Go Back to Detroit and tell them San Jose's daughters and her sons are yours no more. Tell them the Sharks are free!

I went the mailbox yesterday afternoon and found an envelope from the San Jose Sharks asking me to renew my season tickets and informing me of raised ticket prices and a four figure deposit due at the end of the month.

Talk about timing.

On the other hand, it could have been a stroke of genius if the Sharks had won Game Four and swept the hated Red Wings on our way to the Conference Finals. People would have sent in their season ticket deposits, panties and first born children in madcap celebration. Instead, I have a season ticket renewal packet sitting on my dining room table, lonely and waiting for an answer.

I’ll certainly feel more compelled to write a check with a win tonight – and I’m sure I won’t be alone.

We all know the status of the Blackhawks/Canucks series with the Chicago leading 3-1 and looking to close out tomorrow night at home. They have rolled over the Canucks in three straight and it isn’t looking like much of a matchup at the moment, with the Hawks outscoring Vancouvers 16-8 in the last three games. Vancouver’s defense has been porous and they’ve been unable to match Chicago in a high octane run and gun style. If the Sharks win tonight, let’s hope Vancouver can steal one more before they bow out, which I fully expect they will.

The most important thing tonight will be the crowd at the Tank. I really believe that. We have to remain positive, no matter if the boys fall behind, and help them topple the Goliath. I have full confidence they can and will win tonight. Every challenge has been met in the postseason, every mountain climbed. No reason to believe they won’t make it happen again.

Sharks faced a 2-0 hole at home in Game Two vs. Colorado and overcame a terrible performance by Nabby to win on Seto’s OT goal. They toppled what would have become the most embarrassing moment in franchise history with a huge win against Colorado in Game Four. They recognized the urgency to finish off the upstart Avs and hammered them in Game Five and Six. The Sharks played with the emotion, heart and grit to gain a three game advantage in this series and that’s not going to disappear just because of one bad game.

The Sharks got embarrassed eight times this season – losing by three or more goals. Here is how they responded each time.

Oct 1st: 5-2 loss @ Colorado – Next game: 4-1 win @ Anaheim

Oct 15th: 4-1 loss @ Washington – Next game: 4-1 win @ NY Islanders

Oct 22nd: 5-2 loss @ Tampa Bay – Next game: 4-3 win @ Atlanta

Nov 25th: 7-2 loss vs. Chicago – Next game: 5-4 win @ Edmonton

Jan 9th: 4-1 loss vs. Detroit – Next game: 2-1 win vs. LA

Feb 10th: 3-0 loss @ Columbus – Next game: 3-2 win @ Detroit

March 16th: 8-2 loss @ Dallas – Next game: 3-2 loss @ Vancouver

March 31st: 5-1 loss @ Dallas – Next game: 3-2 win @ Minnesota

That’s a 7-1 record, which tells you a lot about how this group of guys respond to taking a night off. They get mad and they get even. How about this? Detroit’s record in the regular season and the playoffs in the game after winning by three or more goals is 6-8. That’s not great, and we’ve seen this on full display recently with them losing Game One to us after a big win in Phoenix and losing Game Six to the Yotes after beating them 5-2 in Game Five.

Take it or leave it, but I feel confident going into the Tank tonight that the fans will make the difference and we’ll be toasting the first team to advance to the Conference Finals tonight somewhere in Downtown San Jose.