players like Christian Ehrhoff and out-of-college signing Tom Preissing, and the influx of energy from Alexander Korolyuk jump-started San Jose. Doug Wilson acquired Nils Ekman, and a line of Ekman, McCauley and Korolyuk provided strong play for San Jose, with all three players enjoying career years. Midway through the season, key forward Marco Sturm suffered a broken leg/ankle injury. In response, San Jose acquired Curtis Brown. They posted the third-best record in the NHL with 104 points (31 more than the previous season, and the first time the team had earned 100 points), won the Pacific Division championship and were seeded second in the Western Conference. In the 2004 playoffs, the Sharks defeated the St. Louis Blues in the Western Conference Quarter-finals and the Colorado Avalanche in the Conference Semi-finals. The San Jose Sharks, for the first time, progressed to the Conference Finals. However, they fell to the Calgary Flames, with ex-coach Daryl Sutter behind the Flames' bench and former Sharks goaltender Miikka Kiprusoff in net. During that season, San Jose, without a captain following Nolan's trade, utilized a rotating captaincy. When the job eventually fell to Patrick Marleau, he kept the captaincy. During the off-season, forward Vincent Damphousse was lost to the Colorado Avalanche (but never played a game for them, as he announced his retirement during the 2004–05 lockout). Arrival of Joe Thornton The Sharks started the 2005–06 season slowly, dropping to last place in the Pacific Division. The team lost Alexander Korolyuk. After a ten-game losing streak, the Sharks traded Brad Stuart, Wayne Primeau and Marco Sturm to the Boston Bruins in exchange for star player Joe Thornton. The trade re-energized the team, and with Nabokov sharing starting duties with backup goaltender Vesa Toskala, the Sharks rallied back from their early-season slump to clinch the fifth seed in the Western Conference. In the playoffs, the Sharks defeated the Nashville Predators in the Conference Quarter-finals before falling to the Edmonton Oilers in the Conference Semi-finals. Joe Thornton was awarded the Hart Memorial Trophy as the NHL's Most Valuable Player, as well as the Art Ross Trophy for leading the League in points, with 125. Jonathan Cheechoo was awarded the Maurice "Rocket" Richard Trophy for scoring the most goals during the regular season, with a total of 56. The Sharks entered the 2006–07 season as the youngest team in average age, as well as the biggest team in average