Ratbastrd

Easy killer, when engaging the enemy on the enemies turf, be prepared for a little abuse. This is all in good spirit and I am not going to get down over a little teritorialism. He was wrong I was right, no harm no foul...now he knows better. LOL

TG for Nabby. The rest of the team appeared to mail it in, trying to conserve energy for tomorrow nights game I suspect.

Their all a bunch of *******

Now heres a gamer! No sweat, I am just calling it as I see it. Want to make sure there are no lame excuses for losing...either way.

Please point out where I equate losing JR and Mitchell to the loss of Zubov and Morrow. I responded (appropriately) to the comment that SJ has not faced any adversity this year due to injuries of key players which is far from true. SJ is a fairly emotionless team with the exception of JR, Mitchell and Clowe. JR's loss was far more significant then his on ice performance, the guy is probably the real "A" on this team.

Actually you are both wrong. We have had several key players gone for large chunks of the season, Mitchell (entire season) and JR (just back) being the most prominent. Both Boyle and Luko have spent a fair amount of time on IR as well as Cheechoo who is only now getting back to form. Now Goc is down (3rd line ctr with 87% faceoff wins). While not top line players this has had a pretty dramatic effect on the team play, as we have effectively run 3 patchwork lines vs our typical 4. The biggest impact has been on D, which showed up over the last month or so. Not making excuses as none are necessary, but try to keep it real if you are going to express your opinion. Looking forward to Wednesday. This game might be the most important game of the season for both teams. Wings will want to remind the Sharks who they have to go through to get to the cup. The Sharks will want to demonstrate to the Wings that they are the real deal. I expect a lot of energy and physical play. Both teams recognize the importance of the final regular season matchup and will want to send that message. I'm pumped!!!!

Not sure signing a 42 year old (former) agitator amounts to winning without class, but hey I'm a sharks fan. So far Lemieux has been fairly non-existant, nor has he had the type of impact on the team that JR did. I really hope that JR and Torrey Mitchell make it back for the post season. This will be one hell of a team if they do.

Sharks D' started playing O, and the killer forecheck kicked in. Sharks are a pretty relentless team when they want to be. Great game from the 2nd on.

No but he had the class to show up and represent his team and the league that generates the revenues that pay his paychecks. That is the part of this that few of you seem to get. This is a job people! There are certain things you have to do as an employee that you may not like, but that doesn't mean you just blow it off. Anyhow, enough of this, it is clear that this point has become a dead horse.

I will but the whining around here is really ridiculous. Wings fans have it so good, it is very frustrating to see so many act so childish.

Lets see, probably one of the dozens of people paid for by the organization to cater to players needs during the season. Hell I work for a company of 300 people, and don't make a fraction of what these guys do and I have someone to make my travel plans for me. - As stated earlier this rule has been in effect all year, and is hardly a surprise. - What ever plans they made, they made at the last minute, unless they aren't really hurt and they just wanted an excuse to get out of going. Whats the problem? - If they are that hurt and can't make an hour flight to Montreal, how the hell are they able to fly to Hawaii? Bulls*** excuses all the way around.

You guys are f'ing hilarious. I am fairly confident that the Wings players are not so abused as to have to make their own travel and accomodation reservations. What a tough life it must be being a Wing player, what with all of the persecution and injustice heaped upon you. LOL Do you guys actually read the s*** you post?

Bulls***!

This comment really brings it all home; so if the league fails who are the Wings going to be playing? The point of this entire debacle is that it is not about the individuals, it is about the league. Sorry if you have a bump or bruise or you are tired. If you want to play in this league and reap the rewards that it offers, you need to pay your dues when they are asked of you. For all the bitching everyone around here does about Crosby, at least he demonstrated the requisite professionalism to show up for the company picnic. You guy's have had it so good for so long, yet I don't think you really appreciate it...JMHO

Because (like it or not) they represent the NHL, a league that is trying desperately trying to reinvent itself after a disastrous lockout, as well as increase revenues which will to some degree be used to pay for their next salary bump. You sell your soul to the devil, don't ***** when he "invites" you to dinner. I have generally had a fair amount of respect for the posts on this board, but this thread is sort of pathetic.

I don't want to belabor or get to esoteric with this point. I guess I just find it facinating to listen to all the claims of similarity, yet if you watch the two teams play they really aren't all that similar. The Wings are unique in the league with regards to the level of raw talent in the forward lines. The level of skill; vision, skating, puck handling, passing etc. There is no other team that creates space and moves the puck with the level of precision that the wings do. The Sharks play a puck control game as well, but it isn't supported by the attributes listed above. The Sharks control the puck using size, speed, leverage etc. The Wings create space with superior skating skills, brilliant passing and constant movement. The Sharks create space by forcing defenses to commit multiple players to an individual puck handler cycling the puck down low, which creates passing lanes to a pinching dman or a forward sitting in front of the net. Or as witnessed last week, they use their speed to score on a lot of breakaways. I believe the Sharks had or or still maintain the league lead in short handed goals this year. Again, similar types of games executed very differently based on the physicality and skills of the two different teams. Hard to say which is superior at this point.

Agreed to a point. I think that the comparisons between the two teams is convenient. The Sharks are more like some of the dominate canadian teams of the past then the "euro" dream team Wings of the present. They might model certain aspects of their play around the Wings, but they play decidely different games based on the physical makeup of their team and the skill level present. Sharks are way more physical and rely more on speed and less on precision and space as the Wings naturally do.

Not sure I would call them a dynasty but they are undoubtedly a perenial favorite and one of the NHL powerhouses. Wings are a dynasty, Habs are a dynasty, hell toronto fans probably consider the leafs a dynasty though I have no idea why. But don't make too much of the Sharks inability to win cups previously. When and if they do they, all of the failures of the past will be irrelevant. All of the success leading up to that an indicator.

I too question the signing of Lemieux as a Sharks fan, but again your assesement of the situation is way off base. Lemieux and Wilson are very, very good friends. Similar to JR, who again many people hate, Wilson is offering a good friend an opportunity at a cup or another cup in Lemieux's case. The primary weakness with this team has been leadership. Wilson is trying to address that by bringing in highly skilled, gritty players who have demonstrated and witnessed what it takes to win it all. I am not sure that Lemieux is going to bring that much to the team, but he is an essentially free experiement. Despite what you might have thought of him, Lemieux was an outstanding player. He was one of the guy's that everyone hated but would add to their team in an instant precisely because of who he was.

What are the hell are you talking about? I was at the game sitting directly in front of the resulting scrum. The Sharks were ecstatic to win and poured onto the ice to congratulate Marleau. Prior to the incident stated below, I don't think they were paying any attention to the nucks players leaving the ice. Then Shane O'brian as he is skating off the ice passes by Ryan Clowe and intentionally hooks Clowes stick and knocks it out of his hands. Of course Clowe was going to get pissed, so would you. That is when the scrum started. He is just lucky Clowe didn't get a hold of him, Clowe would have pounded the little s***. However the point of my response is, why are you posting such incendiary crap? Your assesment has no basis in reality and serves no purposes other then to make people think poorly of your teams opposition. I believe it is well established that the Sharks are one of the cleanest and most sportsman like teams in the league (barring the recent signing of Lemieux). I take exception to this because it something that Sharks fans are very proud of. We enjoy physical hockey but respect good sportsmanship from our team. Regarding were the best team in the league comment, I believe that the Sharks have the best record. The question asked of Dan Boyle by the announcer was stupid, Joe Thorton (half jokingly) leaned over and responded to the question appropriately. Hard to see what the problem is?

So an enforcer is the only way to get your team to play more physical? There is no other solution? What are the tradeoffs? At what cost? I got news for you (as a big Sharks fan) the Sharks love physical teams. The teams that give the Sharks trouble are disciplined, precision, puck control teams (ie Wings). You mess with the recipe, I am fairly confident you will screw it up.

So I read this thread from start to finish and I am not sure what the point is? Can someone please explain to me exactly how an enforcer on the Wings is going to help them win games against the Sharks and Bruins? Both the Sharks and Bruins are big, tough teams with a handful of guys who will drop the gloves with just about anybody, Shelley fights the real goons. I don't think that you are going to intimidate either team with a tough guy. There will be a 1 minute timeout in the midst of the first period where your enforcer fights Shelley or whoever the Bruins dress to fight, and then the game will get right back to what it was before, fast and furious. Team with most goals wins... I do have to argue a couple of posts I read regarding the Sharks physical play not having an effect on this game. The Sharks physical play is precisely what won them the game. The Wings were skating circles around the sharks, whenever the Sharks sat back and didn't press the physical play and heavy forecheck. Two of the Sharks 6 goals (1 being the eventual game winner) were scored directly after a big hit (Clowe crushed Kronwall behind the Wings net which led to a turnover that Pavelski eventually scored on, then in the third, Pickles (I think) buried someone against the board in the sharks end which led to the Marleau breakaway/goal (eventual game winner, and not offsides!). Again, how would an enforcer have changed the outcome of either of those plays or the outcome of the game?

Uh huh, and the million dollar question is would you take him if you had the chance? And please don't tell me no.

Just keep repeating that to yourself in the mirror every morning. I am sure that will make the anxiety go away.

Some thoughts on tonights game from a Sharks fan. Damn, at the end of the second period, I wasn't sure if I should be depressed or estatic with the play of the Sharks. Then I remembered they were playing the defending champs, for first place in the division, and were hanging in there. Which is precisely what I think the Sharks did tonight against a rediculously talented Wings team, hung in there. Which might be the key to whoever wins this series later this year (assuming we meet in the playoffs, which would be a complete travesty if we didn't). Not sure who posted earlier that they are beginning to think the Sharks are "undoubtedly" the better team. I wish I could agree but I can't, the Wings are perversely talented. Despite all the pre-game BS from both teams that this game wasn't that important, BOVINE SCAT! This was clearly a very important game for both teams, and much more chippy then either of the previous. I thought that the officiating was poor but not decidely so. I think the Refs were told to let the teams play and tried to stay out of the game, which both teams were taking overt advantage of, forcing the Refs to have to make tough and sometimes poor calls throughout. Regarding fatigue...BS Something else that struck me tonight. Despite all the talk about how the Sharks and Wings are so similar, I think I have to disagree. The Wings (as I stated earlier) are rediculously talented upfront from a skills/skating/puck control perspective. The Wings defense is a little slow, but the team as a whole does an amazing job of making up for it. How many times did Datsyuk back check and create/pick up the turnover then carry it forward to creat an offensive opp? Yet despite all the assistance from the forwards on the back check it doesn't really affect the teams ability to move the puck up ice and set up the cycle in the other end. Brilliant stuff! The Sharks on the other hand are much bigger and faster, with less of the "european" game the Wings play so effectively. The Sharks don't move the puck as well, but seem to force the puck to the net. Watching the game tonight you could really see how well the sharks use size and leverage to maintain puck control. They are a much better team when they throw those big bodies around as well. Several of the Sharks goals were set up tonight off big hits. The Sharks defense isn't slow, but very mistake prone. Missing two of our top four defensement (Blake and Lukowich) really hurt. Overall the defensive play on both sides was really weak tonight which clearly lead to the high score. Take away: This is a really tough match up for both teams. Not sure I can say which team is better. The Wings are a scary good skills and hustle team, but the sharks get the nod for overall physicality, speed and desire. Oh and whoever said that Boston can't hang with these teams...BS. Bruins are the real deal, and much more like the Sharks then the Sharks are like the Wings.