The San Jose Sharks are the absolute epitome of a team that
suffers heartbreak constantly in the NHL. Through 25 years of hockey in the Bay
Area, San Jose has had some great teams, but they have failed to reach that next
step. The Sharks are now in the Stanley Cup Final, as they will take on the
Pittsburgh Penguins, in the franchise’s first Stanley Cup appearance.
The
Sharks failed to make the playoffs last season, which resulted in the firing of
Todd McLellan, who was hired by the Edmonton Oilers. The team brought in Peter
DeBoer, who worked his magic with the underdog New Jersey Devils, taking the
team all the way to the Stanley Cup in 2012. San Jose certainly didn’t get off
to the start they wanted to, as they were an underwhelming 18-18-2 in early
January. However, a game in January changed everything for the San Jose Sharks.
On January 9th, San Jose faced off against the Toronto Maple Leafs,
and they routed Toronto, 7-0 which kick started the Sharks season. We’ve been
hearing a lot of how the Penguins have been playing great hockey for a while,
but the Sharks have been equally as great since January. From that point, San
Jose went a ridiculous 40-18-4, as they have now finally reached hockey’s
greatest spectacle.
San Jose easily got into the playoffs, as they would be
facing off against the consensus Western Conference favorite, the Los Angeles Kings.
San Jose came into this series with memories of blowing a 3-0 lead against the
Kings a few years back, but it didn’t affect them this time. San Jose won the
series in an easy five games, but the second round was bound to be tougher.
They faced off against the Nashville Predators, who took them to seven games,
before eventually being shut out by San Jose in a Sharks Game 7 win. San Jose
faced off against the St. Louis Blues in the Western Conference Finals.
Despite
not having home ice advantage, the Sharks defeated the Blues in six games, as
they finally have made it to the Stanley Cup. Could it be that the Sharks are a
team of destiny? Or are they just a contender that’s been waiting to break out
of the bottle? We’ll find out everything when the Stanley Cup Final kicks off Monday
at the CONSOL Energy Center in Pittsburgh.
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