Quick Thoughts on the Sharks Going Into the Playoffs

So now we know the Sharks will have home ice all the way through the Stanley Cup playoffs.  But that's not to say they haven't postitioned themselves to be on huge upset alerts going into the first few rounds.  Some quick observations about the team heading into a postseason that will be deemed a complete failure if they don't win the Cup:

-Evgeni Nabokov has not been playing well recently.  Even in the shutout against the Avalanche on Tuesday, he was saved 3 times by the post, once on a breakaway and once off a dreadful turnover behind his own net that, against any other team, would've resulted in an easy shorthanded goal.  Then again, Nabokov has always made his name in the Vezina discussion off two things: wins and his playoff performances.

-Huge line-up decisions to be made by the coaching staff.  More on that later, but one interesting thing is that Jonathan Cheechoo did not play the last two games because he was taking a "maintanence day".

-The two possible first round match-ups for the Sharks: St. Louis and Anaheim.  This season, the Sharks have not done well against either of them.  And Anaheim just recently destroyed San Jose at home 5-2.  They haven't played the Blues in months, but watching that team fight their way into the playoffs has been scary, and St. Louis unraveled some very very good teams (including the Red Wings) in the process.

-In every Sharks lost, the fans have been reminded why sacking Ron Wilson has its consequences.  With great offense comes a sudden lack in defensive awareness from the Sharks.  And when teams strategize around stuffing your offense, and you're left with nothing but a very confused, turnover-prone defense, things get ugly.

-The Sharks clinched the Western Conference in a Detroit loss.  The Sharks clinched the President's Trophy in a Boston loss.  Can San Jose actually win anything on their own?

-One of the biggest keys to San Jose's record-breaking season has been their offensive depth.  Thornton, Marleau, Setoguchi, Pavelski, Clowe, and Michalek all have 20+ goals.  Thornton has always been the centerpiece of the offense, and thus he has always been double teamed in the playoffs, leading to a drastic decrease in point production and heavy criticism in the postseason.  Will this year be different now that the pressure is off Thornton to put up points?

-Speaking of offensive depth, 4 San Jose defenders end the season with 30+ assists: Boyle, Blake, Ehrhoff, and Vlasic.

-San Jose picked up guys like Roenick, Lemieux, Moen, Lukowich, and Huskins to lead their team in the postseason.  But how much can those guys really do with limited ice time (minus Luko)?  Speaking of guys we expected to help us in the playoffs, where the heck is Torrey Mitchell?

I think the biggest question will be the line-ups, and I wouldn't be surprised if we have different line-ups in different series (or even a game by game basis) given how many healthy scratches we are going to have every night.