose wife is from the South Bay. "It's become home."

Evgeni Nabakov raved about the organization and said, "We took a huge step this year. I hope to be a part of it the next couple of years. ... Let's face it: The mission is not accomplished yet. I want to be a part of it but I don't know if it's up to me. We'll see."

Asked if that means it's up to the Sharks, Nabokov said, "I think so. That's how things are. It's not in my court, really. It's a weird situation. I don't know the right answer.

"I don't like to not finish something. I'd like to finish something and say, 'Now I can sleep well.' "

Along with some personnel changes, there will be some tweaks coming in terms of the team's play. Head coach Todd McLellan said that after reassessing the sweep by Chicago, he and his staff will look at potential issues such as the Sharks' drop-off in scoring from the blue line during the NHL season, as well as the lack of secondary scoring in the conference finals.

"Just when you think you have it solved because you're getting it, it goes away," he said.

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Vancouver Canucks Wins In The Nick Of Time

NHL fans roared when the Vancouver Canucks couldn't muster much of an attack for 40 minutes, they once again found a way to hang in like a boxer playing rope-a-dope before delivering a knockout punch against the Los Angeles Kings and clinch their Western Conference quarter-final. When Canucks winger Mikael Samuelsson broke his stick on a snapper from the slot, the puck bounced to Daniel Sedin who snapped a wrister to the short side at 17:57 of the third to snap a 2-2 draw and Alex Burrows then added an empty-netter for an amazing 4-2 victory to claim the series in 6 games.

Game and series over. The Canucks would add an empty-netter, but Sedin's goal was the difference in Vancouver's 4-2 victory in Game 6 against the Kings on Sunday night at Staples Center. In the end it was what good teams do. They don't panic and they seize the moment. Nobody did that better than Roberto Luongo. Playing big in one of the biggest games of his career, the Canucks goaltender lived up to all the hope and hype he generated since landing on Vancouver soil. There was stopping a Jarret Stoll forehand and thwarting an Alexander Frolov backhander off a rebound with the score tied 2-2. There were others, early and often, like a sprawling glove save off Ryan Smyth in the second period.

Trailing 2-1 after two periods, the Canucks clawed back into the game when a pinching Kevin Bieksa took a Daniel Sedin feed from behind the net and snapped a shot between Jonathan Quick's pads at 1:57. It was evident early that this wouldn't be another seven-goal spree or six-goal outburst by the Canucks at they were outshot 16-5 in the opening period. Not only was Luongo peppered early as the Kings held a 6-1 shot advantage before the game was four minutes old, the Canucks responded with their initial power-play opportunity by mustering zero shots and needed seven minutes to generate their second shot.

 

"We know we can be bad for 40 minutes ... and things are going to work out," Daniel Sedin said. This is why the Canucks were able to dent what had been a Kings staple during the regular season. They had not given up a lead after two periods, but they did so twice in the playoffs.

"There's an easy answer: Two of the best players in the league did it,"The Sedin line was tremendous. They won the series. They won the game and each of those games you're talking about made the difference. That's what the best players are supposed to do." Kings Coach Terry Murray said.

That includes Samuelsson. If he keeps this up, maybe he should become an honorary Sedin after joining their line in the third period of Game 4. Just call them the Sedin triplets.

With the Kings' Brown off the ice serving his second penalty of the game, the goal came quickly off the ensuing face-off in the L.A zone after Kings' defenceman Sean O'Donnell couldn't clear the puck. Edler kept it in at the blue line and blasted a shot that Bernier deflected past a screened Quick. The Kings regained the lead after Daniel Sedin was sent off on a tripping call with just over six minutes to go in the second. The home squad used the man advantage to jumpstart their slumbering power play, off another goal thanks in part to a Canucks' skater.

After Smyth whiffed on a one-timer attempt in the slot, Vancouver couldn't clear the puck and a Doughty shot deflected off of Alex Burrows and past Luongo for a 2-1 Kings' lead. The third period quickly saw the game even itself up once more, as well as another first-time playoff goal. Just 1:57 into the final frame, Bieksa pinched into the Kings' zone and one-timed a Daniel Sedin pass between the legs of Quick for the 2-2 goal. 

A penalty to the goal-scorer set up another series of big stops by Luongo, including arguably the Kings' last best chance for Frolov, who was left all alone in front but was denied by a right leg kick save.

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