You know this current SJ lineup is far deeper at every position than it has been since probably ever. Look at the additions they made last year and this offseason. They're incredibly deep at all positions. Jones, Martin, Dillon, Ward, Donskoi...the list goes on. McLellan's teams were very top heavy and lacked defensive depth. They also rode Niemi who always seemed to falter. McLellan made a good roster very competitive. DeBour has made a stacked roster into a contender. I know you're trying to make a point but don't blatantly disregard the huge differences in rosters between this year and the past. San Jose was one of the more successful teams in the league under McLellan. There was nobody in the NHL who could compete with the ridiculous rosters of Chicago and L.A...now they've lost players and have come back down to earth.
lol that somebody with a Woodcrap avatar is defending the current realm. The Sharks had good players before. These are simply new names and additions. Lets not forget that all of the Sharks core is now older and with a few of the key players now not even being in prime. How absolutely dominant would or should Jumbo have been when he actually was in prime? Deboer is taking several players well past the best before date and having them somehow play their best 200ft hockey ever. He's convinced a player like Marleau to make sacrifices and play on a third line to help the team. Marleau had rarely been that degree of team player before. Thornton had never been this good an all round player.
SJ has never played a system game this well. Not even close to it.
Add that their PP is absolutely lethal under current coaching.
Finally, in 2014 the Sharks had a BETTER D corps than now with Burns, Stuart, Hannah, Vlasic, Boyle, Braun, Demers, Irwin. In that bunch I see 5 D that can eat minutes and what was a pretty underrated D.
