Playoffs Day 13, Round 1

As a warning, due to work being done, Gray may lose electricity for an indeterminate period of time. If this happens,the Sharks game day will likely be posted shortly before the game occurs.

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Caps force a game 7! Crazy! Torts looked calm upstairs, but you know he had to be mad. I would be too. His team had a chance to seal the deal and they didn't. Game 7 should be epic.

Canes pwn Brodeur. Didn't see that coming and neither did he. That also forces a game 7. And here this was looking like a round of sweeps until now.

There's only one other game on the docket today other than the Sharks game, and they unfortunately, they conflict once again.

Today @ 6:30
TSN HD, CSN-C HD
Blackhawks leads series 3-2

Playoffs, Round 1, Day 11

Anyone catch that fan fighting with Tortorella last night? That was some serious crazy right there. Torts grabbed himself a stick to defend himself, not that I think he needed it. Dude looks like he could win a rumble when fired up. But when the fans knock out the dividers between panes of glass, it's best to go a little overkill.*

What mayhem and madness will happen today? Tune into the following games to find out:

Today @ noon

CBC, NBC-HD, RDS-HD
Pens lead series 3-2
The Flyers will not go quietly into the night. This game should be a doozy

Today @ 6pm

RIS, TSN-HD, CSN-CH
Series tied 2-2
If you aren't going to or watching the Sharks game tonight, watch this game instead. This series has been crazy good.

*if you think I'm actually advocating beating a drunken, mouthy fan with a stick, you're crazier than that Caps fan.

Playoffs Day 8, Round 1

Quite the ride yesterday, not that we're complaining. That was a great playoff game. But it wasn't the only one. The Canucks swept the Blues last night to win a ticket to round 2. Who saw that coming? Not I. I think I called them in 6. Broduer lost his mind as the Canes won to tie the series at 2-2 with 0.2 seconds left. We should mention the Devils were down 3-0 before storming back only to lose the game in the last seconds.
The Wings went up 3-0 on the Blue Jackets and the Pens went up 3-1 over the Flyers.

There is more action today for the following teams:

Today @ 4pm
CBC, RDS, NESN, all HD
Boston leads series 3-0

Today @ 4pm
VERSUS, TSN, MSG, all HD
Rangers lead series 2-1

Today @ 7pm
VERSUS, TSN, RDS, all HD
Blackhawks lead series 2-1

Playoffs Day 6, Round 1

It's now the I begin to feel glad that I didn't decided to do different vs images before each game.

Today@4pm
CBC, RDS, NESN, all HD
Boston leads series 2-0


Today@4pm
VERSUS, TSN, MSG, all HD
Rangers lead series 2-0


Today@6:30
VERSUS, TSN, both HD
Chicago leads series 2-0

Playoff Round 1 Day 4

You want more hockey? We've got more hockey!

On right now on NBC.
10am pacific time
Rangers lead series 1-0

Today @ 3pm
TSN, NHLN-US
Detroit leads series 1-0

Today @ 4pm
VERSUS, CBC, RDS
Boston leads series 1-0

Today @ 6pm
TSN, CSN-CH
Chicago leads series 1-0

Playoffs Day 2, Round 1

Today @ 4pm
Watch on CBC(HD), RDS(HD), NESN(HD)
The Couch Tarts say Boston in 5 (Mina) or Boston in 6 (Gray)

Today @ 5:30pm
Watch on VERSUS(HD), TSN(HD)
The Couch Tarts say Chicago in 7

Today at 4pm
Watch on VERSUS(HD), TSN2(HD)
The Couch Tarts say Wings in 5 (Mina) or Wings in 6 (Gray)

Sharks V Flames, Earth Moving Under My Feet Edition

Tonight @6:30pm Radio and TV

Is a minor quake on game day significant? Does it signal a groundswell in effort or the great roster shake up that has been the injury list this season? Probably not. Somehow I doubt the local fault lines pay much attention to hockey. They have their own pressures to deal with.

But the Sharks are in for a tough battle tonight. First off, everyone on the team is injured, (or it feels like that anyway) and the Flames play rough. Secondly, the Flames aren't exactly push overs. Our contests with them thus far have been lopsided, to say the least. The Worsharks on the team may not be as familiar with the Flames as some of our vets. They're about to go through one hell of a trial by fire.

Calgary is losing ground in the Northwest and will be looking to stay ahead of the Canucks, who are threatening to overtake the lead.

Let's go over that again. Injured Sharks+rookies+desperate Flames+not the best record against the Flames this year=potential for insanity.

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I'd like to remind you all that Couch Tarts stuff is still available! Get it while it's hot!

Post Game Recap:


This game was a good one folks, hope you all tuned in!

Word was Calgary was saying all you have to do to beat the Sharks is beat them up. That worked in years past my northern friends, but not this year. Not with this team. Keep those elbows inside and hang on. It's going to be a bumpy, tight paced ride.

Hard hitting, fast paced, everything you'd expect from a Sharks v Flames game. And the Sharks won! Bonus!

Taking advantage of a lovely 5 on 3, Boyle got a goal, his first in 22 games, on a nice play from Thornton. Hello awesome! First goal of the night, a winner is you!

Or, not.
Calgary scored to tie the game. Ok, a tie game is you.

Cheechoo's goal in the second (and man did he need a goal) a winner is you! Wait...yes, yes in fact, a game winner is you! Congratulations!

Nabby made some killer saves. he stopped one shot from sliding in at the last possible second. It was crazy.

Not to be outdone, Kipru made a ridiculous save on Joe Pa in the third. Highway robbery, thy name is Kiprusoff

Lukowich didn't get a goal,though he got an assist. But because it looked like his goal at first, and we like him, he gets a bonus goal.

As Mina pointed out to me tonight, two years ago the Sharks won 51 games. Tonight, they won their 50th of the season. Makes our complaining seems a little silly (don't worry, we don't plan on stopping any time soon)

The Sharks also now have 111 points. I don't even know how to fathom that, but, there it is.

The 111 points dazed me so much that I forgot the three stars!
(3) Glenncross (waaahh?) (2) Iginla (1) Thornton

Sharks v Flames

tonight @ 7:30 radio, tv, tank, interwebs

Black armor night tonight. Let's hope that's what the Sharks need to extinguish the Flames.

Don't forget to check out Fear the Fin's live thread-a-palooza tonight. I will be there, and likely on cold meds. Should be a good time.

Post game recap:

Joe had a good night. Clowe had a good night. Nabby did too, for the most part. The rest of the Sharks, well...

Ok, so it wasn't a bad game by any stretch of the imagination, but the Sharks weren't firing on all cylinders all game.

The Flames had a good night as a team.

The dreaded home regulation loss had to happen sometime.

Rob Blake was hit in the head by a puck. Not sure how he's doing at this time.

Will potentially add more later. No, I'm not sad, I'm just sick.

Minako's Stat o' the Game: 0 for 5
The Sharks failed to convert on the power play, including some 5 on 3 time. It was part Kipprusoff, part well played defense, and part the Sharks inability to be on the same page. (see more later) Meanwhile, the Flames converted on only 1 of their 5 opportunities that but seemed to make all the difference. In a game where both teams are playing well, small mistakes and missteps are going to cost you and they cost the Sharks big.

Minako's Word of the Game: "self-inflicted"
Drew said it. The one of the coaches said it (though I can't remember which one right now). The problems that the Sharks had were self-inflicted. They seemed to be on different pages all night. Passes weren't connecting, players missed assignments, and those mistakes bit the Sharks hard. It's hard to put a finger on what caused the missteps, but it shouldn't have been a line up issue as Shelley was the only addition and Semenov was the only subtraction. Certainly losing Blake was a big deal, but the Sharks will have to learn to overcome those issues especially against the good teams in the league. Tonight was less about the Flames beating the Sharks and more about the Sharks beating themselves.

Sharks v Flames

7pm radio, tv, interwebs

Fear the Fin will have the stream it. They will hopefully have a good comments thread too.

The Flames and Sharks both sit atop their respective divisions. If there was ever a time to play for a full 60 minutes it's tonight. The Flames will not be pushovers. Whatever isn't clicking for the Sharks needs to start clicking tonight.

Staubitz is back up. Go Staubitz!

Post Game Recap:

Well, that wasn't a full 60 minutes was it?

So here's the deal. I could talk about the few pluses in this game, and there were some, or I could talk about all the minuses, and there were a lot, or I could not do either. We all know what went right and what went wrong, (and if you don't both teams will have official and unofficial recaps nowish-tomorrow) and instead explain it in a way that might make everyone feel less like hitting the booze hard tonight.

At my school we had this saying; everyone has so many bad drawings in them an the only way to get them all out is to draw all the time. Draw early and often, if you will. It's a clever way of saying "keep drawing and you'll get better."

Same goes for hockey. Keep working and you'll play better. The hope is that the Sharks get all these bad games out now so they have that many more good games come playoff time. It might be a stretch but it's a good way to keep the season in perspective on night when you're feeling a little down (angry, frustrated, miffed, saddened, etc) about how the game went.

That's the end of my pep talk for tonight.

Go Sharks!

Sharks v Flames

This is not a game I'll be able to keep my normal objectivity for. To put it simply, I don't like the Flames. Last year's seven game round one extravaganza was a nail biter of epic proportions. Not having to face them again for a season or so would have been fine by me.

Every time Calgary comes to town, people start talking about the Kiprusoff trade. As Mina so eloquently puts it, "He couldn't win a starting job. He went to Canada and came back a different man." That's pretty much all there is to it. Considering it's 2008 and that trade happened in 2003, the statue of limitations on freaking out about it has expired. Time to let it go.



Well, that was...awesome!

Sharks win 6-1. It was a pizza night for all at the Tank!

Milan Michalek tried his best to get a hat trick, but was held to two goals.

Joe Pavelski also had two goals. (Joe Pa!)

Patty and Big Joe joined in on the goal scoring party.

Sharks got four of their 6 goals on the power play. Hello effectiveness!

Ehrhoff and Blake both had three assists.

The Sharks D was on fire!

Boosh was fanatastic. I'm so glad we picked him up last season.

A Girl Can Dream

So much for the hope I had that no one would sign Bertuzzi.