FabHckyBbe

Oh, please. Just because the Wings have a storied history it doesn't mean that the Sharks aren't a team to be reckoned with. Come back and chat with me in another 65 years when the Sharks franchise is as old as Detroit's is right now and then we can swap stories about the good old days when the Shark Tank was a feared place to play.

Oh absolutely. Neither team has played to their full potential, not yet. I'd like to see both teams bring their "A" game tomorrow night for some high-tempo exciting hockey. And I'd like to see the Sharks win.

No, I did read the whole thread. And I wasn't aiming my remarks at Wings fans as a group, but more towards those few who are rambling about the opposing coach and his comments. We saw so much of it from the Preds fans in round one that it just became comical. I felt that if those few who got all up in arms about Wilson's comments (which were mild at best and certainly not derogatory towards the Wings in any way) could see how ridiculous they sound that it might make a smidge of difference. But then again, probably not.

To be perfectly honest here -- this is NOT all the Sharks have. Not by a long shot. Yes, they've outplayed the Wings for the first ten minutes of the first two games. BUT, the Sharks have yet to play a solid 60 minute effort. Perhaps you can win in San Jose, that remains to be seen. However, I do not count my team out. I think they will pick up their play in front of the home crowd and put in a more consistent and complete effort for the entirety of the game. Winning in San Jose may be more difficult than you think. We'll find out tomorrow.

Confident, much? I'll tell you Wings fan this much -- the Sharks got an added boost by the subtraction of Mark "God I really SUCK" Bell from the line-up. Little Joe Pavelski is back on the second line with Patty and Guerin. All is right with the World! With this kind of fantabulous news there is no way in heck-fire the Sharks can lose this at home. Sharks 3 Wings 1 Or not. But god knows they can only be better without Bell.

Feeder is a good board too, just doesn't have quite as much participation as this one. Respectfully begging to differ slightly -- The Feeder rocks. But then I am biased. I lurked/posted on the SJS boards for a long time, but it was the most territorial, unfriendly, mean-spirited environment I had ever encounter on the web. My very first day posting there I got into a difference of opinion with another poster whose witty response to me was to call me a fat chick who couldn’t get a date. Yup, that's the way to win an argument! Sadly, this type of behavior is typical for SJS -- very clique-y and insular, they fear outsiders and bicker among themselves and high post-counts mean that you have a higher status than everyone else. Now, when the SJS Board was shut down not too long ago, I went venturing for another Sharks board. I found The Feeder and was welcomed with open arms from my first post. (Mind you – it was a really good post! ) What a difference to find a board that actually likes adding new members and doesn’t dismiss their posts as that of “n00bs.†Further, I would like to add that since joining LGW a few days ago, I have been welcomed with open arms both in threads I have posted and in PMs that I have been sent. Thank you for your graciousness. I am in full agreement with Grypho that this is one of the best sites on the web I’ve found to talk hockey and the fans here are top-notch. As I send in a PM response to one of the LGW regulars, “The way I see it -- this is a Red Wings forum and I am a guest in your house. Why on earth wouldn't I act politely? I would expect the same for any visitors to my boards, and the LGWers who have ventured to the Feeder (my main board) have been awesome. You should check the Feeder out, we're a much smaller board than LGW or the SJS boards, but it's all about quality, not quantity.†Thanks for being a great site & go Sharks….

OK, here is a Sharks' fan's perspective.... Starting an "I hate Ron Wilson" thread because you don't like his commentary or attitude only sinks you to to the intellectual level of Predators fans, a majority of whom spent all of last round on their boards bitching and moaning about Ron Wilson being so whiney and getting all the calls because he whined so much and how the whole league was against them and how Ron Wilson has the refs in his pocket because he whined all the time and how it just wasn't fair and how the Preds had to overcome the opposing team and the league because everyone was against them and because Ron Wilson was a whiner. God, it was so pathetic. I don't think you could find a less informed group of fans if you tried. Now, by starting up a silly "I hate Ron Wilson" thread, do you really want to be seen as comparable to people who are that clueless?

I hate to say I told you so, but..... Way back at the start of the GDT I conceded victory to the Wings in Game 2 due to the insertion of Mark Bell into the line-up. While Bell only registered as a -1 on the day, his linemate Patty Marleau went -3 for the game. As one of my fellow posters on the Feeder noted, "Bell destroys Patty..it is like the whole team knows that he is going to screw up soon so they are off their game when he plays, second guessing and trying to cover for him as well as play their own positions." Below are my post-game thoughts on Mr. Bell as I expressed them on the Feeder, for those of you not fortunate enough to have registered there already... Trust me -- a LARGE quantity of Sharks fans simply HATE this guy. It's like he's cursed when he dons our sweater. If you want him, you can have him -- I ask nothing in return, not a draft pick or even a bag of pucks, all I ask is that you take his salary off our hands to free up cap space. Any thing else is addition by subtraction. For the love of god I pray that he's out of the line-up for Game 3, otherwise, you'll win that one, too.

Very true, you could come in and play very well in the Tank and you could have hit on a turning point with your well-deserved win in game 2. However, just to play devil's advocate here....In round 1 the Sharks lost game 2 in egregious fashion and returned to the Tank with a split on the road to open the series. That game 2 loss proved to be a catalyst that propelled the Sharks into convincing wins in game 3 & 4 at the Tank and a series cliching victory in game 5. Am I saying the Wings are anything like the Preds? No. Just that the loss could have been a turning point for the Sharks, too, because that had to be a seriously disheartening way to lose a game. This series could go either way...we'll just have to see what happens on Monday. I know which way I'm rooting....

Astrodoggie, you rock! And now I will get flamed mercilessly for this, but I just don't care....how I see the game two results.... Minus 3 from the Captain, way to gift wrap it, Patty.

And I never said the Wings were anything like the Preds. I was merely taking Umbrage at Legionnaire11's assertion that the Sharks are so inneffective when playing from behind, seeing that 3 of 4 victories against them were either made by breaking a tie or coming from behind. That has no bearing on the Wings and their similarities/differences to the Preds.

Coming from a Sharks fan's perspective, that hit was totally brutal. And 100% clean. Penalty for interference? Yes, because Cheechoo never touched the puck. Dirty? Not on your life, it was a bang-bang play and I think Franzen honestly believed Cheechooo had the puck when he drilled him Trust me, we just played the Preds. Sharks fans know from dirty hits. This wasn't one of them.

And game two was a serious give-away by the Sharks, especially by Christian "would-you-like-to-score-a-short-handed-goal-please-let-me-put-that-puck-right-on-your-stick-Mr.-Red-Wing-player" Erhoff. Gah. And the Sharks haven't shown up for a full 60 minute game yet either. I two games the Wings haven't shown up for the first 10 minutes, and the Sharks checked out after the first 20. If the Wing can play a full 60 minute game and the Sharks do not, then the Wings are fully capable of taking one if not both of the games in San Jose. If the opposite is true, and the Sharks show up while the Wings are sleepwalking, then it'll be two losses at the Tank for your team. If both squads show up for a full sixty minutes? A split. These are two very good and very evenly matched teams when they decide to show up.

Take a close look at Jonathan Cheechoo is this series. I'm willing to bet be could give Dino a run for his money. I adore Cheech, but he's a horrible skater.

Frankly I'd rather see Mark Smith, who hasn't played a game in approximately 2 months, in the lineup than Mark Bell. At least Smitty plays with heart. Bell is a black hole of suckiness that drags everyone down with him. Ugh. He's worse than useless, he will be an active benefit to the Wings.

With Mark "the Useless" Bell in the lineup, I concede this game to the Mighty Mighty Red Wings. His level of suckage is not to be believed. Hopefully, I shall be proved wrong, but I do not have high hopes. On a totally unrelated note, aflac9262, you make the most gorgeous GTD starter topics I've ever seen.

Good for the Nucks. I don't see them winning their series, although I would love for them to do it, because I loathe the Ducks with the fire of a thousand suns. But the Nucks winning their came can only be good news for fans of both the Wings and Sharks. Having the Ducks and Nucks tire each other out behooves whichever of our teams advances from our series. So I'm rooting for the Ducks and Nucks to go into multiple OTs for 5 additional games and pound each other into mush.

It cracks me up that so many Wings fans are bemoaning San Jose's use of the trap in game 1. "It's boring!" "It sucks!" This coming from fans of the team that helped to invent and perfect a form of the trap. I gots just three little words for ya'll: Left Wing Lock. If you hate the trap so much, take a look in the mirror. The Wings may no longer play that style, but they sure helped to popularize it. As far as it being boring hockey, I'd love for it to be as boring as it takes for the Sharks to get to the next round. You mean like in the first round, in Game 1 when the Sharks blew a two goal lead in the third period but still managed to come back and win in 2OT? Or maybe like in Game 3, when the Preds took a 1-0 lead into the second period only to have the Sharks score 3 unanswered goals to win the game? Or perhaps it was like Game 5, in which the Sharks blew a 1-0 lead and trailed 1-2 in the second, but still rallied to win 3-2 and finish the series in 5 games? Yeah, the Sharks seem to be much less dangerous when playing from behind this playoff year.

I live in a 20 year old 900 sq. foot condo that is valued at $400K plus. Thanks to Propsition 13, a state law that passed in 1979, I pay well over 3 times the property tax as my parents who live in a single family detached home that is over twice the square footage of my condo. The difference is that they bought their house 30 years ago pre-Prop 13 and I bought 6 years ago post-Prop 13. Luckily, I was able to puchase my condo when it was possible for me to barely afford it, if I were trying to buy something now I'd never in a million year be able to as the purchase price I paid has gone up approximately 45% in 6 years. There is no housing of any kind available in San Jose for less than 300K, and a single family detached house will not go for less than $500K -- and that would be in the scariest neighborhood imaginable. Did I mention that the high-tech industry is slowly pulling out of a downturn and jobs are once again on the rise. Just in time because my former employer laid off my entire work group of 25 people last January. I've been living on severance pay and unemployment since January. Last October my former employers shut down their Manufacturing Fab in the Bay Area and moved it overseas, laying off approximately 250 people. So we in teh Bay Area are not immune to layoffs either. Also, gas is more expensive in CA than in any other state as we have more stringent environmental laws which makes it more expensive to produce (or so we're told). And the SF Bay Area has the highest gas prices in CA. So, while I'm sure things truly are rough in Detroit, they aren't exactly rosy in the Bay Area, either.

Yes, but for whom? Not to get all flamey or kick you when you're feeling down, but I have noticed a lot of posters make the comment that the Wings didn't bring their "A" game tonight. I accept that as a fair assessment of your team's performance from you who know the play of your team best. However, as a fan of the Sharks who has watched all of their games this season, you should know that the Sharks didn't bring their "A" game tonight either, and they were still able to emerge victorious. I expect a more up tempo and entertaining game on Saturday and may the best team win. Go Sharks!

So a bird flew in to the Joe and he's been dubbed the rally bird? This is brand new this year? And who came up with the name Bernie, any significance to that? Funny, We used to get pigeons in the Cow Pallace a million years ago before the Shark Tank was constructed, and some of the plucky ones would land on the ice, but none ever became a cultural phenomenon.

D'oh! Total opposite of San Jose -- STH get a massive price break on playoff ticket prices as well as being guaranteed a ticket to every playoff game (they also get a price break on the regular season tickets as well, but it is not as big). Individual ticket buyers are at the mercy of TicketMaster -- generally they sellout within 10 minutes of release to the public. So the price break and the guarantee of tickets is a big incentive to get season tickets. By the 4th round, should we get there, god willing, the price difference between STH prices and individual ticket prices is more than 50% at most levels. For instance, I have a partial ticket plan that guarantees me one ticket per playoff round and I pay the same price for those tickets as a full STH. My seats are in the upstairs lower sideline seats and this is what I pay for them... Reg Season --> Rd. 1 --> Rd. 2 --> Rd. 3 --> Rd. 4 ----->$39 ------>$48 ----> $61 ----> $86 --->$116 (STH Price) As compared to this pricing for the exact same seat without being a partial ticket plan holder: Reg Season --> Rd. 1 --> Rd. 2 --> Rd. 3 --> Rd. 4 ----->$43 ------>$58 ----> $88 ----> $148 -->$238 (indiviual ticket price) By the time we get to the SCF, god willing, my single game STH will cost me less than half the price of a guy who doesn't have a partial season plan. I don't know what the other ranges are for STH prices, I only know the level I'm paying.

Please explain the Bernie phenomenon to an outsider. It doesn't get the same play as the octopus story, so I'm not sure of the significance. Thanks.