A Playoff Break? Pinch Me
April 12th, 2010, 4:24 pm
After a nail-biting good time yesterday watching the three games on tap at noon Pacific time, the Sharks finally caught a break. It didn’t always look good. The Avs were up 1-0, which was the be-all end all: if the Avs won in regulation, there was no chance the Sharks played the Wings. But the Avs coughed up a goal with 4 minutes left, and I was a little peeved, to put it lightly. I would have thrown a snow blower at Joe Sakic at that moment if I could have. And when the Hawks tied Detroit and then went on the power play with less then two minutes left, I had an instant feeling of dread. And although we were all collectively forced to root for our sworn enemies, the Red Wings, they managed to kill the penalty and go on to win in overtime.
Which gives us the Avs, of course. We are trying to line up an Avs voice for the podcast tomorrow, but either way, you’ll have the mp3 in your grubby little hands on Wednesday morning. Some good listening before the Sharks’ playoff start. Could this be the easiest draw in Sharks playoff history? Could the Sharks possibly sweep, like my co-host Chetan thought on the radio show last night? Or will those plucky Avs give the Sharks a good run, and Scott Hannan will be the making of nightmares? Predictions in the comments, please.
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Sharks in 6. I have a feeling their energy will give us a little more trouble than many hoped, but we’ll get out of the series in less than 7.
Of course Sunday I said Sharks in 5… by Wednesday my internal terror levels will have us in the 6th overtime in game 7.
Sharks in 5, My playoff anxiety spell has seemed to have ended and now its time for my favorite part of the year even if it took to the last game of the regular season to get there.
I think that the Sharks should with out to much trouble dispatch the Avs, not to take anything away from them and their season but they have overachieved and I really think that Anderson is going to be out of gas as he has never had such a work load so far.
No Excuses! No Surrender! Go Sharks Go!
sharks are playing the sharks in this series. if the sharks play like they CAN then it shouldn’t go more than 6. (is douchene all healed btw?)
but if the sharks play like we know they unfortunately can, and the Avs overachiever.. and god forbid the sharks “run into a hot goaltender” and respond by “keep doing what they’re doing” then it is anyones ballgame.
man this site kicks avss on an iPhone
Sharks in 5….. 6 if Anderson plays well or Nabakov struggles. I don’t see the Avs doing anything remotely close to what Anaheim and Calgary did the last two years to the Sharks in the first round. They just don’t have the D like those other teams did.
My other prediction is that San Jose wins the Stanley Cup. Yes, I’m still a Wings fan. No, I haven’t lost my mind. The reason I predict this is simple: in the last 10 years, there are only two times I didn’t place a wager in Vegas on the Wings to win the Cup prior to the start of the season. They won it all both times. One time I just didn’t make it out to Vegas and the other time my buddy paid me not to place the bet. It’s true. Starting in 2003, I began placing the same wager on the Sharks to win it all. This year, I decided not to place a bet on San Jose. So there you have it. Murphy’s Law or whatever you want to call it.
Sharks in 4. Kind of a scary claim for this superstitious fan, but this matchup reminds me of last year’s Red Wings vs. Blue Jackets. Untested playoff goaltending, not enough offense/defense in spite of some very promising players, and the overall sense that the players are just happy to have made it to the party. Meanwhile, the Sharks are hot (the game versus the Canucks, man oh man), and should have a chip on their shoulders about their bad reputation that’s the size of, oh, I don’t know, the moon.
Haha. Kudos to the moon reference.
I feel little late to the prom with this prediction…
Sharks in ….. 5… I was tempted to go 4. I read today that Duchene isn’t 100% and Mueller will be out one game and maybe another. Way to go Blake! … Yeah I said it!
But the pessimist in me says Sharks will try to lock it up in 5 but those pesky kids won’t lie down and Shark-Dom shakes with fear at the prospect of losing a game 6…
Oh and Jumbo will score only 1pt and record 3 SOG… 😉
Sharks in 5, MAYBE 4 they won’t lose at home in this series.
Sharks in 5. It’ll be important for the boys to get to Anderson early and hopefully rattle the nerves of a very young Avs team. Ultimately in will be the experience and overall talent superiority that will make this a relatively short series.
As Jeremy wrote above, the only way the Sharks lose is if they beat themselves…
Other predictions:
Series MVP: Joe Pavelski
Series Clinching goal: Manny Malhotra
Dudes, or anyone else…
The schedule says Wednesday’s 10:30 est game is joined in progress on Versus… only the game before that doesn’t start until 10:00 est. Are the Sharks going to be blacked out on Center Ice because sh*tty Versus has the broadcast rights?? I’m going to be homicidal if the only coverage I get is the end of the third period, after the other game ends.
As I understand it, no. Here’s a quote from a Puck Daddy article from earlier today:
“Now, VERSUS doesn’t have any exclusivity in the first round of the playoffs, meaning that your local cable networks are going to have coverage of these games and the VERSUS broadcast will be blacked out locally. In the second round, two games per series will be exclusive, and then everything’s exclusive on VERSUS after that.”
Hope that helps.
I could also be misinterpreting this, but it sounds like you’re OK for this round.
Versus only has exclusive rights to rounds 3 and 4. We should still be able to get the games on CI. I hope I hope I hope.
You guys can just come chill out with me, Unless the Sens and Pens go into overtime we are golden. Just bring a sleeping bag, some ear plugs (one month old baby) and some food 🙂
Maybe it’s time for a Dudes On Hockey social?
Mike & Doug, you guys discussed this before… We could grab a table at Stanley’s and a few pitches of ale!!!
I’m there for a DOH social.
Sharks in 5. Jumbo with 8 points, Heatley and Marleau combine for 6 goals. Vlasic is a +7 in the series. Nabokov is average, which is more than good enough in this round.
Guys, good idea. I think we need to get something going at Stanley’s for either game 3 or game 4. I’ll talk to Doug about it, and we’ll put something in the podcast.
I miss away games at Stanely’s… Always had such a great time there. Unfortunately it’s an 8 hour drive from my place.
better then the week it would take for me to drive there :-p
If you feel like reading some absolute garbage:
http://www.zeitgeistyreport.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/01/murray.jpg
seriously, who let this guy write crap like that in an actual newsaper…. And I guess Milan Hej-duuuuk was talking shit too.., if that’s all the Avs can do I’d talk then were in for a short series!
Go Sharks !
Uh. Like oops?
Here’s the link:
http://www.denverpost.com/sports/ci_14871734
🙂
For a second there I though you were bagging on the journalistic prowess of Bill Murray! How dare you!
This guy is clearly just trying to stir the pot. More at Fear the Fin if you want to jump in:
http://www.fearthefin.com/2010/4/13/1418501/profiles-in-keyboard-courage-mark
I busted up laughing when I realized I did that!
Mike,
do you have a link to the chomptalk episode from Sunday?
I can’t seem to find it online…