Hurd By The Bay

OK, truth serum time. I’m no hockey expert. I covered the Sharks for parts of three seasons. I soaked up hours of hockey conversation with current general manager Doug Wilson (a good thing) and Dean Lombardi ( maybe not so good). I had wonderful teachers such as Jeff Norton and Darryl Sutter and Mike Ricci. But I never played the sport, didn’t follow it real closely, in fact, until I was assigned to do so.

But from what I know and from what I watched, the Sharks’ latest exit from the playoffs was different from the others. On the one hand, they rarely get swept. On the other, you rarely sweeps that are as close and as one-sided at the same time. The difference was that the Blackhawks were quicker and seemingly more alert. That’s not to say the Sharks lost the intensity battle, but one thing about sports is that the higher you go, the faster the action. The Sharks seemed too often to be watching the action than dictating it. You correct that simply through experience.

Now, the big questions: What to do with unrestricted free agents-to-be Evgeni Nabokov and Patrick Marleau? Nabokov is a great regular-season goalie , and he hardly deserves all the blame for this sweep. That said, your team goes up 2-0 in an elimination game, and you have to win. Too often in the 10 years that Nabby has been the Sharks’ goalie, they haven’t won those type of games. Thus, he’s probably played his last game for the Teal. Marleau, however, should be considered back in the mix, because the Blackhawks had no answer for him. A three-year offer, perhaps with an option, is the right offer for the Sharks to make.

--- Dany Heatley was conspicuously absent. He may have been hurt, and we should find out today how badly? But the Sharks (or any NHL team) can’t go all the way without all the cylinders firing.

--- Sharks would be really smart to bring back other UFA’s Manny Malholtra and Scott Nichol. Without them, they don’t get past the second round --- again --- this year.

--- I’m starting to think the Giants could go 108-54 and the A’s 54-108 but the A’s would still own the interleague series. Another sweep this weekend, and a great life story.