FanHouse Todd Mclellan

It's been a couple days since Dany Heatley was shipped from Ottawa to San Jose, so we've all had a little time to take a step back and look a the trade. Today, some of the best and brightest in the two blogospheres involved have taken the time to share their views on the trade with us. I have an odd feeling that the Senators' bloggers feel a lot of relief now that the trade has been mad but, to find out, follow me through the jump.

Jeremy Roenick can't wait until this time of the year is over. It drives him nuts.

"I'm just sitting around and waiting," the Sharks forward said. "I hate it when other people are playing and I'm not."

That's one indication Roenick gave FanHouse that he's leaning toward sticking around at least one more year. He's played 20 seasons already, however, and he'll be 40 in January. He's certainly given thought to retirement, much as he did two years ago.

Few teams inspire a lack of confidence like the Sharks. The Cubs, maybe. The Red Sox before 2004.

Even head coach Todd McLellan isn't immune. Asked about his team's flirtation with elimination after Game 4, he responded that he was "disappointed but not surprised." High marks for honesty, but that's a particularly stinging indictment coming from the team's coach.

Joe Thornton, the subject of weeklong criticism, came through in Game 5's win over the Ducks, and he will have to keep up that up tonight in Anaheim for San Jose to have any hope of forcing a Game 7 back home on Wednesday.

One game into San Jose's playoff series with Anaheim, and already the Sharks are up against it.

That's what happens with a bull's-eye-producing President's Cup and a history of playoff flops, plus a prominent player or two who are gaining reputations for disappearing in April and May.

Patrick Marleau and Joe Thornton combined for one shot in San Jose's Game 1 loss to the Ducks at the Shark Tank, and afterward, Thornton responded to questions about the small shot total by emphasizing that he's a passer, "if you haven't noticed," he said.

So much for the preliminaries. The 2008-09 NHL regular season is now history -- and, as I've written before, not a moment too soon. Beginning Wednesday night at 7:00 PM ET in Washington and Pittsburgh, the only hockey that really matters will finally take center stage: the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

To get an idea of what life is really like for a hockey fan this time of year, think of it this way: imagine the Sweet 16 of March Madness were all best-of-seven. It's the very simple reason why folks like us are completely giddy from now until sometime in June.

If your significant other is a fan of the NHL, Monday and Tuesday might very well represent the only real chance you'll have to say hello -- or, given the state of the relationship, goodbye -- for the balance of the next two months. It's a chance you shouldn't miss.

With that, I'd like to share a few thoughts on each of the eight playoff series that make up the first round. Safe to say, at first glance, it looks like the most compelling tournament in many years.

Every Thursday, Earl Sleek will conspire with his pen and scanner to bring you another installment of PuckToons. Hopefully you will find these amusing, relevant, well-drawn, or you're a person who is tolerant towards mediocrity.

As a western conference cartoonist, it's about time I took a shot at drawing Todd McLellan and Mike Babcock, whose success as head coaches for the San Jose Sharks and Detroit Red Wings will put them behind the western conference bench for this weekend's All Star Game in Montreal. As a disgruntled fan of the Anaheim Ducks, it's also about time I took a shot at the lackluster play of netminder J.S. Giguere, who will start for the Western All-Stars despite winning only one game over the previous five weeks.

Typically in sports, coaches get way too much credit and way too much blame.

In the end, the good ones are going to have large egos. They're shown on camera a lot, they get tons of credit in the media, and fans eat that kind of stuff up. The coaches parlay the positive attention into lucrative contract extensions, often even before they've proven their long-term worth.

It's likely that Todd McLellan will someday be fired from a coaching job in the NHL. Coaches are, after all, hired to be fired. But having watched the Sharks a few times in the last couple weeks, I have a hard time believing it will happen anytime soon, with the Sharks setting a record last night for most points in a 30-game start (52).

After some up-and-down times in recent years under current Toronto boss Ron Wilson, the Sharks appear to be firing on all cylinders right now. From a distance, it's hard not to give a ton of credit for that to McLellan.