A punch to the stomach + a knee to the nuts
February 25th, 2009, 7:31 pm
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Ouch.I have a few thoughts off this disappointing loss.
– I soiled myself when I saw Joe Thornton lying on the ice. Visions of wasted playoff deposits flashed before my eyes.
– The refs were bad. They weren’t the reason why we lost, but they sure didn’t help. Ticky-tack calls on Plihal and Joe, no major boarding call on Cleary, reversing a goal that (to me) there was no DEFINITIVE evidence to overturn. What else could have happened – is a puck going to hit the net, out of play, but no one sees it and Zetterburg scores? Nah….the hockey gods don’t hate me that much, right?
– I was a little disappointed in the coaching staff tonight. Thornton gets run – and Shelley plays less than three minutes? This is the second time the Sharks have been boarded in the last week, with Gauthier taking out Marleau last week – and the Sharks did nothing to get a little payback. A little disappointed in that….
– Another coaching head scratcher. Why play Frankenstein if you’re only going to run him out there nine minutes? Luko didn’t look bad on Monday, in fact his was a +1 in nearly fourteen minutes. Can anyone explain this? If you want to rest Luko, rest him in Ottawa.
So, in the battle of the titans – the home team reigns supreme in all. It is so important that the Sharks get home ice. Tonight proved that more than ever.
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I too held my breath when Thorton went down. He’s a class guy, and I’d hate to see the team have to face the post season without him.
I can’t believe somebody didn’t run Cleary when the game was all but over. I woud think the message sent to all others in the protecting of Joe would be worth the risk of losing 2 meaningless regular season points.
The Sharks will get to lick their wounds, as they lick the Sens tomorrow night, lol!
Here’s to an entertaining, injury free game tomorrow night.
When Joe was on the ice, I couldn’t even breathe. I was so grateful when he got up on his own and played his next shift.
The calls were horrendous (sp?) tonight. I couldn’t even believe it- I don’t remember a game where the calls were in the other teams favor that bad! I wrote the league (not that it will do much good) asking them to explain how there was DEFINITE evidence that the puck did not cross the goal line especially when they used the CSNBA replays.
The Sharks were toothless and pathetic tonight. I expected them to be out for blood after the Cleary/Thornton hit- especially after Cleary got a 2 minute “boarding penalty”. But all they did was be passive and looked wimpy. I know we’re a better team than Detroit, I just think we’re intimidated when we enter Joe Louis. This is something that must end before April!
Let’s hope to end the trip with 4 more points with blow outs to the Sens and the Habs!
As the Red Wings blogger here, I only got Detroit’s camera angles which were just a high shot above. Definitely thought there was nothing to overturn it. Sharks caught some bad breaks, but I thought the penalty on Thornton (he had 2, right? The high stick on Rafalski and hold against Zetterberg), were both legit. The only one I found to be even just a bit questionable was the high stick. Aside from that, how the four officials didn’t see the puck hit the mesh is beyond me. Then again, it happened last year two. Personally, I’m all for making the netting in-play.
Pollak mentioned on his blog – “I’d be surprised if Alexei Semenov isn’t in the lineup instead of Lukowich, who was pretty critical of his own play in Dallas on Monday night”. It could be Luko himself who asked for a day off.
The fact that there was no retaliation against hits on Joe and Patty shows you that this team has zero grit, no matter what coaches and DW proclaim in interviews. Come playoff time teams will know they can chop off the heads of our best players and get away with it, even when we have Shelley and Claude sitting on the bench. We better hope we don’t run into Calgary, Dallas, Vancouver, Columbus, Minnesota or just about any other NHL team that is not afraid to board and cheap shot because it’s not going to be pretty. We’re lucky Patty and Joe are not hurt on these hideous plays.
That was the most alarming sign I have seen all season and it brought plenty of flashbacks from playoffs last time and RW days in general.
I’m not a Nabby basher, but I’m going to be now…
Sure he stole the Dallas game. He does that every so often. But he has been way, way too inconsistent this year, especially on the soft goals. He seems to me to be giving up more rebounds than ever, and at times doesn’t seem nearly as quick as he has in the past. He’s also relying more on his glove hand than body position on the shots from the slot and beyond. If memory serves, Nabby was a lot sharper last season. Notice how his name has barely been mentioned for the Venzina this year?
Is TM leaving him out there to try and wake him up? Has Nabby eased up his intensity because he has a slightly better D in front of him? Is he fully recovered from his injury? One thing that I think is undisputed… Boosh needs more time on ice.
One thing on the play where the puck hit the net. The first thing I thought was “wow, the sharks finally caught a break there”, because they regained possession and were on the power play. The fact that Zetterburg turned Ehrhoff inside out and Nabokov failed to play the shot correctly were not related to the no call. I think if a team is on the power play, they would love to have the net be in play still, rather than having another faceoff.
After Joe got run, I was wondering if this would be Claude’s moment, and I wondered if he would target Lidstrom, Datsyuk, or Zetterburg (hoping for a massive, clean and injury free hit). But nothing happened. Maybe CL’s become a cleaner player, which is great, but that means that now he is just a 40 year old slow hockey player with no upside. Last night was the first time I shook my head and said “maybe he isn’t cut out for the NHL anymore…”
I love Nabokov… but he is going to get one more chance to play well in the Joe, and that will be game 3 of the WCF’s (yes, both teams will get that far). If he plays like he did last night, and Boucher doesn’t see the rest of the starts in that building, TM will be hurting the team for the sake of his #1’s confidence. The team should always be bigger than anyone one player, and right now playing Boucher in Detroit gives the team the best chance to win.
Good comments everyone. I wouldn’t go as far as everyone with the Nabby-bashing, but I have said, and say again now, that’s he’s getting too much work. Boucher should start tonight, and in Montreal.
I agree with you, Mike. After I post, sometimes I feel I come off a little harsh. I still believe Nabokov is the clear #1, and a great #1 at that (top 10 in the league quality). That said, Nabokov has never played well against Detroit in Detroit. This year is not the year to try and guide him through it. If Nabokov holds true to form and plays well at home (even against Detroit), Bouch would only play 2 games the entire playoffs. Nabokov would still be the man this year, and he could go and prove he can beat Detroit in the Joe next year after he has his name on the cup.
What frustrates me is that a camera that sits god knows where can determine whats a goal better then the official who is standing at most 3 feet away. I think when an official makes a call like that there is no reason to go upstairs unless your checking to see if the whistle was blown. Obviousy the sharks had more problems then that but as a fan of the sport in general calls like that really annoy me.