Regular-season success is nothing new to the San Jose Sharks.
Winning their first Presidents’ Trophy a year ago as the league’s best team through 82 games was thought to be a sign they were ready to break though and play in their first Stanley Cup final.
But once the post-season begins, it seems to be the same old Sharks — teeth too dull to tear the meat off the playoff monsters.
The closest they’ve been to the Cup was in 2004, when the Calgary Flames took them out in the Western Conference final.
Seven times they’ve been victimized in the second round. Another four have seen them ousted in the first.
That includes last year’s disaster against the eighth-place Anaheim Ducks, who disposed of them in six games.
Queue up the Jaws music for Dany Heatley.
The Calgary-raised winger — one of the league’s top forwards — wasn’t the most marketable guy after requesting a trade out of Ottawa, but the Sharks acquired him in the hopes he would help them get to the next level of post-season success.
Toiling for the most part with Joe Thornton and Patrick Marleau this year, Heatley hasn’t disappointed in the regular-season, and former Senators teammate Brian McGrattan expects Heatley to make a difference for the Sharks in the playoffs the way he did in helping the Sens reach the Stanley Cup final in 2007 while playing with stars Jason Spezza and Daniel Alfredsson.
“Unbelievable. He was unbelievable,” McGrattan said. “That whole line basically carried our team. Everybody else did their part, but you have to have your big line going, and they brought it every night. “
Heatley had been an Eastern Conference kid until this season. Not many out in the west have had many opportunities to watch him play.
Considered by many a goal-scorer with little else to offer, the 29-year-old continues to surprise opponents and teammates the way he caught McGrattan off guard when joining the Sens in 2005.
“He’s a big guy — he’s like 6-4,” McGrattan said, raising an eyebrow. “I didn’t realize it. When he first came to training camp and walked in the room, I never thought he was that big, either.
“He’s really strong in the corners, really strong on the puck, and goes to the net. He gets in there.”
That sounds like playoff style hockey in the Western Conference.
Their top trio has been dominant at times, helping the Sharks rank third in goals per game prior to last night’s game against the Flames with an average of 3.17.
Expecting Heatley to come through when it counts in the playoffs, Marleau says he’s seen what the sniper can do to make a difference in big games on an international level for Team Canada.
“I’ve played with him on a few different world championship teams, so I’ve known him for a while,” Marleau said. “He’s a big-time scorer. He scores in all the important games, and he shows up in those games. He’s gonna be there when your back’s against the wall and he’s gonna make those big plays and get those big goals.”
Witnessing that first-hand during the Senators’ incredible Cup run that fell short against the Ducks, McGrattan says Heatley’s competitive edge comes from his passion for the game.
“He brings it every game, too,” McGrattan said. “He loves the game. I don’t think I’ve played with a guy that loves the game as much as that guy. He just goes out and has fun and plays hard every night.
“It’s something to feed off as a player who plays with a guy like that.”
It’s something the Sharks hope to feed on all the way to the Stanley Cup.
steve.macfarlane@sunmedia.ca
