Hey, Zett’s look! It’s the Jonas Brothers!

Couldn’t resist.  Priceless image in the Frozen Moments gallery on NHL.com

Say What?

So, lately, I haven’t really had much to say about the Sharks and the playoffs.  The reason, I reasoned, is that they were saying everything that needed to be said on the ice.

This has been the best playoff season the Sharks have played.  They’ve been a machine.  Just like a train, they chug down that track, flinging opponents left and right as they go.

Today they got derailed.  Now, I know you were expecting me to say that considering I just used a train analogy in the previous sentence.  And if you watched the game (and I only watched a little bit after the fourth goal scored by Detroit), then you know that the term “derailed” doesn’t even do it justice.

If they’ve been “saying it all on the ice,” then all they could say today was incomprehensible gibberish in between curse words.  It was like watching someone trying to explain directions to someone who doesn’t understand the language.  I can imagine the amount of frustration in that; frustration that was clearly visible in the second and third periods.

Dany Heatley, appropriately, took out his frustration by putting a puck past Howard.  If that’s how he expresses frustration, he needs to feel more frustrated than he already does.

I’m not going to drag this out.  The Sharks choked on the smell of octopus.  The series ends on Saturday, so who cares?  I took the broom out of my front window.

Fuggettaboudit!

So, all I get to hear about and read about the past couple of days are “Boyle’s Big Blunder” or “Nabokov’s Non-save.”

Big deal.  It’s done, it’s over, and you know what?  It is NOT a measure of how the Sharks played or the merit of the team.  They were better than Colorado.  No one who watched that game could think otherwise.  Whether the winning goal in overtime was just a dumb fluke or a momentary lapse of consciousness, it’s not going to win the series for the Avs.  If they win the series it will be because of two people – Craig Anderson and Lady Luck.

Look for the Sharks to pin down Anderson tonight.  With Heatley back in the game and standing in front of the Colorado net, the end of Sunday’s game will lose its place in the highlight reel.

And that’s all I have to say about that.

Gearing Up for Playoffs

Nope, I don’t mean the Team in Teal, I mean me.  The fan.  Time to get MY gear together for playoffs.  In my living room are my many “instruments of support.”  Nearly a dozen small stuffed animals on keychains that make loud raucus cheering, laughing noises to celebrate goals.  I have a bottle opener that proclaims loudly, “He shoots!  He SCOOOORRRREEEESSS!” in the voices of my favorite broadcast announcers, Randy Hahn and Dan Rusanowsky.  There is a flashing red goal light perched on top of the TV, and a button to push that plays the theme to “Superman, the Movie.”

I have my “This is Sharks Playoff Territory” tee shirt, many different Sharks hats and socks, a Sharks robe, blanket, pillow, slippers; all of these things to make my playoff watching experience comfortable, enjoyable and fun.  I haven’t actually attended a real playoff game since I worked at the Shark Tank many years ago.

This collection of items increases year after year, becoming more rabid and frothing, lusting after a silver cup that has San Jose Sharks written on it.  I can only imagine, if the day comes that a man wearing a Sharks sweater hoists that silver trophy over his head in the celebration of the ultimate hockey victory, that my collection will only increase in size.

I wonder what Lord Stanley would think.

So, what do you do to help your team from the comfort of your living room?  What sort of playoff traditions do you have to try and push your team to the big prize?

Overcoming Adversity

The crowd was on fire, the Shark Tank was loud, the excitement was high as the Joe Thornton raced down the ice on Saturday.  In a heartbeat, the tone of the Tank changed as Joe got hit by the Canuck’s Alexander Edler and fell hard into the boards.  Instantly, Ryan Clowe was on top of Edler, even though the replay showed a clean hit.  The crowd erupted into an angry roar, but a lot of the anger diminished as Joe, on hands and knees, dragged himself from the corner like a injured dog dragging itself from the highway.  My section got very quiet, except for the few “second tier coaches” who were yelling all kinds of, um, suggestions to the Canucks and refs.  The scrum settled, and all the attention went to Joe as he was being helped to his feet.

It’s a sight you never want to see as a hockey fan – your star player crawling, dragging himself painfully, out from under the skates of the other players, trying desperately to rise.

Joe, the Iron Man of the Sharks, who had not missed a single game since he first put on a Sharks sweater 379 games ago, was probably not going to make the next one.  Since the next one was the next day, it didn’t seem likely, and indeed, he did not play against the Colorado Avalanche on Sunday.

It was obvious to me that the rest of that second period on Saturday night was a tough one for the team.  No matter how much they were concentrating on the game, there was no doubt that each one held a little question in his mind about Joe’s condition.  The excitement settled a bit, and the crowd actually seemed less forgiving of turnovers and missed chances.  The Sharks came through with a win, but how would the next game go without Joe?

Let’s just say, two days in a row, fans get pizza and smile.  If you want the full details of the game, read one of those other blogs.  The Sharks beat the Avalanche.

Now, I’m not going to forget Manny Malhotra got a broken nose, blocking a shot in that game against the Canucks.  Way to go, Manny!  But a guy can play with a broken nose.  Manny still won most of the faceoffs against Colorado on Sunday.

The Sharks have long been criticized for wilting in the face of adversity.  When things got tough, many times their mental game diminished, and that diminished their play.  I could cite many times when the mental toughness was quite obvious and apparent to all, and yet the outcome was a cruel loss.  Does Dallas ’08 ring any bells?

But the recent slump was just as clear an indication of a diminished mental game.

The difference seems to be that when the stakes are pretty high, the Sharks manage to find that mental toughness, even if it’s too little too late.  Even if the result is a loss, they still manage to show some grit.

This year has been different, too.  All year long, the Sharks have been hit with injuries to major players.  They’ve made a habit of gritting it out at times, of squeezing wins out of badly played games, finding ways to win, or just barely missing that winning goal.  This entire year has been about overcoming adversity.  This entire season has been what it’s supposed to be – one big long practice for the playoffs.  Here is proof that it isn’t just the star power of our team that wins games, it’s the idea that a win is earned by hard work and smart play.  And it’s the idea that no matter how bad things get, that a win is still a win, and the way you get that win doesn’t change.  The players may change, but the game is still the same.  If anyone knows the truth of that, it’s a hockey player.

And The Winner is…

This guy.

The Captain.

It seemed appropriate to do a follow up post after meeting up with the Dallas Stars again last night.  The outcome was VERY different, and the reason was… (drum roll)… LEADERSHIP!

During the game against the Minnesota Wild on Tuesday, Blake racked up three assists.  In last night’s game against the Dallas Stars, he got a power play goal.  Dan Boyle also scored a goal on the power play, and as anyone who has followed the Sharks this season knows, when the defense steps up and gets goals, the Sharks go on to win more often than not.

Rob Blake set a good example the last couple of games and the rest of the team is following him.

The final push is on.  With a playoff berth established, it may come down to the very last game to know who will play whom in the first round of the playoffs.  This is probably the first year since I’ve been watching the Sharks that I don’t really have a preference.  Whoever they end up playing in the first round, it’s going to be a tough series.

Where’s George?

If I haven’t written much lately, it’s just because I’m attempting to avoid the giant sucking noises surrounded by teal images, ice and rubber.  Even when the Sharks have won lately, they’ve still sucked, except for the few moments of brilliant play that allowed them to sneak a win.

But make no mistake – they’ve been sneaking wins, not earning them.  From what I’ve seen, their heads are not in the game and haven’t been since before the Olympic break.  From my point of view, it’s a lack of leadership.  Someone needs to crack the whip, and I don’t think it will happen in a “player’s meeting” this time.  The Sharks haven’t been playing as a team, but as a freeway full of drivers – some of them feeling pressured and rushing, some of them feeling defensive and cautious, and some of them just talking on their darn cell phones.  I’d like to see someone step up and snap their heads around.

Who should it be?  McLellan?  Blake?  Locutus of Borg?  How about George Washington?  The team needs true leadership right now, not strategies and gaming.

Maybe the Dallas Stars will get their attention today.

Who do you think it should be?

Deja Vu from a Better View; CBJ 1- SJ 2

If there’s a Bermuda Triangle in hockey, it must be at the Shark Tank.  The Sharks put 42 shots at Steve Mason, netminder for Columbus, and he stopped 40.  But the Sharks must have had at least that many pucks go right past him, too.  All around me, the murmurs from the crowd were mostly, “What’s it going to take?”  I even suggested just clearing everyone, including Mason, out from in front of the net to see if any pucks would go in.

The Sharks did manage some sustained pressure at times during the first and third period, but they seemed to be always trying to make a great play instead of just shooting the puck.

Luckily for Team Teal, the Blue Jackets took a bunch of stupid penalties in the third period, which gave the Sharks the opportunity to get a couple past Mason.  Joe Pavelski’s game winner was a beauty of a shot on the short side after circling the back of the net.  He drew the number one star of the game, and some chants of “USA! USA!” from the crowd.

There were still a lot of quiet moments in a notoriously loud building, and it seemed like a slow pace throughout much of the game.  But I wonder if it is us fans that are suffering from Olympic hangover.  We were totally spoiled by witnessing the best hockey players in the world playing the best hockey games we’ve seen all season.  Is it too much for us to ask our home teams to bring that same kind of exciting play back to the NHL?

SJ 15 – MTL 2

OK,  just kidding.  But I spent about half of the game pretty irritated about all the missed chances, lucky bounces that resulted in nothing, pipes ringing around Carey Price and just stupid stuff going on between players that the officials didn’t seem to think needed attention.

I missed Jody Shelley!  Someone should have been pummeled.  But, trailing 2-1 through most of the game, the Sharks managed to keep their gloves on, although I’m sure they would have liked to have bloodied a zebra.

Darn near fell asleep during the first period.  Yeah, you can ask, “You, or them?”  Does it matter?

And how about THIS guy, eh?

I just got through saying, “Does this guy EVER look tired?”  And WHAM!  Boarded.  No call.  Looks like he might have broken his collar bone.  Hope not.  But we may have lost him until the playoffs.

If ever there was a time for the Sharks to wake up, get mad and channel their inner Hanson’s, it was after that hit.

They got the job done, but it should have been better.  It needs to be better.

UPDATE: Maxim LaPierre was suspended for four games because of his late hit on Scott Nichol.  Still no official word on Nichol’s injury.

UPDATE: Scott Nichol’s shoulder injury, while undisclosed, is minor enough that it’s estimated he will only miss 7-10 games.  But then again, that’s what they said about Marc Edouard Vlasic when he first got hurt.

Scotty, hope you get back soon, but not too soon!

Back to Work: NJ 4 – SJ 3

It’s only a comeback if you WIN.

Kudos to Devin Setoguchi for his two goals.  Take THAT, Olympic selection committee!

Good job, Joe Pavelski, for the third goal.  Take THAT, Canada!

In the end, the Sharks were in too deep of a hole to swim out of.

Drew Remenda, bless his shiny head,  said something after Pavelski’s goal that I think I disagree with.  He made the comment that the Sharks still had seven minutes left with a momentum shift in their favor in which to tie the game.  But the way the game was going, the goals were coming in flurries of furious activity and it didn’t make sense to me to do anything but keep up that same level of play, not back off and  use up seven minutes trying to come up with “The Tying Goal.”  Just my perspective as an observer.