Game 1 Highlights: Sharks vs. Detroit

I love the TSN broadcasters: not that I don’t care for Randy Hahn or Drew Remenda: I love those guys, too. But, the guys (and gals!) from Canada are all in…

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Video: Shark Eats Red Wings Fan

Clever: very clever

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Apologies: My Second Round Predictions of the 2011 NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs

My apology: Evidently, I did not hit “Publish” yesterday, after concluding my draft on the predictions…my bad…

Eastern Conference

#1 Washington vs. #5 Tampa Bay: Washington in 6. Tampa Bay is heating up in scoring goals and playing defense. Goaltending got hot at the end: see last night’s shutout of Pittsburgh. But, I doubt they can get past the Caps: too much more firepower and defense.

#2 Philadelphia vs. #3 Boston: Boston in 7. Seems like the goaltender situation in Boston is so much more stable and consistent than Philadelphia. That in itself should tilt the slight advantage in this series to the Bruins.

Western Conference

#1 Vancouver vs. #5 Nashville: Vancouver in 5. Unless Rinne stays hot: then, it’s Nashville in 7. (I know: lame prediction.) The Canucks know how to get people in front of the net- not that Anaheim didn’t- but the Canucks are much deeper on shooters than Anaheim. The Vancouver D-men were really “shoot first, ask questions later” in the series against Chicago: expect Rinne to have to deal with his rebounds in a more conservative way, or else second chances for Vancouver could mean the score gets run up.

#2 Sharks vs. #3 Detroit: Sharks in 6. Although the Red Wings are no slouches, there is this experience of having to play a longer series and not take too much time off until the next series begins (i.e., the Sharks) versus the more-than-one-week wait that comes with a sweep of your opponent (i.e., the Red Wings): the former usually comes into the next series with more jump and physicality than the latter team. Detroit may steal a couple of games from the Sharks, but this season, the roles are reversed: San Jose has way too much defense and way too much offense for the Red Wings to overcome. Put another way: I would have thought Phoenix would be a much harder opponent than the LA Kings for the Sharks or the Red Wings: and I suspect that LA is a harder opponent than Detroit.  Look for Ryan Clowe to continue to score goals in this series and drive the Red Wings D-men to exhaustion.

Last-last thought: everyone is focusing upon Vancouver and the Eastern Conference series. That takes a ton of pressure off of the Sharks. They are playing loose: more loose than any other team. That in itself may be the biggest factor in winning the Cup.

Review of My First Round Predictions of the 2011 NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs

So: Here’s my review of the First Round of the 2011 NHL Playoffs, along with my predictions. I’ll post my Second Round Predictions in the next post….

Eastern Conference:
#1 Washington vs. #8 NY Rangers: Washington, 4-1. My prediction: Washington in five. The Caps played defense, and the Rangers kept it respectable by going to double overtime in Game #4: but not enough goals to keep the Caps down. Washington looks really strong out in the East.

#2 Philadelphia vs. #7 Buffalo: Philly, 4-3. My prediction: Buffalo in 6 or 7. Here’s where the antithesis of what I described earlier- a goalie gets hot- worked against the Sabres, and there’s some irony here. Ryan Miller is the best USA goalie right now: and he’s hitting the links. The Flyers won Game 7, 5-2, and they won handily. Still, it’s not as though the Philly goalie-by-committee approach was all that great, and it must be said that Buffalo doesn’t have lots of goal-scorers on the team.

#3 Boston vs. #6 Montreal: Boston, 4-3. My prediction: Boston in 5. The way the Canadiens came out in the first two games, everyone on the planet thought Corey Price was divine. Then reality caught up with Montreal. I’ve only caught the highlights on this series so far.

#4 Pittsburgh vs. #5 Tampa Bay: Tampa Bay, 4-3. My prediction: Tampa Bay in 7. The Lightening have spunk! And they can score goals! And their goalie got hot!

I picked Washington, Boston, and Tampa Bay; I also predicted guessed the Washington series and the Tampa Bay series.

Western Conference
#1 Vancouver vs. #8 Chicago: Vancouver, 4-3. My prediction: Vancouver in 6. Wow: the Blackhawks came on a like a locomotive after being down 3-0. It really appeared to be like last year: just dominating, draping their will over the Canucks. I saw most of Game 7; really great hockey, and the tying goal by Toews and the OT winner by Burrows was a hammer on the ambitions of Chicago for a back-to-back championship run. Last thought: Vancouver’s goalie, Roberto Luongo, was not as sharp as anyone expected, and the contrast was the play of Blackhawk goalie, Corey Crawford: really on top the whole game, and was rarely scored on in a horrible way: unlike Luongo. That OT winner might have been stopped had Crawford come out of the net a little further…

#2 Sharks vs. #7 LA Kings. Sharks, 4-2. My prediction: Sharks in 5. Bad officiating in this series: even people on the right coast noticed this. Game 3: Wow! Down by 4 goals, and the Sharks came back in ways that people in LA are thinking, “This can’t be happening…” Game 5: Same experience for the San Jose fans: except the reverse outcome. Just a last thought here: hook together the Game 3 comeback, the two penalty kills in the 3rd period and the OT of Game 6, and the OT game winner by Thornton in Game 6: That might be the confidence-building experience that gets the Cup for the Sharks this season…just sayin’…

#3 Detroit vs. #6 Phoenix: Detroit, 4-0. My prediction: Phoenix in 6 or 7. Whoops. No one saw this coming. I did not see any of these games, so I’m only going off of the reports: goalkeeping was inadequate, and everyone from Detroit contributed to the scoring. You can golf year-round in Arizona, and that’s what the Coyotes are doing as you read this…

#4 Anaheim vs. #5 Nashville: Nashville, 4-2. My prediction: Anaheim in 6 or 7. I also predicted that Pekka Rinne of the Predators would get hot: he did. I saw the Game 5 tying goal by Weber from the point with 38 seconds left in the game: what a back-breaker for the Ducks. The crowd was pumped: and instantly deflated, as was the home team when they lost in OT. No surprise, then: the Preds returned home, took care of business in front of the home town crowd. Good for Nashville: this is the first time the team has made it out of the First Round. Not good: Rinne played really, really well. This could mean some serious trouble for Vancouver, all of their snipers notwithstanding.

I picked Vancouver & San Jose; I did not pick any of the series’ winners’ games correctly.

So, I picked 5 out of 8 winners in the First Round. And: I predicted Pekka Rinne would get hot. Consequently, Anaheim got stuffed; Nashville could be a real nuisance to everyone’s brackets.

See the following post for my Second Round Predictions…

2011 NHL Playoff Update Tomorrow…

Just wanted to invite you to my take on the First Round of the playoffs tomorrow. We’ll compare the results with my predictions, and laugh at my ignorance as well as at my prescience.

Tonight, the Boston-Montreal and the Pittsburgh-Tampa Bay series conclude with a Game 7. I did not see this coming…

I watched the Sharks-Kings series and was relieved to see the OT goal by Joe Thornton: justice was served. Jumbo Joe was nailed in the face by a high stick (missed or not-called by the officials?) in the first period, then got his stick lifted by a Kings player in third period: and it knocked out the tooth of a second Kings player. Four-minute penalty. Fortunately, the Sharks killed that off.

Then, McGinn’s “charging” penalty plus a major misconduct that overlapped into overtime made me cringe. OK: bad timing for the hit: but the replay- even at true speed- made me think: wha…? Bad call.

Just as unpredictable was Thornton’s goal: virtual empty netter. And the Sharks move on! My new home-town team goes golfing.

The Western Conference is settled: The Sharks will host the Detroit Red Wings to begin the Second Round; Vancouver will host Nashville. The Eastern Conference will be settled tonight.

Check back manaña…Go Sharks!

Unbelievable: Jarret Stoll Receives One-Game Suspension

Here’s the report from TSN about the one-game suspension for Stoll for boarding Ian White of the San Jose Sharks.

Unbelievable.

OT Win for Sharks; Strange Officiating (already?)

The Sharks won last night against the Kings, 3-2, in overtime on a Joe “the Big” Pavelski laser-beam of a shot. It was great to see the Sharks remain strong and stay in the game emotionally, even though the highlights of this game are more about what took place in the first period.

Jarret Stoll boarded Ian White, and if you see the replay,…

On Sports Teams Wearing Black

Just got this from Working the Corners:

*****Maybe it’s a style statement, maybe it’s change for change sake after past playoff frustrations, but the Sharks have announced they’re wearing their black jerseys throughout the 2011 playoff run.

Patrick Marleau / Photo by Jon Swenson

This fashion statement is both cool…and intimidating. I first felt this in 1997, when my son took the ice at an away game for his Squirt team, the Fresno Lightening; Black sweaters. Very cool, and very scary.

Let me be the first to say that ordinarily, you might not think of 11-year old boys as intimidating. But, once you have 20 of them skating around in the warm-ups, the contrast between the black sweaters & socks (everyone at that level has black skates, black pants, & black helmets) with the ice and bright lights: and its scary. And I’m not talking about a parent who reasonably gets nervous before a game: Just the sight was fear-inducing.

Some readers who know me know I am also a fan of the Oakland Raiders. This affiliation occurred when I was about 11 or 12; I was also a very big fan of the Los Angeles Rams: but when they moved to St Louis, it was all over. It was almost like that when the Raiders moved to LA: but the return to Oakland renewed my commitment…anyway, I digress.

I bring this up, because I get a similar feeling about the Raiders (not Raider Nation: please) at the opening kick-off. Imposing presence.

It’s worth countering this with the whole notion of “they’re professionals.” That is to say, either team shouldn’t care about what the other team’s colors are. I tend to think that most professional athletes develop and sustain extremely high levels of competitive natures that they can emotionally and socially set the other team’s colors aside.

So, what of the Sharks? I do get this feeling of intimidation when you see them in black. But, a few times, the feeling can go through the stratosphere: and its usually one of two episodes: a body check by a Shark or a breakaway by a Shark. So, check the photos following the game tonight with LA: most of the photographers (like Jon Swenson) know the game well, and can get some great shots: hopefully, those photos will be of the guys in teal…and black.

My Stanley Cup Playoff Predictions

The Playoffs begin tonight.

Make no mistake about my predictions: I will be wrong somewhere. This much I can predict: a goalie that none of us have cared about, let alone known his name, will get hot, and that team will score often enough to get to the Conference Finals, if not the Stanley Cup Finals, and most improbably, win the Cup outright. Think of Jean-Sebastian Giguerre when he was with the (then) Anaheim Mighty Ducks, or last season: Jaroslav Halak when Montreal rode his back all the way into the finals. They just needed some shooters who could hit the net…

Kyle Clifford vs. Douglas Murray

We’ve got a ton of painters and roofers over here, so it’s time to update some of the latest pugilist action from the rink…

With the Sharks and Kings set to square off tomorrow night in the Stanley Cup Playoffs, this fight from last week would be a good one to see. It’s likely to be revisited in the first or second period in Thursday night’s game.

Douglas Murray probably would sink in a pool: the dude has no body fat, he’s all muscle. Clifford tries to get leverage on him early on, and it’s a joke: then Murray tags him big time.

(HT: HockeyFights.com)