Sharks Post Mortem

I still haven't seen the goal that ended the Sharks' quest at a Stanley Cup. I don't care to, and I don't want to.

Sooner or later, I'm sure I'll see it indirectly, and when the time comes, that's fine.

But last night, and this entire series showcased how cruel and how great the sport of hockey could be. The 2011 Sharks playoff run also represents how a game, series, championship, can be lost in a matter of seconds, if not minutes.

Last night, the game winner was on a fluke goal, one of those goals in hockey, where something strange happens, and the next thing you know, the puck is in the net.

Not a single person on the ice knew where the puck was, until it fell to the stick of a Canucks defensemen, who some how got the puck past Antti Niemi.

And just like that,the hopes and dreams of the Sharks and their fans will have to wait another year.

The Stanley Cup is by far the hardest trophy to win in all of professional sports. It takes four rounds, 16 wins, a great team, healthy bodies, and a little bit of luck.

The Sharks made it three rounds, won nine games, are a pretty good team, didn't have the most healthy bodies, and ran out of luck.

Joe Thornton, the Sharks captain, who has been criticized not only by the media worldwide, and by the fans, played last night with a separated shoulder. He gave it everything he had and laid it all out on the line, but just couldn't force a Game 5.

Big Joe was also playing with a bum pinky he injured late in the season.

"My pinky went in a different direction than it was supposed to," Thornton said. "The top just got cut off and they had to put it back together."

Ryane Clowe, had a shoulder injury even before the playoffs started, and took even more damage when he took a hard body check in Round 2 against the Red Wings.

And they were the only two that had notable injuries. There were probably several other players just as banged up, but they play through it all and absorb even more punishment game after game.

What's great about these athletes, and the entire Sharks organization, is that nobody is making excuses at all. Everybody is taking responsibility for not getting the job done.

Should they be proud they made it this far? Most people would say yes, given they are in the final four for the second straight year and most likely lost to the team that will win the Stanley Cup.

Don't tell that to Patrick Marleau.

"Successful season for us is winning the cup. Anything short is not good enough," Marleau said.

A sports talk show host on the radio a few weeks ago talked about why he felt like it was his duty to try and get as many people to start watching hockey like he did.

He initially didn't have a response, but his partner reminded him that anytime you find joy in something, you tend to want to share it with those around you. The more, the merrier.

When I heard that, I felt just like the host, as I've tried to get as many people into hockey as possible. Have I succeeded? Probably not.

Will I stop trying? Probably not.

There is just something about the game of hockey that is so great that I can't even begin to explain it. One bad line change, a shot a quarter of an inch wide, not being able to clear the puck past the blue line, deflections on pucks that you would never think would go in...

Those were all things, that seem so little, but ultimately doomed the Sharks, and ultimately propelled the Canucks into the Stanley Cup Finals.

Hockey is a great representation of how real life is, and that no matter how perfect of a game you feel you have played, you can still lose.

It's heartbreaking, sad, frustrating, the adjectives can continue forever.

In the end, they lined up, as a team, and went through the handshake line, a tradition that is not seen in any other sport. Shaking the hand of an enemy, and congratulating them on a job well done. More often than not, it's not the CYO handshake that you do because you have been trained to do so. When each player congratulates another player and says, "Good game," they mean it from the heart.

In no other sport will you ever see that type of compassion.

The comraderie of a hockey team is next to none. 18 skaters, 2 goalies, they play for each other. It's not like in other sports when someone hits a home run, records a strikeout, scores a touchdown, dunks a ball, and then a player beats his own chest, motioning to the crowd with the proverbial "Look at me," dance.

After every goal, all the skaters on the ice converge together as one. Then they skate past their bench, giving high fives or hand pounds to each and every one of their teammates.

Hockey is the epitome of a team sport, and playing for each other. They play for the person sitting next to them on the bench. They'll go down and take a 90 mph puck to the groin, because that's what it's going to take to win the game. They bite the bullet, because the guy sitting next to him in the dressing room, would do the exact same thing.

That is the beauty of hockey.

In their 20 seasons of existence, they have made the playoffs 14 out of 20 times, and have yet to make one trip to the Stanley Cup finals.

When will that day come?

I guess the best things in life, are worth the wait.