Sharks’ Wilson Excited to Finally Reach Fina

PITTSBURGH – For 13 years, general manager Doug Wilson has been searching for the right mix to get the San Jose Sharks over the hump in their pursuit of the Stanley Cup.

Wilson put together some pretty good teams. Some looked good enough to win it all, yet always came up short.

This season, almost unexpectedly, the Sharks have broken through and reached the Stanley Cup Final for the first time in their 25-year history. With the finish line in sight, Wilson and the Sharks are being careful not to look past the Pittsburgh Penguins, their opponent in the Cup Final, which begins at Consol Energy Center Monday (8 p.m. ET; NBC, CBC, TVA Sports).

But there is some level of satisfaction in making it this far.

“I’m so happy for this organization, for our fan base, all the players and people that have worked for this organization.” Wilson said Sunday. “Our focus is on [Monday] night’s game. There will be a time to talk about it [later].”

Still, after closing out the St. Louis Blues in Game 6 of the Western Conference Final last Wednesday, Wilson couldn’t help thinking about late former owner George Gund, who helped bring the Sharks to San Jose as an expansion team in 1991 and current majority owner Hasso Plattner. Wilson, 58, was the captain of the inaugural Sharks team and has seen how far this organization has come.

“Mr. Gund brought us here, Mr. Plattner has kept us here,” Wilson said. “We’ve had phenomenal ownership all the way across the years and the support of our fan base. But there will be another day to talk about all that in depth, a lot of people to thank for that journey.”

It would be understandable if Wilson had doubted if the Sharks would ever reach this …

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