Meanwhile, Back At Someone Else’s Ranch

Dallas has signed agitator extraordinaire Sean Avery which will make them even more of a pain to play against.  One can only imagine the high hilarity that will take place during every Sharks-Ducks game next year, given the latter team’s penchant for pushing it whenever possible.

Detroit has landed probably the best offensive player in this year’s UFA crop by signing Marian Hossa.  Great, now they have even more firepower.

And the Sharks?  You tell me.  I might be able to hear you over the sound of a nearby wall splintering from me pounding my head against it after Doug Wilson’s “if anything, we’re a better team now than we were at the beginning of the last season. . . . We’ve gained a year’s experience, there’s the excitement of Todd (McLellan) coming in” line following Campbell’s departure.  Come on.  That’s nothing more than an addition to all the lines repeated every summer:

• “Look at the upside of the players we’re developing from within.  They’re not there yet, but one of these years they will be.  Honest.”
  “We’re spending our money on re-signing our own players.  That’s the same thing as signing free agents.  No really.”
• “We’re already a championship-caliber team.  We just need to play up to our talent level.  Obviously it’s all Ron Wilson’s fault that never happened.”/

Uh, no.  You’re not good enough.  Your kids aren’t good enough.  You’re not doing anything other than maintenance work by re-signing players already on the team.  It wasn’t Ron Wilson’s fault that the team has never been to the finals, has been in the conference finals once in franchise history, and has been two and through three straight years.  So please don’t insult the fans by telling us otherwise.

Your division and conference opponents have improved themselves.  You haven’t.  You talk trade as a better way to bring in who you want than free agency.  Fine.  Who are you going to give up?  Marleau?  Oops, sorry, forgot.  No-trade clause.  Cheechoo?  Good luck trying to convince other teams he’s more than a one year wonder, and if he isn’t why would you be trying to send him elsewhere when your team suffers from severe scoring deficiency?  Mitchell and/or Pavelski?  Too much genuine upside.  Clowe?  No way.  Some of those kids you keep telling us are future Stanley Cup hoisters?  Whatever.

I’m not of the “the Sharks have to do something in the next five minutes or all is lost” mindset.  Training camp doesn’t start for several weeks.  However, San Jose had better do something if it wants to be something other than a vague approximation of a low speedbump to whoever gets them in the playoffs assuming the Sharks get that far.  And whatever it does had better be really, really, really good.