Wilson v Wilson

Sharks GM Doug Wilson is conducting a tough and thorough examination of his team, after their relatively early playoff exit. ESPN has the dirt:

General manager Doug Wilson needed two weeks to calm down after the San Jose Sharks' second-round exit from the playoffs, and he's still not ready to make any quick decisions on the futures of his players and coaches.

Saying he's "frustrated and disappointed" with the end of an otherwise successful season, Doug Wilson plans to decide by next week whether coach Ron Wilson will return to San Jose next season.

And this:

The Wilsons, who aren't related, went through a 12-hour meeting last week evaluating every problem with the Sharks. Ron Wilson asked for a few more days to find answers to Doug Wilson's questions, and the two will meet again later in the week, with a decision expected to be announced next week.

On Captain Patrick Marleau, who Wilson is rumored to be open to trading:

The Sharks' postseason collapse included Ron Wilson's thinly veiled scolding for captain Patrick Marleau, who struggled throughout the Detroit series despite a reputation for strong postseason play. Marleau's leadership skills are questioned repeatedly by fans who don't see how the taciturn son of a Saskatchewan farmer can be an effective captain.

"I trust that dressing room," Doug Wilson said. "I don't micromanage. There will be conversations that will take place. We'll handle it."

On the Sharks current goalie duo:

He also said it's "highly unlikely" that goalies Evgeni Nabokov and Vesa Toskala both will return for next season. Both are proven NHL netminders who shared an uneasy platoon until Toskala got hurt this spring, and Wilson fully intends to trade one of the goalies before training camp -- though he failed to find a similar trade last summer.

"I don't think there's many goalies that would have done what they did for us, but that will not continue," Wilson said.

Cheechoo Train

After the Caps finished toward the bottom of the standings, I decided to pick a favorite for the playoffs. It was a bit hard for me, as my two favorite non-Caps teams are the San Jose Sharks and the Nashville Predators, who played a bruising opening round against each other.

The Sharks won, and are currently in another tough series against the Red Wings. One of the big reasons I like the Sharks is Jonathan Cheechoo. Cheechoo is the first member of Canada's Cree Nation to play in the NHL and is one of just a handful of indigenous NHL players. An ESPN reporter recently tried to travel to Moose Factory, where Cheechoo is from. His experience went something like this:

To get there from Toronto, it's best to fly commercial to Timmins, take a small plane to Moosonee and then your choice: helicopter or -- in the winter -- drive across the river.Drive it is, by snowmobile...Most of the population of 2,700 live in wood-frame homes, many with canvas tepees in the back.

And this from Cheechoo:

Knowing he would need to get out of the boondocks to get noticed as a player, Cheechoo left home at 14 to live with another family in Ontario. "A lot of native people don't like to leave the reservation, so I go back and speak there as much as I can, encouraging them to venture out and, hopefully, have the same kind of success."

Needless to say, Cheechoo didn't have the same access to rinks or coaches until much later then many of his counterparts in the NHL. But what I like most about Cheechoo is this - he was told repeatedly in the AHL that he was not good enough for the NHL. But he worked incredibly hard on his skating and fitness and clawed this way to a roster spot. The result of all this? Cheechoo won the Maurice "Rocket" Richard trophy last year for most goals scored in the NHL. Jonathan Cheechoo, one part of why the Sharks are my playoff team. You can see a quick interview with Jonathan here.