Grypho

If Nabby gave up three unanswered goals in a short period of time, you'd see Vesa in net shortly after. RE: Stick-side -- were you watching Game 4? Holmstrom snuck in and beat Nabby stick side on a spin around. But low on the stick side is where Nabby gets beat more than high, especially with close quarter shots. But you have to screen Nabby or have three viable shooters with passing lanes to beat him on it. As for general team weaknesses, it might be a vampire thing, but we won't know for sure until Game 5. Whichever team goes up in smoke and flames in the light of day is the one I'll consider the Undead. Prior to that, there's the question of whether or not some of the Sharks can actually see their own reflections in Wilson's mirror. If they can't see themselves in it, it could be them. Whichever team is vampyr, the weaknesses will center around all the usual vampire stuff (but I don't recommend spearing them with a stick front of the refs - they're known to be blood-suckers already) -- draw them out in daylight, don't invite them into your net, etc.,

Years ending in 7? Detroit Stanley Cup Victories: 10 years ago: 1997 70 years ago: 1937 (they beat NYR)

TEARS!!! Sorry for the thread hijack, but the tube video is even funnier, as he didn't even get the fight he wanted - just got up and skated over to pick up his glove. CRACKED MY ASS UP!! So, back on topic, will this drag on like the game itself, or will it be a quick put-away by two teams that don't want to see this dragged on? I think quickly - maybe even on this NYR PP.

My feeling exactly. I know many of the Ducks fans are thinking, "Good, I hope they beat the hell out of each other, so that we can dominate a banged up teams, and coast some more into the SCF", but it's extremely wishful and deluded thinking on their parts. These are two powerful and battle tested teams, each with a dominating game of their own, who don't wear down easily, either of which can seriously give the Ducks the game they have yet to see. Furthermore, out of all three teams still standing in the West, Anaheim is the least disciplined, especially when their own net is being repeatedly peppered or crashed. They just haven't gone up against a team with a serious enough offense to draw out the worst in them. The WCF will change all of that, regardless who they face. That will be fun to watch, because if anyone hasn't noticed yet, the refs aren't putting away their whistles for anyone. Discipline is still very much a deciding factor.

The Rangers were known for giving up goals just after scoring. My biggest fear was that they were going to pull a Sharks...not the same thing at all, but WOW. 7.7 seconds left and they tie it. WOW.

What a strange game. I honestly didn't expect it to be so low scoring. Who'da thunk? The Rangers were at the top of the original Desperate Six teams who were fighting for one of the bottom three seeds in the EC. Then they go on to give the Sabres a serious run for their money? I think you're right about Lundqvist. SOG 34-18 in favor of the Sabres - that says a LOT. Whether they make it to the SCF or not, how can you not take your hat off to the Rangers for their amazing stand? BTW, hak, I've watched your avatar replay a dozen times, and can't stop laughing. Honestly one of the funniest hockey avs I've ever seen. 1-0 RANGERS!!! GO NYR!!

I'm surprised nobody's said Buffalo and Anaheim yet, aren't they the darlings this year? I'm not really sure if I have a favorite for who I'd to see the Sharks play in the SCF. Put me down as undecided.

No, anyone caught throwing anything onto the ice (other than a hat after a hat trick) is immediately ejected from the arena. No tolerance, zero warnings, they toss you out on your ass. The guy who threw the dead shark onto the ice was thrown out, btw. He claims that security promised him that nobody would be thrown out, that they just wanted to know what happened. So the guy confessed, "I did it.", afterwhich they asked him to come with him to talk to the supervisor who then said, "Oh no, you are definitely out of here."

Turns out it was was a Sharks fan who was indeed trying to copy the Wings tradition. He had been planning it for twelve years, after attending a Wings game and seeing an octopus thrown on the ice. They did a radio interview of the guy t (known only as "Shark Thrower") who threw the shark, the .MP3 file of which you can listen to here. Turns out it was a four foot leopard shark (or so the claim), which he purchased already dead, put it in plastic, and smuggled in under an overcoat. He was ejected from the game afterward (after, he alleges, the ushers promised him that they wouldn't - that they just wanted to know). KNBR Radio also did a piece called "Shark Throwing 101 - How to smuggle a shark into the HP Pavillion in 9 easy steps:" 1. Get dead shark 2. Put on ice. 3. Display shark 4. Disguise shark. 5. Find innocent looking smuggler. 6. Strap to back. 7. Cover w/ lg. shirt. 8. Cover w/ lg coat. 9. Hurl Shark!

THANK YOU for that. No, I'm not leaving (unless it's out on a rail!). This is one of my hockey havens now. My very favorite, in fact. And as for next year, as Ahnold from Cauliphonia would say, "Ah'll be back." EDIT: One day I'll be back in the States, and hope to attend a game there in Hockey Town; get the flavor of it from a Detroit fan perspective. When I do I'll post here and see if I can hook up with some friends from this boards while I'm there - mix it up with the red and teal.

I predict that this series will be won in Game 7 by the Wings, in a final score of 7-6, 11 minutes 14 seconds into triple overtime, with a blinding laser of a one timer by Lang, but only after he's been flattened twice by Mike Grier in four on four play, following a fight between Nabokov and Hasek (Nabby wins, Dom turtles). Mark my words, baby. If it doesn't happen exactly this way, I'll eat four rice cakes straight without a drop of coconut milk (until at least a minute afterward) to wash it down, and that's a promise.

Are you kidding? Try Game 4 of this series on this board after the second goal went in! The tidal shifts in this series have been so enormous, so dramatic, to say the least. It got so ugly in the GDT that I dared not post (names not quoted): Happens everywhere. Nobody's immune.

So tough to say, I'm with those who haven't a clue. As for predicting who is most likely at this point: at the beginning of the series I honestly thought Sharks in 6, but I'm not even sure of that now. It has been a great series, with some surprises for a lot of fans, and that's about all I can say at this point. I can't wait for Saturday, and even then, Saturday's outcome will do little more than give me a slight probability projectipn that favors the ultimate victor. If we simply continued to trade games, as another poster in another thread stated, then it would mean that the Sharks would take it in 7, and, as Jake stated above, no team has won two in a row so far... however, I don't see that trend continuing. I think that one (or both) teams will figure out how to win two in a row before this series is over. Whether it happens on the front end in 6, or the back end in 7 - I haven't the faintest clue.

Proud Wings fan to a deflated Wings fan after game 3: Wherefore now mourn? What conquest brings they home? What Cup has caused their mouths to foam, Or graced their shelves as the winged-wheel? You blocks, you stones, you worse than senseless things! O you hard fans, you cruel fans at home, Knew you not Yzerman? Many a time and oft Have you sacrificed food for tickets, and snuck To the glass and club seats, yea, from nose-bleeds, Your infants in your arms, and there through warmups Anthems even, sat with patient expectation, To see Yzerman but pass the puck to Lemieux : And when in net you saw Mario's wrister disappear, Have you not made an universal shout, That Detroit River trembled 'neath her banks, To hear the replication of your sounds Made in her concave shores? And do you now refuse to wear red? And do you now cull out a funeral? And do you now strew flowers upon a grave That you now fill with Hockey Town's blood? Be gone! Run to your houses, fall upon your knees, Pray the hockey gods intermit the plague That needs must light on this ingratitude.

There's a universe of difference to me between reservation and pessimism. However, if it's truly a feigned pessimism, as a withdrawal of emotional investment, then I think you have a point. I don't know if I would call it cowardice on anyone's part; that's something I can't readily buy into, nor would I consider the over-the-top fans who predict equally over-the-top blowouts to be any more emotionally invested than a fan who is more reticent to go out on an emotional limb. To me they sometimes appear as two sides of the same manic-depressive fan coin -- and are often the same person. Listen to kids in the minor leagues and homer fans everywhere, and you'll hear the amateurish, overly-optimistic, "Yeah, we're going to slaughter them! They're going down! We'll kill them, yeah!" Nothing wrong with that, of course. They're cheerleading, beating the war drum, getting their juices flowing, and leading the charge by imaginary proxy... but contrast that with the top players of any sport in any league, and it's rare that you'll hear anything approaching that kind of thing. It comes out more as, "Well, we've worked hard, there are some things we need to improve, but we feel pretty good about our game. We'll see, we hope to give it our all. One game at a time, yada yada..." You hear it all the time, and it's an easy one for anyone to fill in the blanks on. It's ALWAYS reserved. Not pessimistic. Just reserved, and for (IMO also) a good reason. To me it's the difference between manic optimistic delusion that centers around a wished-for fantasy, and an even-keeled maturity, that remains hopeful and adjusting in the face of reality. As for the one who really is deliberately pessimistic, and throws in the towel and forfeits a series before it's over - yeah, it certainly looks like weakness to me; surely a flaw, from my perspective - but then again, everyone feels things differently, and who knows that this isn't a survival mechanism that isn't good for that person in other areas of life. I had an uncle who thought he bought himself 30 more good years by giving up on a lot of fights -- before fighting them anyway...something about "freedom is another word for nothing left to lose...", or in other words, sometimes emotional detachment is an effective way of robbing your opponent of any possible psychological advantage.

GO NUCKS!! Put three away and get ready to face the Warks. Or the Shings. Whatever. GO NUCKS!!

Good observation, I was going to say the exact same thing. I think the Sharks spend a lot of time trying to get an accurate read on their opponents (as opposed to the Ducks, who like to do less reading and more dictating of play right from the jump). So while the Sharks appear to adopt some of the pacing and tempo of their opponents, which looks reactinonary to me at first, they do risk getting sucked into the other team's rhythm, pace, and style of play, which may be superior in its own right. But I do think there's wisdom to the style, and that it pays off in the long run.

I think you highlighted a common mistake with fans. Ask after any game defeat in this series whether the other team was falling apart, and it might give you a fuzzy feeling if it's not your team on the hotseat, but it's an illusion I would never trust (and your Habs example was spot on). I do think there was some needless overconfidence on the part of the Sharks going into the series. Now that the reality that these really are two good teams, neither of which is going to be easily beaten, I think we'll continue to see extremely strong play on both sides. If there's going to be any unraveling at the Sharks' seams, it's not going into Game 5. And NKYWingsFan is right - that extra day to regroup is a very fortunate thing for the Sharks. It's the same extra day that the Wings would have had/needed, had the series gone to 3-1 after the last game.

I don't guage forum fans based on the few trash talkers or the young, well intending, but ignorant homers who attack anything not "their color". I look at the best of the best, and also the majority average, and I just wanted to let you all know that I think you have a lot of class here. LOADED with a deep love, knowledge and appreciation for the game, I've been very pleasantly surprised by the personal moderation shown by so many posters here. And the forum. What a forum. You welcome everyone, you don't even allow long-time members to make new members unwelcome (you actually have a RULE for this!), you keep the boards wide open and BEAUTIFULLY formatted. You allow sigs and off-site avatars, you only call the worst of infractions -- in other words, you run the forum the way a hockey game should be run. ALL OUT. Without question, this is one of the best designed and run forums in the NHL, and the fact that it's not even run by a team or the NHL, but by fans, makes it all the better. So much class, depth and heart. You have my undying appreciation and respect. Almost makes me want to start a forum for Sharks fans, and pattern it after this one. I am SO tempted. My hat's off to all of you - if'n I had me a hat. One Wings/LGW appreciating Sharks fan.

Goes hand in hand with what I said in another thread about RW. This isn't new. He's always used the media primarily as a device to talk to his team, and everyone on the team knows it. Does it help/hurt? I don't know. Even if the Sharks were eliminated or advanced to eventually take the Cup I wouldn't have any way of knowing. I personally wouldn't do it, but that's a difference in coaching styles, and I'm not an NHL coach anyway, so who knows? I do know that during the game the players are thinking about what he's going say about/to them afterward. Of that I'm certain.

Hey, what are friends for? Could you feel the love?

To all the Private "Game-over-man-game-over!" Hudson fans of hockey, beer's on me, and this one's for you! I'm coming to realize that every fan processes the game differently, and I can't really criticize it, but I can say that I'm finding it something worth laughing at in retrospect, because Hudson fans are just part of the game, like anyone else. Manic-depressive roller-coaster for them - a ride I can't share, or buy into, but it's not like they're not deeply into the game and their team. I wanted a different outcome, but I thoroughly enjoyed Game 4, from beginning to end. Lang came through in the third with the equivalent of a Kurt Gibson homerun, and that alone was worth the price of admission for anyone to see as far as I'm concerned. That's the stuff that legendary playoff hockey is made of, and I was glad to be there for it. Meanwhile, to all the Hudsons out there, I've decided not to chime in any more, but will enjoy watching that just as much as the game itself, because it seems to go along with the game, like cracker jacks to baseball. In retrospect, there were NO disgraces in this game. Even if San Jose had found a way into the net in overtime, or had prevented Lang's go-ahead for OT. Even then, this was one amazingly hard fought game -- SO ENJOYABLE to watch! Meanwhile, don't forget; she's still a long ways from putting on costume and makeup, and still has yet to even clear her throat:

If you check out the Sharks board, you'll see that it all balances out. Lose a goal, it's the entire game, and therefore the series -- see you all next season, it's been great, yada yada. But then there are the actual players, who continue to play, whose entire bodies, and not just their "hearts", are actually in the game, and they know only too well that those tiny inches make the difference in some people's minds between a complete legend worthy of adoration and praise and a despicable goat that needs a good scaping. That's just the way the average fan's cookie crumbles (and boy does it crumble easily). Good post.

This was far and away, IMO, the best game, not just of this series, but any series thus far in the playoffs. I don't know if any of you noticed, but nhl.com had a poll on its front page yesterday asking fans how many games they thought our series would go. As I recall, less than 12% thought it would go 5 games. 51% thought it would go 6 - which it well could, and could mean victory for either team, and more than a third thought it would go the distance. That was before tonight's game. So much for these teams not being well matched.

Very much appreciated, thank you, and some really great fans here have made it very easy and enjoyable for me. I couldn't contribute to just any site. Not all are as welcoming or conducive to new members as this one has shown to be. Truth is, no fan in his or her right mind wishes for any series to go seven games. Who wouldn't like to see their team sweep? But the other side to that is that sweeps are remembered more as passing footnotes. The real legendary stuff of hockey that gets remembered and talked about for years is the game seven stuff that goes down to the wire and ends in a highlight reel moment (have several in my head right now). But getting to that point is sheer excruciating agony for some fans, and my heart really does go out to them, even though I can't fully relate. I'm cracking up inside still, because Hudson fans (sorry, it's my favorite characterization) aren't a defining characteristic of any team, but they do exist on all teams. There are Sharks fans right now crying "Game Over Man! In case you didn't know it, we just got our asses kicked back there! We're screwed, game over!". There are fans who went from claiming heavy sweeps and blowouts to seeing their team (and the series) utterly and entirely defeated, in absolute desolation and shameful ruins, then back to the victory that ensued, followed by the heavy sweeps and future blowout predictions! Total crackup to me! I'm cracking up, because I'm thinking, are we even watching the same series? Then it becomes clearer to me when I realize that some fans really are just so caught up in the moment, that the moment, or snapshot in time, if you will, becomes that which represents the entire series, and every battle lost or won represents the entire war. No time perspective can lead the same fan to conclude (within the space of a single period even) that a team is weak and sucks crap or is totally wonderful. Win the game, everyone's a hero ("even though so-and-so needs to step it up a little next time"), but lose a game and it's OFF WITH THEIR HEADS!" What makes it funnier to me is the yin to that yang happening on my side!! How can I not be amused by that? Meanwhile, I like exactly what you said: Here's to three more clean, hard fought games (or less)... Amen to that. This is great one, and I keep thinking about Matt's AMAZING Quest for the Cup wallpaper (that I have as my wallpaper now), and the message at the bottom re: The Journey, and it's relationship to success. I would have included the word "only" in there, because the Cup/destination is part of it (i.e., Success is not only a place..."), but nonetheless it is so true about the journey, and this is a great journey, and success (as I term success) is already assured from that perspective, so I really can't lose, even if we're defeated in the end. Game 2 didn't faze me. I enjoyed it as much as every other game, including this one, like a big sundae dished up in front of me. The ones where the Sharks won just happened to have cherries on top, that's all. SERIES ON!!! BEST OF THREE NOW!!! (how you liking my siggy now?) P.S.Speaking of which, I'm not at my graphics computer, and have run out of legal room for my sigline. Could someone help me reduce my three different siggy series icons so that they're not more than 56 pixels wide?