Jason Demers

The San Jose Sharks face some big questions heading into the offseason, having lost the last two consecutive Western Conference Finals. Making a third consecutive appearance is a feat only accomplished four times in league history, and the Sharks need to take the next step forward in order to make their first Stanley Cup Final.

With a host of free agents to consider, the Sharks must improve their depth as well as add the defender that can make the difference in their quest for the Stanley Cup.

After what could be considered the game of the year so far, on Tuesday night, the San Jose Sharks were back in action in Game 4 at the Staples Center against the Los Angeles Kings.

After Game 3, sports analysts and fans on both sides were wondering whether the Kings would come out with all guns blazing after losing what was a four-goal lead at one point.

In a theme that's been surprisingly common this season: Yet another team reversed its fortunes in the confines of the Shark Tank on Monday.

For many teams, headed to San Jose meant a extremely loud crowd and a tough road test from a very talented and tough at home Shark team. Teams that have had a tough go of it in San Jose have found a far different team this year and last night's game was no different.

Unplucked Sports brings you a fresh batch of available free agents in a majority of fantasy hockey leagues. The available players are broken down into three categories: Must Have, Space Available and Watchables. Patrick Baker brings you this week's picks.

(Check out our past Unplucked Gems archives and other features by Patrick Baker at Unplucked Sports Follow us: twitter.com/unpluckedsports)

In the world of sports, the phrase "dog days of summer" is usually used in reference to professional baseball. After all, baseball is the only major U.S. sport in mid-season during the summer months.

But more specifically, the use of "dog days" refers to (give or take) the final four-six weeks of summer, centering around the month of August.

And with August 2010 now under way, fans of playoff contending baseball teams around are hoping their teams can stay in contention through arguably the toughest month of the season.

Lots of rumours to tell you guys about so let's get started.

Antti Niemi has had seven offers on the table. New York Islanders are expected to be the front-runners. I am still trying to figure out what they plan on doing with all their other goaltenders. I say get rid of all of them, including the one impersonating a GM and go after Niemi.

The San Jose Sharks did accomplish something significant in the 2009-10 NHL season.

For what it's worth, they are no longer the biggest choke artists in hockey.

The San Jose Sharks have some major house cleaning to do in the offseason. After what will be another disappointing exit in the playoffs. Is it time for the Sharks to rebuild after finishing the past two seasons with the best record in the Western Conference? 

At this point the answer to that question is a no, but there are players that the Sharks need to get rid of and there are some players the Sharks need to keep. Against Chicago the Sharks showed exactly what there issues are lack of scoring depth, lack of defense, lack of aggressiveness, and bad mistakes. 

The San Jose Sharks lost Game One because the Chicago Blackhawks dominated the tempo, the hitting, AND the score sheet.

Where did I get this interesting factoid?

NBC's coverage of Game One, and the Chicago Sun Times, of course!

This morning, I woke up literally and figuratively as a SAN JOSE Shark fan, a.k.a "TibKid", and developed a more realistic analysis.

Let's take each point and consider:

TEMPO

On Sunday, game one of the Western Conference Finals featured two of the NHL’s most prolific offenses, though the real matchup was between netminders, Antti Niemi (Chicago) and Evgeni Nabokov. A sign of things to come in such a competitive series.

Chicago took a 1-0 series lead at the HP Pavilion on behalf of Niemi, who had 44 saves and one goal against for the second seeded Blackhawks, despite the Sharks’ five power plays. Jason Demers had the only goal for San Jose, his first of the playoffs, while right winger Dustin Byfuglien and Patrick Sharp scored for Chicago.