7. The Sharks have always been an up and down franchise. A quick summary of their history shows a series of peaks and valleys. The Sharks finished with an NHL record 71 losses in 1993 and then went out and upset the Detroit Red Wings and Calgary Flames in the first round of the 1994 and 1995 playoffs. Now, this should have signalled the transformation of the franchise from expansion team to contenders, right? Nah, they finished last in their division for the next 2 seasons. After making the playoffs in 1998 and 1999, but not making it past the 1st round, they stunned the heavily favored St. Louis Blues in the 2000 playoffs by eliminating the President’s Trophy winners. Things were finally looking stable for the franchise after they finished in 1st place in their division in 2002, but keeping with the trend of highs and lows, they finished last in their division the following season. The roller-coaster ride continued in 2004, when they rebounded right back into 1st place in the Pacific Division and made it to the Western Conference Finals.
Now, this post wasn’t meant to be a history of the San Jose Sharks… Wikipedia has that covered. I’m only trying to point out an alarming trend of inconsistency with this team. The reason why I hate the Sharks is because even though it appears they’ve finally found some regular season stability after the lockout, averaging almost 108 points in four seasons since 2005, they have been the biggest chokers of the NHL in the playoffs during this stretch. The Sharks are just a Black or White franchise; Their is just no grey area with this team.
2005/06 – 99 points, best second-half of the regular season in the NHL, top-4 seeds in the Western Conference are upset in playoffs, and the Sharks lose to the Edmonton Oilers after having a 2-0 series lead. This season had Stanley Cup written all over it for the Sharks.
2006/07 – 107 points, lost in 2nd round again, this time to the Detroit Red Wings.
2007/08 – 108 points, 2nd best NHL record, but lose to the Dallas Stars in the second round AGAIN
2008/09 – 117 points, President’s Trophy. Lose in the first round of the playoffs to the 8th seeded Ducks.
Maybe the Sharks will get it all figured out one day and truly become a consistent and elite franchise. Until then, at least they can hang their hats on the fact that they can at least win “a” playoff series (unlike Calgary!)
