"Doug Wilson is going to hate this story.

That's because the subject is his least favorite topic:

Doug Wilson.

It was months before the Sharks general manager relented to a request to sit for a photograph. He deflects any conversation about himself to "the guys in the room" and prefers to talk about the "organization."

None of this seems to be false modesty. Wilson is old-school hockey, where the individual never sets himself apart from the team. In one conversation, he stopped himself after beginning a sentence by saying "I."

"We don't use that word here," Wilson explained.

Yet no matter how much he prefers to stay in the shadows, this is a pivotal season for him. He's the only Wilson still standing. He let go of Coach Ron Wilson in the off-season, then hired a rookie head coach (Todd McLellan) and added veteran defensemen (Dan Boyle, Rob Blake and Brad Lukowich) at a cost of nearly $50 million.

So should the Sharks - yet again a trendy pick to contend for the Stanley Cup - make another premature exit from the playoffs, Wilson will be high on the accountability list.

If he's worried about that prospect, it doesn't show. This is a man who never seems to be having a bad day. There's always a smile on his face and a bounce in his step. Just like the unflappable defenseman he was for 16 NHL seasons, Wilson is the picture of confidence under pressure. That includes his attitude about the re-tooled

Sharks.

"I'm really excited about this group," Wilson said recently. "This is a different team and a new era. Sometimes you have to make serious decisions, and we've made some with coaching and players. You can't live in the past.""