I am so freaking pissed at the Sharks right now.
Marleau was an excellent playoff player before Thornton came around. Thornton, on the other hand, is such a big choker I think that there should be serious discussion about whether he should be on the 2010 Olympic team.
I’m glad someone pointed this out. Marleau’s playoff numbers are actually a bit better than his regular season norms (it would be impressive to even match your normal scoring norms, since in the playoffs you’re not playing against any of the worst teams.)
Thonton, on the other hand, sees his scoring drop by about 40% when the playoffs roll around, and he’s not the same defensive player from what I’ve seen.
He’s always played well in international play, though. 27 points in 27 games. I don’t get it, but there it is.
I’ll concede the point about Marleau, only to a degree. He used to be a good playoff performer. However, this is professional sports – what have you done for me lately?
How long are Shark fans going to relish the memory of what Marleau did four years ago?
Wow, the Flyers are making things interesting in the East, eh?
I’m actually not that surprised. Montreal had huge problems putting Boston away, and they weren’t as good a team as Philadelphia.
The big surprise is Dallas going up two games against the Sharks on their home ice. I’m not ready to call Dallas the real deal yet, but I’m a lot closer than I was.
On my home series, Colorado finds themselves in a must win situation after they phoned in for game two, and they’ve a lot of questions (and injuries) surrounding them. Is Theodore really healthy enough to stop the puck, or are they going to regret not going to Budaj? For his sake, Theodore better keep this game close or his career is sunk. Is Forsberg ever going to play, and is he healthy enough to play well when he does? Rumor has it he will play tonight, as will Hannan, but they’ve lost Smyth to a foot injury. Will the Avs play more disciplined than in game two, or will they keep giving Detroit power plays?
The biggest question is how are they going to contain the wings offense. Obviously the top pair goes against Datsyuk/Zetterberg, but that left Franzen free to rack up the hat trick. Even the bottom two lines have been causing problems in Colorado’s zone. The Av’s just haven’t been able (or willing)to keep Detroit from getting to the front of the net the way Nashville was.
If there was ever something to convince me that karma exists, it just happened.
Rangers say Avery hospitalized following playoff loss.
A lacerated spleen sucks, but Avery should make a full recovery. This is the sort of thing many sports fans wish on a hated rival- an injury that takes them out of the game/series/playoffs, but isn’t career ending. And lets face it the Rangers season is all but done.
I’ll be interested to see if they can find a highlight of the play where he was injured. I’d hate to think it was an uncalled chop like the one he give to Sid’s wrist just a couple of days ago.
Will anybody admit that the Penguins could possibly be the real deal?
I know, Ottawa didn’t challege them, so winning that series didn’t prove anything.
True, this series isn’t over, but are/were not the Rangers a legit contender?
The Red Wings 5th goal by Zetterberg was fantastic! Should be #1 on Sports Center Top 10.
This series certainly says a lot more about the Penguins than the Ottawa series. Fleury’s made giant steps in his development, their special teams have been awesome and their offence is as good as advertised. I’d be worried about their defencemen’s ability to move the puck under pressure. Actually, Pittsburgh is reminding me a lot of Ottawa from a year ago. We’ll see if they suffer the same fate.
To put it bluntly: no, they weren’t. They’re defence corps is terrible at moving the puck, which makes it way too easy to hem them in their end.
Guess it’s my turn to ask for people to admit that the Red Wings are the real deal. 
Jeez that was a pasting. I haven’t seen a score that lopsided since the last time I played my NHL PS2 game on easy. Detroit wins the series sweep with an 8-2 beating on a depleted Avalanche team. Just to put the series in perspective, The Colorado Avalanche scored as many goals (nine) as Johan Franzen did.
I don’t think you can take much out of this series though. The Wings were healthier than the Avs. Quenneville and Theodore’s decision to stick together in sickness was dumb enough to border on conspiracy. If you know that you/your goalie is not at 100% in the playoffs, you sit down/bench them. Theodore clearly had no business playing in games one and two and it hurt the Avs.
And it’d be impossible to talk about health without bringing up Forsberg. While it wasn’t the spirit breaking issue the broadcast chimps were making of it, it was a distraction. The team would’ve been better off had Forsberg simply benched himself instead of being gametime decisions.
There are some lower case positives to be taken from the series for Wings fans. Osgood was solid overall and great at times. Goaltending isn’t the concern that it was at the beginning of the playoffs. The defense was solid, as it should be. The offense was too deep for the Avs to contain, with Johan Franzen helping anchor the second power play unit with Jiri Hudler. There was no shortage of grit from the wings. Lastly, the Wings finished the series quickly with no major injuries.
Now let’s start wrapping up these 3-1 series and move on to the conference finals.
So, HW…are you pulling for the Sharks to come back or would you rather have the Wings take on the Stars?
As far as team preference goes, not sure. Detroit has pretty much owned Dallas and Marty Turco for the last few seasons. If memory serves, Turco has only won one game against the Red Wings in his entire career. That could either nest in his head and make it easier for the Wings to win, or push him harder to beat Detroit when it really matters so he can shake his reputation as a playoff choke artist. That goes for the rest of the Stars as well. I don’t think they’re as deep as Detroit on offense or defense though.
San Jose is pretty close if not as deep as Detroit, though that hasn’t shown thus far in the playoffs. Part of that could be Nabokov wearing down. Doesn’t mean he can’t go on a tear, and Detroit has had problems with streaky goaltenders in playoffs past.
I suppose if I had a gun to my head, I’d pick Dallas. They’re only one time zone away, and Dallas could win sooner which would keep rust from setting in. Detroit is healthy now, so any waiting is more likely to hurt rather than help. No pesky ten o’clock games either.
Feel free to call me crazy, but I think the Sharks can actually win their series. Unlikely, sure, and I’m not making any bets or predictions, but I think it’s possible. A bounce here, a ref being in the right position there, and the series could have been tied up at 2-2.
GO SHARKS!
Careful there. You don’t want to start sounding like this guy.
Joe Pavelski, making garygnu not look like an idiot since 2008. 
Wow, the Sharks got some nice and timely help from the officials last night. Morrow got screwed at least on the goal that they said was ‘kicked’ in. I am also not so sure about the one they said he gloved in either - I think it may have hit the shaft of his stick before going in the net. Don’t even get me started on the non-call on Rivet cross checking from behind on the same play.
I said that I would have been surprised if the series didn’t go back to San Jose for a game 5, and I also said it wouldn’t go back for a game 7. Lets see how good that prediction was.
And I think that based on his play in this series, Brendan Morrow has to be given serious consideration for the Canadian Olympic team in 2010.
:dubious:
I don’t understand how anybody could think that was a good goal. It was clearly kicked in. You do know that intent does not enter the equation at all, right?
Well, all the TSN guys were shocked that the goal was disallowed, and I certainly thought it was a good goal. He didn’t make a kicking motion with his leg, so the goal should count.
I have 2 big reasons to hate the Stars*, but I’m a HUGE Brendan Morrow fan - what a great player.
*former North Stars fan; current Kings fan.