Timing is everything

Poor start, poor defense likely cost Sutter his job

Expectations were high in the Bay Area after San Jose pushed Colorado to the limit for a second consecutive postseason. The Sharks were a chic Stanley Cup pick heading into the 2002-03 season, and Darryl Sutter was dreaming of becoming the first coach ever to lead a team to an improved record in six consecutive seasons.

From thoughts of being the last team standing to being the first man fired, all in a matter of eight weeks.

Sutter ran practice Sunday, but was let go after a 10-minute meeting with general manager Dean Lombardi. Sutter's dismissal came just 15 days after his 300th coaching victory, making him the 27th person to reach that milestone.

Yet, two holdouts and one big rules change put the Sharks off on the wrong fin, and ultimately may have cost Sutter his job.

"Darryl was an integral part of the growth of this team the past five seasons," Lombardi said. "We felt strongly that this team should be playing better and was not performing at a level that we have come to expect. The degree to which we have struggled was a big factor in this decision."

Sutter didn't have a losing season in eight years as a head coach, including three with the Blackhawks, and he made the playoffs in each season.

But a dreadfully slow start while playing without two holdouts -- starting goaltender Evgeni Nabokov and defenseman Brad Stuart -- made a return trip to the playoffs a longshot.

Sutter's major downfall was San Jose's terrible defense. The Sharks have struggled without being able to clutch and grab as they did previously on an expert level. Few teams bottled up the neutral zone and eliminated a hearty forecheck like San Jose. Stuart still is not back at 100 percent after offseason ankle surgery, and veterans Bryan Marchment and Marcus Ragnarsson were a step slow before the crackdown on obstruction. Limiting the amount of physical play that blueliners can get away with has hurt San Jose significantly.

Losing checker-extraordinaire Stephane Matteau to Mike Keenan and the Panthers -- Matteau's fourth tour of duty with his favorite coach -- cost San Jose one of the gritty role players it was known for. Matteau was a perfect Sutter guy, and his absence forced the Sharks to try rookies Jonathan Cheechoo, Ryan Kraft and Lynn Loyns in that role.

Second-year blueliner Jeff Jillson also has been a huge disappointment, with his turnovers and lack of poise a surprise. Jillson had been playing a majority of the retired Gary Suter's minutes, but Jillison's disappointing play has the Sharks looking at other options. Might Suter be one of them?

And Sutter's system didn't allow much freedom for star offensive players Teemu Selanne and Owen Nolan, and his tough demeanor may have begun to wear thin on players who heard the same message for five years. This dismissal may have been foreshadowed by the fact that it took five weeks to get a new one-year contract done after the Sharks' Game 7 loss to the Avalanche in the conference semifinals.

If we assume that Dallas, Vancouver, St. Louis, Detroit, Colorado and Los Angeles will make the postseason, then Minnesota, Edmonton, Anaheim, Chicago, Columbus, Phoenix and San Jose are left to fight for the final two spots. Considering that the Sharks are closer to the lowly Predators and Flames than to the other contenders, they need to hit a major hot streak at some point to realistically get back in the hunt.

"I think we have to take it on a very short time frame," Lombardi said. "I firmly believe that the first step is to get back into a playoff spot and then go from there. Given where we're at, we're off track right now, hopefully with the change we can get back on track. I think we have to set our focus on short-term goals. If you try to get this back all at once, it's not the way the mindset needs to work."

The goal may be to sneak back to playoff contention, but barring a drastic turnaround in the Sharks' play, it appears unrealistic. While 94 points were needed to make the postseason in the Western Conference last season, let's project that number will fall to 92 this year due to the increase in ties. San Jose would need 72 points in its remaining 58 games to make the playoffs. That would be an average of 1.24 points per game the rest of the way after getting just .833 points per game so far.

Sounds like a bit too big of a hole to dig out of. But it's no longer Sutter's problem to deal with.

Jon A. Dolezar covers the NHL for CNNSI.com.

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