Sharks coach Todd McLellan can't wait for season to start: 'We've had enough of this other crap'

The San Jose Sharks offseason was filled with stories about hiring ice girls and stripping Joe Thornton of the captaincy, but coach Todd McLellan has no time for that noise.

"Pretty soon we can start talking about hockey - who made the right play on the ice, who did this, who did that. We need that right now. We've had enough of this other crap," McLellan told the San Jose Mercury News.

The Sharks can begin selecting a new captain and putting last season's heartbreaking conclusion behind them once training camp begins on Thursday. Former captain Patrick Marleau feels like San Jose is entering the season with "a lot of unanswered questions.

"We don't know what's going to take place here, what's going to happen here," he said. "Before, it seemed like everything was pretty much set."

General manager Doug Wilson is embracing that uncertainty as he attempts to shake up the Sharks' internal hierarchy following their embarrassing playoff collapse against the Los Angeles Kings. McLellan doesn't want his players to erase the memory of that series, but he doesn't want them to dwell on it, either.

"April of last year, I don't want us ever to forget that, but I don't want it to be the sole focal point of training camp," he said. "We've got to get back together, we've got to re-establish good habits on the ice, off the ice, around the rink."