20 replies to this topic

[sphere10]

sharks fan, weighing in on the series.

This series was close. Close close close. They only things that were not close were Game 4 and the series outcome . 4 out of the 5 games were decided by a single goal. Despite the outcome, I think these teams were very evenly matched.

This series turned towards the Sharks for good in Game 3. A two goal lead in the third period at home has to be protected in the playoffs, but the Wings failed to protect it. Instead a good move and shot by Thornton and the flukiest soft goal of the series (ok, maybe the one off Murray's skate was flukier, but that game was already out of hand by that point) let the Sharks come back. Sharks then caught a break when that shot from the point missed the net, came right to Thornton who was late coming off the boards on a bad change and was beautifully delivered to Marleau who sent the Sharks to an insurmountable 3-0 lead. If the Wings protected that lead as the should have, they take game 3, probably still take game 4, and then it's a whole new series.

Sharks had some puck luck, Sharks had some calls go there way, but they also were tough along the boards and had guys step up when they needed to. Joe Pavelski was a beast in the first couple games of the series, but then slowly that top line of Marleau Thornton Heatley found their stride and played their absolute best game of the playoffs in Game 5. "No-show" Joe was a difference maker all series. I understand you guys must have been pissed when he was out their mucking it up in game 4 when the Sharks were being flat-out destroyed, but that's what a good team leader does: he makes his presence known and sets the table for the next game. Joe showed up all series and I think impressed the hockey world who are so used to him not being a factor in the playoffs.

Sharks contained Zetterberg well all series. My guess is he must be hurt somehow, because I have never seen him kept in check so well by the Sharks even in the regular season. Datysuk, however, was a FORCE all series. His puck handling skills were driving the Sharks D nuts. That guy is amazing, sign him til he's 45. Franzen's performance in Game 4 was impressive, but Datsyuk, in my opinion, was the true MVP for the Wings this series.

Howard has a bright future. He wasn't perfect by any means, but he made some big saves especially early in games.

I don't think you guys were out-coached or out-goaltended, you were out-fought in close games. You obviously have the skill to blow out good teams like the Sharks like you did in Game 4, but you needed more defensive consistency and desperation to win this series.

Feel good about your team, feel good about your future. Wings are still an intimidating force in this league and I doubt that image is going to go away anytime soon.

[DatsyukianDeke13]

While I can respect your assessment, I honestly feel if it were not for officiating this series would have been much different.

[DetroitBoy313]

Screw the refs and all the other excuses the best team usually wins and the Sharks won.Hats off to the Sharks they deserved it,but I really don't care who wins from here on out.Wings will be back next year.

[Reds4Life]

Yes, good series
I hope the Sharks win it all, by far my most favourite team left in the playoffs!

[RedWings]

Well done sharks!
We have won a lot of series against you, i guess this was your time.
Losing in 5 is not as painful as losing in 7 so at least you were kind enough to beat us quickly.

I don't agree about Howard, I think he is unforgivable in game 3. And he can't stop a puck (he just turns them away).

[brett]

i still think wings were the better team game 1 through game 4. last night is the only game i thought the wings got outplayed and deserved to lose. the other games were controlled by the refs obv

[maltbymaniac]

good luck next round

[Zion]

Officiating was horrible on both sides, and it certainly favored the Sharks, but the Wings have certainly had officiating go both ways before and not have it affect them (much). This series was won by the hungrier team. I'll be rooting for the Sharks, and am glad they are resting now while the other teams I hate (Chicago, Boston and Pittsburgh) look to wrap up their series within the next day or two.

[Lidstromboli]

i still think wings were the better team game 1 through game 4. last night is the only game i thought the wings got outplayed and deserved to lose. the other games were controlled by the refs obv

if they were the better team they would have won

[KronwallCRUNCH]

Good luck in the next round, but this was not a good series for the Wings. Should've been swept.

[mjtm77]

The best team usualy wins but it should have been in seven games. not five

[BlakKy]

The officiating was bad on both ends and it made me look away at times, but this was a good series and better than the 4-1 tally implies.

If Lidstrom comes back next year I hope he gets new sticks.

[TheOwl]

The Sharks are too good not to win a cup, and since they beat the Wings, I'll be cheering for them, they deserve it. Plus I don't want the Hawks or Penguins to win, and San Jose is the only team who can beat them both.

Edited by TheOwl, 09 May 2010 - 01:30 PM.

[miller76]

I totally think the Sharks have the full package this year. If they don't win it all, it will be because their best players aren't their best players from here on out. The Sharks players that have been constantly criticized for not showing up in the playoffs. Nabokov, Marleau, and Thornton all showed up this series with Detroit. They need a repeat two more times of that type of play.

I would rather watch Marleau, Thornton and company raise that Cup. I think I would puke, if I had to watch Kane, Hossa, Crosby, or Malkin hoist that trophy!

Hats off to San Jose for a good showing, and good luck. You deserve it.

[fixxxer]

In part I think the Wings kinda beat them selfs. Not to take away from how Sharks played which they played hard and won the little battles which in the end wins the games. The Wings were flat and uninspired to really take the games over. Their inability to hold leads which plagued our entire season continued to bite us in the ass in the playoffs. Here's a few things that have bothered me this post season. In no particular order.


1. Consistancy- We had none. Soon as we lost 3 games in this series there was no way we was going to win 4 straight because stringing together 4 consistant hard working games was next to imposible. Had we split the way games and ended up 2-2 it would have left us a larger margin of error with our inconsistancies. We could have put up 2 solid games together to pull off a game 6 and 7 wins but definatly not 4 straight. When our game is on there is few teams that can keep up with the Wings, but that means nothing if you can't do that night in night out.

2. Adapting- Sharks beat us at our own style of hockey. If anyone knows how to counter puck possession hockey it should be our coaching staff as they see other teams do it against us on some nights, and Phoenix almost done it had they had better offense. We flat out didn't forcheck for 60mins or even 20mins. If your going to play Wings hockey make it a nightmare to get it out of your own end. FORECHECK FORECHECK FORECHECK its what the US did to beat Canada. Hound the sh*t out of the puck and make it hard to make clean smart passes. Force turn overs. What I saw was a relaxed defense waiting for Sharks come across the red/blue line. All they had to do is dump the puck and skate faster to the puck and fight against the boards which is what Sharks did when they needed to dump the puck. They also at times had an easy time crossing the blue line and setting up their offense. Wings were slow to puck and lost battles in offensive and defensive ends. Yes we lost tons of faceoffs but at least don't lose them cleanly and make it hard for them to set up right off the face off. If we played how Phoenix played against us, against the Sharks this series would have been much different. However, we continued to drill the nail into a block of steel which seems like we've always done since Dave Lewis days.

3. Defense- You cannot blow 2 goal leads. While I don't nessessaraly blame our players as much as I blame Brad McCrimmon. This has been an issue all season long and this has a lot to do with how McCrimmon has set us up for failure. Although there comes to a point where I see a defensemen stand and watch an opposing player take a shot (as harmless as a shot as it was) uncontested which lead to a goal. Yes it may have been soft but would the shot have made it on net had someone put a stick in the way. Its this lazy effort/coverage that McCrimmon had not addressed all season long that he let go for far to long. I don't know exacally how the interactions between head coaches and assistant coaches go but someone should have been held accountable and changes should have been made to stomp that crap out. I still like Babcock as a coach but maybe there are underlying things where he's getting screwed or Babcock isn't the coach I thought he was and its difficult to tell which is the problem because I am not the one in the know.

4. Offense- Little to no crashing the net or "garbage goals". This is something we've always had issues and our players inability to even attempt getting goals like this. We've never had a hard nose player that will go in and do the dirty work. Yes Homer does it but he's more of a screen the goalie and get deflections. Homer is the best at what he does and has the talent to do it, however crashing the net isn't a talent anyone on the team can crash the net and pound a goal in but no one does. If we continue to shoot from the outside and at points we don't have anyone skating in with the shot from rebounds or deflections off skates. Our other problem is we have way to many "role players" They are very useful but you only need so many. You gotta mix them in with different players. 2 lines of "role players"... whats the point.

Don't get me wrong I'm very optimistic about our next season we just need to tweek a few things add some players that will fill in some roles that we need. Its just fustrating to see that we are always stubborn about the way we play and only play one way.

[Redwingsfn31]

In part I think the Wings kinda beat them selfs. Not to take away from how Sharks played which they played hard and won the little battles which in the end wins the games. The Wings were flat and uninspired to really take the games over. Their inability to hold leads which plagued our entire season continued to bite us in the ass in the playoffs. Here's a few things that have bothered me this post season. In no particular order.


1. Consistancy- We had none. Soon as we lost 3 games in this series there was no way we was going to win 4 straight because stringing together 4 consistant hard working games was next to imposible. Had we split the way games and ended up 2-2 it would have left us a larger margin of error with our inconsistancies. We could have put up 2 solid games together to pull off a game 6 and 7 wins but definatly not 4 straight. When our game is on there is few teams that can keep up with the Wings, but that means nothing if you can't do that night in night out.

2. Adapting- Sharks beat us at our own style of hockey. If anyone knows how to counter puck possession hockey it should be our coaching staff as they see other teams do it against us on some nights, and Phoenix almost done it had they had better offense. We flat out didn't forcheck for 60mins or even 20mins. If your going to play Wings hockey make it a nightmare to get it out of your own end. FORECHECK FORECHECK FORECHECK its what the US did to beat Canada. Hound the sh*t out of the puck and make it hard to make clean smart passes. Force turn overs. What I saw was a relaxed defense waiting for Sharks come across the red/blue line. All they had to do is dump the puck and skate faster to the puck and fight against the boards which is what Sharks did when they needed to dump the puck. They also at times had an easy time crossing the blue line and setting up their offense. Wings were slow to puck and lost battles in offensive and defensive ends. Yes we lost tons of faceoffs but at least don't lose them cleanly and make it hard for them to set up right off the face off. If we played how Phoenix played against us, against the Sharks this series would have been much different. However, we continued to drill the nail into a block of steel which seems like we've always done since Dave Lewis days.

3. Defense- You cannot blow 2 goal leads. While I don't nessessaraly blame our players as much as I blame Brad McCrimmon. This has been an issue all season long and this has a lot to do with how McCrimmon has set us up for failure. Although there comes to a point where I see a defensemen stand and watch an opposing player take a shot (as harmless as a shot as it was) uncontested which lead to a goal. Yes it may have been soft but would the shot have made it on net had someone put a stick in the way. Its this lazy effort/coverage that McCrimmon had not addressed all season long that he let go for far to long. I don't know exacally how the interactions between head coaches and assistant coaches go but someone should have been held accountable and changes should have been made to stomp that crap out. I still like Babcock as a coach but maybe there are underlying things where he's getting screwed or Babcock isn't the coach I thought he was and its difficult to tell which is the problem because I am not the one in the know.

4. Offense- Little to no crashing the net or "garbage goals". This is something we've always had issues and our players inability to even attempt getting goals like this. We've never had a hard nose player that will go in and do the dirty work. Yes Homer does it but he's more of a screen the goalie and get deflections. Homer is the best at what he does and has the talent to do it, however crashing the net isn't a talent anyone on the team can crash the net and pound a goal in but no one does. If we continue to shoot from the outside and at points we don't have anyone skating in with the shot from rebounds or deflections off skates. Our other problem is we have way to many "role players" They are very useful but you only need so many. You gotta mix them in with different players. 2 lines of "role players"... whats the point.

Don't get me wrong I'm very optimistic about our next season we just need to tweek a few things add some players that will fill in some roles that we need. Its just fustrating to see that we are always stubborn about the way we play and only play one way.

This pretty much nails it.

[Zenith]

The Sharks were plainly better than the Wings in the playoff. I dont think we got somewhat outplayed, and outcoached by a lot but I think the hunger of the Sharks led to a victory in game 3 and game 5. It was fun to watch. Hopefully the Sharks would win the cup this year; I hate all the remaining teams like Canucks, Hawks, and Penguins.

[sharkfan20]

I have also been surprised by so many people here have chosen the Sharks.

It was a good series, guys! It really was. Even though, the refs were pretty bad. The Sharks top players are finally playing like top players. In the past, Nabokov wouldn't have bounced back after that horrible loss 7-1. Maybe the olympics helped him just to bounce back. Many Shark fans have been jealous of Detroit and yes the fans. It seems like you always go to the WCF year after year after year after year after year. ANd are always some how in the SCF. It always seems like you are always in the end, just like the yankees, redsox, lakers, etc etc. The Sharks for many years have tried to play your game, and it finally maybe have worked this year.

I hope the Sharks will beat the hawks\canucks. It will be a hard series. And yes, i'm hoping LIdstrom doesn't retire, never like to see a legendary player retires like LIdstrom.

And sorry if I trash talked during game 4 and part of game 5 in the forums\ chatrooms, just heat of the moment. I usually don't trash talk. I'm sure we will see you in the playoffs next year, you have over 13 million to spend, and will be a good team next year.

See you guys next year, but I will still post here.

I posted this on another thread, but realized that this post should go on here.

[puffy]

It's not over yet! Puffy is attempting to build a time machine using Windex, Kosher Salt and Vagisil as we speak. If everything works as planned we will be on the path to reversing this result by Tuesday.

[diehardredwing19]

sharks fan, weighing in on the series.

This series was close. Close close close. They only things that were not close were Game 4 and the series outcome . 4 out of the 5 games were decided by a single goal. Despite the outcome, I think these teams were very evenly matched.

This series turned towards the Sharks for good in Game 3. A two goal lead in the third period at home has to be protected in the playoffs, but the Wings failed to protect it. Instead a good move and shot by Thornton and the flukiest soft goal of the series (ok, maybe the one off Murray's skate was flukier, but that game was already out of hand by that point) let the Sharks come back. Sharks then caught a break when that shot from the point missed the net, came right to Thornton who was late coming off the boards on a bad change and was beautifully delivered to Marleau who sent the Sharks to an insurmountable 3-0 lead. If the Wings protected that lead as the should have, they take game 3, probably still take game 4, and then it's a whole new series.

Sharks had some puck luck, Sharks had some calls go there way, but they also were tough along the boards and had guys step up when they needed to. Joe Pavelski was a beast in the first couple games of the series, but then slowly that top line of Marleau Thornton Heatley found their stride and played their absolute best game of the playoffs in Game 5. "No-show" Joe was a difference maker all series. I understand you guys must have been pissed when he was out their mucking it up in game 4 when the Sharks were being flat-out destroyed, but that's what a good team leader does: he makes his presence known and sets the table for the next game. Joe showed up all series and I think impressed the hockey world who are so used to him not being a factor in the playoffs.

Sharks contained Zetterberg well all series. My guess is he must be hurt somehow, because I have never seen him kept in check so well by the Sharks even in the regular season. Datysuk, however, was a FORCE all series. His puck handling skills were driving the Sharks D nuts. That guy is amazing, sign him til he's 45. Franzen's performance in Game 4 was impressive, but Datsyuk, in my opinion, was the true MVP for the Wings this series.

Howard has a bright future. He wasn't perfect by any means, but he made some big saves especially early in games.

I don't think you guys were out-coached or out-goaltended, you were out-fought in close games. You obviously have the skill to blow out good teams like the Sharks like you did in Game 4, but you needed more defensive consistency and desperation to win this series.

Feel good about your team, feel good about your future. Wings are still an intimidating force in this league and I doubt that image is going to go away anytime soon.

hey man great post, wasnt easy waking up today knowing my teams out now feels depressing.. but hey u guys have a great great team , very deep on the 3rd n 4th line as well.... and joe broke out he looks like a force now evne tho i hate him lol but respect is giving where its due... and must say u guys have a real great future ahead of u guys and more imp. this year i can feel the hunger ur team has to win it