J0e Th0rnton

In fairness, it was a decent pick on your part. The sharks only scored 10 goals in 7 games last year. Even I did not expect 12 in the first two. The kings looked geriatric.

Bring on game 2! The crappy thing about being a Sharks fan for me is being an East Coast man and a father of twins. Why oh why can't we get these intense rivalry games in the afternoon on Sunday NHL???? Chicago and the Blues game 1 went 5 Periods + and only had 69 hits. The Sharks and Kings game 1 beat that with 121 hits in 3 periods. No other game yet has even gotten to 90 hits! Hell, most of them barely make 60. Predictions. The kings are going to come out charging this game, and we will meet them. Tighter game than last time. 3-2 Sharks, with goals from Boyle, Pavelski and Couture! We will outshoot them and Quick will keep this from being a rout. Both teams will hit the post twice at least This game could get nasty. Real nasty. Lineups are staying the same according to sources. Ugh, Sheppard as third line center.........At least Hertl and Wingels are there. Torres, don't get suspended for your third straight series vs the kings(unless it is to KO Brown for intentionally blowing out rookie of the year Hertl's knee). But please, do smash into Doughty's injured shoulder every chance you get. Voynov, please feel free to pick a fight with Jumbo Joe again and don't run away this time. I love seeing Angry Joe. He is a wrecking ball when he is mad. Realistically, banged up or not, I want the sharks to play vs as many teams as they can who beat them in the past few years. The ducks, the Hawks, the Blues. I know I can't have all of you, but I want as many of you as I can get. I used to pray for the less taxing matchup's, or the matches that were easier on paper. This year, I WANT the best, hardest matches vs the Sharks. I want to see them crush their enemies, see them driven before you, and hear the lamentations of their women!

I enjoyed the Leafs vs Wings first round that year a lot as a kid. Man, Coffey could still skate, Gilmour was unreal and him and Konstantinov were laying into each other a lot. Gilmour lined up against Yzerman a lot in that series too. Rangers vs Devils and Canucks in 94 were both sweet. Messier's hat trick in the third period after guaranteeing a win was an incredible feat of will. When Yzerman and the wings finally won the cup was incredible. Same with Colorado vs the Devils when Bourque won the cup. When Sakic took the cup and skated it right to Bourque, it was an incredible moment.

And your name is old school Hockey? Your comments seem to be very new school

Still had one foot on the ice. It only counts as leaving your feet if both feet leave the ice before contact right? I think Backes had his head down and it was a clean hit 5 years ago.

Personally, I think just a few years ago, this hit would be considered clean clean clean. I already posted about it in the blues vs Hawks thread. But headshots being no no's today.....

oohhhhhhh boy. Seabrook just killed Backes. He did not leave his feet, and he did not lead with the elbow, but I think he will be suspended a game or two. Miller let in 3 straight goals after the blues were dominating the hawks all day with a score of 2-0 suddenly being 2-3, then with 45 seconds left on a PP, Seabrook smashes Backes. Backes looked like he wanted to fight, and like he was drunk stumbling, so it ain't good. But with the Major penalty, they scored to tie it and send it into OT again.

Back when it was the 70's and earlier maybe.

Nah. I hate Milbury. But Miller is still merely an above average goaltender, but not top 5. Terrible first period, letting in 3 goals on 7 shots on one of the best defensive teams in the league, and most were on him. The team started playing better to protect him then. They saw him looking like a deer in the headlights saying "OMG, i'm in the playoffs again!"

Nah. Defense tightened up after he let in a few softies and protected Miller

Nah. An answer of "Whatever" indicates I just don't care enough to argue. Miller's first period was horrendous and the team battled back and covered for him. One breakway save does not make him an animal. That's like saying Paul Coffey was amazing defensively because of the defensive play he made with his speed once in an 84 Canada cup.

You are crazy. What a team did or did not do in the 60's or 70's is irrelevant to if they deserve a cup now. The team on the ice now has to show they deserve a cup now. it is just as meaningless as Any fans of Montreal or Toronto bragging about all the cups they have back when it was only 6 teams and they had a monopoly on the player pool. The Sabres had good teams in the past, but are an embarassment on par with the Oilers the past few years and in no way deserve a cup. I take it you have not been to a Socal game. The sharks have a HUGE fanbase and sell out every game, and while yeah, Buffalo has been around longer, they are not exactly top 10 in fanbases or loyalty any more than the Sharks are. Buffalo has made the finals twice in a little over 40 years, and the last time was 15 years ago due to an amazing Hasek. Currently, you have a franchise that players want to get out of, not join up with. Attracting free agents is going to be tough unless you overpay. You'll have to straighten up the ship a bit before you deserve a cup. As for the Blues, who cares if they made finals back in the 60's when they were playing only other expansion teams to get to the finals. Once in the finals they were swept every time by real teams. Those expansion teams were about the equal of the Sharks and Sens in 1993. Since those almost don't count finals appearances, they have made the conference finals exactly 2 times in almost 50 years. wow, how deserving And for the record, I agree that the Sharks have not yet earned the cup. I am liking what I am seeing with that 121 hit first game and tenacious approach, and I hope to see them keep it up. This could be the year they earn the cup.

The kings are down a peg from last year. Their top scorers outside of Kopitar have struggled to find their game and the addition of Gaborik is merely a stop gap. Doughty is playing injured. Quick is really the only thing worry about in tis matchup. That or Brown getting liberal with his knee on knees again. And last year, as a better team, they had home ice advantage(Which matters in this matchup) and it was still a 1 goal game 7 deciding. The Sharks have improved over last year with several young guns coming into their own. Wingels, Nieto and especially Hertl, the "would have been" calder winner if not for Brown's dirty knee on knee. Demers has improved quite a bit in all 3 zones. With Torres and Hertl back, the team looks different, better and way more dangerous. Keys to winning. Limit Hannan's TOI, Sheppard's TOI lol. I scratch my head a little when I see Braun/Stuart's pairing out with Thornton's line instead of Boyle/Hannan or Demers/Vlasic. Yes Thornton tilts the ice into the offensive zone, but if you gave him more reasonable offensive D options to pass to..... I know Sheppard scored 2 points last night, but I am just not a fan. He suffers from breakdowns. Bad ones. He was on the ice for all 3 Kings goals last night and just looked lost and overwhelmed. Which is bad when you have a 5 goal lead. Come to Think of it, Brown scares me too. Kennedy has not lived up to his contract, and is a turnover machine We are currently scratching 8.5 million in Salary with Havlat, Kennedy and Irwin riding the press box. Havlat actually looked good and like he was getting into a groove in the last 8 games of the season. Maybe it is because he is made of glass and this is a rough series(121 hits in game 1 lol), but Hertl is a natural center playing LW.......Might not hurt to move him to his Natural position, centering Havlat and Wingels instead of being LW with Sheppard/Wingels. Pavelski can always easily move down as well as he spent most of the year as 3rd line center, but I like the look of Pavelski/Thornton/Burns. 90% of the time is spent attacking and capitalizing on turnovers in the neutral zone(They also backcheck like mad). Pavelski/Thornton/Burns Marleau/Couture/Nieto Havlat/Hertl/Wingels Torres/Desjardins/Sheppard? Vlasic/Demers Stuart/Braun Hannan/Boyle Niemi But Hey, I am not coach. I am just voicing my concerns. The other Major concern is if Havlat gets injured again, we can't buy him out AGAIN lol. He might suck nowdays, but I still think he would put up more points than Sheppard and bring no worse other things to the table.

Whatever The consensus on the blues websites and their fans is not to resign him unless it is for 4.5 million a year or less. They were blasting him to no end about the horrible first period.

Pfft. What I saw was miller letting in 3 goals in like 8 shots. The blues tightened up defense, allowing only the easiest shots through for routine saves. The AHL backup could have done as much

They seemed to have been molesting the kings for the first 2 periods of the game yesterday in every department. Score was 5-0 going into the third. Then of course they took their foot off the gas pedal. Raffi Torres was throwing clean hits all game. I hate Raffi Torres. At least I did when he was on another team. He took out a few sharks with dirty hits in his time, and served long suspensions. But his clean aggresive play last night was a pleasant surprise and I laughed every time he slammed into Doughty's injured shoulder. Balanced scoring from every line. Hertl looked great in his return! Still rookie of the year IMO. Mackinnon got lucky that Brown blew Hertl's knee this season. Vlasic actually turned on his jets and did a "Look, I'm Dan Boyle!" coast to coast which resulted in a goal. GOD I wish he did that more often. He is such a smooth skater Wish granted

Welcome to the forum Regarding the game itself, I was very impressed with #18 for Tampa even though he did not score a point. Tenacious play and no quit attitude.

But he has not brought those others things either

David Clarkson? Time will tell, but it looks to be the worst deal in a long time 7 years/$36,750,000, scored 5 goals and 6 assists in 60 games for the leafs this season. 5.25 million cap hit Edit: oh yeah, and his contract is pretty much not buyoutable. http://www.theglobeandmail.com/sports/hockey/leafs-beat/mirtle-david-clarkson-and-his-buyout-proof-contract/article17783243/

Kinda nice that he got a major 5 year payday for what turned out to be his last really good season when he signed with the Avs.

I never thought of Trotz as a very good coach. Maybe because I watched the Sharks smash them 2 years in a row in the first round. Even with the additions of Forsberg, and Radulov playing well, Kariya playing well, and Nashville looking good, he was just badly outcoached. He was not adjusting lines properly in the playoffs, nor defensive pairings. The Sharks top offensive defensemen were Matt Carle and Craig Rivet (guys who were 40 points at best and very easy to keep out) and the strategy Trotz was employing was just weird, Treating them like they were Nick Lidstrom on coverage. Why he was trying to throw Kariya's line Vs Joe Thornton's, letting Forsberg get molested a few games at ES, etc I know he did not have a lot to work with some years, but in the years we played him, he had decent teams and just made some horrible decisions. so meh

Wild in 7. I love Suter and Parise and I think the kids have done amazing this year in Colorado, but will falter a bit come playoff time. They looked so tired the last game with the sharks

I hate the Habs. Play that hot handed Latvian goaltender if Bishop is out!@

Not sure who takes this one