TheSupafly

Quite honestly this is the last matchup I wanted to see.  The Blues smoked the Sharks and swept the season series 4-0.  Hitchcock has them playing fantastic defensive grind you down hockey.  Sharks can't kill a penalty to save their lives.  It looks to be a low scoring series, especially if the Blues score first.  That being said, SJ does have the playoff experience and has been playing playoff hockey for the last two weeks essentially.  One thing I know is that the winner of this series will definitely have something taken out of them as this will be a very physical one.  Sharks in 7...but that's the homer in me.  If I had to put money on it, I'd say Blues in 6.  

TL;DR
Heart says Sharks in 7, Mind/Money says Blues in 6

Sharks announcers giving Pasha lots of love. Nice.

Dats is the best player in the NHL, period.  You can make arguments for Crosby, and others, but every time I see him play he amazes me with his skill and creativity.  He makes everyone around him better and when he has the puck against the Sharks it strikes fear in my heart I just pray that the puck leaves his stick ASAP.  You Wings fans are lucky to watch him play on a regular basis, he is one of the greats for sure.

The sky is not falling you guys.  The wings are still a great team.  It's still the 8th game of the season.  Both teams are going to work some stuff out over the next 74 games.  I'm guessing your team and my team will both be in the playoffs.  As pissed as you guys are with Ian White, I'm equally pissed with Justin Braun.  No matter which team wins this game, both teams will have learned more about themselves and be better for it.  Weaknesses are exposed by high quality competition.  You wouldn't learn much if the wings played 82 games against the blue jackets and then headed to the playoffs.  I wouldn't want the sharks to play the coyotes a bunch and then get a reality check in the playoffs. (I'm setting myself up for a joke there, I know.)  I love that almost every time these two teams play it's a hard fought close game.  Good luck in the 3rd.

Just wanted to say that I completely agree with you guys about Eager.  I was pissed at him before for taking stupid penalties and runs at players, but then what he did after the goal was a disgrace.  I NEVER want to see Eager put on teal again.  I don't want him representing me as a fan or the team I root for.  I'm sof****** pissed right now.

Here's the link to the extended version.

LOL.  Heatley should stop by his church of choice every effing day of the week and thank a higher power that he even plays in the NHL.  If a certain judge owned a pair of testicles, he would be rotting in a Georgia jail cell following the vehicular manslaughter of his good friend.

I'm cool with all the verbal barbs being thrown around, but this is kinda silly.  We all know it happened, and it is inexcusable, but coming from someone that has Bertuzzi on their team, that's kind of hypocritical don't you think?  He ended someone's career maliciously, but no one brought that up (that I saw, and I apologize for that person if they did).  Calling one better than the other is stupid, they were both horribly reckless actions that resulted in terrible consequences.  Let's leave that non-hockey discussion for another forum shall we?  It takes away from how great this series was between to great teams.

Just got back and settled from game 7.  I was anticipating an amazing game and I was not disappointed.  Every single game could have gone either way in this series.  The Wings could easily have won all 7.  The Sharks could have won all 7 too, though they were completely outplayed by the wings in game 6 (Nemo almost stole it).  I mentioned it in the Dats thread, but every time Dats had the puck I had fear hit my right in the gut.  He is the best player in the world in my mind and it's not even close.  You guys are very lucky to have him on your team and to get to watch him play on a regular basis.  He is simply amazing.  It's as if he's a college senior playing ice hockey against a bunch of 5th graders...that's seriously what it looks like to me when he's on the ice.  Be proud of your team and your organization Wings fans.  20 consecutive playoff appearances, incredible talent and heart, and of course all the Cups.  They are the model NHL franchise.  I know many of you wouldn't consider the Sharks as a rival, but for us Sharks fans, the Wings are rival 1A (with the ducks being 1B).  We've met you in the playoffs 5 times, more than any other team (I'm just going on memory here).  It's no secret our team and franchise have taken a lot from your playbook and you guys have been where we hope to go.  I know many have a hatred for my team and I understand that and am ok with it.  I know the Wings will be back next year, because they always are.  Best of luck next season (except against my Sharks of course).  I always enjoy visiting these boards as they are always active and have a ton of topics to discuss.  Again, all the best.

We are truly lucky to have Pavel Datsyuk in the Detroit Red Wings. Seriously. I would never trade him for a Crosby, Ovechkin, Stamkos, or all the Sedins in the world. Why? Because he's simply the best and nobody will ever change my mind on that

I mean, sure, he doesn't rack up the most points in the season. But honestly, how many players out there get you standing out of your seat almost every time he touches the puck? Whether he's being his usual self deking and dangling with his virtuoso  stick handling skills, making the puck vanish from the other player's stick with his wizardry. The man is pure magic.

tl;dr : I appreciate Pavel Datsyuk and you should too!  

QFT.  I cannot put into the words the fear that I felt in my gut every single time the guy had the puck on his stick.  It usually only left his stick if he wanted it to, and it went wherever he wanted it to.  The man is insane.  Best player in the league and you can't convince me otherwise.  I wont mention the things I would do to have him on my team, but I assure you it's not a pretty picture.

I really wish I could hate Dats, but he's such an amazing player that plays with class that I can't do it.  I can still hate you guys for having him on your team though.    Don't get me wrong though, I am pretty disappointed with the game.  I felt my team controlled the majority of the play...for the first 41 minutes anyway.  Wings PK was huge tonight.  Well done by your boys.  See you guys in game 6.

Your boys deserved a better fate in game 3.  The wings were the better team that night.  Tonight will be a battle, just like the other three games.  Hope the game is just as intense and close as the last 3.

Looking forward to a hell of a series.  I think the winner of this goes to the Cup finals for sure.  Vancouver is soft and Nashville is...well...Nashville.  Sharks PP this postseason has sucked royally (see what I did there?).  The special teams needs to be much better for the Sharks or the wings will romp.  Getting Z back should be a nice boost for the wings.  A healthy White makes the Sharks' defense a bit better than last year.  Niemi is anyone's guess.  Can't wait for it to start.

If and when we face the Wings, and I can't wait for that, I want both teams to show up, and for BOTH to stay on their VERY BEST GAME. I want both teams to play for a full 60 minutes, each and every game. In such games, I can't predict the victor, or the outcome of the series, or even what the balance of luck will be, but I could not ask for better than that. That would be hockey at its finest, where even the so-called "luck" will be an exciting part of the game, win or lose.

Exactly how I feel about it.  Every time both the Wings and Sharks have shown up, the games have been breathtakingly great hockey.  I am decidedly not a wings fan, however I must admit I LOVE watching them play when they are on top of their game.  It's beautiful to watch and I have an immense respect for the entire organization.  Why wouldn't you want to model your own team structure after the wings?  Looking forward to the matchup if it happens.

There certainly are a lot of misconceptions about SJ or maybe it's just venting...not sure.  I'll be happy to field any questions in case there's any confusion.  At least we can change the conspiracy theories from "Bettman/NHL wants the Sharks to win and have another one of his coveted expansions to succeed" to "The NHL just wanted the wings to lose, and now that they're out they don't care about the Sharks".

This has been a very good series between two very talented teams.  Chicago has converted on their opportunities better than SJ and Niemi is outplaying Nabby.  That's the difference.

Lol @ someone saying that Sharks fans have been complaining about officiating.  I haven't heard any from where I'm at and where I read, and I'd be willing to wager that I see a lot more stuff on the Sharks than most people.

Bigger lol @ someone saying San Jose people don't care.  The Sharks are the only major professional sports team San Jose has.  The city is all about the Sharks.  They were all about the Sharks when they stank up the place.  The city supports that team like few cities can.  I'm not saying it's the top of the heap, but as far as unified city support, it's way up there.  10th largest city in the US by population and 1 major pro team?  Yeah it will have a f***ton of people that care.  That's an industry term...it means a lot.

I actually think this series and the 2nd round series between the Wings and Sharks are pretty similar.  I don't think that the Sharks outplayed the wings by much in the series, and yet they converted on chances and got the breaks and were up 3-0 in the series despite it being close.  Chicago has not carried the majority of play yet they are up 3-0.  Chicago was clearly the better team in game 2, but game 1 was very close and game 3 I think the Sharks carried a much larger portion of the play and still lost.  

I will not give up on them until it is actually over.  Will they come back and win the series?  Probably not, but there's always a chance.  They can't win 4 at once, they can only win game 4 on Sunday.  If they can do that much (and I don't think anyone would argue that they have a 0% chance of doing that), then they will get a game 5 at home where I'll be yelling till I lose my voice.  Finally take that one at home and then the song will carry a different tune.

I'll be working all through the weekend and trying to hit up a couple bbqs and parties so I apologize if I can't follow up on the thread or reply for a while.

Forgive me for cross posting my own post, but I feel that it's appropriate for discussion in this thread.  Basically about how I as a Shark fan feel coming into this game...a game in a situation that pretty much no one expected to happen.

"Confident and optimistic, but yet still vary wary. Let's look back to two years ago.

The Sharks took 7 games to eliminate the Flames in the first round. (Similar to how it took 7 games for the wings to knock off the yotes this year)

They then fell behind 3 games to none in their 2nd round matchup against the dallas stars. (seeing any parallels yet?)

In that series, the Sharks broke through and got one win. They then had a 2 goal comeback in the 3rd period and won game 5 in overtime. Now the series was 3-2. Game 6 was in Dallas. It went to triple overtime. (maybe it was 4 overtimes...it's a painful memory I've tried unsuccessfully to block out.) Dallas scored on a powerplay to win it and eliminate the Sharks.

If one bounce is different in that triple OT game, the Sharks tie the series up at 3 and head home for a game 7 with all the momentum and belief in the world. Had the Sharks pulled out that game 6, I have zero doubt in my mind that they were going to take game 7.

It can happen. It all starts with one win. Many of these Sharks were on that team. They know that the red wings are a better team now than the Sharks team of 2 years ago. The Sharks will play desperate hockey as well to close this out ASAP. This is a different squad. A more mature and experienced squad. A calm and confident one. They are playing hockey in a way that I've never seen before in my 19 years of watching them. This is why such a big part of me wants to just start going crazy, spewing thoughts of how much this is the year. Why I want to run around my neighborhood screaming after every win. Why I want to take my rally towels and playoff pompoms when I go down to the grocery store for milk. Why every time I see another car on the road with a Sharks license plate frame or logo on it I honk and pump my fist in the air, even if they can't figure out why.

It's that other part of me that holds me back. The part that has swallowed bitter bitter disappointment the past 6 years. The part that has had those expectations lifted every single season, only to be smashed into thousands of pieces and shoved up my you know what. With each win, this part gets pushed further away, letting the first part creep a little closer into my consciousness. One more might take it over the top. I try not to let my mind look too far ahead, but it's getting progressively more difficult.

I know this is going to be a cheesy reference, but it's the best comparison I can think of for describing how I'm feeling as a Sharks fan. You know the part in the movie The Matrix where Neo finally decides he's not going to run from that agent in the train station like they always tell him to? He decides to fight the unbeatable agent. One of the guys in the ship says, "what's he doing?!?" Morpheus says quite simply, "He's beginning to believe." Well that's me.

I'm beginning to believe."

I know it's hard to not feel deflated after a game like this and being in this position.  BELIEVE ME, you know I've been there.  

Lots of you are throwing in the towel and declaring this thing over.  I promise you it's not over.  Until you lose the 4th game it is not over.  The Sharks don't think it's over.  I sure as hell don't think it's over.  Your wings better not think it's over.

All 3 games were one goal games.  A bounce or a call the other way and any or all of them go the other way.  It could be 3-0 wings.  As a Sharks fan and with the talent the wings have I wont feel confident until the Sharks have that 4th win.  

As an organization, the red wings have been the model for every other team in the NHL.  Look at what the Sharks have been trying to do the last few years.  They've taken your formula and done their best to emulate it.  Maybe this is the year they finally do it right.  I think someone in this thread mentioned how lucky you fans have been...to have had the privilege to watch your team have so much success.  Should I be so lucky with my team, even for one year, I will soak up every bit.  

I know you don't want to read this much from a Sharks fan right now so I'll end it here.  It's not over yet.  See you Thursday.