SharksFanEst.1994

After scoring 41 goals the past two seasons in Minnesota, Nolan had a chance to play a third with the Wild, but took a pass. Instead he pinned his hopes on being able to sign with San Jose — a more serious cup contender for one thing; his off-season home for another — as a free agent. But it didn’t go the way he wanted as the Sharks are opting to go with younger prospects such as Cameron Macintyre or Frazer Mclaren in the role Nolan would have filled. And by the time that was clear, the Wild had gone out and signed Eric Nystrom, Matt Cullen and John Madden — leaving no room for Nolan to return.

"Let me tell you that when you have a choice and you have something to choose from, you always want to play for a good team, compete for medals and such. I will speak for myself, but the situation was such that I had no choice of a good team to play for and to play at the high level. To me it was very important to play for a good team, to try to win."

5. Doug Wilson, San Jose Sharks Marco Sturm(notes), Wayne Primeau(notes) and Brad Stuart(notes) for Joe Thornton(notes). Next! Oh, you wanted more? Consider that the San Jose Sharks have made the playoffs in each of Wilson's five seasons at the helm, winning three division titles and making the conference finals once. He's made some bold decisions beyond the Thornton trade, like dealing for Brian Campbell(notes). He's drafted extraordinarily well for the GM of a successful team, like finding Joe Pavelski(notes) in the seventh round. Obviously, the knock on Wilson is that the Sharks haven't won but jack and squat in the postseason; to that, we'd ask if that's Wilson's fault? Have the pieces Wilson put in place failed him, or is he putting the wrong pieces in place? We'd err on the side of the former rather than the latter, and celebrate a strong decade of work.

Like Patrick Marleau, who is off to one of his best seasons. He's not going to score 63 goals (trust us), but he is every bit the offensive force he ever has been. This is linked to his losing the captaincy, and like any good plot turn, it's wrong. He wasn't that excited to be the captain, so losing the gig meant remarkably little. He plays, he doesn't lead, it's always been thus and it always will be. -Ray "I Know Very Little About Hockey" Ratto Patty Marleau is not a leader? REALLY?????