The Five Most Important Players in San Jose Sharks History

Following is my opinion regarding the five most important players in the Sharks' 19 year history. These are not the best players in the abstract (though as you will see, the players on this list are certainly no slouches); instead, the list reflects what I believe to be the five players most responsible for moving the franchise forward from a doormat to a perennial contender. Of course, reasonable minds may disagree, but that's to be expected. Also note that I changed my mind about the #5 slot, but had already finished writing what was initially supposed to go there, so as a result you get a bonus #6, free of charge. 

Without further ado, the list:
6. Patrick Marleau
5. Arturs Irbe
4. Vincent Damphousse
3. Ed Belfour
2. Joe Thornton
1. Owen Nolan

I know at least one of those names is going to jump out at any Sharks fan who was around in the mid-90s, so see my reasoning after the jump!

The Curious Case of Niclas Wallin

All you really have to do is say the name "Niclas Wallin" to any Sharks fan who has been paying attention for the last month, and you'll immediately get a reaction. And odds are, it won't be positive. What has he done to deserve such animosity? Well, before we dive into the obvious answer to that question, let's have a little history lesson, shall we?

Last February, Doug Wilson traded the Sharks' 2nd round pick in the 2010 Entry Draft (53rd overall - Mark Alt) for Niclas Wallin and the Canes' 5th round pick in the 2010 draft (127th overall - Cody Ferreiro). At the time, the Sharks defense was composed of Dan Boyle, Rob Blake, Marc-Edouard Vlasic, Douglas Murray, Kent Huskins, Jason Demers, and Jay Leach; Wallin was clearly brought in to provide depth on the third pairing, as the Boyle-Murray and Blake-Vlasic pairings had pretty much been constant since opening night. It's worth noting that Vlasic was injured at the time, leading to speculation that the injury was worse than the organization was letting on.

At the time, I was already a little suspicious of the move - throwing away a 2nd round pick, even a low one, isn't something to be taken lightly given the Sharks' relative lack of organizational depth, and in my mind Wallin wasn't a clear upgrade on either Huskins or Murray. I thought that is Vlasic was the issue, Wilson would try and target a better player to take his place in the lineup, so I assumed that Vlasic would be fine for the playoffs. Still, I thought that Wallin would provide valuable insurance in case one of Huskins or Demers decided to wet the bed or get injured during the playoffs; with all due respect to Jay Leach, giving him significant ice time was not going to end well for San Jose. So, ho-hum, just a depth trade at the deadline, nothing to see here...right?

See why that's not the case, after the jump!

The Return of ChompBlog!

Hello!

After taking a brief blogging hiatus to mourn the loss of my beloved ChompBoard, I have decided to revive my little contribution to that community with the return of the ChompBlog. I'm hoping to get tkaine, the admin of the old ChompBlog, to forward me my two years' worth of archives, but if that's not possible then hey - no big deal, I can start anew. Hopefully, the content speaks for itself either way. Hell, if this little project gains a little steam, maybe I could even end up on an aggregator like Kukla's Korner...

Read more about the genesis of my love for the San Jose Sharks, after the jump!