Blackhawks Make Short Work of Sharks

I expected the Blackhawks to take this series, but I hardly thought if would have been meagerly handed to them by the Sharks. It's easy to see how good this Chicago Blackhawks team is, but sweeping the San Jose Sharks in the Conference Finals? Is this team really that good? Yes. But San Jose fizzled right out. Patrick Marleau played a good series, but he needed some help to take his team to the next level. Dan Boyle, Dany Heatley, and I hate to say it, but Joe Thornton should all be held accountable for how their team fared in the Conference Finals.

With Patrick Marleau becoming an unrestricted free agent this summer, and having been the teams most consistent leader, it will be a tough decision for the San Jose Sharks in whether or not they stick with Thornton and Heatley or Marleau and Heatley. In my opinion, there is no sense in bringing back all three. Also with the emergence of Joe Pavelski, there needs to be some sort of a shakeup with this team's first line over the summer.

Seeing as Dany Heatley just arrived in San Jose last year, he sticks around. In my mind, General Manager, Doug Wilson should put 'Big Joe' on the trade market this summer and see what comes up. This has nothing to do with my questioning Joe Thornton's will to win, it's just a matter of switching up something that clearly has not worked when it matters the most. Even with all his regular season accomplishments, none of it will matter if Thornton doesn't start to produce when it matters the most. A stumbling block to a Thornton trade is his $8 million salary in 2010/2011, but that is only for one more year. So there would be some teams interested. Whether or not Joe Thornton becomes trade bait, the Sharks need to do something.

Back to the Chicago Blackhawks, they have just got better throughout these playoffs. From Toews to Hjalmarsson this team seems complete. They are playing as a complete team and coach, Joe Quenneville seems to have everyone buying into his system, which is not really a surprise considering that the Hawks have played this way for most of the 2009/2010 season. If only they could get Hossa scoring. Whoever comes out of the East, they better be prepared for this Blackhawks club.

On another note, has Jonathan Toews already won the Conn Smythe? You tell me.