(2) San Jose Sharks vs. (3) Detroit Red Wings

[LeonardSankar 434]

Aloha LGW!

Been waiting for this one. Despite what most Sharks fans have been saying, I know that the road to Stanley goes through Detroit.

It's going to be a tough series, and the winner of this matchup will go on to the Stanley Cup finals. And it's going to be San Jose!

I guess your assuming Nashville will beat Vancouver? I don't think the Sharks will beat the Canucks if they get that matchup so yea I wouldn't be surprised if they beat the Wings but they ain't winning a Cup as I'll take Vancouver or even Washington over San Jose if they get those matchups.

[Guest Shoreline]

Some of the schedule is up now via Red Wings twitter. Updated in the OP.

Edited April 27, 2011 by Shoreline

[I Red Wings I 40]

The travel issue is irrelevant, as it works both ways. All four teams will be traveling.

[Grypho 195]

Referring to my statement that I had hoped for a Sharks/Wings WCF instead of a repeat of last year:

I think you're overestimating how much Wings fans care about the Sharks. Sharks fans may see the Wings as a rival, but I don't think that Wings fans really see the Sharks as such. If anything, people here just detest the Sharks for being such a gang of whining divers last playoff year.

So, in other words, "They are too detested and disrespected to be worthy of being called a rival."?

Sounds like so much hyperbole to me. I think there is enough playoff history between the two teams, and enough sentiment expressed just on this board, to call it a bona fide playoff rivalry, without requiring that Wings fans "care" about the Sharks, or even respect them as a team. I don't think most Wings fan "care" about the Hawks or the Preds either, but that doesn't mean there's no rivalry with these teams.

Caring would be only something I feel - just me - about both teams, as a Wings fan, second only to the Sharks. I get the fact that many Wings fans see the Sharks as "a gang of whining divers", and that some actually "hate" the Sharks (as stated many times on the boards, for whatever their reasons). I accept that, no sweat here, it doesn't affect how I feel about either team. But "hate", not "care" is the word usually reserved for rivals.

[themule93 1]

helm is gunna do exactly what he did to jovanovski to some member of the sharks defence and make him completely useless. thus making a s***ty defensive squad s***tier.

[Mabuhay Red Wings 177]

Marleau-Thornton-Setoguchi

Clowe-Couture-Heatley

Wellwood-Pavelski-Mitchell

McGinn-Nichol-Mayers

Murray-Boyle

Vlasic-Demers

White-Wallin

Niemi

Who do you guys want matching up against each line?

Edited April 27, 2011 by Mabuhay Red Wings

[Barrie 900]

Hopefully this year the Sharks will play like men, instead of last year's horrible display of diving, flipping, and flopping to draw penalties.

[themule93 1]

I think we should match up the Joe Thornton line with Datsyuk's to frustrate the s*** out of Joe who wont be able to keep the puck on his stick. Match Zetterberg/Filppula with the second line and so on. That's just me tho [/font]

[Jesusberg 1,256]

I'd view the Sharks as a rival, and perhaps even respect them if they weren't gifted the series. Having a 10-4 PP advantage in a single game is pretty ridiculous, if I remember correctly. Especially considering most of the calls were mediocre at best. I generally don't look for any team to be routed, but I hope Detroit absolutely embarrasses the Sharks to make up for last year.

[dropkickshanahans 463]

What's the story with Franzen? Will he be back in time for Game 1?

[Vladifan 680]

If we win one of the two in SJ, I think our chances will be exponentially better. Get 'em while they're

still recovering from their last series. Make it more of a psychological obstacle they would have to overcome, both physically and mentally. Make them chase and react right off the bat. Or the puck drop. Or whatever.

Which means that the Wings have got to lay it on from the first whistle to the last second. It ain't like they're not rested enough to do that.

[stuck in socal 56]

If we win one of the two in SJ, I think our chances will be exponentially better. Get 'em while they're

still recovering from their last series. Make it more of a psychological obstacle they would have to overcome, both physically and mentally. Make them chase and react right off the bat. Or the puck drop. Or whatever.

Which means that the Wings have got to lay it on from the first whistle to the last second. It ain't like they're not rested enough to do that.

[vegas_shark 6]

Greetings Wing-Nuts! So we meet again. Nice to see the overflowing optimism from the LGW posters.

This is gonna be one hell of a series. An all out war that I think goes the limit. The Sharks D-corps and goaltending mostly sucked vs. LA, but were outstanding in the last half of the season. I expect our boys to play up to the level of a quality opponent in the WCSF. As is true of most playoff series, I think goaltending and special teams will decide this one. I also think, like many series between equally matched teams, a role player from the third or fourth line will be a deciding factor. The Wings destroyed the Yotes but, after sitting around for 10 days, will they be able to turn on the playoff intensity again?

But rehashing last year's series is meaningless. References to either team's first round series is pretty useless as certain teams always match-up better or worse with others. When the puck drops on Friday night it's gonna be about the team that works harder and wants it more. About which team is willing to make the sacrifices and pay the price to win.

Good luck Detroit, and may the best team in this series go on to win the Cup.

[AtomicPunk 296]

Someone please explain this one to me.

Wings / Sharks series starts on Friday. Wings have been off for a week, SJ has been off for a day or two.

Vancouver / Nashville series starts on Thursday. Vancouver played a game 7 last night, and Nashville won their Game 6 a day or so ago.

Does this not make any sense to anyone else? Why are the Wings not playing Thursday instead of the team that just finished a Game 7?

Edited April 28, 2011 by AtomicPunk

[I Red Wings I 40]

Someone please explain this one to me.

Wings / Sharks series starts on Friday. Wings have been off for a week, SJ has been off for a day or two.

Vancouver / Nashville series starts on Thursday. Vancouver played a game 7 last night, and Nashville won their Game 6 a day or so ago.

Does this not make any sense to anyone else?

CBC would need game 1 to start tomorrow in order to have a game Saturday, Hockey Night in Canada. One could argue, why not have game 1 start Saturday?

That's just one of my guesses.

[AtomicPunk 296]

CBC would need game 1 to start tomorrow in order to have a game Saturday, Hockey Night in Canada. One could argue, why not have game 1 start Saturday?

That's just one of my guesses.

I get that it's all about TV, which rules the world, but why wouldn't the Wings / Sharks series be the first to start?

[Hiei 192]

We are owed after the dumbf***ery of refereeing that was last year's series vs SJ. Remember how many 5 on 3s we had against?

oh yea, and this time we DO NOT HAVE BRETT TURNOVER LEBDA ON OUR D PAIRS.

[dropkickshanahans 463]

We are owed after the dumbf***ery of refereeing that was last year's series vs SJ. Remember how many 5 on 3s we had against?

oh yea, and this time we DO NOT HAVE BRETT TURNOVER LEBDA ON OUR D PAIRS.

I'm not sure we played him during the playoffs since we had Lilja back but I can't remember.

[FabHckyBbe 2]

Wings in 2 1/2. Sharts give up halfway through and wonder where the hell has this Joe Thornton guy gone???

Yeah, you mean that guy who went 2G+3A=5P in 6 games (both of those goals being GWG -- and one of them the series clincher in OT), with a faceoff percentage of 64.2% while taking a majority of the faceoffs -- what a loser who totally disappeared, huh? I'd really hate to have a guy like Joe Thornton on my team.

[FabHckyBbe 2]

Someone please explain this one to me.

Wings / Sharks series starts on Friday. Wings have been off for a week, SJ has been off for a day or two.

Vancouver / Nashville series starts on Thursday. Vancouver played a game 7 last night, and Nashville won their Game 6 a day or so ago.

Does this not make any sense to anyone else? Why are the Wings not playing Thursday instead of the team that just finished a Game 7?

You have to figure in any potential conflicts at HP Pavilion and the JLA, not only for the guaranteed games 1-4 but potentially up though a possible 7th game. Apparently a Friday start worked out best for both the Sharks, Wings and their respective buildings' schedules. I don't think this is some vast consiracy by the league to keep the Wings from playing for an additional day in order to keep them rusty or something or a conspiracy against the Nucks to keep them tired out.

[Guest Heaten]

Someone please explain this one to me.

Wings / Sharks series starts on Friday. Wings have been off for a week, SJ has been off for a day or two.

Vancouver / Nashville series starts on Thursday. Vancouver played a game 7 last night, and Nashville won their Game 6 a day or so ago.

Does this not make any sense to anyone else? Why are the Wings not playing Thursday instead of the team that just finished a Game 7?

I'm all for the Wings starting Friday and getting that extra days rest. This is a veteran team with one of the best coaches in the game, they will be prepared and, most of all, well rested. The extra rest is what this team needed.

Look how many Stanley Cup rings this team has (24?), they know what it takes and they will be ready.

[Motown4013 350]

Yeah, you mean that guy who went 2G+3A=5P in 6 games (both of those goals being GWG -- and one of them the series clincher in OT), with a faceoff percentage of 64.2% while taking a majority of the faceoffs -- what a loser who totally disappeared, huh? I'd really hate to have a guy like Joe Thornton on my team.

The last 4 years:

Zetterberg

2006-2007 Red Wings 18 6 8 14 1 12 3 0 1 78 7.7

2007-2008 Red Wings 22 13 14 27 16 16 4 2 4 116 11.2

2008-2009 Red Wings 23 11 13 24 13 13 4 0 0 82 13.4

2009-2010 Red Wings 12 7 8 15 [b]11[/b] 6 2 0 2 45 15.6

Thornton:

2006-2007 Sharks 11 1 10 11 2 10 0 0 0 23 4.3

2007-2008 Sharks 13 2 8 10 3 2 1 0 1 29 6.9

2008-2009 Sharks 6 1 4 5 -3 5 1 0 0 17 5.9

2009-2010 Sharks 15 3 9 12 -11 18 1 0 1 35 8.6

Just sayin'

Edited April 28, 2011 by Motown4013

[AtomicPunk 296]

I'm not worried about the Wings one bit and all the rest you can get this time of year, you take, and I'm not a conspiracy theorist. Just seems really strange / kind of unfair to Vancouver to schedule it this way.

[10 Minute Misconduct 104]

Vancouver shouldn't have went to 7 games. Not unfair at all.

[FabHckyBbe 2]

The last 4 years:

Zetterberg

2006-2007 Red Wings 18 6 8 14 1 12 3 0 1 78 7.7

2007-2008 Red Wings 22 13 14 27 16 16 4 2 4 116 11.2

2008-2009 Red Wings 23 11 13 24 13 13 4 0 0 82 13.4

2009-2010 Red Wings 12 7 8 15 11 6 2 0 2 45 15.6

Thornton:

2006-2007 Sharks 11 1 10 11 2 10 0 0 0 23 4.3

2007-2008 Sharks 13 2 8 10 3 2 1 0 1 29 6.9

2008-2009 Sharks 6 1 4 5 -3 5 1 0 0 17 5.9

2009-2010 Sharks 15 3 9 12 -11 18 1 0 1 35 8.6

Just sayin'

And you should go ahead and say it. Shout it from the rooftops. I'm saying nothing against Zetterberg who is an awesome player with great playoff stats for the past four years. No argument from me at all.

However, what I AM saying is that rolling out the same old tired cliches about "disappearing Joe" are not particularly valid right now. He had a great series against the Kings by anyone's standards. Anyone calling out Joe's play right now is showing laziness of thought and not paying attention to reality.

Let me tell you about this awesome player....he was a major league prospect and a high first-round draft pick, he had been the Captain of an Original 6 team, he averaged over a point per game in his career in the first 13 seasons, and his team was once the number one seed in the West only to lose a hearbreaking first round series to the lowly eighth seeded team. Everyone called him a choker 'cause he just couldn't get it done in the post-season and neither could the rest of his very talented team.

By the way, this player's name is Steve Yzerman.

Then in his 14th season in the league, when he was 32 years old, Stevie Y finally won the Cup and everyone stopped calling him a big fat choker.

Joe Thornton is in his 14th NHL season and he will be 32 in July. Coincidence? Yeah, probably. But something for Wings fans to think about when the bandy the choker label around.