San Jose's season comes to a close as Chicago advances to the Stanley Cup Finals

Blast you lack of west coast teams! Definitely wonder how different this team will be come October.

Too bad it couldn’t continue.

couldnt agree more. great season, lost to the better team. sharks remain a footnote in history, and still have a ways to clime in order to make history. one things for ure- ill be there, and i sure hope most of this team is too- by far one of my overall favorite sharks teams to follow.

Other years, they seemed to beat themselves. This year, the team was relentless. They just got beat by a better team.

the season finale of lost is on tonight.

wait. 2 of my favorite things end today.

SHIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIT

our team might have lost but the spirit of this fan base will live on !

that I’ve had a crushing hangover all day.

This sucks.

That being said, Go Sharks.

The Sharks advanced further than other Reg Season perennials, Chargers and Cavs.

This is a question I hate to ask, but when will we start receiving posts about the draft, free agency period, etc….?

I actually logged on to give a special thanks to the FTF staff for making such a huge sacrifice for the rest of us……….and what do i find? I find Plank thanking us all instead.

You’re a class act my friend. I don’t know you personally but I know you well enough on here to believe that you’re one hell of a guy…….and you and the rest of the contributors…..Ivano, Mr. K, TCY, Swisher, CTGray, mymclife,swisher, and anyone else i might have forgotten………all deserve a huge THANK YOU!!!!!!!!!!!

So Thank you.

Acquisitions, trades, rumors, drops, re-signings, retirings, patched holes, patched bodies,…, it’s going to be very interesting to watch.
New team come September, I can’t wait to see them play!
Go Sharks!

You all have been awesome all year.

and that was one hell of a series. I can probably thank the color teal for my proto-ulcer. You’ve got one hell of a team, and one hell of a fanbase.

Awesome write up, Plank.

You continued to write at a high standard this year and brought me many moments of entertainment and reflection. I thank you for that. Now down to the Sharks.

Now that we realize how good the Hawks are now and going to be for the next couple of years, maybe its time for the Sharks to go with the young players and build for a couple of years from now. Let Nabby and Patty go. See if you can trade Jumbo and Heatley for good young prospects.

This group of players are very good but not good enough to win the cup. Lets build around our young players and Boyle and in a couple of years when the Hawks are fat and dealing with the cap, we will be the younger, stronger, faster skating young team going after them.

<3 i wish hockey didnt have to end for us

I did want to mention that the players gave all of us a lot of thrills and great memories this season. The Sharks are a class act from the front office to the coaches to the players. We are very proud of our Sharks.

Now the Boston Bruins and the Washington Caps can be the chokers for this offseason.

The last day of the season is always so tough. I am originally from St. louis and really hate the Chicago teams more than most Californians, plus two of my best friends are from Chicago and I am really in for a long offseason.

Once again thanks to all the staff at FTF, you all are awesome. I have been around hockey for almost 50 years and you all stand out. My uncle help start the Blues back in 1968, so hockey is in my blood. I have spent countless hours and days in arena’s and lockerrooms soaking up this wonderful game.

I can’t wait until next season..GO SHARKS

Regardless of the way it ended, this was a great season. The Sharks finally showed that they do have heart, we just ran into a better team that was clicking in all aspects of the game. Now its time for the agonizingly long summer/

Sharks fans.. don’t lose hope. The Stanley Cup will come to San Jose. I’m ecstatic to see how our team will look next year and more excited to see our team go deep again in the postseason. I’m proud of this team and I’m proud to be a Sharks fan.

Go Sharks!

Plank, TCY, Ivano, K … thank you all for another great season of posts and such. you guys are the best!!

Yeah I think I’ll just leave it at that for now until I’m ready to deal with how I’m feeling.

Plank, TCY, Ivano, and K thanks for all the hard work you guys put into the site. Everything is amazing.

It’s gonna be a long summer but we have a lot to look forward to.

Thank you Sharks for the best season I have seen since I started watching you. See you in September for training camp! (is it October yet?!)

And FTF, well, you all better keep posting this summer! I have an actual job to waste time at now! ;)

Its been great watching this blog grow and change from last year to this year. This community really has been awesome, the reverse bandwagonners not withstanding. The analysis here has been unmatched by anything I’ve found. I mean, if there was a Pulitzer for Sharks hockey blogging, you’d guys would win it, hands down.

Like I said in the third period thread, I’m proud of this year’s team. They didn’t lose mentally or through lack of heart, they just lost to a better team that everyone predicted would win. You can’t fault them for that. And while I hate that they didn’t win the Stanley Cup, and I hate the cap questions that will have to be answered this off-season, at least we won’t have to go through the complete questioning of values that we had to next season.

Can’t wait for the draft (we finally have a first round pick, even if it’s only the 28th pick), and the best day of the year: my birthday and the first day of NHL free agency. The rookie camp, training camp, preseason (maybe Murray will score another hat trick!), and finally the season opener in Stockholm (!!).

It’s going to be a wild ride, and I can’t wait to freak out about it here.

Thanks to Plank, TCY, K, and everybody else on this page…. Looking forward to October already and more meet up’s in San Jose. This year was great, I loved meeting most of the regs on here the few times I was able to make it up to the Tank with some time to kill before/after the game. Looking forward to Night At the Tank II and meeting even more people…. Great group of authors and readers alike. ***Cheers***

nhl network just played a sharks vs blackhawks “look at the playoff games that will be on later this week” ad. cry.

in other news, windsor is winning 7-1 and this taylor hall kid is a beast.

Thank you everyone for making this season better than the last. I’m glad to have a community to turn to. The Sharks had a great run this year, and I fully expect an amazing next year.

Dan Boyle is a great hockey player. You are lucky to be able to watch him play every night.

Let it known next season, is the official year of Dr Buck Longhorn IV. I’m adopting him, the kid needs a home.

I am crazy happy right now, and it managed to make even me feel a little sad! Props to everyone at FtF for having us around this series. And honestly Plank, I really enjoy your write-ups, they are among the best I’ve read on any blog. Congrats on a great season, and see you all around next year.

Although I am a newer poster to FtF I am a long time Sharks fan and although I am depressed to see it all end I am to a point content. After losing to the Ducks I was very Cynical in my approach to this season and when we hit our skid I really hammered on the panic button because I felt that they fell apart early this year.

Then the playoffs started and I could not help but be like here we go again. But then something great happened the team answered the bell and it was awesome, the future of this team came up big. Next up was the Big Red Machine a team who although I have one of my greatest hockey moments of my life had also been the cause of some major heartbreak but although I was nervous I was optimistic and we won that series in 5! After that a lot of the playoff heartache that I had suffered was rectified it was like a clean slate from then on.

Finally we played a hard series against the Hawks, and I give the Hawks full marks they played great and showed that they could very well be the new standard of the Western Conference. And although my heart is broken yet again and I am disappointed I am not bitter this year and for that I am grateful and thank this squad for bringing back all the joy that it is to be a fan.

What the future holds? Who knows, it will undoubtedly lead to some sad goodbyes to some of our boys in Teal and although I know its going to be necessary due to cap reasons among others its guys like Joe Pavelski who I think may have run out of gas in an Olympic year or perhaps had a hard time adjusting to the better defenders in the league that normally have to focus on Thornton… I don’t really know what caused the cooldown but it gives me hope that no matter what happens this summer the sharks still have a bright future. Players like Logan Couture with more ice time could be a great top 6 guy as well as others. Hopefully the summer will bring us a better blue line which in my opinion was our weakness this year. It will be an interesting summer for sure.

Finally thanks to all of you here at FtF for being an awesome group of fans and having me a Canadian sharks fans from thousands of miles away a place to hang out during games even after I make OT predictions that go terribly wrong as well as the Writers who are great as well.

All the writers for their great writing, the peanut gallery for pointing out things I missed when I was watching the game, and the mods for keeping the douchbaggery in check.

I’m still basking in the glow of some damn fine hockey playing (even if the Sharks didn’t win) and am not ready to start rosterbating. Sigh. Next year, next year.

(Although every time I see the replay of Byfuglien crotching the fans after he scored, I’m overcome by the desire to punch him in the peen. I’ve heard this isn’t a really nice thing to do to guys. I suppose I’ll get over it someday.)

But in this Hawks fan’s opinion, this was the closest series the Hawks played all postseason. Despite the 4-0 final, this so very easily could have been the exact opposite. I don’t know how much you guys need to change in the offseason to get back to this point. My guess is very little.

Good luck in the offseason, and we’ll see you in the fall.

Mark it down. These two teams will meet again in the WCF next year.

I made the mistake of going to Yahoo Sports, reading the Puck Daddy write up. I swear, the people who write comments must all be fairweather fans. But I’m straying from my real point…

As a Sharks fan, it sucks to lose. Hell, it’s going to feel even worse tomorrow, when we realize that it is actually over. And losing 4-0 nonetheless. But I don’t think “sweep” describes the series. No matter what other people may tell you, it wasn’t a sweep in the sense that it’s meant to be used in. In the NBA, the Magic beating the Hawks? THAT is a sweep. But this was a close series, regardless of what the series may say. Unfortunately, we’re going to have to deal with people who refuse to believe that, but they don’t really know now, do they?

Still, even with this loss, I think how much it must stink to be a Hawks fan. Sure, it’d be fun as hell to be in their position, but I can’t imagine being a Hawks fan. Especially because it means that I wouldn’t get to hang out with you (on the internet… with people I’ve never met….) and comment as the game goes, seemingly always upbeat whether we win or lose.

Regardless of what happens in the off season, I’m sure Doug Wilson knows what to do. There’s no need to freak out, and DW won’t. I mean, look at how he handled things after the disappointment last year. With class and poise. I’m sure the same will happen again. However, I’d like to thank Nabby and Patty (whether they go or, hopefully, stay). I remember a LOT of seasons with these guys, and it would be great to see them next year.

Sorry for the long post, but thanks to all the Sharks players and staff for a helluva season. It only could’ve gotten better with a Cup. And thanks to all the people at FTF… it definitely makes me happier to be a Sharks fan.

See you on the comments this off season… Go Sharks!

I think next year, when the Sharks score against the Blackhawks, the HP Pavilion needs to sing Chelsea Dagger. You know, like Philly chanting “Ole!” against Montreal.

I got the idea after watching this. Joe579 has seen it already.

I might have just started posting, but I’ve been lurking around reading everything all year. I think I owe a lot of my sanity to Fear The Fin balancing out the blow-the-team-up, we’re-the-worst, fire-Joe/Patty/Nabby/Coach/Wilson, SHOOOT-yelling fans I have to deal with on Facebook, WTC, and occasionally in person.

So thanks for great recaps, intelligent commentary, awesome pics, and team news. Wish it could have ended a better way, but at least I don’t have to weather the negativity storm without a place to hold out this year.

Here’s hoping for a quick few months into the next season.

And I must say that you are a classy group over here. After having to deal with a group of whining, sniveling babies in Vancouver, it’s a breath of fresh air to be treated to true sportsmanship from the Bay Area. Best of luck to you guys in the offseason and moving forward.

As a Hawks fan, I’m happy for their success, yet sad it comes at the Sharks expense.

The Sharks are a classy organization, Fear the Fin is a classy website.

This series easily could have gone the opposite way and we all know it.

Another note: This is by far the best hockey I’ve seen in years. Pure heart attack material.

Take care folks, and we hope to see you in the WCF next year.

We’re the Fucking Sharks. Thanks jenloveshockey. Anyone could have written that over the course of this season but it just meant more going into today’s game than anything else. It reminded me that whatever the outcome of today’s game that I would be right here on FTF reading what everyone else had to say and care about it all. It is clear that throughout the season Sharks fans remained some of the most levelheaded and fair fans on NHL sites. About their own team and their opposition. Maybe it’s some fans being tempered by what some may call “Monumental Loses” but what I have come to look at as the way my favorite sport is. I am happy to support a club that has these kinds of fans and a huge amount of talent. I look forward to seeing the ‘10/11 Sharks and having great memories of the ’09/10 team. The greatest team so far. We’re the Fucking Sharks…

And I really had tears in my eyes, when the end came.
Ugh.
I’ve no words.

But really, I seriously, seriously hate the Hawks now at this point.
As with the Habs, I will now root for anyone against them at this point.
Well, maybe not rooting for the Flyers exactly…
Ah, I dunno.
Heartbreak galore.

good year guys. Thanks for all the write ups, FTF has become my home page because of the dedication you guys put in. This is going to be a long off season, but i’m looking forward to next year. as always…GO Sharks!

Plenty to be proud of. We had a good year and we lost some close games. I sure as hell imagined it all differently, but that doesn’t mean that my dream, and maybe all of our dreams, can’t come true next year. I still say GO SHARKS and I say cheers to all of us! See everyone next year, raise your glass and have a toast to the Sharks!

to see what Doug Wilson puts together for next year.

Last year we thought we had all the pieces, and we were wrong. The whole team was ripped apart and examined one by one to ensure everyone could validate their presence on the ice or behind the bench.

This year, we may have had all the pieces (if they had been healthy and if a few bad bounces had gone our way) but finances dictate that we cannot keep the team as it is.

Last year was angry, this year is melancholy. I don’t know how Wilson can go through this list of key guys and try to decide who we can afford to keep and who we can’t. Some piece of this team’s heart will be snipped out.

HOWEVER…. it’s been a looooong time since a Sharks team did not improve in the off-season. Unless DW decides to bring back Al Sims as head coach, I’m already getting pumped for next year.

Thanks for a great season Sharks. We didn’t get where we wanted to be but I feel like I can hold my head up high and say I’m a Sharks fan. Yeah, we lost to the Hawks, and even though it was a sweep you never rolled over or got blown apart, you fought until the bitter end and I’ll continue to love you for it.

Looking forward to next season.

Now, to drink the pain away, I think it’ll pass much faster this year.

Woken up and the pain is as searing as it was last night, words can’t describe how gutted I am that this season, and potentially this team as we know it, is over.

But you know what? I’m proud of every one of them and I’m proud to call myself a Sharks fan.

Thanks to all here, staff for the incredible coverage and everyone else for being such great fun to follow this team with. Let’s use the summer to regroup and come back even stronger next time around.

More than ever: Go Sharks!

Both FTF & The Sharks This was my first year as a FTF member and it was extra special. Special because I found a place where others share the same “teal” blood type I bleed. A community of loyal fans full of emotion and diverse backgrounds, standing behind a team faced with its fair share of “adversity” over the years. Special also because for the first time in over 15 yrs I grew a beard just to support our team and the tradition that the playoffs bring to what I truly believe is the most difficult championship in all of pro sports. All in all, I’m proud to be a member, proud of ours boys fight to the bitter end that brought us to our second Conf. Final in franchise history, shedding the damn “chokers” label in the process and getting the Winged Wheel off our backs. Even more proud to be a fan and a San Jose resident, to be acknowledged as a passionate, knowledgeable, and loyal hockey community by numerous sources (kudos JR and Patty), proving to our competitors and their fans we might not be the first place that comes to mind when you think “Hockeytown USA”, but we deserve the Cup just as much, and won’t be quieted until we win it.

You also can’t ignore the fact it will be a short off season with this late exit, and before you know it we’ll be watching our team take to the ice for its 19th season. Just like of all you, I’m nervous and anxious to see who will stay, who will go, and who will be joining. DW is no doubt facing one of his toughest post seasons yet, but I’m fully confident that he’ll do what’s best to insure it remains an elite Western Conference team for years to come. It’s only a matter of time before our dream will be realized. GO SHARKS!!!

This season was fantastic. I’m not stoked we lost, but I’m content that we got where we did. I was worried going into this series that this could happen, even though I believed we could get past Chicago if we were able to get by Detroit… The hawks are good. Hands down… and they are likely to win this cup against whoever they draw from the east..

I’m confident in the future of San Jose. More confident than I have ever been. Our recent draft picks have been INSANE. Couture, Pavelski, Setoguchi, Pickles, everyone’s coming out of nowhere. We have a great future ahead, and we’re GOING TO WIN… hands down, we are GOING to win the cup.

Going into this offseason, the big question is likely going to be Marleau or Nabokov… Frankly, i just hope Blake retires, so we can MAYBE afford both of them (take a paycut to stay in SJ please?)… and hope that Nick Petrecki becomes the next Pronger by next season or something lol.

I had a lot of fun this season. And few of my other favourite teams really bring that to me – FUN. Yeah, they give me agony, and they will stoke me out here and there.. but the sharks make hockey truely so much more fun than anyone else… it’s awesome. I love it…

Cant wait till October…

GO SHARKS GO!!!

we all appreciate the effort from everybody who lent their hands toward posting regularly. i think that i can speak for more than just myself when i say that your dedication to the team inspires us all to be enthusiastic, informed, and in all ways simply better fans of the sharks.

GO SHARKS!

Just wanted to say that you guys had a fantastic season and I joined your blog because the people here are quite intelligent, knowledgeable and funny … I also hoped that you could provide some ways to cope with my team the Washington Capitals losing so early in the playoffs… many of you helped me out in very positive ways … congratulations on your playoff run… too bad it couldn’t continue …. Chicago is scary good…..

Thanks FTF for letting all these people become part of the community (including myself). The summer will such until NHL ’11 comes out but until then, there will be some rosterbation in the works.

Regardless, go Sharks. Thanks for a great playoff run. Hopefully next year it will end a little different, and in a good way.

and am thankful to get past it this year (so far). Your team played well. It was indeed a matter of a few bounces and breaks that has it ending poorly for you and in in Chicago’s favor.

Mr. Plank – your write-ups are excellent, balanced, accurate and insightful.

To the commentors who visited at SCH, you were all a lot of fun (clever and witty and good sports).

You’re all welcome to join us over there to root for the Western conference in the Finals (yeah, I know you planned to do that under somewhat different circumstances, but we’d love to have you with us anyway).

I did not post here on FtF during our series, but I followed FtF during the series. Much of what I will say may appear as pandering to you but it’s not. I merely have the utmost respect for the Sharks organization, Sharks fans, and you at FtF. I don’t want to feel like I am leaving people out so I won’t name anyone specifically but you are all classy fans. I’m glad that you weren’t railing on your team even after they lost. Perhaps we won all 4 games, but your boys challenged us in all 4; it could easily be 2-2, or 3-1 CHI or SJS.

I hope that Wilson doesn’t blow this team apart. You have a dynamic nucleus (19, 8, 12, 16, 22) you can build this team around. I read that Nabokov and Marleau will be free agents. You need to resign those 2 guys. Is there anyone else? Don’t be to hard on Nabokov. He is a fine goaltender who is aggressive and agile. He may be past his prime but he is still capable of taking you where you want to go. Most teams around the NHL would take 20 over their goalie.

Handshakes to you all around. It will be nice if both teams played again in the WCF next year.

P.S. My sister used to live in Sunnyvale. I enjoyed the Bay Area.

Class act… all of you.

Beat the hell outta Philly or Montreal, I’d love to see the cup come down Michigan Avenue

I think Both DW and TM deserve new contracts for the outstanding job they’ve done getting SJ to this point.

Once I realized that the Hawks were going to win this series (probably after game 2, although my heart wouldn’t agree) I starting to look at areas that we will need to improve upon in order to match what Chicago brings to the ice.

I’ve been going back and forth regarding Patrick Marleau, especially after we picked up Dany Heatley and his $27 million over the next 4 seasons, but I cannot see how we let him go without a fight. In many ways he’s the corner stone of this franchise, and a real classy guy. He was also the only one who really showed up against Chicago. Without him, it would not have been close.

Marleau is going to be offered big money and perhaps 5 or 6 years in a deal. I’m guessing NY or a Canadian team will try to steal him away. Also, we have to re-sign Pavs and Seto, there’s about $6 million per season right there.

SJ has roughly $23 million to work with under the cap for next year. What are we going to do about Nabby? Yes, he’s been very good, but is he the difference maker to get us over the hump? Niemi was better, and he’s just a rookie. It will depend if there is a cheap option available in free agency or in our pipeline (Greiss?).

So if you resign, Marleau, Nabby, Pav’s, and Seto, you have little money left to improve your defense, which in my opinion was why we lost this series (that and Niemi). We need to get faster and younger on the back line and need another option on the PP to help out Boyle.

It will be a fun off season, watching Doug Wilson work his magic to try and make SJ better or good enough to compete with Chicago, who undoubtably will be back just as strong next year.

Go Sharks, and thanks for another entertaining season.

The fact is that they just got beat by a better team, top to bottom. There is no real shame in that, especially when one considers that three of those losses were tight affairs that could have gone either way.

Took the words right out of my brain. The Hawks were just better. Great write-up Plankerton. Look forward to many more and keeping all of us preoccupied mentally during the off season.

And glad to be here. This’ll be an interesting time in the Sharks existence coming up, and I think we’ll see some pretty good stuff come next season — whoever it is that’s bringing it.

I will refrain from rosterbation just yet, but suffice it to say, this is going to be an offseason to watch. I look forward to kicking some thoughts around here in the meantime, but I’ll probably be a little more absentee until the start of next season; I am not a social creature by any means, and now, I’ll have a lot less to throw in on any of this discussion.

That said, I’m glad to have found this place. It’s been a wild ride to hang with you lot — contributors/staff and commenters alike — and I have a feeling this loss would hurt a lot more if there hadn’t been such a neat group of people to share the joys and pains of the season with.

I’ll be the first person to jump on anyone who claims the Sharks choked on this series— this was as hard-fought, nail-biting, and close as a Conference Finals could have been. Through it all, you guys have been class acts all around. Here’s to more seasons battling for the Campbell Bowl in the coming years for both our teams.

Only an idiot would still consider the Sharks “chokers”. They won 2 rounds, and gave it all they had in a 3rd.

If you want to see a team that chokes good & proper, I think the Caps fit the bill far more fittingly.

I have, of course, been stewing all day. Reading this and that, thinking about the Sharks, about the wins and losses of the season, of the playoffs; thinking about my time as a Sharks fan, the feelings that came up last year after the first-round explosion, the reality of this here sweep, and everything that brought us to this point, and you know what really gets to me the most?

There’s nothing that gets to me. I’m not crushed by agonizing defeat. I’m not wallowing in sadness. I don’t feel a need to drink until October, or to talk about the blowing up of the team, who or what we need to sign, where we need to look to blame the Sharks. I am despaired by my lack of despair; my only complaint, a lack of complaints.

Even as they dropped four straight to the ‘Hawks, the team in teal looked strong. Looked good. Looked like a team that could easily go all the way if only that one last giddyup was there, that one piece to push one more puck into the net. To seal the deal in game 3’s OT. An extra inch on Nabby’s reach.

This is a team that started their season strong, and came all the way through the Conference Finals — for only their second franchise appearance! — keeping that look. A team that faced adversity, and overcame it. A team that took to heart the questions asked of them at the end of last year’s blame-stricken collapse, and truly gave their all to answer those questions; to answer their fans, their media critics, and themselves.

I, for one, remain proud. Confident. Positive. The journey of the 2009-10 Sharks may be over, but it does not have the sense of grim finality that it did before; this year, it carries a sense of strength — that whatever the offseason may bring, this will be the seed that was planted to begin a new chapter in the Sharks overall story.

Whether next year has our shooters tested by a Nabokov not in teal, or whether our netminder will be forced to stop Marleau’s heroics; whether a legacy is built on the backs of Malhotra and Nichol, or springs forth from names yet unknown; whether Blake hangs up his skates, or if Jumbo Joe has connected his final assist as a Shark — the future continues to be bright.

Whatever the coming months bring, I look forward to being a fan of next year’s Sharks, whoever they may be.

I lived in Minnesota until I was 24. Most of my friends have started to spread out, some stayed in Minneapolis or St. Paul, some moved East to Milwaukee, Green Bay, and Madison, and a few have even remained “close” to home by moving to Chicago.

One boy that I went to school with from 2nd grade – high school graduation just posted this on Facebook: "If I see one more girl wearing a “boys medium” Blackhawks T-shirt I think I may lose it. You can’t spell bandwagon without the letters C-H-I-C-A-G-O."

I know it’s a dead horse, but it still made me feel better on my birthday.

No one is entitled to a Stanley Cup Ring, you have to earn it. That’s why I love the Sharks and that’s why I love FTF.

Mr. Plank…

You Sir are a class act!
I’ve always enjoyed your posts.

Mike in Chicago.

Sharks, I’m sorry you weren’t able to make it out of Round 3. I was pulling for you guys. I will root for the Black Hawks in the Stanley Cup being as I’m not a fan of the Flyers. (Given my track record, the Flyers will probably win the Stanley Cup.) The Hawks look much better on paper than the Flyers, IMHO.