The scene in downtown San Jose after waiting all off season for Doug Wilson to make a move.Depending on who you ask, this has been a summer of disappointment. No moves, no change, Doug Wilson has abandoned us! If we take a step back from that brink, we discover that there HAVE been moves, they've just been smaller and less splashy than many Sharks fans had been hoping for or expected.
The Sharks let a few players go. Mike Grier, Marcel Goc, Riley Armstrong, Tomas Plihal, Brain Boucher, Claude Lemieux, Jeremy Roenick, Travis Moen and Alexi Semenov are all gone. Some have signed with other teams, some have retired, and others are still looking for work.
As far as signings, Kent Huskins, Ryane Clowe, Rob Blake, Scott Nichol, Thomas Greiss and Henrick Karlsson were all resigned or acquired. Scott Nicol is the only real new blood, ignoring the fact that Sharks fans have yet to see Huskins play in teal. This has made his contract, and the lack of other signings, a point of contention amongst fans, who have been hoping for big splashy firings and signings. The fact of the matter is, the Sharks are already up against the cap, and they won't have any wiggle room next year when several big name members of team teal become free agents.
It also remains to be seen whether or not it makes sense to blow up the President's Trophy winning team in 2009. Sure, they flamed out in a spectacularly embarrassing fashion in the first round of the playoffs, but they were still the best team in the league last season, even with their late season problems. The team, for all it's weaknesses, still has some great potential.
Maybe the lack of splashy signing *coughdanyheatlycoughcough* is for the best. If it means Sharks fans don't have to spend another season watching the MSM and bloggers poop all over the team when it fails to meet their expectations, fine by me. But I'm not the majority. Most fans appear to be frustrated by the lack of moves. Cap space be damned, they want big change and they want it now. Only time will tell if DW will throw cap caution to the wind, or if he will chose to ice a very similar to team to the one that showed such promise last season.
The Sharks let a few players go. Mike Grier, Marcel Goc, Riley Armstrong, Tomas Plihal, Brain Boucher, Claude Lemieux, Jeremy Roenick, Travis Moen and Alexi Semenov are all gone. Some have signed with other teams, some have retired, and others are still looking for work.
As far as signings, Kent Huskins, Ryane Clowe, Rob Blake, Scott Nichol, Thomas Greiss and Henrick Karlsson were all resigned or acquired. Scott Nicol is the only real new blood, ignoring the fact that Sharks fans have yet to see Huskins play in teal. This has made his contract, and the lack of other signings, a point of contention amongst fans, who have been hoping for big splashy firings and signings. The fact of the matter is, the Sharks are already up against the cap, and they won't have any wiggle room next year when several big name members of team teal become free agents.
It also remains to be seen whether or not it makes sense to blow up the President's Trophy winning team in 2009. Sure, they flamed out in a spectacularly embarrassing fashion in the first round of the playoffs, but they were still the best team in the league last season, even with their late season problems. The team, for all it's weaknesses, still has some great potential.
Maybe the lack of splashy signing *coughdanyheatlycoughcough* is for the best. If it means Sharks fans don't have to spend another season watching the MSM and bloggers poop all over the team when it fails to meet their expectations, fine by me. But I'm not the majority. Most fans appear to be frustrated by the lack of moves. Cap space be damned, they want big change and they want it now. Only time will tell if DW will throw cap caution to the wind, or if he will chose to ice a very similar to team to the one that showed such promise last season.
2 comments:
And I think a lot of us fans may have misunderstood Doug Wilson's immediate post-season remarks. Personally, I never got the impression that he was promising major changes or to blow up the team. I will feel better when Mitchell is signed, though!
I agree, many people did misunderstand him. I didn't want to see the team blow up, so I was one of the folks who was really hoping DW was speaking out of emotion than he was actually stating his off seasons plans. His wording was so strong though, I can see why so many feel that he should have done more by now.
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