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.

OK, so now I will be able to remember a big goal Patrick Marleau has scored. After a decade, I would hope so.

You say I’m not a big Patty fan? Guilty as charged. Nothing in particular, really. The guy has got ridiculous talent --- speed, soft hands, great vision, a feel for the game --- and without him, the Sharks would not have become one of the most consistent of the really good teams in the NHL.

But the Sharks have said their mission is not to be really good consistently. It is, rather, to be a champion. They’ve been talking that way since I covered the team at the start of century, and for years, they’ve told their customers that Marleau is a guy who can get them there.

As the years have gone by, I’ve become more and more skeptical. And I remain that way, because in victory and in loss, Marleau always seemed to be the same. I don’t want to say he struck me as a JaMarcus-type, detached and uncaring, because 1) I’m not ever around him and 2) his performance in the regular season has proven that would be an unfair assessment.

That said, I’ve just never gotten the feeling that his motor runs as hard as it needs to run to lead your team to great heights in the playoffs. It says much that for close to 10 years, Marleau has been considered the Sharks’ most talented player but that with Marleau, the team has won seven playoff games in one season only twice previously.

Interesting thing is that both the Sharks and Marleau seem to be presented with a new opportunity to paint the canvas. The Sharks have established themselves as the team to beat in the Western Conference, just as any team that takes a 3-0 lead on the New York Yankees in any baseball playoff series does the same. Marleau, and his former invisible teammate Joe Thornton, have shaken off some of the old criticisms. It’s as if the epitaph still has yet to be written.

With free agency fast approaching, what seemed to be a certainty among fans --- namely, the wish to see Marleau earn his riches elsewhere --- might be back up for debate. Should make for a fascinating few weeks, especially since the bandwagon already is getting bigger.