Bring on the Sharks --- Again!

[Doc Holliday 1,888]

Your coach's familiarity with Babcock is disturbing for me. Babcock is a great coach but he can be out couched by the young guys (see the finals last season) in the right situation.

Still, you guys won't win unless Marleau and Thornton wake up. If the Sharks do beat the Wings they'll be favourites to win the cup, though, as it would be that last step towards shaking off their own self-doubt.

I'm still calling this series as Wings in 6.

McClellan has not outcoached Babcock once the past two seasons. If anything the Babcock did better with last change. And it only got worse for the Sharks this season.

Also the finals loss wasn't on Babcock. That was on his players who did not play up their potential in the series (Hossa, Datsyuk, Hudler, etc.). Babcock played the system perfectly.

[wingsownnhl43 14]

McClellan has not outcoached Babcock once the past two seasons. If anything the Babcock did better with last change. And it only got worse for the Sharks this season.

Also the finals loss wasn't on Babcock. That was on his players who did not play up their potential in the series (Hossa, Datsyuk, Hudler, etc.). Babcock played the system perfectly.

Ill let Datsyuk slide being that he was pretty banged up.

[Drake_Marcus 890]

Did Bylsma's age really have anything to do with it?

I think so. Babs seems like he studies his opponents well and is good at adapting to other coaching schemes. It's possible that Bylsma's lack of NHL experience made him more of an x factor.

McClellan has not outcoached Babcock once the past two seasons. If anything the Babcock did better with last change. And it only got worse for the Sharks this season.

Also the finals loss wasn't on Babcock. That was on his players who did not play up their potential in the series (Hossa, Datsyuk, Hudler, etc.). Babcock played the system perfectly.

Datsyuk was still a point per game player in the finals even though he had two leg injuries. But Hossa has no excuse for disappearing as epically Crosby.

And I'm still pissed that Babs didn't reinsert Abdelkader after things went south. On top of his goal scoring, his hitting and enthusiasm was great. I know he wanted Maltby for his defensive play, but why not switch out a clearly injured/slumping Samuelsson?

[titanium2 867]

The Sharks apparently play a similar style to the Wings. I think the majority of Wings fans believe that nobody can beat the Wings IF they want to play that kind of style.

At the same time, if the Wings don't play their best, they won't win.

I feel like this series is going to be quite a roller coaster. I hope I'm wrong in a very, very good way.

[Doc Holliday 1,888]

Datsyuk was still a point per game player in the finals even though he had two leg injuries. But Hossa has no excuse for disappearing as epically Crosby.

And I'm still pissed that Babs didn't reinsert Abdelkader after things went south. On top of his goal scoring, his hitting and enthusiasm was great. I know he wanted Maltby for his defensive play, but why not switch out a clearly injured/slumping Samuelsson?

I'm going to tell you right now that in now way would a fringe player like Abdelkader (as much as he skated his ass off every shift and scored two goals in two games) would have changed the momentum of the series. There was a lot wrong with the way the players left it, and it shouldn't have been so. Especially when Ericsson and Talbot are your goal scorers in the most important game of the entire ******* season.

[Grypho 195]

Nabokov is in the twilight of his career. He's not as good as he used to be. I think Howard is better at this point.

I do see Howard as a rising star, a formidable goalie to go up against, one who should not be underestimated by any means, but as a former Nabokov basher, I can safely say that his stats speak otherwise, and that he's not on any decline that I can see. And, unless you're going on gut feeling alone, a quick comparison glance at the Howard and Nabokov stats, both regular season and playoff, shows Nabokov on top pretty much across the board, with only Brodeur ahead of him (I'll post stats upon request, not that this means anything, as the Devils are now out).

On a fun side note, here's some breaking news my sister just pointed out to me:

Detroit just landed, and is already in the penalty box!

Even before the Red Wings and Sharks take the HP Pavilion ice Thursday night to open Round 2 of the Stanley Cup playoffs, Detroit appears headed for the penalty box.

Seems the Wings' charter flight to town after they polished off the Phoenix Coyotes broke Mineta San Jose International Airport's notorious 11:30 p.m. curfew.

Call it home-airport advantage.

Heard that and laughed, but really, all I could think was, THEY'RE HERE! WE PLAY YOU TOMORROW! YESSSSSSS!!!!

[titanium2 867]

Heard that and laughed, but really, all I could think was, THEY'RE HERE! WE PLAY YOU TOMORROW! YESSSSSSS!!!!

God I hate Bettman.

[Drake_Marcus 890]

I'm going to tell you right now that in now way would a fringe player like Abdelkader (as much as he skated his ass off every shift and scored two goals in two games) would have changed the momentum of the series. There was a lot wrong with the way the players left it, and it shouldn't have been so. Especially when Ericsson and Talbot are your goal scorers in the most important game of the entire ******* season.

He couldn't have hurt man. With all the Wings injuries that series was far too close for comfort. It still kills me that the Wings squandered that opportunity to repeat. Our big guns really failed us in that game 7. It was great to see them do just the opposite yesterday.

[Ratbastrd 90]

Staubitz= Shelly.

Staubitz took over Shelly's job. Shelly never played in the playoffs. Staubitz hasn't played in the playoffs yet. I'll be suprised if he will play in this series.

There was a bit of news the other day that he is injured. I don't think it is serious. I would say his absence has more to do with his propensity to take bad penalties. Clowe is probably tougher and is a better player.

[sharkfan20 32]

There was a bit of news the other day that he is injured. I don't think it is serious. I would say his absence has more to do with his propensity to take bad penalties. Clowe is probably tougher and is a better player.

Staubitz is injured? where did you hear that? Well, i don't see Staubitz playing anyhow. Our rookie line is pretty damn good.

[Doc Holliday 1,888]

He couldn't have hurt man. With all the Wings injuries that series was far too close for comfort. It still kills me that the Wings squandered that opportunity to repeat. Our big guns really failed us in that game 7. It was great to see them do just the opposite yesterday.

That's exactly what I'm saying, and it is a shame a guy who took a paycut to come here just pissed his best chance at a cup away. When he had two games to do it in elimination fashion.

He had no heart in that post-season run. Injury or not.

[sharkfan20 32]

Oh and btw Wallin and Ortmeyer should be in.

That's exactly what I'm saying, and it is a shame a guy who took a paycut to come here just pissed his best chance at a cup away. When he had two games to do it in elimination fashion.

He had no heart in that post-season run. Injury or not.

nice to see you on hfboards too=p

i saw you post on the bandwagon thing about the wings and about him switching from the preds to the wings.

[Drake_Marcus 890]

That's exactly what I'm saying, and it is a shame a guy who took a paycut to come here just pissed his best chance at a cup away. When he had two games to do it in elimination fashion.

He had no heart in that post-season run. Injury or not.

Agreed 100%. I was disgusted with Hossa this summer. As it stands now I'm happy to see him gone from the Wings-- we didn't need another super high priced, ultra-long contract anyway. As it stands the Z and Franzen contracts will make cap management unwieldy for Holland once they start to decline. Adding another forward in that age group would only make life tougher. Plus I don't want to see his goofy face again unless it's helping us actually win.

[Drake_Marcus 890]

By the way, someone mentioned earlier that the Wings just might take the Sharks lightly. Andreas Lilja, a Wings d-man, submitted this blog entry today:

April 28, DetroitRedWings.com :

Hello!

Wow, we really played as desperate as we needed, everyone played really good and our top players were as good as they ever could be! Dats with two goals, Lids two goals and both our power play and boxplay was really fantastic!

Yesterday, in that game, we really proved how well we can play as a team!

Now we have a new challenge to face in San Jose, they have been damn good during the season and have been playing really good in their first round in the playoffs! It's gonna be a great challenge, if we only play as good as we can, the series will be really fun! We need to play desperate from the first face-off and continue like that during the whole series, if we do that, I think we can be a surprise for them!

After the game we flew directly to San Jose, the series starts on Thursday with Game 1 against the Sharks, so now it's time to recharge our batteries again!

The reason the series starts on Thursday is that there's a concert -- The Eagles -- Friday and Saturday, in their arena!

Wish us luck again, so we can win the second round in the playoffs!

REGARDS LILLS

I'd just like to point out that I have no idea why Lilja loves ! so much, but he certainly gets his money's worth.

So there you go-- the Wings players aren't taking the Sharks lightly. Some fans will, but within the NHL there's still healthy respect for a line-up as formidable (and giant) as that of the Sharks.

[titanium2 867]

So there you go-- the Wings players aren't taking the Sharks lightly. Some fans will, but within the NHL there's still healthy respect for a line-up as formidable (and giant) as that of the Sharks.

Well yeah that may be true. Zetterberg, Datsyuk, Lidstrom, Rafalski and co. might have more jump when they know they're about to face the names of Thornton, Marleau, Boyle and Nabokov. Their names are definitely a lot bigger than Doan, Bryzgalov, Wolski and Jovo. I'm still hung up on the fact that the consistency this team has showed isn't all that great. They always say, "We've been here before" and "We gotta play hard" but how many times have we seen them sleepwalk their way through games and essentially saying one thing but then doing another? It's why I have no idea how I feel about the Wings going into this series. Which team is gonna show up later tonight?

[Ratbastrd 90]

I posted this on the Sharks board, figured I would throw it out here too.

My assessment, for what it is worth.

No one gives the Sharks a chance. The Wings are simply too good. The Sharks play the same system at a lesser level. Line for line the Wings match up better. The Wings are faster and play better special teams. Their coach is better, their goalie is younger and in the zone.

On top of all of that, we all know the Sharks history of playoff failures.

The outcome is all but certain, there is no way the Sharks will win this series.

Funny thing is, we suffered arguably the worst set of circumstance and bad bounces I have ever seen this team endure time and again in the last series. The Avs had our number early in the last series and the team could/should have folded in game 2 which would have been the end of the year. I know the Sharks were the better team and they were supposed to win, but lets face it, the Sharks were playing against their demons, who have a perfect record against us in the playoffs.

I have always been a contrarian, when everyone is selling, I have found that it is often a good time to buy.

So I think I am going to buy here. I don't like the way our top line has played, but (following coaches slogan for the year) I saw something last week that I have never seen with the current iteration of our team, calm confidence and an unwavering desire/ability to overcome adversity.

Something has changed on this team, perhaps there are a few holdouts, but there is a new attitude in that locker room. I think that attitude is going to be the difference in this series.

Don't know how many games it will take, but I think the Sharks are going to beat the Wings, and if they do, I think this team has a very good chance of winning the cup.

[Drake_Marcus 890]

Well yeah that may be true. Zetterberg, Datsyuk, Lidstrom, Rafalski and co. might have more jump when they know they're about to face the names of Thornton, Marleau, Boyle and Nabokov. Their names are definitely a lot bigger than Doan, Bryzgalov, Wolski and Jovo. I'm still hung up on the fact that the consistency this team has showed isn't all that great. They always say, "We've been here before" and "We gotta play hard" but how many times have we seen them sleepwalk their way through games and essentially saying one thing but then doing another? It's why I have no idea how I feel about the Wings going into this series. Which team is gonna show up later tonight?

That sleepwalking, rely on your guns team is the style of play we lost with last year. The hard-working, ass-kicking team we saw last game is like the one we won with in 08. I hope the Wings are extremely, extremely aware of that fact. The 09 Wings won't be remembered 10 years from now but the 08 Wings will...

Babcock-- can you please make the team play like they did last game at least 16 more times this post season?

[titanium2 867]

Don't know how many games it will take, but I think the Sharks are going to beat the Wings, and if they do, I think this team has a very good chance of winning the cup.

Well I hope you don't get LGW.com wrong. A lot of fans here definitely give the Sharks a chance. Yes, we're all aware of the Sharks past but we're also aware of the possibility that the Sharks can at any moment overcome whatever mental or emotional block that's in their way.

Wings fans are confident that if the Wings play their game, like say 75-80% of their emotional Game 7 against PHX, that the Wings will be fine. Not dominant, but fine. But the same goes for Sharks fans as well.

[Ratbastrd 90]

Well I hope you don't get LGW.com wrong. A lot of fans here definitely give the Sharks a chance. Yes, we're all aware of the Sharks past but we're also aware of the possibility that the Sharks can at any moment overcome whatever mental or emotional block that's in their way.

Wings fans are confident that if the Wings play their game, like say 75-80% of their emotional Game 7 against PHX, that the Wings will be fine. Not dominant, but fine. But the same goes for Sharks fans as well.

Sharks fans are their own worst enemy, kind of like the team. The media, most hockey fans, most sharks fans etc., don't give the team much chance of winning. On paper the Wings have virtually every advantage. I hope the Wings come to play like they did in game 7 of the last series.

I also hope the Sharks (all of em) come to play. If so this might be one of the best playoff series in history. And if by chance the Sharks do win, that confidence is going to make them very tough to beat.

PS: I have always found this to be a great site to visit.

Edited April 29, 2010 by Ratbastrd

[FabHckyBbe 2]

anyone know why chompboard is down? i really want to read what the sharks' fanbase thinks of this match up

I don't know why its down either. Maybe not too many members joined or didn't pay attention to it.

Go to Hfboards.com and go to the sharks section. THere are plenty of Shark fans there. But if you don't want to see negativity don't read it then.

Forget HFBoards and try the Feeder Forums at letsgosharks.com. There;'s a link in my sig.

Are you high? If the Sharks could temporarily switch Boyle for Lidstrom tonight they'd do it without hesitation.

OK, I'm one of the biggest Sharks fans around and I adore Danny Boyle, but I would still switch him out for Lidstrom. The man's got like eleventy-billion Norris Trophies and he's still pretty crafty after all these years. That's just a no-brainer.

[Grypho 195]

Something has changed on this team, perhaps there are a few holdouts, but there is a new attitude in that locker room. I think that attitude is going to be the difference in this series.

It was good to see the Sharks get spanked early on. They started game 1 on an early power play, which put the Avs on the defense. Somehow that gave the Sharks a misplaced illusion of power and momentum, one that fed them tons of intimidation chutzpah, and not nearly enough respect for the Avs, I thought. Once the power play was over, the spanking began, one that would lead to a lot of badly needed humility. What an amazing thing that was to watch. The Avs were schooling us in the neutral zone, owning it like a swarm of hornets, playing twice as fast, and constantly stealing candy from a bunch of big lumbering Shark babies. I was completely astonished. I wasn't even angry with the Sharks, I just watched in stunned amazement.

That early spanking was very, very good for San Jose.

Later, the coach and players came out publicly, stating with a confidence that surprised me, that they had solved it: speed in the neutral zone, they claimed, was all that they needed. And when they played, especially starting with game four, it definitely showed, as they executed the game exactly as they had described in various pre-game interviews.

So what was different about that? I found it remarkable that they made no pretense of keeping their strategy any kind of veiled secret. It wasn't generalized at all, couched in the usual cliched platitudes. The plan was very focused, very specific, and it seemed as if the entire team was on the same page, confident that there was absolutely nothing the Avs could do about it, even if they had all sat in on the strategy meeting. That's something I've never seen before, and it will be interesting to see how all the strategy talk/execution shapes up in this series.

By the way, I can't even call this series. I have no prediction whatsoever, it's so up in the air in my mind. There's no chance in my mind for a sweep for either team, I seriously doubt that's in the cards, but I could just as easily see game 4 ending with EITHER of the two teams holding a 3-1 series lead. That's pretty scary. And exciting.

[cusimano_brothers 1,655]

Paul Hunter of Toronto Star picks:

THE EDGE

Detroit in seven

[sharkfan20 32]

haha. Shark fans are so negative these days. If you see my avatar thats from hf boards.com

Probably every Shark fan on that board ssaid Wings in 6. They said Sharks have no chance to win in this series.

Thats what happens when the Sharks don't advance past the second round in 4 straight years.

[redeyedwings 2]

My favourite preview thus far, from dirtygames.ca:

http://dirtygames.ca/2010/04/wings-vs-sharks-eeyore-knows/

So that leaves it up to San Jose to out-skate, out-hustle and show more heart than the Red Wings. It is possible that this will happen, and it is also possible that I will be struck by a comet while performing fellatio on a midget with Celine Dion on the stereo and professional soccer on the television.

Wings in six, baby! Let's do it.