The 10th anniversary season for the San Jose Sharks was a landmark campaign. The team not only had its first-ever winning season, but it also finished fifth in the hyper-competitive Western Conference. All this was done with Owen Nolan missing significant time because of a contract holdout, an abdominal injury and an 11-game suspension. Plus, Vincent Damphousse, one of the league's best playmakers, was limited to 45 games by a serious shoulder injury. The Sharks held their season together through the efforts of less heralded forwards. Patrick Marleau set career highs in goals (25) and points (52). Tough guy Mike Ricci played his typical gritty two-way game, while having his best goal-scoring year (22) since 1993-94 when he tallied 30. Scott Thornton's 19 goals were nine more than any previous total in his 11-season career, and Niklas Sundstrom's 39 assists also were a career best.

	2000-01 by the numbers
	Record: 40-27-12-3, 95 points (11th overall, 5th West, 2nd Pacific) Man-games lost to injury: 148 (22nd) Goals for: 217/2.65 (17th) Goals against: 192/2.34 (T3) Differential: 25 (T9th overall) 20-goal scorers: Patrick Marleau (25), Owen Nolan (24), Mike Ricci (22) 50-point scorers: Marleau (52)

But the most impressive performance came from goaltender Evgeni Nabokov. The 26-year-old rookie, who had been working his way up the San Jose farm system, began the season as the backup for Steve Shields. With Shields sidelined by an ankle sprain for eight of the first 10 games of the season, Nabokov took over the No. 1 job and compiled a 13-3-2 over the first two months. Nabokov tired down the stretch, finishing the season with a 4-9-2 record in his last 15 games. But the fact remains, the Sharks would not have won 40 games without him.

Looking at next season
The Sharks made waves at the trade deadline by shipping Shields and Jeff Friesen to Anaheim for Teemu Selanne, who had a sub par year with 33 goals. Should Selanne return to his 50-goal form, and should the Sharks pair him with a playmaking center, San Jose will have two of the most talented right wings in the league -- Nolan being the other.

Assuming Nabokov doesn't suffer a sophomore slump -- a la Philadelphia's Brian Boucher -- the 2001-02 Sharks might be the most competitive edition ever assembled and could gain the organization entrance into the Western Conference elite with Colorado, Dallas, Detroit and St. Louis. To do that, the Sharks need to get past the second round of the playoffs.

In addition to Selanne, general manager Dean Lombardi acquired former 50-goal scorer Adam Graves from the Rangers, who were looking to dump his salary. Though Graves is 33 years old and he registered his worst offensive numbers (10-16-26) in 10 years, the change of scenery may benefit the rugged left winger as the Sharks have more offensive weapons than the Rangers and the pressure won't be as intense. If Damphousse stays healthy, he gives San Jose three top-notch centers along with Ricci and Marleau. Nolan, the unquestioned team leader, finished with 24 goals, but was limited to 57 games, his shortest season since playing 46 games for Quebec in 1994-95. Nolan should be back to his 44-goal form from two years ago and will set the tone physically, as well.

The major weakness could be on defense. Brad Stuart, one of the league's young standouts who struggled late last season, will miss most of training camp and possibly the start of the season after undergoing surgery for a shoulder injury suffered during an offseason workout. Though the rest of the defensive corps had good plus-minus numbers, the unit is not on par with Colorado or St. Louis. Considering the Sharks surrendered the same amount of goals as the Stanley Cup-winning Avalanche (192) last season, the blue line in San Jose is well taken care of.

The Sharks have a great mix of youth and veteran leadership. With Nolan and Selanne, plenty of goals should be scored, but Nabokov will be the key. Lombardi dealt Shields because San Jose has plenty of goalies in its system. Backup Miikka Kiprusoff is talented, but with only one career NHL start, Nabokov will be carrying the load. If he is, indeed, a special goalie, the Sharks could begin a streak of consecutive winning seasons and gain inclusion among the NHL elite. If he has a sophomore slump, the team's defense will be pressured to limit shots and protect him better.

Brian A. Shactman covers the NHL for ESPN.com.