As I posted on Twitter, this is about the recent Sharks suckage and GM Wilson's job. I believe that we need to rid the team of Wilson, as it seems that he is trying to get veterans and trading away our prospects and picks. We cannot stop building for the future. I think it is time for a change. That being said, who will fire Wilson? He is a member of the owner's board, and doesn't really have a boss (As stated here: http://prohockeytalk.nbcsports.com/2012/04/22/doug-wilson-might-not-be-fired-because-nobodys-in-charge-of-firing-gms-in-san-jose/).

Poll

Should Wilson be fired? Or is the team better with him?

17%

Yes. Wilson has had his chance. Enough is enough.

25 votes

82%

No. I think the team will be much worse off without Wilson.

118 votes

143 votes | Poll has closed

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Now the sharks season has ended nostalgia has firmly set in. There is what seems like an eternity before we see sharks hockey on our screen so its time to get gamecenter up and relive some games from a fantastic 2011-2012 season.

Do any of you rather knowledgeable and passionate folk have a standout sharks game or moment from the season?

Must say one of the most amusing moments was big Joe picking a sedin's nose :)

So the end of the season brings with it the list of previously undisclosed injuries. This thread is meant to share those reports as they come out and discuss how tough these guys are. It's widely believed that several Sharks were playing through some significant injuries, including Ryane Clowe, Douglas Murray, and Logan Couture.

First injury of note to be revealed is that Logan Couture will have surgery to repair a separated shoulder, likely suffered in the Minnesota game.

UPDATES*

Joe Pavelski - injured foot (blocked shot), thumb ligament, knee (MCL), no surgery expected

Brent Burns - Abdominal strain for last 20 or so games

Michael Handzus and Douglas Murray - Groin strains in playoffs

Ryane Clowe - Groin strain last 2 weeks of the season, concussion earlier in season

T.J. Galiardi - Lumbar disc (ouch!)

Colin White - Shoulder

Tommy Wingels - Shoulder

With a disappointing early exit, us Shark won't be able to cheer for the boys in teal; however, we can still enjoy an awesome postseason. Who are you rooting for and who do you think will win the cup?

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Danny Boyle's Foot

What happened? He started the year with a broken foot, and played like a guy playing 25 minutes a game with a broken foot.

Why was this important? At his age, Boyle needs to have his ice-time managed, especially during the regular season. By insisting on playing through his injury, he actually hurt his team. In the big picture, letting guys like Boyle dictate their readiness explains some of the lack of cohesiveness in the Sharks team play, I think. As important as they are to the overall success of this team, the coaching staff can't let the veteran players have that much say in running the team.

Lose a Poorly Played Game, Cancel Practice

What happened? Todd McLellan would routinely cancel practices or make them optional following losses.

Why was this important? Here's another aspect of how the Sharks just looked out of sync for most of the year. West Coast teams don't have as much practice time due to the more grueling travel, and the Sharks had a crazy schedule with a very light first half, and a very heavy final quarter. But all year the Sharks struggled to play as a 5 man unit (or 4 man unit in the case of the PK). At least some of that could have been rectified with more practice, particularly after losses where the Sharks looked reactive and overly reliant on one or two players to win the game for them. At the very least, making practices required after poor efforts is as clear of a message as you can get that the previous game's results are unacceptable.

Getting Killed on the Kill

What happened? Our PK was shit, all year, and everyone knew it.

Why was this important? Well, it was basically our undoing. It turned a decent even strength team into a bottom seed. It highlighted our terrible team defense. It lost us a ton of games. The coaching staff had no answers for it, which makes them seem either incompetent or ineffective.

Subtraction by Subtraction

What happened? All our roster moves last off-season didn't work out very well.

Why was this important? Doug Wilson made some big gambles by bringing in Brent Burns, Martin Havlat, Michal Handzus, Colin White, and Jim Vandermeer. Most of those moves were done to shore up our defense, which was exposed as a fatal weakness by the Canucks last postseason. Burns had an ok year, but didn't turn into the type of 2-way defenseman everyone had hoped he would be. White and Vandermeer were supposed to provide some veteran stay-at-home minute eating, but instead were destroyed in the scoring chance department by 1st and 4th liners alike. Handzus (a player that probably shouldn't have even been signed given McLellan's line-matching predilictions), couldn't handle 3rd or 4th line duties vs. other non-scoring lines, and was basically a shootout specialist by the spring. Despite some improvement in league-wide defensive stats, our blueline and defensive forwards were just as poor at preventing goals when playing with the lead as the 2010-11 Sharks. Havlat was injured for most of the year, but was a critical source of speed and creativity when he finally got back in the lineup. His play wasn't enough to kickstart a sputtering offense in the playoffs, though.

The Fucking Churchill Quote

What happened? In December before one of the home games, a quote from Winston Churchill was put on each of the players lockers, with the idea of inspiring the team to overcome challenges and rise to the occasion, etc. The same quote was brought back during the 1st round series vs. the Blues.

Why was this important? Do I even need to describe how the games that followed were some of the least inspired hockey the Sharks played in a pretty underwhelming year? The steely resolve exhibited by the people of Great Britain during World War II was not the end result. Instead, an equally British sense of resignation, passivity, and irony at the world going to hell around them took over.

I'll start with the coaching staff. First of all, getting rid of TMac would be perhaps the most foolish idea in DW's career. However, he needs some help, bring in another assistant coach; Yawney was an important part of the staff, it's a shame he left. Retaining Jumbo and Patty is important because they are totally clutch players; I want to see them retire in teal. I also don't want to see them leave this team then go on to win it all; imagine how Blues fans must have felt when Hull lifted Lord Stanley not once but twice after leaving their team. Keeping Logan, Havlat and Pavs is important too. I'm not so sure about Clowe because he seemed to go down a little this year although injuries might have been the main reason for that. I'm also in favor of keeping Winnik; he seemed to be our best deadline acquisition and he'd only get better with us by starting a season with us from training camp. I'm not so sure about Winchester although I don't think keeping him would be a poor choice. Handzus has lived up to my expectations based on his age and stats this year; he's certainly much better for his salary than what DW paid Huskins or Wallin. I'm in favor of keeping Braun too. I think Demers could be packaged with prospects or draft picks to get a better D-man; though I wouldn't mind keeping him. But I also have some questions. Obviously our PK hasn't been exactly stellar since losing Manny. I noticed we had elite PK even before having him on our team, who was our star PKer at that time? Who could we bring in as an assistant coach to maybe run the defense and PK? What free agents can we pursue that could upgrade the PK?

I'm watching an exhibition game of the Germany at the moment and realized that it took less than a day to enjoy hockey again this year. There are two early games today so I don't have to get up past midnight to watch NHL hockey. Maybe some of you are in the mood to share their thoughts during the games.

Three teams face elimination today. The Penguins came back from being down 0 to 3 and try to force a game 7 on home ice. Marc-Andre Fleury didn't look as shaky as in the first 3 games and actually secured Pittsburghs victory in game 5 stopping 7 shots on a penalty kill late in the game. Ilya Bryzgalov on the other hand still looks shaky and now seems to be the worse of the goalies in this series. Can the Flyers rebound after a blowout and a close loss? Can the Penguins ride their momentum to force a game 7?

Boston isn't playing like they did last year. They are missing top performances of their big guns and Tim Thomas is nowhere near his Conn Smythe shape. He gave up a weak goal late in the game to give Washington a 3 to 2 series lead and didn't look strong in other games too. Braden Holtby did look shaky from time to time during this series but got better and better and managed to backstop his team to 3 wins in close games. Will Washington be able to close out the series against the defending champions just 24 hours after they took their first lead?

The LA Kings proved during the first 3 games that they are better than their 8th seed after the regular season showed. Good defense, exceptional play by Jonathan Quick and timely goals on the power play and shorthanded let them jump out to a 3 to 0 series lead. Vancouver did get Daniel Sedin back and managed to solve Quick in game 4. Will the Canucks be able to come back or will they be another Presidents Trophy winner that doesn't get it done in the postseason?

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Hello Sharks fans.

I know this is a tough night. I can appreciate that. But I wanted to take a second to stop by here and say a few things about the series and your fine community you have here at Fear the Fin.

First, I think any Blues fan who says this was an easy series or that they were never worried is lying or doesn't understand the game. As Ken Hitchcock said in your building after Thursday's game, the only thing separating these two teams is the fact that the Blues converted a couple more power plays. And that's about it. This was an evenly-matched series by two good teams. I had knots in my stomach all night thinking this was going back to San Jose on Monday. I was convinced there would be a seventh game. Tonight's game was that close -- just like the previous four.

Second, the Sharks played their guts out tonight. You could feel it in the arena. This wasn't an easy game. Not one bit. There was no quit on that team tonight.

Finally, much respect to the writers and commenters here at FTF. I've mixed it up on Twitter and in the comments with fans from other SBN sites. There has been hard feelings and awkward moments. But not here and with you fine folks. Congratulations on having a great community of dedicated fans.

I wish you well, except in any playoff rematch in future seasons of course.

Brad

St. Louis Game Time

Team Teal is now out of the playoffs, in what is officially the shortest playoff run in team history (prior to this season, previous Sharks first-round eliminations were in 6 games). Provided here is a place where you can pretty much let out your anger, rage and disappointment at the team. Whether it is wishing Antti Niemi could make a few more timely saves, Patrick Marleau and Joe Pavelski score a few more points, or Jay Woodcroft to be soaked in diesel fuel and have a lit match thrown on him, you are free to do so here.

Though this is a place to vent, the rules of the site still apply: keep it civil, and personal attacks are not tolerated. Otherwise, feel free to hate away!

Just been a thought I've been mulling around recently, and thought I'd throw the question out to the FTF community for discussion. In hindsight, should the Sharks have thrown the last game of the season with LA in order to face the D. Sedin-less Canucks in the 1st round?

Sure, you might say that the Sharks would have had to play the Blues eventually (not necessarily true, if LA took them out), but let's just say the Sharks faced the Blues in the 2nd round instead of the 1st round. Organizationally, a 2nd round exit from the playoffs, especially after defeating the #1 seeded Canucks, would be regarded MUCH more favorably than a 1st round exit for a Sharks team with high expectations.

Now, I'm not assuming the Sharks would have beaten Vancouver in the 1st round. But it sure seems like they would have been a much easier draw than St. Louis, especially when you consider they're playing without Daniel Sedin. Vancouver's just a team that the Sharks match up much better against in terms of the type of game they play and personnel-wise.

The Blues suffocating defensive game is just the absolute kryptonite of this Sharks team.

Poll

Should the Sharks have tanked the last game of the season in order to draw the Sedin-less Canucks?

42%

Yes

63 votes

58%

No

87 votes

150 votes | Poll has closed