FabHckyBbe

Because too many players (on both teams) are encroaching on the faceoff circle before the puck is dropped, trying to get an edge to get to the puck first and win the draw/control the play. This is why the centers keep getting tossed. You want the linesman to just drop the puck regardless of who's jumping into the circle early? I bet you'd change your tune if it were a Shark who jumped in early, helped win the draw, got a quick shot off and scored a goal. If all you want is quick draws, then why bother having the other players on the ice not taking the faceoff stay outside the circle at all? May as well let them all in there together and indiscriminately jab at the puck, huh? Yeah, I agree that the faceoff delays are a PitA, but if both teams would stop trying to cheat on the draw this wouldn't be as much of an issue. The linesmen are doing the best they can to keep it fair for both teams, which is why both team keep getting tossed from the circle. If they want to stop the teams from cheating as much they ned to start handing out delay of game penalties to the teams that get tossed twice in the same faceoff. That might curb some of the jumping in too early.

Yes, I know. It's been a bone of contention over at LGS. We're hoping he pulls his head out, soon, but he can go hot/cold in the playoffs. Kind of a streaky guy. We'll see which Patty shows up for game 3, I guess.

When you stated that you need a second line center (Marleau, Kessler) -- did you mean players of that ilk, or were you thinking of somehow acquiring one or more of those actual players? Because I gotta tell you to scratch Marleau off your wish list -- GM Doug Wilson is so in love with Patty Marleau that he will never ever trade him away or fail to sign him to contract extensions once they expre. Further, Patty loves the area and and has taken a hometown discount to stay on more than one occasion. And the real kicker is that Patty's wife wears the pants in the family (she doesn't even allow him to order what he wants at the local Peets Coffee), and is a local girl from SJ and will never allow him to leave the area. For better or worse, Patty Marleau will be the first SJ player to play his entire career in San Jose and get his number retired by us.

Mike should fix your registration shortly. He hand checks all registrations to keep out the bots and make sure you're a real live person, but he is very on top of things with the site.

Interesting, I didn't know Great America was open for the season yet. Lots of good thrill rides, there. If the Wings know what good for them, they should check out the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk on an off day. It's got the 5th oldest wooden roller coaster in the US and a fantastic carousel dating to 1911 that still has a brass ring dispenser.

Really? You think Ken Kal did a great job, huh? I hope you're being facetious about this. Because this was one of the most unprofessional bits of douchbaggery I've seen in a long time. Like you're really gonna find hockey fans strolling through the glitterati of Santana Row, an upscale shopping district/condo complex where the Wings hotel is located. Go hang out in a sportsbar and ask some people about the Sharks. Stand near the Tank. Go down to the Ice Center. Heck, try randomly walking the streets of Downtown San Jose and looking for people there, but not in Santana Row. The guy had to know he was barking up the wrong tree in that lah-di-dah place but he just didn't seem care too much 'cause he was too busy setting up San Jose to look like a bunch of rubes. And really, who's to say that he didn't find some people who knew what they were talking about and simply didn't use the footage because it wasn't funny? There's only like 6 different pretentious knuckleheads interviewed in this bit and they're suposed to represent the entirety of the Bay Area's hockey knowledge? Yeah, there's some great journalism for ya. Let talk about The Somerset Collection, shall we? This exclusive shopping center is located 25 minutes from downtown Detroit, including a Nordstom, Macy's, Neiman Marcus, Saks Fifth Avenue, Tiffany & Co, Barney's New York, Henri Bendel, Ralph Lauren/Polo, and more than 150 other specialty shops. Now, supposing I went to this exclusive mall, stopped some ladies who lunch and some random rich dudes and asked them to explain icing to me and they thought it was a cake topping. Supposing I found some clueless rich folks who didn't know a backcheck from a paycheck. Supposing I asked them to tell me who Patrick Marleau was and they said he was a French impressionist painter. Supposing I therefore concluded that because these few random rich folks didn't know what the hell I was talking about that all people from Detroit are therefore complete ignoramuses when it comes to hockey. You know what? That would make me a big fat douchebag.

I'd definitely call it more of a wash or even a slight edge to Niemi. Yes, Niemi was shaky at times against LA, and yeah, he got pulled twice, but he had been playing absolutely lights out for two solid months prior to the series. The Sharks were mired in 12th place in January riding a 6 game losing streak when Niemi went on a tear, going 24-4-0-5 between January 15 and April 4 and helping the Sharks climb from 12th place, last in the Pacific Division to 2nd in the West, third overall and first in the division. That's gotta count for something. Plus he won the Cup last year and has that experience to fall back on, something which Howard has yet to accomplish. So I'd lean it slightly more in Niemi's favor, if he can regain the form he had for the last two and a half months of the season. Yeah, that's a gimme. You got Lidstrom. You win, hands down. We got Boyle, and while I love the guy, he was uncharacteristically BAD in the LA series. Major edge to the Wings. Our PP hasn't been so great lately and the PK finally got in gear in game 6 after giving up a bunch to LA. I'm hoping they've got their special teams issues worked out before the series starts. Wash. I'd pretty much agree with this statement, while the Sharks may have more quality forwards than the Wings, but the Wings "elite" forwards have more quality/playoff experience/intangibles. Your guys have been there, done that, got the T-shirt, and know what it takes to win it all. My guys are still learning. I'm hoping this is the year that all those lessons finally pay off. And our 4th line got very little ice time in the Kings series, that needs to change if we want to grind out a win against the Wings, we need all the oars in the water for this series and no passengers. Wash or slight edge to the Wings. I can definitely agree with that last sentiment. Is it Friday, yet?

Yeah, I actually still like the Jaws theme music, but I'm really over the whole chomp thing. It was cool in like, 1993-4, but now not so much. I agree, kinda silly. Mostly little kids and newbies do it any more, you don't get huge waves of the crowd doing it, we're all too intent watching whether the Sharks will pass up perfectly good shot opportunities for that "perfect pass" on the PP. Nice! Not that I mind the Jaws references in the 'shops -- its just its a really easy target (like the flat tire). The Greg Norman/Shark/Choke label is a little more esoteric and a less obvious joke, that's why I like it better. Carry on with your mockery!

Hey, I made that shop in 2007 for my first go-round of the Photoshop War thread and the peope in here said they liked it. Guess you can't please them all.

Subtle and clever. I like to see some new ideas after all the "Jaws" inspired 'shops.

My ASSUMPTION (and remember, this is only an assumption) is that the Wings will be staying at the Hotel Valencia in Santana Row -- a VERY upscale hotel in a VERY upscale shopping center/entertainment/dining/planned living combo. This is the kind of outdoor shopping mall that has stores like Gucci and Feragamo instead of Walmart and Target, plus there is the hotel, condos, apartments, shopping, a movie theatre and fine dining establishments. Most out-of-town team have been staying there since the place opened in 2003 or 2004 as they have everything an out-of-town team could need (nice restaurants, upscale shopping, movie theatres) all within walking distance. http://www.hotelvalencia-santanarow.com/ http://www.santanarow.com/ If you ever come to visit Santana Row, Straits makes epic martinis. As for a Red Wings-friendly sports bar in SF -- I have no ideas. Edited to add: I'm assuming (again) that the Wings will either use the Sharks practice facility, Sharks Ice at San Jose, or they will have morning skates at the Tank like the Sharks do. I would be completely shocked if either session were opened to the public. Ususally Sharks training camp and non-gameday practices at the Ice Center are open to the public but game day skates at the Tank are always private. However, during the playoffs, all practices are ususally private. http://www.sharksiceatsanjose.com/ And remember, when you make an assumption, you make an ass out of umption.

Yes, but have they called for a police investigation yet?

Won't it be part of a double-header on VS? They might join the game in progress if an earlier game runs late, but I should think that they ought to be showing it in SoCal.

Nah, Boudreau isn't nearly fat enough in the painting. And that Toews mural is just horrific. He really does look like a pig in mid-oink. How unfortunate. I'd never seen that erm, "portrait" before, thanks for sharing.

Ugh. I hate 7:00 pm starts. It screws up people trying to beat the traffic from work to make it to the game and it cuts into my pre-game bar time. It's already a late start for you guys, another 1/2 hour won't make much of a difference to you, but to the people getting to the Tank it totally throws off our schedule. We've been used to 7:30 pm home starts all year long and they give us the switcheroo during the playoffs. I really hate noon starts, too. Going straight from your morning coffee to beers at the game leads to afternoon beer coma.

Just some silliness here...

OK, this made me lol. Gotta love the nostalgia of 70s Saturday cartoons.

You forget that Caps are in round two. Ovie will be the face of the NHL in round two over Stamkos.

Congrats to Steve Yzerman's Lightning. Don't know if they can beat the Caps, though. Should be a good one to watch.

A very oldie (made it back in 2007), but still a goodie...

And I fully appreciate that Stevie Y won three Cups and was an aweome leader and ledgend and all that good stuff. And I'm not really comparing the two, per se, nor am I saying that Joe will go on to captain the Sharks to 3 Cups or any such nonsese, as that would be rather presumptuous of me. All I'm saying is that Joe's got exactly the same number of Cups as Steve did at the same point in their respective careers. What the future holds is anyone's guess. I wouldn't call my response anal for no reason. The tossing out the old "choker" label is as tired and played out as anti-Wings fans calling the Wings old and slow. I'm sure you're all tired of that particular nugget, no?

And you should go ahead and say it. Shout it from the rooftops. I'm saying nothing against Zetterberg who is an awesome player with great playoff stats for the past four years. No argument from me at all. However, what I AM saying is that rolling out the same old tired cliches about "disappearing Joe" are not particularly valid right now. He had a great series against the Kings by anyone's standards. Anyone calling out Joe's play right now is showing laziness of thought and not paying attention to reality. Let me tell you about this awesome player....he was a major league prospect and a high first-round draft pick, he had been the Captain of an Original 6 team, he averaged over a point per game in his career in the first 13 seasons, and his team was once the number one seed in the West only to lose a hearbreaking first round series to the lowly eighth seeded team. Everyone called him a choker 'cause he just couldn't get it done in the post-season and neither could the rest of his very talented team. By the way, this player's name is Steve Yzerman. Then in his 14th season in the league, when he was 32 years old, Stevie Y finally won the Cup and everyone stopped calling him a big fat choker. Joe Thornton is in his 14th NHL season and he will be 32 in July. Coincidence? Yeah, probably. But something for Wings fans to think about when the bandy the choker label around.

You have to figure in any potential conflicts at HP Pavilion and the JLA, not only for the guaranteed games 1-4 but potentially up though a possible 7th game. Apparently a Friday start worked out best for both the Sharks, Wings and their respective buildings' schedules. I don't think this is some vast consiracy by the league to keep the Wings from playing for an additional day in order to keep them rusty or something or a conspiracy against the Nucks to keep them tired out.