Follow
@wheelandteal on Twitter.
At some point every organization has to decide what their breaking point is. Most of the time that benchmark is simply making the post-season or not. Some of time it’s a teams’ inability to escape the first round of the playoffs. Rarely is that breaking point Stanley Cup or bust. In the off-season we saw that breaking point hit the Pittsburgh Penguins as Ray Shero and Dan Bylsma were shown the door in Steel City.
When the dust settled on the Sharks season there were rumblings about whether or not Wilson and McLellan would be following suit, but that never transpired. There are only so many seasons that you can be at the top of the class all year only to disappoint come exam time. I’d like to believe that the 2014-2015 season is the last straw for Sharks ownership and that there are targets on certain people within the organization.
Doug Wilson is 10 for 10 in putting a playoff product on the ice since he replaced Dean Lombardi, who now has two Stanley Cups with LA, as general manager. He has five division titles and three appearances in the Conference Finals. What he doesn’t have is a trip to the Stanley Cup Finals, and I think that’s exactly what he needs to save his job.
Todd McLellan, much like Bylsma, has enjoyed significant regular season success in his tenure behind the bench. His resume includes four 105+ seasons, three division titles and two trips to the Conference Finals. Bylsma and McLellan are similar in the sense that neither has a great track record of managing games well in the post-season. The blame cannot fall on the players all of the time and the coach’s ability to roll line combinations and make situation decisions should be under as much scrutiny as player performance, because it also has a direct effect on the game.
The biggest key in the Wilson-McLellan situation is that the Sharks duo need each other. McLellan needs Wilson to find him the depth to push farther in the playoffs and Wilson needs McLellan to adapt in-game and find playoff success. I'd guess Wilson is past the point of firing McLellan to save his own job. Ron Wilson was given five seasons, even though he wasn’t Doug Wilson’s hire, before he was canned. McLellan is now entering his 7th season with an extremely talented roster and high expectations but he needs his GM to adjust the roster slightly. The only way that change shouldn't be considered in San Jose after the upcoming season is if the Sharks finally make a trip to the Stanley Cup Finals.
Both Wilson and McLellan need to be bold in 2014-2015. Sharks fans have grown tired of playoff mediocrity and another dejected performance in mid-April could start to push loyal fanbase into scathing discontent. There are always viable options for change, especially for a head coach, and each year is no different. Maybe Mike Babcock wants to keep winning as a coach and doesn’t go to Toronto like the rumors suggest. Maybe he comes to San Jose.
2014-2015 should be Stanley Cup or bust for the San Jose Sharks. Everything else has been accomplished. Back to training camp news tomorrow.
Follow
@wheelandteal on Twitter.
San Jose Sharks Blogger • 
Join the Discussion:
»