from Ken Wiebe of the Winnipeg Sun,

The Sharks did it with a core group of players that have long been questioned for their inability to go deep into the playoffs.

One thing that’s occasionally overlooked is that many of those Sharks teams didn’t get strong enough goaltending.

After the Sharks missed the playoffs last season, general manager Doug Wilson addressed that need by acquiring Martin Jones in a trade with the Boston Bruins at the 2015 draft.

Wilson also replaced longtime head coach Todd McLellan with Peter DeBoer and brought in defenceman Paul Martin and playoff performer Joel Ward as unrestricted free agents.

Martin has proven to be the perfect defence partner for Brent Burns, who has been fantastic during the post-season after being named a Norris Trophy finalist.

As for Ward, after a quiet start to this series (no points in four games), he scored twice in Game 6 to give him four goals over the past two games and six in the playoffs.

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Below, watch on-ice post-game interview with Joe Thornton...