Shock, frustration, disappointment, embarrassment and anger, these are all feelings fans of the San Jose Sharks are intimately familiar with. Each year they've had to deal with these feelings, watching their favorite team struggle and wilt under the weight of playoff pressure and expectations. Every single year. No matter the opponent, roster, coach or venue, they just keep falling apart when it matters most. Even when you expect the Sharks to fail, you can't help but be surprised by their complete lack of effort, will, heart, drive and dedication. It's completely baffling how this can keep happening over and over.

It's true I'm not a fan of the Sharks. I try to cover this team as honestly as I can, putting aside any rooting interest or false optimism. Sometimes that makes me write things that are unpleasant, uncomfortable, or just plain unnecessary, but I feel I've been given this forum to write honestly and openly about my feelings and opinions. I'm sorry if that doesn't always jive with your idea of a blogger, but that's the way I am. If I had to sugarcoat things I'd make myself sick by the third paragraph and wouldn't produce anything worth reading. Basically, I'd be Mark Purdy.

However, tonight, as a fellow hockey fan, I'd like to take a moment and grieve with you, to mourn the familiar passing of another year. I don't have the emotional investment you do. I can't imagine what it's like to have your hearts ripped out every year, convincing yourself this time it will be different, that this time they'll learn what went wrong and correct it. Tonight is a sad night for the fans, the Sharks, and hockey in the Bay Area. All the momentum is gone. All the good vibes built up by a Presidents' Trophy-winning season have evaporated, and we're left with nothing but the same old disappointment.

Trust me, there's no joy here tonight, no satisfaction that comes from successfully predicting another playoff failure. There will be plenty of time for blame, an entire summer to decide who needs to go and who should return, where the coaching staff and management went wrong. Those things can wait. Tonight, we're all left with the sadness of wasted opportunities. There won't be a miraculous comeback. No playoff run deep into the sweltering June heat. Just another round of questions without enough answers.

There are a lot of great hockey fans in the Bay Area, and they're enduring the pain again, waiting for the day they can stand on top of the mountain and savor that Cup victory. No other team has had to endure so much since the lockout. No other fanbase has been kicked in the teeth and come back stronger, selling out the Tank, rocking the teal, and hoping for the best. I'm proud to be a part of it. I salute your dedication, and I feel for you tonight, wherever you might be.

Tonight, there won't be an autopsy. There's no need to rehash what happened in Anaheim. You've seen, you've heard, you know. Tonight, all we can do is mourn together, then pick up the pieces and move on, just as you always have.

***

Thanks to a poster in my last blog, who brought up Mark Purdy's column that took a little jab at me and the rest of us out here in the 'blogosphere.' I wasn't aware of it until after the game. You see, I don't read Purdy very often. If I wanted something bland, irrelevant and pillowy soft I'd just buy a box of Krispy Kreme doughnuts. They're a lot easier to digest than Purdy's "our beloved Los Tiburones."

Here's an excerpt from his column after Thursday night's loss:

Roenick candidly acknowledged that the Sharks had not shown any emotion related to desperation in the final month of the regular season. It's catching up to them now. They were shut out just twice in the regular season. They've been shut out twice in this series.

That's funny, because I remember Purdy writing this on April 13:

Look, the Sharks know as well as anyone that they ultimately will be measured by what happens next, which is why you should excuse their mental lapses and inconsistent play of the past few weeks. It has been three or four months since they were spectacular, rolling through the NHL and winning 22 of their first 26 games.

Purdy can keep excusing mental lapses and inconsistent play, but he'll only be adding to the thin-skinned media's fragile handling of the local hockey team. Over here in the 'blogosphere,' we'll keep expecting more from the team and telling it like it is.

Purdy might be a better columnist if he asked more probing questions than "Tell us how well you played, coach." Instead, he chose to ignore one of the biggest issues of the entire series until four days after the fact, and only mentioned it after lodging his nose firmly up Todd McLellan's butt.

I'll get to the head coach and his comments another time. After all, I'm just one of those people that have "absolutely no idea how the hockey world works."

***

If you're still looking for answers, this is the best I can do. Here's what I wrote back on April 5, when most of the hockey world was picking the Sharks to win the Stanley Cup.

Why The Sharks Will Fail Again: They Can't Beat Playoff Teams

Ironically, the NHL playoffs have always had one characteristic that keeps the Sharks from finding postseason success: It contains playoff teams. Despite impressive records, scoring titles or broken records, the Sharks have consistently come up short against playoff teams, both in the regular season and postseason. I thought that disturbing trend would change this season, more because of the law of averages than anything San Jose did during the offseason. Unfortunately, I was wrong.

The Sharks are still beating up on non-playoff teams, using the weak and weary to pad their statistics and inflate their record, but they continue to fall short against the league's best, even though they stand among them. The league still isn't allowing non-playoff teams to take part in the playoffs, putting the Sharks at a major disadvantage each spring.

Just look at the numbers. Using the current standings, the Sharks have played 20 games against playoff teams since January 1. They have only won 7 of those 20 games; a woeful 35 percent. However, in 21 games against non-playoff teams over that stretch, the Sharks have won 16 games, an impressive 76 percent.

San Jose Sharks
Playoff: 7-9-4 - 35%
Non-playoff: 16-3-2 - 76%

Of course it's natural for strong teams to have a better record against their weaker opponents, but the Sharks take it to the extreme. Comparing the Sharks to six other teams near the top of the league, you'll find that San Jose has the lowest winning percentage against playoff teams but the highest winning percentage against non-playoff teams.

Boston Bruins
Playoff: 13-7-4 - 54%
Non-playoff: 10-5-2 - 58%

Calgary Flames
Playoff: 10-8-2 - 50%
Non-playoff: 12-9 - 57%

Detroit Red Wings
Playoff: 10-7-2 - 52%
Non-playoff: 16-5-2 - 69%

New Jersey Devils
Playoff: 14-9-1 - 58%
Non-playoff: 14-5 - 73%

Vancouver Canucks
Playoff: 8-4-4 - 50%
Non-playoff: 14-7-3 - 58%

Washington Capitals
Playoff: 12-5-3 - 60%
Non-playoff: 11-7-2 - 55%

Winning Percentage vs. Playoff Teams
Washington 60%
New Jersey 58%
Boston 54%
Detroit 52%
Calgary 50%
Vancouver 50%
San Jose 35%

Winning Percentage vs. Non-Playoff Teams
San Jose 76%
New Jersey 73%
Detroit 69%
Boston 58%
Vancouver 58%
Calgary 57%
Washington 55%

On April 15 the Sharks won't have Phoenix, Edmonton, Los Angeles, Dallas, Colorado or Minnesota to kick around. Instead, they'll face legitimate teams that are talented, well coached and well prepared, and winning 35 percent of the games won't take them very far. I don't mean to say that the Sharks can't win, but recent history has indicated that they won't, and the numbers continue to back up that assumption.

The Sharks held a team meeting the day after their 4-3 loss to Phoenix on March 17, and have turned things around since then, picking up points in six of their last eight games. Or have they? In fact, the Sharks are 4-0 against non-playoff teams since that meeting. Against playoff teams, they're 2-2-1. That's not great, but a 40 percent winning percentage is better than 35.

San Jose's main problem continues to be work ethic. It's easy to defeat the weak teams on skill alone, outskating and outshooting without much effort, but when the Sharks are pushed over a best-of-seven series they crack and crumble like a Ritz cracker. There might be a new bench boss calling the shots, and he might have some tricks up his sleeve to stave off another playoff collapse, but he can't put Mike Grier's heart in Joe Thornton's body, and can't prevent Patrick Marleau's offense from another second-round disappearing act.

Doug Wilson has done a phenomenal job filling holes and adding depth, covering up for the natural complacency of his elite players. However, his best need to be at their best against the league's best, and until we see it how can we believe they're capable of it? I don't care how many times Thornton proclaims that the Sharks are the best team in the league. Until he's the best player on the ice in a meaningful game that will continue to be an empty statement.

Maybe at the next general managers' meetings Doug Wilson should ask the league to implement college football's current system, ranking teams after the regular season and allowing them to play in a single championship game rather than a playoff format. That way, the Sharks would contend each season without worrying about those second-round upsets. Besides, the Sharks would have a much better chance of winning a single game rather than a best-of-seven series. I'd put it right around 35 percent.

ryan.garner@hockeybuzz.com

Join the Discussion: Chat Room » Message Board »

» 23 Sharks Thoughts After 23 Sharks Games

» Random Penguins Fan: Just Wait Until April; SharksBuzz Postgame Show

» Sharks, Nabokov Have Big Trouble North of 60

» Blake's Injury Tests Defensive Depth; SharksBuzz Postgame Show

» Five Reasons the Sharks are the League’s Best