Sharks looking to build on last season
October 6, 2016
The San Jose Sharks preseason, which started on Sept. 27, is off to a great start: they’ve gone into overtime twice against the Vancouver Canucks and once against the Arizona Coyotes, and all three games have been victories.
The Sharks finished last year with a 46-30-6 regular season record — finish- ing third in the Pacific Division — and took a trip to the Stanley Cup finals for the first time in team history.
Lead by their captain Joe Pavelski, this was the best season in Shark’s history. They lost to the Pittsburgh Penguins in six games, falling just two victories short of capturing their first Stanley Cup ever.
The 25th season marked a great year not only because the team went to the Cup Finals for the first time, but because it gave the fans hope again.
With a reputation of having high expectations at the start of a season and playoffs, and then “choking” in the first or second round of playoffs, Sharks fans have hope again. The team proved that they can get there, now they just need to finish.
This season has the potential to be just as good, if not better than the last. This offseason, there were several big free-agents out on the market. While the Sharks may not have landed any big name players, they did sign two key players: one that has the potential to be a top six forward and the other who could be a top 4 defenseman on an already very deep team.
During their short offseason, the Sharks management team, lead by general manager Doug Wilson, was hard at work with two big free-agency signings: forward Mikkel Boedker from Colorado and defenseman David Schlemko from New Jersey.
Schlemko is coming off of a career year with the Devils tallying 6 goals and 13 assists in just 67 games. Boedker tied his career high in points with 51 — 17 goals and 34 assists — last season while playing for both the Arizona Coyotes and the Colorado Avalanche. The Sharks are hoping both these players come in and make an impact with the team right from the get-go, and they most definitely will.
The Sharks are expected to have another great season and are off to a great start so far in preseason.
The roster still needs to be cut down to 23 players and are currently sitting at 37 players.
Expect more hard hockey in the following weeks as the young rookies trying to earn their spots on the team in the following weeks.
The season opener is Oct. 12 against division rivals the Los Angeles Kings at SAP Center in San Jose.
