Yeah I know, not even as good as the old Sharks right?  People have talked long and hard about how tired they are of the Sharks gaudy regular season record, only to choke in the playoffs.  I’m talking the ultimate choke, losing when up in a series 3-0.  Well, I think the scars etched on Shark fans psyche from that series will remain for years to come, and the stink of rotten fish emanating from the Tank this year will only grow stronger.  I’l try to articulate my gut feelings..

Look at the Pacific Division standings after 22 games and they tell you a lot.  Look who’s back in the top tier?  Vancouver.  Ryan Miller and a new coach have them back on track and tough to play against.  Anahymen is on top o the division but have sucked a lot lately.  The Kings are right where they need to be in the regular season, barely over .500.  Even Arizona is ahead of the San Jose right now.  The Sharks, who got off to a great start have defined mediocrity since then.  Lets look at their record against teams the rest of the league has no trouble beating:  Buffalo 0-2, FLA 0-1-1, Columbus 0-2.  That’s six losses against arguably the worst teams in the league.  Home record 2-3-2, which I will call 2-5 at HOME!  To say they ain’t gettin it done is an understatement.  You call this a product?  I wouldn’t pay 10 cents to see this team right now.

Since their last home WIN on 11/1, the Sharks are 3-7, stumbling to say the least.  Doug Wilson decided that Jason Demers was one of the reasons for their atrocious record and shipped him off to Dallas for Brenden Dillon.  Dillon had one point in 20 games for the Stars, who have arguably one of the worst blue lines in the league.  So we get one of their worst D men?  Demers on the other hand played on the PP, had 34 points last year and was often paired with Vlasic, making them a pretty good shutdown pair, er ex-pair.  Waive bubeye to Adam Burrish also.  Never could stay healthy and provided very little of anything positive in his two years here.

The Sharks offense, ranked 18th in the league is an atrocious mess.  T Mac continues to juggle his lines more often than a woman with DDs on a stripper pole.  The result?  More and more disjointed play, with only a couple of guys with any consistency.  Secondary scoring?  Non existent.  After the usual suspects Pavelski, Thornton and Couture, there is a huge drop off.  Defense has remained fairly solid, although with predictable results:  playing just well enough to lose by one goal or lose in a shootout.  Notable from a defensive standpoint is Bret Burns, with 19 points and Minus 7!  Vlasic and Justin Braun lead the team in +/- with 10 and 8 respectively.  Niemi?  7-6-3 with a 2.58, mediocre just like the rest of the team

To sum it up, expect more of the same desultory play unless some roster changes are made.  Or a new GM comes in to replace the embattled Doug Wilson.  Todd McClellan is hanging by a thread, and if I didn’t know better, I’d say his players are trying to get him fired.  Hey Shark fans, do you miss the good old days when they won 50 games or more every year?  Get used to it and no I don’t miss Drew Remenda either…

For those of you who read to the end, here is this TT (tasty tidbit)

Reilly wants to know where the vaunted Hawks offense has disappeared to.

San Jose, CA

Here in the land of Los Tiburones, Sharks fans watch the Hawks/Kings Series with growing unease.  Is it because the Kings suddenly look like the team to beat in the West?  Rolling four lines, throwing young bucks into the fray like Tyler Toffoli and Tanner Pearson, Jeff Carter and Anze Kopitar on fire, and Jonathan Quick back on his game has Sharks fans thinking….maybe the Kings could win another Cup before we win our first?

Aside from obvious things like being outscored 10-5 in the last two games including six unanswered goals in game 2 and 3 straight in game three, quite frankly the Hawks are reeling and the Kings are well, they are using the same formula that saw them win two seven game series in a row.  The formula is, dare the their opponent to beat them on the power play, while playing their gritty Dour Darryl Sutter style of defense and ride Quick’s big game mentality to the Stanley Cup Finals.

One thing not mentioned often is the offensive power house LA has become.  The first three scoring leaders in the playoffs are Kings, the top two in plus/minus are Kings, and while Quick’s save percentage is way down the list, the stats are skewed by giving up 12 goals in two games to San Jose early in the first round.  If you take those two games out of the equation, he is 10-5 and has given up 32 goals in 15 games.  He has won two game sevens, completely shutting down the Sharks and Ducks in those contests.

He is just a big game goalie, no getting around it.  He has faced almost 500 shots in those seventeen games, second only to Lundquist.  But when you watch him play, especially late in the series, he is money with a lead and the other team knows they’re going to lose.  Bold statement?  I don’t think so, ask Joe Pavelski of the Sharks or Corey Perry of the Ducks.  They have lots of time to answer questions right now.  Grrrrrrrrrr, I hate him.

LA defense has been very good and they have been scoring key goals throughout the playoffs, especially in the Hawks series.  Drew Doughty has 12 points and is a +6, Jake Muzzin 9 points and a +4, and Alex Martinez 7 points and a +3.  You get the picture?  Teams with D scoring are hard to beat, case closed.

Faceoff win % is yet another aspect of the Kings winning formula.  Jarret Stool Sample and Anze Kopitar had FOWP of 63 and 71% respectively in game 2 and 57 and 58% in game three.  Even their loss in the 1st game Stool (not a typo) had a 76.9% and Richards was 52%.

Hawks are in big trouble if they don’t win tonight.  Michal Handzus is looking a day late and a dollar short against Stool in the faceoff circle.  Toews is holding his own, but under 50% for the series.  Team speed was supposed to be Chicago’s forte but the Kings Toffoli, Pearson and Jeff Carter are giving the Hawks D fits.  Chicago has to find a way to carry the puck in against LA’s suffocating defense.  Two teams are sitting at home that thought they could play dump and chase against the Kings D.

Of course, all this goes out the window if Captain Serious can pull off a victory in LA.  If not the Hawks will be Stapled at Staples Center and wondering what happened.

Jeff Carter and Tyler Toffoli celebrate in Game Three of the Western Conference Finals Saturday night.

Clackamas County, OR

One for the Ages!  Kings are Amazing! Skill off the charts! Jonathan Quick is God!

San Jose was playing in a seventh game for the second time in two years versus the hated LA Kings, only this time it was at home.  They were outplayed, didn’t hit, choked again, losing embarrassingly on home ice 5-1.  Dustin Brown returned to his 2012 form, at least for one game, delivering punishing, dirty AKA playoff hits on the Sharks skill players, rendering them useless.  Kyle Clifford was the same, delivering dirty checks to the head, tackling players and although the refs called several penalties, the Sharks were impotent on the power play, going 0 fer 6.

Not even going to go where all the stupid people are going, up 3-0 blah blah blah.  This was a tale of two series, games 1-3, and then games 4-7.  LA adjusted their play in game 3 but lost on a flukey goal in OT.  San Jose was outscored 18-5 in the last four pivotal contests, only needing to win one game to advance, yet were unable to solve Quick after lighting him up for 12 goals in the first two games.

The Kings deserve the credit for coming back, yes.  All this shit about heart and competitive nature that LA talked about after the series win is just so much air.  The Sharks could not match the desperation of the Kings defensive play.  The style was to systematically target and take out San Jose’s skill players with headshots and punishing hits and then dare the Sharks to beat them on their anemic power play.

The strategy worked, Marc-Eduard Vlasic was taken out by the best of the worst for the Kings, Jarret Stool.  Elbow to the head from Stool in game five removed the Sharks best defenseman from the lineup with a concussion.  I’m certain that in the next few days the news will come out that San Jose’s players were playing with a variety of injuries.  Logan Couture was repeatedly crushed.  Joe Pavelski was the only one brave enough to go to the dirty areas in front of Quick, repeatedly getting slammed to the ice and finishing with 11 shots on goal. many of them great chances.  He finished a -3 along with his buddies, Patrick Marleau and Logan Couture.

Todd McClellan was outcoached by Dour Darryl Sutter, not changing the style of the Sharks attack to deal with the defensive stance of LA. His strategy was to play dump and chase right up to the end, playing into Sutter;s hands.  He may be on his way out because of the lack of playoff success.

Where was the dreaded Raffi Torres after game two?  Two goals in two games, numerous intimidating hits and then?  Crickets……  Mike Brown and Andrew Desjardin, Raffi’s linemates could not duplicate the fervor and menacing hits that destroyed the Kings in the first two games.

Anti Niemi played well enough to win the first three games and stunk up the joint thereafter.  The Kings aggressive forecheck and the skill of Drew Doughty and Anze Kopitar made mincemeat of the Sharks fragile defensive core.  Old and slow, otherwise known as Scott Hannan and Brad Stuart were overmatched by the younger Kings forwards.  Dan Boyle is looking his age also and although he was only a -1 for the series, repeatedly was rejected on offensive rushes and could not quarterback the power play like he used to.

Bottom line, tough to be a Sharks fan right now.  Downright embarrassing.  As I put this tripe to bed, I will say one thing.  San Jose has a culture problem with its players, its coaching and with its front office.  All those regular season wins in the last five or six years has translated into 0 Cups and not even an appearance in the Stanley Cup Final.  They are so close, yet as the famous singer Carole King put it so many years ago, “You’re So Far Away.”

The prevailing opinion in San Jose.

San Jose, CA

Wow, whoa, WTF?  Sharks and Kings faced off in Game 2 of their divisional series last night in San Jose and things started off badly for the home team as the Kings scored twice in the first despite being outshot by the Sharks.  J. Quick had to come up with ten very difficult saves as LA took a 2-0 lead into the second.

Sharks energy line scored early in the second as Mike Brown and Raffi Torres tallied for the home team.  These would be the first two of SEVEN unanswered goals for  San Jose as they pounded LA to take a 2-0 series lead, and won going away 7-2.

Sharks coach Todd McClellan showed his coaching prowess and took advantage of San Jose’s depth on the forward lines by dropping the Big Pavelski from his usual spot on the 1st line wing to 3rd line center and the Kings had no answer for the offensive onslaught.

Tomas Hertl, the rookie sensation was inserted onto the top line and presented matchup difficulties for the Kings defense, although he didn’t end up on the score sheet.  The rest of the lines did though, as seven different Sharks scored on this year’s Jennings Trophy winner.  I wondered why Dour Darryl Sutter left Quick in when the game got out of reach for Los Angeles.

Another intriguing fact is that six of the seven goals were at even strength as the Sharks went 1-6 on the power play.  San Jose pummeled Quick with forty shots and the hitting trend in the series continued with both teams combining for almost 100 hits for the second straight game.

Kings get their hopes up with an early lead at the Shark Tank.

Then, the roof fell in on LA as J. Quick was lit up for seven, making it 12 goals in 2 games.  They only got 10 goals in last year’s fiercely competitive series, losing in 7 games to LA.  The Kings had no answer for Los Tiburones speed, as they gave up odd man rushes consistently, hanging Quickie out to dry.

The Big Pavelski roofs one against J. Quick. He would not display much quickness on Sunday night, allowing 7 goals on 40 shots.

The series moves to LA on Tuesday night, for many more intriguing plot lines which I will be sure to point out.

Moving Back Out East way, Philly came into the series with a three YEAR losing streak at Madison Square Garden.  After 9 straight losses to the Rangers in New York, things began badly for the Flyboys as they went down 2-0 to start the game.  Martin St. Louis and Benoit Pouliot scored and the Flyers looked to headed for yet another loss.

Jake Voracek started the Flyers comeback with a great individual effort off of a pass from Scott Hartnell, beating Lundquist stick side with a beauty of backhand.  Jason Akeson would gain redemption by scoring the Flyers second goal, after taking the 4 minute minor in Game 1 that led to two goals for the Rangers.

D Luke Schenn would score the game winner as Philly brought there big bodied defensemen into the play in the second and continued the trend in the third.  Braden Coburn, Schenn and Andrew MacDonald jumped up into the play often to provide more of an offensive spark for the Flyers, who were seriously lacking in O chances in Game 1.  Ray Emery was stellar, garnering the #1 Star. Back to Philly for Game 3 on Tuesday.

Luke Schenn scores the game winning goal on Sunday in New York.

The prevailing opinion in San Jose.

Hey now, yes I’m late for the preview party but I had too much schoolwork and needed to finish.  First up, I’ll preview and predict the Eastern Conference playoffs.

Boston vs.Detroit

 Boston vs.Detroit, not as much of a mismatch as one might assume.  Detroit has re-tooled with some good young talent, see Gustav Nyquist and Tomas Tatar.  Two incredibly talented euros with dangling talent worthy of  Datsyukian comparisons.  Goaltending is not real solid with Jimmy Howard IMHO and look for Jonas the ‘Monster’ Gustaffson to get a start or two and maybe even in relief.  Boston is well balanced, nasty, skilled up front and on the blueline, and has quite possibly the best goalie in the world in Tuuka Rask.  Boston in six.

Pittsburgh vs. Columbus

This one has already started with the Pens rallying for a one goal victory on Wednesday night.  Columbus has great goaltending with Sergei Bobrovsky and is rolling, going 6-3-1 to end the season and vault past the DeadThings to get the Pens instead of Boston.  Pittsburgh has most of their stars returning from injury and this presents a formidable task for a Blue Jacket franchise that has NEVER won a playoff game.  C Ryan Johansen needs to explode and D Jack Johnson needs to step up to realize the huge potential he has displayed for the last couple of years.  Wouldn’t hurt for James Wisniewski to have breakout post season and the rest of the ex Rangers like Artem Anisimov and Brandon Dubinsky to fulfill their considerable promise.  Pens in 5.

Rangers vs. Flyers

Hard to pick this one because I don’t know which Flyers team will show up.  Plus, Philly goalie Steve Mason was injured in the last game of the season is scratched for the 1st game, Ray Emery in net.  The Flyers have a formidable group of forwards led by Claude Giroux, Jakob Voracek and The Vinster, Vinny Lecavalier.  Very solid blueliners in Braden Coburn, the vet Kimmo Timmonen and new addition Andrew MacDonald.  The ?s appear to be in goal and whether the Flyers can penetrate King Henrik’s armor.  Lundquist has been outstanding in the last half of the season (he was pretty bad in the beginning) and New York is 3rd on the PK and fourth in GAA.  They have trouble scoring but are fairly well balanced in their attack, led by Rick Nash’s 26 goals.  Going with my heart: Flyers in seven.

Tampa Bay vs. Les Habitantes de Montreal

This series also began yesterday with the Canadiens winning a barn burner in OT 5-4.  There was and will continue to be much smacking around of each other and look for this to take its toll on players throughout the series.  Steven Stamkos was skating with purpose last night, especially on a coast to coast scoring play where he unleashed a laser bolt of a shot that Price may have heard but did not see.  Tampa has many players that most casual fans wouldn’t know but had a 100 point season, much of which was spent without their star winger Stamkos.  Montreal finished one point behind the Lightning and has Danny Briere, Andre Markov, Brian Gionta and P.K. Subban, all players well known and accomplished.  Only Gionta has won a Cup, with New Jersey and all the Habs are under the microscope in the hockey crazy town of Montreal.  Habs in seven.

King Killa Patrick Marleau and Jake Muzzin battle in a Heavy Game Out West.

SAN JOSE,CA

What is a heavy game?  Many announcers are using the phrase when talking about the St. Louis Blues, and the LA Kings because both teams employ a punishing, forechecking style that wears teams down.  Coaches Ken Hitchcock and Dour Darryl Sutter of the Blues and Kings respectively are proponents of the style and it has vaulted both teams into the upper echelon of the Out West teams.

The Blues played a heavy game Tuesday against the Flyers and the result was no goals… for either team, the Blues eventually winning in the shootout.  The Kings played their version of a heavy game Wednesday against a Coyotes team that looked outmatched, LA winning 4-0.

The Kings and Sharks hooked up last night in a playoff preview in San Jose and, there it was again the “Heavy Game Out West.”  Cracks me up that the eggheads in Toronto call every game in the Western conference Out West, but I digress.  Both teams came to play, smacking each other around pretty good and the Kings drew first blood scoring early in the first on a nice tip play off of a point shot.

The goal seemed to galvanize the Sharks to match the Kings punishing style and the hitting ramped up to the point where everyone on the Sharks was buying in and kicking a little LA ass.  LA was playing the second game of a back to back when D Jason Demers threw a hip check that got more leg than hip and the Kings took exception, but couldn’t score on the power play….  all night going 0-5.

That check was indicative of the play all night as the Sharks laid a franchise record 52 hits on the Kings, who also lost their franchise defenseman Drew Doughty to an apparent shoulder injury while checking Tyler Kennedy. Big blow for Kings.

In the second period the Sharks broke through and scored on the infamous Marvin Jones on a great tip on a Brent Burns snapper to tie the score.  Five minutes later Jones was victimized by Logan Couture on a wrap around to take the lead 2-1.

That was the final score but by no means was the hitting and ferocity toned down.  The Sharks actually morphed into the Heavy Game mode and kept the forecheck up for the rest of the game instead of trying to protect a one goal lead.  Refreshing to say the least.  I for one want to see San Jose play a more physical style for a couple of reasons.

First of all, they have the potential to play that way because of they have the big bodies. Those big bodies need to play bigger and nastier.  The second reason is there is no way they are going far in the playoffs without escalating their forecheck because Anahymen, LA and St. Looie play that game and the Cup goes through those teams in my opinion.

The skill and the hitting Out West is making for some great viewing, come on Out West and check us out!

Justin Williams and Brad Stuart battle in front of the net in San Jose at the Shark Tank.

Bruins play defense on Zach Rinaldo.

In a matinee affair, the Bruins beat the Flyers 4-3 in a shootout that had all the elements of a great game: superior goaltending at both ends, world class skill on display, nastiness and hitting and best of all, drama at the end.  Vinny Le Cavalier tied the game at 19:35 on a great feed from Jake Voracek as time was winding down.  He also notched his 400th and 401st goals for his career.

OT was scoreless and the shootout went to the fifth round before Reilly the “Hockey Dog” Smith scored to win it for the Bruins.  Bruins extended their road winning streak to nine and added to their Presidents Trophy race lead.

The Flyers played an excellent game themselves but couldn’t get past the Boston D to play their game closer to the net.  Bruins are one of the nastiest teams in either conference, they are second in the league in major penalties.  They also have the 4th ranked PK at 84%.  Must be all the practice..  Looking at the stats, Boston has taken 60 major penalties along with 268 minors.  Did I neglect to mention they are #1 in goals against?

Point is they cheat a lot, make the refs call it, then dare you to beat em on your pathetically weak power play.  They remind me of how the Detroit DeadThings played in their heyday, always grabbing, sticks between the legs and subtle interference and pick plays.

Whatever, it works and they are so highly skilled it doesn’t seem fair.  Patrice Bergeron, Chara, Lucic, Kreci, Marchand.  I haven’t even gotten to Jarome Iginla or Louis Erikson.  Additionally, they have a young defensive core that is unbelievable in their poise, skill and their role in the offense in general and the PP in particular.

Torey Krug, the “Krug Missle” has 6 power play goals in his second year, he and  Dougie Hamilton played regular shifts as a rookies and still do.  Matt Barkowski came in with Hamilton and Krug and is a +23.  LOADED, this team is LOADED.  Well coached, relentless, fast and great in the clutch, the Boston Bruins are playing with a vengeance and will probably be there in the Stanley Cup Finals.

Although I’d rather see the Flyers..

Captain Serious heads for the locker room after a brutal hit by Penguins D man Brooks Orpick in the second period.

The Crosby’s played the Toew’s tonight and the Pens dominated most of the game.  Especially after Brooks “I Don’t Fight” Orpick LEVELED Chicago’s Captain Serious with a vicious hit along the boards as Toews searched for the puck between his feet.  The Captain crumpled, was in obvious pain and left the ice muttering endearments to the Penguins D man.  He did not return.

In the post game analysis, Mike Milbury was frothing at the mouth about Orpick’s uh propensity for hitting a defenseless player, then turtling when the injured player’s teammate came to the rescue.  It fits in with the times we live in as the NHL is trying to legislate fighting out of the game.

This is definitely an occasion where a fight would be warranted between a Hawks player and say, Captain Sidney Crosby as a makeup for losing their captain.  Sadly, Chicago tried in vain to get back in the game without avenging their captain.  That’s bullshit,

Speaking of bullshit, the San Jose Sharks lost again, making that five out of the last seven.  Losing on home ice to the Winnipeg Jets and then putting 50 shots on Colorado goalie Semyon Varlamov and scoring 2 goals, 2 GOALS!

Notable stat, Joe Pavelski gets his 38th and is a minus two for the game.  Since the Sharks lost 3-2, my math says he was on the ice for all three goals.  This team is maddening to follow, as they slip back into second place behind the Anahymen Ducklings, who have 2 games in hand and the division lead.

Reilly the Hockey Dog, Sleeping off a Big Day of Watching Flyers Hockey!

Travis Moen fights Kevin Millar in an intense game in Boston. The Bruins 12 game winning streak was snapped as the Habs win 2-1

Good morning sports fans, those of you who are baseball fans know what I’m talking about.  That time around August where teams are hot, tired, have already played 120 games and they just seem to lose interest and intensity.

Well, there are ten games left in the regular season and every game is critical for about 24 of the 30 teams that are in the hunt for a playoff spot.  For those on the bubble or on the outside looking in, (see Detroit, Washington, Dallas, Columbus,Toronto, etc.) every game has value and darned if those boys are playing harder than ten games ago.

Even teams outside the chase (see Calgary, Buffalo, Vancouver, the Islanders) are giving certain playoff teams fits because….. why?  Well, is it because their players are playing for a roster spot next year?  Is it because the shoo in teams aren’t playing with the intensity required to beat cellar dwelling teams?  Are the bottom feeders playing fast and loose because they have nothing left to lose?

These questions are hard to answer, but one team in particular jumps out at me as one that has trouble with bad teams.  That’s right, the San Jose Sharks have a lot of trouble beating lower echelon teams.  Los Tiburones have a gaudy regular season record, third in the entire league with 101 points.  They have overtaken the hated Anahymen and lead their division.  Yet they have lost three out of the last four games, one to the Panthers in regular time and two games in the shootout to Washvechkin, and to the lowly Flamers last night.

Their only victory was a thriller against the Ducks at home 3-2.  It isn’t goaltending, the chances are there consistently night in and night out to score 4 or 5 goals a night, and they lead the league in shots per game at 35.  Their goalies save percentage is second in the league .917.

This is why most analysts are not bullish on the Sharks chances to win the Cup this year.  Do they play a schizophrenic style, do other teams get revved up to play the Sharks or is it the bounces don’t go their way?  Coaching?  Don’t know…

I cannot reach a conclusion until I see more games, like will San Jose even get past the first round?  They have clinched a spot for the 10th straight year, second only to the DeadThings record of 22 straight years.  Here’s hoping Detroit’s streak is broken this year and we see some new blood in the best tournament on the planet.

One day after tax day it all begins, 4/16/14, until then watch every game you can because they are very intense and entertaining tilts almost without exception.  The playoff seeding isn’t settled and won’t be til the last day of the regular season.