PHOENIX - Bryan Marchment, the - attling defenseman whose rugged style helped define the Sharks the past five seasons, was traded to Colorado on Saturday night for picks in the third and fifth round of this year's draft.

``It's definitely mixed emotions,'' Marchment said after his 334th game as a Shark, a 6-4 loss to the Phoenix Coyotes. ``I was figuring that something was going to happen. But I'm leaving somewhere where I felt really comfortable for five years. Management and everyone has treated me and my family with a lot of respect. There's a lot of guys in here and guys that have passed through that I have a lot of respect for in the hockey world.''

Marchment, whose salary is $3 million this season, can become an unrestricted free agent this summer.

``There wasn't any way we could re-sign him, so this is a classic rental situation,'' said Sharks General Manager Dean Lombardi, who also indicated that this probably won't be his last deal before the NHL trade deadline at noon Tuesday.

The selling began Wednesday when the Sharks dealt right wing Owen Nolan to Toronto for center Alyn McCauley, minor leaguer Brad Boyes and a first-round pick.

``It's a similar feeling to Owen as far as emotionally,'' Lombardi said of Marchment. ``Those two guys added very much to the identity we were trying to establish. For Bryan, it's the ultimate compliment as an athlete that everybody hates to play against you. They say things about him but they'd loved to have him play for your team. It's the Pete Rose thing. He's a throwback. He's always there for his teammates on and off the ice.''

Colorado, coached by his former Sharks teammate Tony Granato, was Marchment's preference if he had to be dealt.

``It was becoming clear that there were four or five teams with varying degrees of interest,'' Lombardi said. ``The offers were similar. I met with Bryan Friday and if there's one thing you'd like to do for a player who's been so good to us, it's ask him if he had a choice. I told him I still have to make the best deal for the franchise. But he chose Colorado, and fortunately that was the best deal for us, too.''

Acquired at the trade deadline in 1998 from Tampa Bay for Andrei Nazarov, Marchment spent more time in San Jose than in any of his previous five NHL cities.

``There is a very big emotional attachment,'' Marchment said. ``We're a very tight-knit group here.''

There could have been another Shark headed to Colorado, according to reports in Canada, but center Vincent Damphousse, who has a no-trade clause, declined the Avalanche's request to re-structure his contract, specifically his player option for $4 million next season.

Damphousse and Lombardi declined to confirm or deny this scenario. ``I've been asked by the person who has the ultimate say to respect his privacy and wishes, and not comment,'' Lombardi said.

But Lombardi did address this issue later somewhat indirectly:

 ``I can't do anything with Colorado until Vinnie works out his end.''

 ``It's never gotten that far. Have I ever had a deal in place for Vinnie? No.''

Damphousse said: ``If he doesn't comment, I don't comment. I'm not going to comment on any rumors or whatever's going on. I'll talk to you after the trade deadline. But for now I'm not saying anything.''

But Damphousse said his meeting with Lombardi on Friday was constructive.

``Absolutely. It clarified a lot of stuff,'' Damphousse said.

Teemu Selanne, the other Shark with a no-trade clause, also talked with Lombardi on Friday. Selanne said Lombardi has not given him a scenario in which to consider waiving his no-trade clause.

Detroit continues to bird-dog the Sharks. For the second consecutive game, the Red Wings had a scout in the building, and according to a league source, Detroit has interest in Selanne.

Could have fooled me. The NHL trading deadline was Tuesday at noon. So I figured that by Tuesday night, the Sharks would be skating onto the HP Pavilion ice without pants and/or Teemu Selanne. I figured that the giant Shark head would descend from the rafters missing three teeth and fighting a severe case of gingivitis.

Instead, right before the faceoff against St. Louis, here came most of our old Shark friends, skating through the old beady-eyed hulk in relatively intact form.

Selanne was still wearing teal. So were Vincent Damphousse, Mike Ricci, Scott Thornton and Adam Graves. All five had been rumored to be going elsewhere in the great Sharks fire sale of 2003.

Surprise! The only two Sharks who switched addresses Tuesday were, of all people, Matt Bradley and Dan McGillis. It was like being promised that one of the original Beatles was going to walk out the door, and discovering that it was Pete Best.

Not that we should complain. It was a good thing what our beloved Los Tiburones didn't do Tuesday morning. As the dealing zero hour neared, General Manager Dean Lombardi decided not to toss the Ricci out with the bathwater. Good decision.

After the shock wave created by trading Owen Nolan (and to a lesser extent, Bryan Marchment), the Sharks need a pause button. This is an organization -- front office, players, Zamboni driver -- that should stop and catch its breath.

Apparently, that's the temporary plan. Last week after making the Nolan deal, Lombardi conceded that the team's talent had been downgraded. He said that while he expected the team to be reasonably competitive next season, it would not be ``on third base'' and ready to score, as the last two Sharks teams have supposedly been positioned. Lombardi said the franchise was returning to second base for a while.

The reaction among season-ticket holders must have been less than enthusiastic. Because shortly after Tuesday's deadline, Lombardi switched gears and was quoted this way in a news release: ``We want to compete, win and get back to the playoffs next year.'' Lombardi also said he had refused any trades that amounted to giveaways.

How refreshing. Perhaps the franchise is thinking that between second and third base is not such a bad place to be. Around the NHL, people are astounded that the Sharks seemed ready to blow up a roster that some believed could reach the Stanley Cup finals this season. Did the miserable won-lost record that resulted mean everybody over 30 years old had to go?

No. It didn't. For in retrospect, after consulting with many voices among and around the Sharks, we can tell you definitively what happened:

Last summer, the Sharks' new ownership group sat down with then-coach Darryl Sutter to discuss a contract. The organization was candid enough to tell him that the long-range plans for the organization were to reduce payroll and rely on players drafted and developed by the team.

Sutter, after hearing this, agreed to just a one-year contract. He also spread the information he had learned to the Sharks' veteran players, saying they had better make a run at the Stanley Cup this season because they shouldn't expect the team to add any high-priced free agents.

In turn, the veteran players became suspicious of any moves the front office made -- or failed to make. So when Lombardi didn't get goalie Evgeni Nabokov signed during training camp, the locker room mood turned into one huge sour ball of: ``See? We knew it was coming.'' Sutter was soon gone, and the atmosphere became even more rancid.

There were other elements in the Sharks' collapse, of course. But the awkwardness and suspicion created by the ownership change was the overriding factor. And until the new bosses prove they have the right ideas and know what they're doing, that factor will still exist.

The Sharks need some guys with wrinkled faces. If the front office thinks it can strip down and rely on the franchise's farm system to produce the next Stanley Cup contender, someone needs to examine the team's history.

Let's play a game. Pick the all-time Sharks starting lineup, forwards and defensemen and goalie.

Here's mine, and I dare you to disagree:

Forwards: Owen Nolan, Igor Larionov and Teemu Selanne.

Defensemen: Gary Suter and Doug Wilson.

Goalie: Mike Vernon.

If you examine that list, you will find those five names have one thing in common: None was drafted by the Sharks or came up through their system. All were acquired as free agents or through trades.

If the idea is to out-draft and out-develop the other guys, the drafters and developers had better amp up their game. If you reject my evidence as being too subjective, let's look at which men the NHL itself has proclaimed as the franchise's best players.

The Sharks have had 11 players participate in the All-Star Game. Only three of them -- Marco Sturm, Sandis Ozolinsh and Marcus Ragnarsson -- were drafted and developed by the team. A fourth, goalie Arturs Irbe, falls in a special category because he was obtained in the expansion process through the special deal cut by the Sharks to siphon players from the Minnesota North Stars' system. That's why, even if you put Irbe ahead of Vernon in your all-time franchise lineup, he can't be included as a home-grown player.

I'll admit that drafting players in hockey is among the tougher tasks in pro sports.

But until the Sharks do a better job of that, then it would be a fine idea to keep around guys such as Ricci and Thornton -- and especially Selanne. There were offers for him out there this week, but either he or the team rejected them, because Selanne has the right to refuse any deals under his contract.

Selanne also has the option to return next season. He has met with Sharks President Greg Jamison to discuss the future and the results must have been fairly positive. If I were Lombardi and the Sharks' owners, I would be taking the Mighty Finn and his wife out to dinner every night and avoiding any discouraging words. Also, any gingivitis.