Sharks Will Not Bring Nabokov Back

You’ll be missed.

For being so awesome for so many years.

Thanks for all the positives you’ve brought.

I can’t say I’m shocked he’s gone, but I will say I’m shocked we found out so soon.

He wasn’t the problem, but now his salary can be made to be part of the solution.

Happy journey, Nabby. Dachshund love for life!

Assuming we stay cheap in net (which we should be…no reason to give up on Nabby if we aren’t…except to get the backups more PT), this move saves cap space for Pavelski and Seto’s raises. And potentially to help on the blueline. We’ll see.

It’s the direction they need to go… but still. Sad!

best of luck to you wherever you go. You’ll always be a Shark first and foremost in my eyes. You’ll be missed by so many. Thank you for the past 10 years.

I used to have the handle “nabbyfan” when I first wandered on internet forums, as a tribute to the guy. One of my favorite players and a part of the foundation of the team for the past decade – and just like that, he’s gone.

I understand the organization’s reasons for letting him go and am happy the team has a little more flexibility for their offseason plans now, but a part of me – who watched him go from a prospect mistakenly named John to a rookie who took the starting job from Steve Shields and won a Calder Trophy along the way, to turning into one of the top goaltenders of this decade, who could save his team’s bacon when it was needed – is sad to see him go.

Thank you for the memories, Evgeni, and may you find success where ever you move on to.

Like I said in the initial fanshot, he was the backbone of the Sharks for the past decade, from his Calder trophy in 2001 to the year he should have won the Vezina in 2008 (damn you Martin Brodeur and the East Coast Bias!). He is easily the greatest Sharks goalie in franchise history, and his quirky sense of humor and competitiveness will be missed.

I, for one, will stand and applaud the first time he returns to the Tank, even if I’m only watching the game through a fuzzy online feed in my LA apartment next year. I know he failed to bring us the Cup, but he was a large part of the reason why the Sharks have been considered Cup contenders for the past five years. I hope that the organization eventually raises his number 20 in the rafters of the Tank. He deserves it.

Im sorry to see Nabby gone. Ive enjoyed his play on the ice, and his interviews. Im really wondering whos gunna be in between the pipes for us this upcoming year.

 Thanks for the good times Nabby!

My favorite Nabby moments are always his quotes after a loss. He never BS’d which was much appreciated, even when it was his own fault.

Nabby! Nabby! Nabby! Nabby! Nabby! Nabby!

Thanks for the good times

I’ll never forget the ovation Nabby got at the end. One of the most awe inspiring moments I’ve ever experienced.

Farewell to one of the finest players to ever wear teal. I for one will cheer for him wherever he ends up, and I mean that. Even if he signs for one of the evil teams.

If I can not see my dream of Team Teal lifting Lord Stanley’s Cup, I will happily settle for watching Nabby lift one.

I’ve only known the team with Nabby as the netminder, and it’ll be weird the first few games hearing Randy making a call for a great save not involving Nabokov…Sad day, but a necessary day. Nabby, you will be missed.

Bye Nabby, you gave us many great memories and I wish you the best of luck where ever you end up.

Almost perfect goaltender…great memories..great goaltender. Thanks for everything, and Go Sharks.

It’s going to be really weird without him, he was awesome. Thanks Nabby, you will most definitely be missed.

Very sad news. Along with Marleau, Nabby’s definitely one of the Sharks’ all-time franchise players. Since the end of the season, I’ve been a vocal proponent of him walking, but as others have already said, it’s pretty devastating to imagine the team without him now that it’s a reality.

On a positive note, I’m sure he’ll have no trouble landing that last payday, at least for a season or two.

Godspeed, Nabby.

Nabokov was a fabulous regular-season goalie with an affinity for soul-crushing moments of underwhelming play during the postseason. Through the Sharks’ years of futility in the playoffs, he’s been the constant. It wasn’t worth reinvesting in that for another $5.4 million against the cap or higher.

Congratulations Greg Wyshinski. You’ve just proven you’ve WATCHED the past two seasons of Sharks playoff hockey and have only read about the previous 8. I keep trying to depend you as being better than Ryan Lambert, but who isn’t better than Lambert.

Nabokov isn’t upset the #Sharks won’t bring him back. He said by phone, “Honestly, I’m disappointed I wasn’t able to get the job done.”

I know it’s for the best, for our future, but Nabby I will miss you my little Russian. You were a huge part of our success as a franchise, but now it’s time to reach that ultimate goal. Wish you all the best although it’s going to be hard seeing you in another team’s jersey. You will always be a Shark to me.

He had some amazing moments in teal (looking at you, save on Brad Richards), but I’ll always remember when he gave me his stick after warm-ups before a game, which I still have. It’s definitely going to be weird seeing another starting goalie on opening night this year.

You were a great Shark and will always be appreciated, but this was probably the right move.

I may be crazy, and I’m certainly not as hockey savvy as many here, but I’m starting the Stalock for 2010-2011 starter campaign.

1. SHIT
2. Thanks so much for the memories Nabby. You were GREAT in teal and will remain one of my favorite players. Good luck! NABBY NABBY NABBY!
3. I hope we can have someone as good as Nabokov as our next goalie.

It’s gonna be crazy having a new starting goaltender. It’s kinda sad, but also kinda exciting. Nabby will definitely be missed and i’m going to continue chanting Nabby after he makes a big save no matter what team he’s on and even if he’s playing against the Sharks.

I hope they raise his numbers into the rafters, he definitely deserves it.

Although I feel this is probably the best move the Sharks could make going forward I’ll still miss Nabby and am thankful for all the good memories he provided us. I wish him nothing but the best going forward.

This off season just got a bit more interesting.

You guys see the article Greg Wyshynski wrote about Nabby talking about how the Sharks didn’t notify nabby in person and that they just announced it over the website. Thats such bullshit, Wilson was in negotiations with him all morning and he spoke to him about the decision face to face.

Here’s a quote from another article about it:

Jaymee Sire: How hard was that conversation you had with him?

DW: Well I have great respect for him. It’s the least favorite part of my job. But he’s a man that, as I say, I admire and we had a conversation face-to-face and that conversation will be kept confidential.

Wyshynski is making DW and the Sharks organization look like a bunch of classless assholes with that article when it is completely false.

That Nabby is moving on. In the next week, I anticipate Patrick Marleau doing the same with the knowledge that 7 million per year isn’t even going to be a stretch to put on another jersey. I don’t see Patty leaving 2 mil/year on the table to stay, but he’ll still live here.

Personally, I’m ok with both. Creates a lot of UFA/RFA options that we simply won’t have without that cap relief.

He’s definitely been the best goaltender this organization has ever had. Our regular season success has largely been built from the crease-out, so kudos to Nabby for that.

Whether it’s been luck or something real (my gut says it’s something real), he’s had nearly ten years to prove to the NHL that he’s a money playoff goalie, but hasn’t delivered. Hasek was in a similar position, wound up with the Wings, finally got a Cup. Maybe Nabby’ll find that kind of situation? I dunno.

What the Sharks need is a goalie who plays his best hockey in May and June. Frankly, Nabokov never did that.

Letting him go is the right decision, but that doesn’t mean the Sharks will replace him with somebody better. But no risk, no reward.

It’s hard, as you move into adulthood, to have the same kind of strong connections to players as you did when you were a kid, but I’ve always felt a fairly strong one with Nabby.

Specifically, I was there at the Tank for his first ever NHL win (against Nashville in relief of Steve Shields), which felt like a big deal because I’ve never lived very close to San Jose and have only attended a handful of games in person. So I picked up a rooting interest in him then—he was kind of an underdog story at first—and loved watching him fend off goalie after goalie in the system to surprisingly establish himself as one of the best goaltenders in the league. This even became kind of a running joke between me and my college roommate, not really a Sharks fan, one that helped us stay in touch in the years after school when we moved far apart.

The connection between Nabby and Warren Strelow was a special one, and I honestly believe that had Strelow not passed, Nabby would have a Vezina to his name and the Sharks very well may have won at least one Stanley Cup with him in net.

Nabby will always be one of my favorite Sharks, from his early days playing in Kentucky, where he was known as “John” and met a local girl named Tabitha, to his days feeling the heat in the playoffs—he was truly one of a kind, a sort of throwback, and even though I knew (and deep down hoped) that this day was coming, I’ll miss him dearly.

Whatever team Nabby ends up playing for, I am going to go out of my way to see him live the first time he comes back to the Tank. Who’s with me?

but it’s still so sad. It makes sense, but having to shout some other name than “Nabby” when the puck doesn’t go in our net will be more than a little strange.

Nabby has defined our team for a while now. I know we will all miss him.

Such a sad moment, but I gotta say I am not unhappy with the descision to go in another direction in goal for once.

Will be interesting to see what Nabokov can really do if he ends up on a much worse team like some think he will (atlanta apparently).

If I were you guys I would give Chris Mason a chance.He delivered some good solid seasons for us.Not just saying this because Im a Blues fan and want to see him go to a good team.

It’ll take us all a while to get used to any new starting netminder in teal.
I wonder where Nabby will end up…
Philly? Montreal? Any other guesses? Just talking out of my ass right now, of course.

thanks for years of effort and heart! we will miss you nabby and hope you get a good shot somewhere far far away…like tampa…

:O

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=13FnJwlUCcg

man i’m gonna miss him. Nabokov had his ups and downs, but always played his heart out, farewell Nabby i will continue to cheer you. Nabby Nabby Nabby…

for:
The double pad stack saves
The witty humor
The Nabokov poke check
The many winning seasons
Helping bring the Sharks back to respectability when the franchise was struggling with goaltender talent
Our first elite player. Calder trophy winner. 1st team NHL All-star. Vezina trophy finalist. All-star selection.

Who cares that we lost. That game was effin’ NUTS. I so wish I DVRed that.

There are teams that your fans of, no matter what they do. And there are players your fans of, no matter where they go. Nabby is one of those players. Games like that are one reason why.

It was inevitable, this day had to come eventually but it’s still so damn hard to swallow.

I still haven’t decided yet but he has probably eclipsed Irbe as my all time favorite player.

We’d better see that # 20 in the rafters the day after he retires.

So, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev was in San Jose today. They say he’s here because he’s visiting the high-tech companies and meeting with Governor Schwarzenegger, but we all know the real reason: he’s trying to get Doug Wilson to re-sign Nabokov.

What a legend, retire that jersey now!

Check out this Chronicle Live interview with DW talking about the offseason. He mentions that all the sharks FA’s have come to DW in order to be resigned before July 1st, which is awesome news; they just want to make sure they get all the money/numbers right before signing deals. DW even said that he thinks they can sign Marleau before July 1st.

I also liked what DW said about goaltending. How he thinks it is based a lot on the style your team plays and the style of your goaltender, which is something i totally agree with. Look at how Colorado was kinda shutting us down in the playoffs without having all that great of defensemen (injuries); they did a good job of blocking shots that went high, while Andersons butterfly style pads would block everything low, and they did a great job of keeping the crease clear so that we were limited to shots from the outside or from the point.

Anyways, that was some very good news for the Sharks imo. Everything DW says/does (although he hasn’t done much of either yet i guess) just continues to inspire my confidence in him and the future of the Sharks; even minor things like trading staubitz for a 5th round pick, or him knowing that moving on from Nabby is what’s best for the team. It’s a relief to know we got ourselves a pretty damn good GM.

With Patty and Pavs both locked up and some open cap space left, you think there’s a chance Dougie tries to work out a deal with Nabby?