The Reminder is making its archives back to 2003 available on our website. Please note that, due to technical limitations, archive articles are presented without the usual formatting.
It's always easy to pick the President's Choice winner to to bring home the Stanley Cup, but it's surprising how often that prediction is rendered inaccurate. That won't be the case this year, because the San Jose Sharks, the best team in the regular season, will defy their few critics and prove themselves the top squad in the post-season now underway. Consider what the Sharks possess up front. They have six 20-plus goal scorers. Actually, that should really be seven since former 50-goal man Jonathan Cheechoo would have easily eclipsed the mark if not for all those injuries. No one has more to prove than big Joe Thornton, the former Hart Trophy winner who is surely sick to death of all the naysayers who can't help but point out at every turn that for all his success, there is no ring on his finger. Thornton has been underestimated before and shown he has what it takes, and while no man alone can win a Cup, watch for No. 19 to lay it all on the ice. Thornton and fellow vets Cheechoo and Patrick Marleau balance out an attack that includes sophomore surprise Devin Setoguchi, third-year centre Joe Pavelski and winger Ryane Clowe, who is in his first uninterrupted season in the big leagues. San Jose's supporting cast has more heart than just about any other in the league. Mike Grier, Jeremy Roenick and comeback "kid" Claude Lemieux all want to win so bad they can taste it. That kind of enthusiasm rubs off in a major way. The San Jose blueline is an opponent's nightmare. The keen eye of Dan Boyle keeps the puck moving in all the right directions, and 39-year-old Rob Blake is a time-tested warrior who still gobbles up more than 21 minutes a game. Christian Ehrhoff can move the puck (though his -12 rating is admittedly a concern) and former All-Rookie Marc-Deouard Vlasic just keeps getting better and more confident. What about goaltending? Like Thornton, Evgeni Nabokov is under immense pressure to deliver, and he too has his share of critics. But let's remember that only one other team in the playoffs Ð Boston Ð allowed fewer goals than the tandem of Nabokov and Brian Boucher. Nabokov was also second in wins in the regular season and had a goals-against average that was basically on par with that of Martin Brodeur. If he falters, though, Boucher isn't exactly chopped liver. The only question is, who will the Sharks beat in the final? Don't count on the overachieving Bruins to make it. Instead, let's pencil in Washington, New Jersey or Philly (okay, that's a cop out, but I'm just trying to cover my tracks here). There have been several recent years that were supposed to be "San Jose's year." At last, 2009 will prove to be it. After a one-year hiatus, Lord Stanley is headed back to California with one of the most dynamically structured teams of the past several seasons.
