Running Stanley Cup Playoff Thread

Hey, Happy Birthday. May 11 is also HC's birthday!

 

Gracias! I won't give away my age, though... ha ha

 

Dang, Detroit-San Jose has been a fun series to watch. Series deserves to go seven games. Every game could have gone either way.

If the Sharks blow the series -- nevermind it was against a very good, very experienced team -- is this the ultimate playoff flop? As much as I want the Wings to win, I feel the Sharks, at home, may be too much. Kind of like Vancouver against Chicago in the first round. Just hoping it's another great game to watch.

 

Apropos of nothing, but this: http://hockeyplayersaskids.tumblr.com/ ? Is hysterical.

 

To be fair, I'm not sure we'd want Heatley in the driver's seat.

 

That lights the lamp

 

Safe bet you're younger than me.

 

How can the Sharks not kill 10 mins. nursing a 1 goal lead? The first two periods they played scared, simply looking to keep it even, survive.

I was at Gm. 1 and even though they were down 1-0 in the 3rd, the first two periods they skated freely, got it out of the zone easily and rushed up ice to set up great scoring chances or they dumped it in and made Detroit pay on teh forecheck.

Where is that team?

Gm. 4 okay, the Wings showed the heart of a champion by not folding when they lost a 3-0 lead.
Gms. 5 and 6? Sharks have just been undisciplined and gotten on their heels when its right there for the taking.

Gm. 7? This will forge the legacy of a franchise, really. Win, and no one talks about the three losses, only that you won a hard fought 7 gm. series.

Sharks need to frankly hustle more. They're back on their heels, letting the Wings move the puck at will. Oh yeah, and don't turn the puck over in the neutral zone okay? Just get it to the red line, dump it in, and crush those old dudes, over and over again.

And the Sharks have this fan, who persevered with the Bosox and the Giants and was rewarded. Its time. I believe in the Sharks and that Logan Couture will be even bigger this game and that he will show Marleau what its like to be carefree and just let your talent take over.

 

So you believe that Logan Couture won't carefully place the puck on his opponent's stick in the neutral zone?

 

Yep. Couture's been a whirlwind out there, racing up on the forecheck, backchecking, fighting for the puck, crashing the net. I'm pretending to be an analyst but I do not recall him making any key giveaways. Too bad in hockey you can't sit Marleau down like the Giants sat Sandoval and go 9 innings with Couture, Pavelski, and Thornton. Here's hoping Clowe is back.

 

It was Couture's turnover that gave the Red Wings the go-ahead goal last night.

http://www.mercurynews.com/sharks/ci_18036605

Regarding Marleau, I don't know why anyone expects anything different from the guy. He's the same guy who jumped OVER a puck on its way into the goal in OT a few years ago, same guy who didn't clear it against Detroit a few years ago, same guy that Darryl Sutter had no use for in the playoffs. You might as well hope Jamie Moyer discovers a 95 mph fastball.

 

Clowe may be back but Franzen might give it a go as well with the season on the line. But there's no real way to predict the game or what is important. You can't say, "If Detroit/San Jose scores first it will be huge," because the series has proven otherwise. It will be about mistakes, missed assignments, fluke goals.

It has been one of the greatest playoff series I have seen in any sport in the last two decades, though. It has felt like the Stanley Cup Finals with all the intrigue, and hopefully the finals will be this good with whoever is playing.