San Jose Sharks captain Joe Thornton didn't give a specific reason why the St. Louis Blues dominated his team in the playoffs in an interview with CSNBayArea.com's Kevin Kurz.

"They were just a better team. Flat out, they were just a better team than us last year,” Thornton said.

GM Doug Wilson points to one theme, though: aggressiveness.

“One of the bigger issues that we talked about initially was the identity of this hockey team.