It's not abnormal for NHL hockey teams to take trips focused solely on the prospect of building bonds and strengthening relationships within the squad.
This year, on the eve of training camp, 22 San Jose Sharks ventured to Lake Tahoe to engage in a bonding experience. They slept in cabins, hiked, barbecued and built a bonfire.
"Ninety-nine percent was not hockey," said center Logan Couture. "One percent was maybe hockey."
Why would a team that was one of the best in the league in the regular season, posting a 51-22 record, a team that has made the conference final twice and the playoffs every season in the salary-cap era, feel the need to embark on a trip built around the development of team chemistry?
After last year's unceremonious ousting from the first round of the playoffs by the Los Angeles Kings, blowing a 3-0 series and becoming only the fourth team in NHL history to do so - only a year before losing to those same Kings in the second round, after coach Todd McLellan stripped Joe Thornton of his captaincy, after yet another year of frustration and unfulfilled expectations - something needed to be done.
Following their playoff let-down, general manager Doug Wilson called the group a "tomorrow team," and said the players told him they, "felt more like co-workers than teammates."
He also used the dreaded 'R' word, the word no fan or player ever wants to hear in relation to the current structure and outlook for success of their team: "rebuild."
The "rebuild," if you want to call it that, was short and relatively painless, focusing more on providing opportunity to the young players already in the organization than acquiring outside reinforcements.
After the season, Wilson traded Brad Stuart and Dan Boyle's rights and bought out veteran Martin Havlat. He also provided youngsters Tomas Hertl, Matt Nieto and Mirco Mueller a chance to earn roster spots. He chose not to give up on McLellan.
Fortunately for Sharks fans, and despite their recent letdowns, they are an incredibly talented team that just hasn't been able to put it all together. The players seem to recognize that, even in light of their GM's post-postseason loss comments.
"Any time you lose the way that we lost in that series, fans are going to react, the organization's going to react, players," Couture said. "Things happen. You come back now, and maybe people look back and regret maybe some of the things that happened, but that's the way it goes. I still think we have a very good team in here."
The Sharks are one of those special cases where sustained success coupled with the inability to get over the hump and win it all have created an angry, rabid fan base eager to see their high expectations fulfilled. Each season they tell themselves and are told by the hockey world around them that this is the year. This is the season they're finally going to put it all together.
That, of course, hasn't been the case to date, but with a talented core of players including young superstar Couture, veteran "Jumbo Joe" Thornton, 17-year Shark Patrick Marleau, sniper Joe Pavelski and steady defenseman Marc-Edouard Vlasic, it seems to be only a matter of 'when' and not 'if' they'll finally find their way to a Stanley Cup victory.
"I still believe in this team, ultimately," Thornton said. "If I didn't, I think ... You know, that's the easy way out, just pack your bag and leave. I still believe this team can do some things."
"I still think we have a good group of guys in here," said Marleau. "I've made a commitment here to this team, and I'd like to see it through. I have a lot of skin in the game being here so many years. I want to succeed here."
