(Last night I went to Giants game and, despite a very good performance, I spent most of the game paying attention to the Sharks game (including all of the 8th inning watching the game standing with a few other people by the Irish pub (fish and chips! yum!)). Therefore, I have not watched any of game 2 and I'm going to wait until I do to comment on the games in San Jose. Looks forward to that.)
So far all but the Caps and Flyers have played their first games and there are a few impressions that I have had about how the games haven gone so far:
* I was struck by the following quote in the Deadspin NHL Closer: "Complacency breeds despair: Ducks fans are bringing inflatable, prefab Cup replicas to the rink that cost $40 and a few seconds of lung power. Montreal fans are meticulously creating aluminum foil Stanley Cups and then wearing them on their heads. Who do you think wants it more?"
I know in some respects this is a knock on west coast fans, but I will take it as a knock on Anaheim fans. My feelings on the fans in Anaheim go way back (we have issues over the 2002 World Series among other things) and I can only imagine how full of themselves they have grown since winning the Stanley Cup. From what I have seen of the game, the Ducks looked terrible. But then again, so did the Sharks on Wednesday. And I have the same reaction to the Ducks game I did to the Sharks game: if the Ducks can't get it together to play Game 2, it will be a mercilessly short series. And I have no issue with that at all.
* The 8 seeds looked overwhelmed. I have heard all about the Nashville Holding-Palooza 2008 and honestly, I figured that was the only way they had any chance. They have to play Detroit physical and even then I don't think they stand much of a chance. Same for Boston. I don't like the chances of either of these teams, though I think they will probably be able to scratch out a game. I can only hope that Nashville can do what they did well the last 2 years, which is play their opponent (the Sharks) super physical and tire them out for the second round. Lord knows Detroit doesn't need another championship.
* Poor Ottawa. 2008 has just been a proverbial House of Horrors for them.
* I am looking forward to seeing Ovechkin and the Caps play (though I will miss some of the begining getting home from work). I don't put much faith in the ability of the Flyers soley on how physical they can play, but I think this series could be full of scoring and hitting which pleases me greatly.
Friday, April 11, 2008
Thursday, April 10, 2008
Game 2 Reflections
That was beautiful. It wasn't perfect, but it was a good solid effort and best of all, that Sharks won and looked good doing it. Some of those saves Nabby made blew my mind. He robbed Nolan of a goal. Absolutely robbed him. It was fantastic.
The Sharks looked great on the PK, for the most part, though they could use some major improvement on the PP, but I'm willing to take it one step at a time if they can keep on winning. I think this game shows they can. Rumor has it they were nervous yesterday, extremely so, and that's what did them in. They shook those nerves off tonight and came back to win a VERY important game at home. They played well, frustrated Calgary and it paid off. The Flames stayed in the box a lot of the night which kept them from gaining any real momentum. Nabby shut them down every time they challenged him and took the wind right out off their sails.
More of that please gentlemen! As you can see, I was right. If you play well, we'll stay loud for you.
On the Flames side I have to commend the outstanding play of Kipursoff. He annoys me with how good he is. He made some saves that boggled my mind and he kept his team in the game. Were it not for such solid play by him I think the Sharks would have had a lot more than two goals.
The Flames obvious frustration did them in. They got overly psychical and took some silly penalties. I expect to see more of that was the series wears on when things aren't going their way. They are a good dangerous team and the Sharks would do well to remember not to tread to lightly around them. Respond to their hits too, though a little less sloppily than you did tonight. It was horrid to watch game 1 and see NO response at all. Keep up the good work boys and try to improve upon it. We'd all like to see you move on to round 2 (and beyond) so keep working.
Way to go Sharks! See you Sunday in Calgary.
The Sharks looked great on the PK, for the most part, though they could use some major improvement on the PP, but I'm willing to take it one step at a time if they can keep on winning. I think this game shows they can. Rumor has it they were nervous yesterday, extremely so, and that's what did them in. They shook those nerves off tonight and came back to win a VERY important game at home. They played well, frustrated Calgary and it paid off. The Flames stayed in the box a lot of the night which kept them from gaining any real momentum. Nabby shut them down every time they challenged him and took the wind right out off their sails.
More of that please gentlemen! As you can see, I was right. If you play well, we'll stay loud for you.
On the Flames side I have to commend the outstanding play of Kipursoff. He annoys me with how good he is. He made some saves that boggled my mind and he kept his team in the game. Were it not for such solid play by him I think the Sharks would have had a lot more than two goals.
The Flames obvious frustration did them in. They got overly psychical and took some silly penalties. I expect to see more of that was the series wears on when things aren't going their way. They are a good dangerous team and the Sharks would do well to remember not to tread to lightly around them. Respond to their hits too, though a little less sloppily than you did tonight. It was horrid to watch game 1 and see NO response at all. Keep up the good work boys and try to improve upon it. We'd all like to see you move on to round 2 (and beyond) so keep working.
Way to go Sharks! See you Sunday in Calgary.
My Picks for Round 1
I did these last night but they didn't make it here, largely due to lots of sadness over the utter lack of play I witnessed at the game last night.
Detroit over Nashville in 6. The sadist in me really wants to pick Nashville in this series. Wouldn't it be hilarious if they won? The Sharks would have to face them in R2 if that were the case, so maybe it wouldn't be so hilarious.
San Jose over Calgary in 6, unless the Sharks decide to keep playing like crap.
Minnesota v Colorado. 7 game series, last team with a man standing wins. I don't expect this to be an easy series and I don't expect many players on either team to make it out alive.
Edited: Apparently I'm forced to choose a team not just predict the state of both at the end of the series. Wild in 7.
Anaheim over Dallas in 5. I don't think this one requires much explaination.
Now onto the East. I don't pay much attention to the East during the regular season so forgive me if these picks seem odd.
Montreal over Boston in 6.
Pittsburgh over Ottawa in 6. I'm being generous here and giving Ottawa a chance to show up. I doubt they will.
Washington over Philadelphia in 5. Yeah, I know, 5? Somebody needs to be a risk taker here. The Flyers are tough but the I think the Caps want it more and they want to keep any series against Philly as short as possible.
New Jersey over New York in 6. I made this pick only because Jersey has Brodeur. This was also before I saw the score of last night's game. I'm sticking to it though, so watch it be wrong.
Detroit over Nashville in 6. The sadist in me really wants to pick Nashville in this series. Wouldn't it be hilarious if they won? The Sharks would have to face them in R2 if that were the case, so maybe it wouldn't be so hilarious.
San Jose over Calgary in 6, unless the Sharks decide to keep playing like crap.
Minnesota v Colorado. 7 game series, last team with a man standing wins. I don't expect this to be an easy series and I don't expect many players on either team to make it out alive.
Edited: Apparently I'm forced to choose a team not just predict the state of both at the end of the series. Wild in 7.
Anaheim over Dallas in 5. I don't think this one requires much explaination.
Now onto the East. I don't pay much attention to the East during the regular season so forgive me if these picks seem odd.
Montreal over Boston in 6.
Pittsburgh over Ottawa in 6. I'm being generous here and giving Ottawa a chance to show up. I doubt they will.
Washington over Philadelphia in 5. Yeah, I know, 5? Somebody needs to be a risk taker here. The Flyers are tough but the I think the Caps want it more and they want to keep any series against Philly as short as possible.
New Jersey over New York in 6. I made this pick only because Jersey has Brodeur. This was also before I saw the score of last night's game. I'm sticking to it though, so watch it be wrong.
Some Commentary on the Sharks Quarterfinals Game 1
This is what JR thinks of your suck.
orginal image credit Barry Melrose Rocks
orginal image credit Barry Melrose RocksWednesday, April 9, 2008
Game 1 Reflections
Well now, that was incredibly craptastic. Nothing like showing up to find your team no longer remembers how to play hockey. Good effort the last three minutes but it was too little too late. I hope that was the kick in the butt you needed to get rid of that cocky swagger of yours. The Cup isn't just going to fall in your laps; you need to EARN it. Keep that in mind. Calgary isn't just some push over you can dance around. They have nothing to lose, and you have everything. So tomorrow, gentlemen, play like you mean it and maybe, just maybe, the fans will keep the tank nice and loud for you as requested. I don't event think I could be proud of that win were I Calgary. It wasn't a challenge, it wasn't even close.
At least Ryane Clowe decided to come and play. Too bad nobody else did.
At least Ryane Clowe decided to come and play. Too bad nobody else did.
Playoff Preview - Round 1 Sharks vs. Calgary
My expertise in hockey is not so much in trying to make predictions about how teams match-up against each other. The problem with using paper to make predictions is that paper never ends up playing hockey games. Emotional players who remember past games and hold grudges and can make amazing plays in the clutch play these games. Those men make making predictions so difficult and so very often wrong.
On paper, the Sharks look vastly superior to the Flames in almost every that counts. But as any Sharks fan will tell you, they remember how quickly Jerome Iginla can kick you in the crotch and make you cry. There are a handful of players on that team that can make the difference between winning and losing in the matter of moments. And of the teams the Sharks could have faced, there is no team that I would hate losing to than the Flames (there are others in the conference but we'd have to wait till later to face the Wings and the Ducks etc.). With all the former Sharks and Darryl Sutter (who I've held a grudge against for a long time), if this were to be a first round upset, it would be worse than making it deep and losing.
And yet, the performance of the Sharks in the last few weeks and the addition of Brian Campbell comfort me greatly. I have confidence that the Sharks will win this series, but I would be stupid to say it will be a walk in the park. While I would perfer a sweep, if you held twisted my arm, I think the Sharks will win the series in 5 games (I think that a short series coupled with other long series will hurt the momentum). But those will be 5 stress-filled, pillow cluthching games of internal terror.
In an act of put up or shut up, here are my first round predictions for the playoffs (I'll make predcitions each round in the effort not to upset the sports karma gods):
Detroit over Nashville in 5
San Jose over Calgary in 5
Minnesota over Colorado in 7
Anaheim over Dallas in 6
Montreal over Boston in 5
Pittsburgh over Ottawa in 6
Washington over Philadelphia in 6
New Jersey over New York in 7
I realize that taking all the top seeds looks like a cop-out, but none of the lower seeds have reall done anything to give me a great deal of confidence in them. Though I did give some serious thought to New York over the Devils, it was too hard not to pick Bordeur and co (but reall just Brodeur). Still, I would love to see a first round upset......provided it isn't the Sharks losing.
Sharks win kkthnxbai.
On paper, the Sharks look vastly superior to the Flames in almost every that counts. But as any Sharks fan will tell you, they remember how quickly Jerome Iginla can kick you in the crotch and make you cry. There are a handful of players on that team that can make the difference between winning and losing in the matter of moments. And of the teams the Sharks could have faced, there is no team that I would hate losing to than the Flames (there are others in the conference but we'd have to wait till later to face the Wings and the Ducks etc.). With all the former Sharks and Darryl Sutter (who I've held a grudge against for a long time), if this were to be a first round upset, it would be worse than making it deep and losing.
And yet, the performance of the Sharks in the last few weeks and the addition of Brian Campbell comfort me greatly. I have confidence that the Sharks will win this series, but I would be stupid to say it will be a walk in the park. While I would perfer a sweep, if you held twisted my arm, I think the Sharks will win the series in 5 games (I think that a short series coupled with other long series will hurt the momentum). But those will be 5 stress-filled, pillow cluthching games of internal terror.
In an act of put up or shut up, here are my first round predictions for the playoffs (I'll make predcitions each round in the effort not to upset the sports karma gods):
Detroit over Nashville in 5
San Jose over Calgary in 5
Minnesota over Colorado in 7
Anaheim over Dallas in 6
Montreal over Boston in 5
Pittsburgh over Ottawa in 6
Washington over Philadelphia in 6
New Jersey over New York in 7
I realize that taking all the top seeds looks like a cop-out, but none of the lower seeds have reall done anything to give me a great deal of confidence in them. Though I did give some serious thought to New York over the Devils, it was too hard not to pick Bordeur and co (but reall just Brodeur). Still, I would love to see a first round upset......provided it isn't the Sharks losing.
Sharks win kkthnxbai.
Thursday, April 3, 2008
Hockey Blog ENGAGE!
It is about that time cats and kittens. It's playoff time. Hockey playoffs. 2 and a half months full of clutch performances, sweet goals, punishing hits, and stressed out fans. In the end, one team and their devoted following will bask in the awesomeness that is the greatest trophy in all sports: the Stanly Cup. I won't lie. I want the Sharks to win. A lot. After getting bounced in the 2nd round for 2 years in a row, it's time for the Sharks to show the rest of the league why San Jose is not a silly place to have a hockey team. I will be blogging most of the playoff here. I will definitely follow the Western Conference closely and the Easter Conference when I feel like it. For now, all I have to say is....
see more crazy cat pics
see more crazy cat pics
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