uncle ovipositor

I'm convinced Babcock must have petitioned for the trapezoid for exactly this reason. I think it should be referred to as the Hasek Pen. He's an incredible goalie, but man! He makes Turco look like the definition of good judgement.

I feel the same way. He's got a lot of talent, but he puts in so many cheap shots and gets away with them. Any time he's outskated he takes shots at the oponents ribcage with the butt of his stick. Any time he's checking someone in the corner who's getting the better of him he knees them. If he'd just play the game he'd be great, it's the little extra bits that make me dislike him. Plus he never gets tired. I wouldn't be surprised to see him play a whole game. I liked him most when Ron Wilson called him on his stick being too big. Then he missed his shot in the shoot-out because he didn't even have a regulation stick on the bench. Then he blamed it on the ice being too bad to play on and implied that Wilson was a jerk for calling him on it. It was one of his prissier moments, and worth a laugh. I haven't been wowed by much of what I've seen from him this season. I think he's suspended.

Of course he's streaky - he's a former Shark.

The always classy Drew Remenda (who used to do color commentary for the Sharks before moving up to Hockey Night in Canada, and who came back for the last couple of games of this series) said that the best team won tonight, and I have to agree. I think the wings just played the best game of the series. Hasek earned that shut-out. If the Wings play the way they did tonight the Ducks won't be a problem. Congrats, guys.

Not personally, no, it's just not how things are done on the internet. I don't care if you see my point or not, but once you take a position you're supposed to argue to the death that you're right and everyone else is wrong, and then you finally compare someone else to Hitler. Don't you know anything? [and the fact that you didn't do that is why I like this forum - so, thanks.]

What I saw was Grier TRYING to play the puck but missing it by a step. I believe it went off the boards, not his stick. It's not illegal to hit someone who's attempting to play the puck or has just played the puck (as it would be if you're right). That doesn't mean it COULDN'T be called based on the rules (roughing, unsportsmanlike conduct), just that it shouldn't. But it's a moot point - I don't think it was by any measure an illegal hit, if a little cheap. The issue is whether play like that is acceptable or should result in manditory suspensions (or just for SJS. I think we agree that it shouldn't. By the same measure, if Thorton's agressive in face-offs, that's called competing. If he goes too far, he should sit for 2. If he's actively trying to break the other player's legs he should be suspended. Let me know when that happens.

"I'm sorry"?!? WTF?!? That kind of attitude will get you kicked off the internet. [moving on] Lilja's hit was late on a guy without the puck. It was cheap. But yeah, it was legal. My point was that it's a part of the game, and calling for a suspension over agressive play in hockey will ruin the sport. I'll go even farther out on a limb here: I don't like fighting being treated as acceptable behavior. It doesn't serve any purpose and flies in the face of good sportsmanship. It's quite possible to play excellent hockey without taking breaks to beat the crap out of eachother, something that other sports have proven. But I like hockey to be played physically. I think it's possible to have physical play without the fights (see: football), but I'd rather see fighting stay than see the game lose its flow because of the rules being tightened. For the most part things work out for the best this way, and I've seen what happens when you go the other way (see: soccer). I like the new rules, and I like the fact that most teams don't have a goon line anymore, if only because it's going to make LaRaque's career shorter. But I'm not going to argue too strenuously that the game needs to be called tighter.

And Giguere is a monster! An extremely expensive monster, but a monster. If the Wings found a way to get him y'all might be well nigh unstoppable next year. I'd love to see him out of the net for the Ducks.

I liked Vesa a lot during the season, but he is one of the streakiest player on the Shark's team. Detroit might be able to settle him down, though. Hard to say. If so, he'd be a fitting replacement for Hasek. It's a shame that the Sharks are holding onto both of those guys and not giving either the full season they deserve, and I say that as a Sharks fan. They both seem comfortable with it as professionals, but I don't think either gets to open up over a full season and their games suffer. The reason Vesa didn't start is because he because Nabby took over the position with extremely hot play when Vesa was injured. By the time Vesa came back he was looking extremely good, but the team seemed to play a lot more comfortably with Nabby in the net. Had Vesa not spend 3 weeks out, he would have started. He was better in the regular season, in spite of some bad streaks. And I'm not convinced he was 100% physically. My guess is he'll have surgery in the off season.

Anyone with a fat ass can stand in front of the goalie and block his view - no skill there, just big ol' clown pants. Why he's made a difference is he's got great reflexes. That first goal of his was a monument to opportunistic hockey skills - absolutely beautiful. Credit where it's due - the guy's playing great. I didn't see much of the regular season for the Wings this year, but he's made some memorable plays in the playoffs.

I didn't see this. Not during this game, because it was on NBC, not Versus. So was it a previous game? FSN locked out the last Versus broadcast here because they aired it locally, so that might explain it. Still, I'm having a hard time buying this - it's not as though one really needs to be shown how to cheat like that. If you want to do it, it's pretty obvious how to. It's also not the sort of thing one does when there are cameras around - they aren't stupid. Thorton often tries to push through a face-off, and I can see him practicing that, but practicing how to cheat... in front of a camera... I'll look for the clip, and the accompanying unicorn. You're right - you didn't. I replied below your quote about the cheating clip, but not to you. Others in this thread have called him dirty and, if you read the subject and the first post (I'm assuming you can read as well), several people have called him dirty and said he should be suspended. See above. Your lack of respect for me means if we ever meet face-to-face I will not buy the first round. Again, I replied below your quote but not to you directly. Since you didn't say that either team was cheating I would've hoped that would be obvious. Saying Thorton should be suspended is silly. As I pointed out, anyone who thinks EITHER team in this series is playing cheap is an idiot. I stand by that. Same goes for the Shark's boards - I have no respect for anyone who ******* about this series being slimy, even if your team is losing. This has been a great series, especially after the 2 that these teams came out of. I'd like it even more if I didn't think the Sharks were done for, but even with that in mind there have been some great moments of hockey in this series.

They? Who is this "they"? I'd love to see that, in the same way I'd love to see a unicorn. That you believe that Wilson would "teach" Joe how to do that assumes that he couldn't figure it out for himself. That you think he'd willfully play as a goon proves you don't watch much hockey. I don't think Joe's dirty, but he is aggressive. I watched this and I don't see it. Sorry. I see him scrambling for the puck, but not taking Zetterberg down off of the face-off. Besides, if you suspend Joe, you're going to also have to suspend Lilja for that late hit on Greir. Or Chelios for knocking the net off when the Sharks had a chance down low. Or Holmstrom for bumping Nabokov on the first Wings goal. And look at all the extra curriculars - certainly those should lead to suspensions. Holmstrom wasn't even part of the orignial fight at the end of the second, so he should be suspended according to the rules. I don't think Lilja should be suspended, I think he made a badly timed aggressive play. I think Chelios was falling over and decided to reach a bit. etc. It's hockey. There's slop. If it gets called too tightly it will be a worse game (watch the was soccer's called now if you don't believe me - whistles every few seconds). If you honestly believe that the other team is cheating in this series... you're an idiot. No matter who you're rooting for.

I'm not buying this logic. I think the Wings take a lot of non-shots on goal, but I don't think most teams do more of that than Detroit. I certainly don't think the only shots Hasek faces are all golden, no more than anybody else. Luongo's probably the only keeper left who's numbers are padded because he's standing behind a mediocre defense and thus faces more general shots, but he's an anomally. A large percentage of shots on goal are sent off in the hopes of getting a rebound for someone to clean up in front. Hasek doesn't face any more or less of those than anyone else. That's probably a more interesting and telling statistic, actually: rebounds off of shots. At least in this series Hasek's been great on that front. The snow angel's pretty much an all in move, but he knows when to do it and it's been effective.

The last 2 games have been the best hockey I've seen in a long time. Nice win by the Wings. Part of me wants this to go to 7 because it's been fun to watch. But whichever team makes it through is going to have a tough enough time with the Ducks as it is, and I'd much rather see whoever wins this series take the conference. That really was a beaut. Someone else might be able to check me on this, but wasn't that Schneider's first registered shot on goal in this series? The 2 posts don't count and he's been blocked a lot.

I think Hasek and Nabby play very differently. I enjoy watching Hasek play, but Nabby's got great positioning most of the time and doesn't need to be dramatic. I think it's telling that there's only one goal due to goalie error in this game and it goes to Hasek. Which one is better? I don't know. They're goalies - they do weird things for weird reasons. Hasek is a shock to any offensive player who doesn't know what they're up against and extremely effective at shutting down tight play in the crease. Not much garbage goes in against him, which should make the playoffs his domain. Nabby does let garbage in, and although he kicks out some big rebounds I'd say his biggest worry is when he gets spooked by a broken play. I don't know how to compare them. Kipper? Well, if you play for a lousy team you're going to have to make a lot of dramatic saves or none at all. Rising to that call is the mark of a great goalie (and fun to watch!), but it doesn't win tournaments. I found this pretty interesting: http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/object/article?f...L91.DTL&o=1 Maybe this could be called local paper bias, but all of the photos of Hasek in this gallery have him wildly out of position. And yet he still wins games. I think that's a thing of beauty, and shows there's a lot going on in his game.

I don't think it was a bad trade, except in the sense that they could have gotten more for him. He was having a lousy time in Boston, where they expected him to be the whole team. He was miserable, they were furious. Of course they got rid of him. If they had any sense they might have tried to make it work, but they don't. Worked out well for the Sharks. He ate out on this approach a lot at the start of the regular season. Teams would try to do exactly that and he would stutter a bit, wait until the goalie slid to the side where they figured he'd be passing, then he'd pop it in. Funny every time.

That's this whole series, though. Either team can take it with 60 minutes. The Sharks weren't great for the first 20, but they did okay. For the last 20 they owned it. Detroit played well, but they were out classed. I say this knowing full well that the Sharks are perfectly capable of losing it dramatically in the 4th. They can and just might. As a Shark's fan, this series is still 50/50. I want the Sharks to win, but I wouldn't pretend that it's a done thing. Wings either. If they play like they did tonight they can take it next game - they were pretty damn good tonight. More fore check will destroy the Sharks. Other teams have proved that repeatedly. Holmstrom might just be the man for that. It would change his game a bit, but it's not out of his reach, assuming he comes back 100%. And please: CHEATchoo? This isn't a game you can blame on the refs. Both teams got away with more than they should have. Cheech doesn't take dives, he just skates badly.

Has this been confirmed by the team or anybody else yet? I hope it's true but I haven't heard it anywhere but on a blog that I don't know. Is he usually right about stuff like this?

Regardless of who you're cheering for, this game is showing the promise of this series. Great, great hockey. Both teams are playing excellent hockey, and I wish this were a best of 15.

Wow. That's the last name checked off of my list: I now hate everyone on this team. And not to change the subject, but is the ref wearing make-up? He looks a little goth.

Which is exactly like where the Wings are right now. I think that's playing against the Wings, and it's not insurmountable, but it doesn't help. You haven't been to Anaheim, then. They don't call it "the pond" for nothing.

Here are some factors that I think put this game in the Shark's hands: 1. The Tank is loud. Scary loud. The Sharks know they have to get their act together and will have a lot of motivation behind them. It can get so intense in there that even Guerin might feel the push. 2. The game starts at 10 pm your time, which is 2 hours past Der Dominator's bed time. (Chelios, too, but he's not human and things like that don't seem to affect him) Plus I left a shopping list in at the net he opens in and I expect him to be roaming for the produce isle midway through the first. 3. The power play. It was the Sharks secret weapon against Nashville and it destroyed them. The trick is, see, the Sharks keep going on the power play and then spend 2 minutes boring the other team to death, and the staff at the Tank serves the other team complimentary warm milk and cookies while they wait. Since it's "complimentary", nobody can resist. Then the other team comes out all loogie and sleepy and sorta shuffles around for the next 10 minutes. This has proved an insurmountable advantage. 4. The Sharks are due for a solid game, not just a solid period. This is they way they've played much of the season, unpredictably hot-then-cold, not unlike an ex girlfriend of mine. They are due to come out of the gates in top form and carry the game through with some of the best hockey you'll ever see. Cheechoo and Pavelski are both due for some serious offense, and every shot will be for the highlights reel. Clowe will be playing the incredible hockey we've witnessed all year from him. Marleau will be playing hockey like he actually cares. The pressure will be on - they'll NEED to play like this, and they will. Then they'll lose 8-1 in one of the next two. It's a thing they do. I don't think any of this means the Wings are doomed, and this game is going to go to whomever puts in 60 minutes - something neither team has done in either of the games played. But I think the Sharks will pull this one off.

I'm a hockey fan first and a Sharks fan second, so this seriesis everything I could hope for - because if you like hockey, you have to like the Red Wings. It's one of the few legacy teams that seems to have an actual legacy, and where hockey's been something the fans have cared about for many generations. It makes the team something special, unlike, say, Philly, where their legacy is about the only thing they have going for them. But I like the Sharks, and not just because they're the local team. They play a great brand of hockey, and when they're at their best they can beat any team in the league. The downside is they're damn streaky, and are just as likely to flush away a 2 goal lead at the first sign of pressure as they are to fight back from being down by 3. I hope the Sharks win, and think that if they play their very best they have a good chance of pulling it off. I don't think either team is in this series yet, though, and I'm disappointed that Holmstrom's not playing. It's to the Shark's advantage, and if they can win the 2 at home before he's back they'll be in good position to get the 4th, but it might still be a 7 game series. And they're notorious for not finishing off games or series. Still, I'd rather see them rise to the occasion of playing the wings at their best. Because that would be some great damn hockey. I got into hockey when I was a kid, playing from age 7 to about 12. I was on teams with and against the Konawalchuck brothers, both of whom had brief NHL careers. I stopped watching the game for a long while, but caught some of the 2003 Stanley Cup Finals and was back into it. Now here I am. Here's to a great best of 5 - I'm looking forward to it. And thanks for having such a great forum!