SAN JOSE — With heightened expectations in the wake of the Erik Karlsson trade, no one in Sharks territory is under more pressure this season than head coach Pete DeBoer.
If the Sharks face a hot goalie in the first round of the playoffs and get bounced, it’ll be DeBoer’s fault. Get beat by an equally-talented team, such as the Nashville Predators or the Winnipeg Jets, it’ll be on DeBoer. Run into some tough luck with the hockey Gods, you know who will get blamed.
DeBoer understood this back in training camp. He called it “great pressure.