The most interesting part of last week’s roster moves (and this weekend’s) was that two very successful NHL teams were willing to dramatically reinvent themselves, even though the previous season’s versions of the teams were successful. Both the Philadelphia Flyers and San Jose Sharks, two teams that, had some things gone just a little bit [...]

In his Sunday notes column, Kevin Paul Dupont let himself wonder what life would be like for the Bruins had the Joe Thornton who’s currently playing in San Jose been the same Joe Thornton who played in Boston. Dupont acknowledges that Thornton has taken a while to blossom and that the coaching situations in Boston [...]

I didn’t realize just how cold San Jose’s Patrick Marleau had gone. He has just 3 points in his last 10 games and is -16 on the season. Both the Sharks and Marleau insist there are no injury issues. In an attempt to get Marleau going, he’s been moved off of San Jose’s top Joe [...]

You have to give Sharks coach Todd McLellan a lot of credit. The burn on the Sharks has always been that the team is great in the regular season but disappears in the playoffs. So to start off this season, the Sharks have been decidedly flat. And just like that, the burn is gone. No [...]

Joe Thornton and the Sharks are already starting to talk contract extension. Thornton’s current contract ends at the end of the upcoming season. Here’s the thing about Thornton and the Sharks: The Sharks want to keep him around and Thornton wants to stay in San Jose. He’s comfortable in San Jose, where he and his [...]

One thing that’s a bit frustrating about the NHL is that a lot of weight is attached to well-known names. It seems that a lot of GMs look at names rather than stats before they make a move. How else to explain all of the interest in Mike Modano, he of the 14 goals and [...]

I was a little surprised when I saw the Sharks had re-signed Patrick Marleau (4 years/$6.9 million per). Apparently I wasn’t the only one. Marleau told David Pollak he didn’t know how San Jose felt about re-signing him until after the playoffs were over. And that’s the thing about Marleau and San Jose. It’s always [...]

San Jose goaltender Evgeni Nabokov was a victim of this year’s Stanley Cup playoffs. First of all, these playoffs allowed Nabokov to once again show he’s not a big-game goalie. He just wasn’t very strong. But also, watching goalies like Ryan Miller and Roberto Luongo fail to carry their teams had to register with Sharks [...]

Expectations are a funny thing. Once they been raised, they can be very hard to lower. The Flyers and Blackhawks are going to the finals and while only one will end up with the Cup, you can say that to a certain extent, both teams have met or exceeded expectations. The Sharks made it to [...]

Context is everything. The Sun-Times has a small item talking about how well Marian Hossa is playing in the playoffs, despite scoring just two goals. And Hossa’s game really has evolved. He’s gotten much, much more physical, which he attributes to his year with the Red Wings. But would everyone be content with Hossa’s performance [...]