Keeping the Dream Alive.

REASON #1

Did you know that the teams that have won Game 1 of the previous 12 playoff series this Spring have only won four (33%) of the series outright? Did that settle your stomach a little bit? Surprising stat actually, but it’s the way this wacky Stanley Cup playoffs has gone in 2010.

REASON #2

Did you know that when Antti Niemi plays a beauty of a game in a series he sometimes follows it with a stinker? It’s true.

April 18th shutout vs. Nashville, April 20th 4 goals allowed and .886%.

April 22nd shutout vs. Nashville, April 24th 4 goals allowed and .810%.

May 5th 5-2 win and .939% vs. Vancouver, May 7th 4 goals allowed and .867%.

Please fill in the blanks for tonight, Mr. Niemi.

REASON #3

The Sharks got 45 shots on goal, which was 10 shots more than any team has earned against the Blackhawks this entire playoff run. For a team that prides itself on limiting shots on their rookie goalie – 29.4 average shots allowed in the playoffs and a league leading 25.1 shots allowed in the regular season – you gotta figure if the Sharks can keep this up, they’re gonna win this series.

REASON #4

The Sharks haven’t lost back to back games in two months. It gets better…

REASON #5

Did you know the Sharks haven’t lost back to back home games since December 5th and 9th? They’re not going to suddenly forget how to win at home. It gets better…

REASON #6

The Sharks lost Game 1 vs. Colorado, they won Game 2. They lost Game 3, they won Game 4. They got crushed in Detroit, they closed them out the next game. Enough said.

REASON #7

Every time I write a post like this, the boys win. I’ve done my part…

Just a little.  My initial reaction to the game yesterday was opposite of other postseason losses so far.  Previously, I figured the Sharks were starting the downhill slide and would lose the series and would then trade all their good players and fire the rest and OH MY GOD IT HURTS THE SHARKS ARE TERRIBLE.  This time?  Not so much.  They seem to be shaken by their losses much less than I am, to their enormous credit.  I have no doubt that they are mentally tough enough to put it behind them, and go out and win game 2.

But that doesn’t mean they are going to win it.  In my view, they have to solve the Toews ‘n’ Kane problem.  The young, fresh-faced players are like adorable Cabbage Patch Dolls, except with dazzling puck skills and manscaping.  Kane in particular looks like a younger, mulleted version of Pavel Dasyuk out there.  I’m not saying the Sharks should play the trap, but they need to find a way to keep that pair from getting a head of steam in the neutral zone.  Inevitably, it leads to a long painful offensive possession.  Sometimes you see Keith or Campbell do the same thing, with mostly the same results.  That has to stop, or at least lessen, if the Sharks are to win the series.

Other than that, it’s hard to be too down on the Sharks effort.  They put 45 shots on a team that averaged 25 against during the regular season.  Against a goalie with a .910 save percentage, that’s four goals per game, easily enough to win.  The Dustin Byfuglien boogeyman didn’t really appear, his goal from 40 feet out notwithstanding.  This guy is bigger than Tomas Holmstrom, but not nearly as dangerous in the slot.  The bigger danger is the load of ice they take at will.  If the Sharks let them pull the Globetrotters routine every game, it could get ugly.  By the same token, if the Hawks give up tons of scoring chances and get pushed around  by the larger Sharks forwards, it could get ugly the other way too.  It’s going to be a great series.

Don’t be afraid to come out and see us at Coach’s this Wednesday for the 100th episode.  Think of it as a first date in a public place.  We don’t bite.  Except for Doug that one time, but he was on mescaline and his record has since been expunged.

Oh, and we have the best GM in the league, and he in turn has the best progeny.

After the Sharks lose game 1, they aren’t quite as down as you might expect.  They got 45 shots on Antti Niemi, which would normally be good enough for the win.  Mike and Doug think that, like the Colorado series, if they keep getting lots of scoring chances, they will win.  But the NHL isn’t only about the Sharks, the Dudes break down the epic collapse of Boston in round 2 vs. Philly, and talk about how the honeymoon may be over for the Cinderella Montreal Canadians, losing 6-0 in game one of the Eastern Conference Finals.  The Dudes also talk about the teams that lost in the second round, and what changes they might make.

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The Dudes collect on their bet they made about the Sharks-Wings series.  They still can’t quite believe it, but it’s time to look ahead to another Sharks nemesis this year- the Chicago Blackhawks.  Time to break down the matchups from the Hawks, and try to identify how the Sharks can continue onto their first Stanley Cup Finals berth in franchise history.

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The Dudes are celebrating after the Sharks vanquish the mighty Red Wings in the conference semifinals in five games.  Mike and Doug break down how it all happened, and have a conversation with Mark Smith about it.  ‘Smitty’ gives his perspective on this year’s Sharks, and fills in some personal anecdotes about some players he’s faced, and what kind of adversity he and other players have gone through in the postseason.

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Mike and Doug couldn’t me more thrilled about the Sharks 3-0 lead on Detroit, but they know it’s not over yet.  They break it all down, and take some listeners emails too.

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My playoff beard is better than Mike's! And Doug's, but that goes without saying.

If you asked me the chances of the Sharks taking a 3-0 lead on the Red Wings in this series, I would have put the chances of that well south of 5%.  The Wings are healthy, seasoned, and contain some of the best talent the league has to offer.  But for some reason, the ultimate chokers, the San Jose Sharks, have managed to come from behind in every single game and win.  I feel like I’m delirious.  Who put this lovely mixture of crank, LSD, and OxyContin into my breakfast cereal?  It’s FAN-tastic.

Last night was a come-from-behind to trump all others, because the Sharks were down by two goals this time, and in the third period to boot.  If you go back to our conference semis preview where Doug and I were trying to convince each other the Sharks could win, one of the things I said was “Jimmy Howard can be beat.”  If I were to pick one major problem with the Wings game, it would be that.  Yeah, there’s been some low turnovers by the Wings that have led to extended cycles and scoring chances.  But that Logan Couture goal last night, while heads-up and tricky, should not have gone in the net.  We’ve seen Nabby give up that goal before, and rightly excoriated him.  Howard, while certainly not the only reason why the Wings are in a unbelievable 3-0 hole, is not exactly baling water as fast as the others.

I do want to talk about the OT goal for a minute, because it does seem to illustrate two problems the Wings have had.  One is  Howard (series SV% = 0.886).  It’s very surprising to me that he was that far out of position when Marleau received Joe’s All-World pass.  And it was all-world: perfect timing, perfect speed for Marleau to shoot it on net, right on the tape.  Just a thing of beauty, and every bit as good as that spin-around backhand pass to Marleau that has made all of those highlight reels.  The second is the defense.  Every defensemen knows that on a 2-on-1 you keep your stick in the passing lane.  Brian Rafalski, for reasons unknown, seemed to be directing traffic, conducting a tiny invisible symphony, or maybe just trying to scratch an itch on his calf.  The blade of his stick was nowhere near the lane to Marleau.

It also perfectly illustrates something good for the Sharks – JOE THORNTON IS SHOOTING. Sakes alive, what a wonderful world we live in!  You think Rafalski would even consider taking the shooting lane if Joe hadn’t scored earlier, and hadn’t picked up his shot rate in the series? Joe averaged well under 2 shots per game in the regular season, and is over 3 shots per game in this series.  Even though he was only credited for one shot last night, which happened to be the goal, his willingness to direct the puck at the net (he took 6 shots in game two, and missed 5) is yet another reason why the Sharks are winning.

Even with all of these good things, the Sharks are still not done.  Not by a long shot.  Let’s say they take a game off, lose game 4, come home, and Detroit wins a squeaker.  That could easily happen, in which case my ass will be in full production of masonry products.  In my head, I estimated the chances of the Sharks winning the series after game two a little better than 50%.  Now, I put their chances at around 75-80%.  It ain’t over folks.  But the best thing about it is, we know the Sharks don’t think it’s over either.

New podcast will be posted tonight.

The Dudes take to the real airwaves, not just the intertubes, and record a full hour-long call in show on KDOW, 1220AM.  The Dudes break down the thrilling come-from-behind game 2 victory, what is and isn’t working for the Sharks, and much more.

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DUDES ON CHOMPTALK TONIGHT!

We’ll be taking to the airwaves from 9-10pm tonight on 1220AM KDOW to discuss what is hopefully a commanding 2-0 Sharks series lead after tonight’s Game 2 at the Tank. For our international listeners and readers and people who want to listen on the internet, you can click on this link to stream the show live.  Just like the podcast, the show revolves around questions from the listeners – so tonight give us a call at 1-800-516-1220 and talk to us live on the air.

Talk to you tonight. Go Sharks!

Guess that fish stew from the taco cart was a bad idea

With Marleau being literally a last-minute scratch (he participated in the pre-game skate), it looks as if the ghost of Ed Belfour had made a comeback, despite our masterful exorcism.  I’ll pass on a bit of a rumor, because it’s harmless- we heard it was food poisoning.  That’s from only one source, but it does jive with the official report: that it’s an “illness” and not an “injury”.

The Wings played almost exactly as expected.  Dazzling puckhandling, good defensive movement, great speed.  And luckily for us, mediocre goaltending.  The Sharks lost the even strength battle 3-2, but won the special teams battle 2-0, and that was enough to win game 1.  I wouldn’t bank on that plan for future games.  Good parts of the game had Doug and I biting our nails, wringing our hands, and puckering our… well, you get it.  It was nerve wracking.

All of this will make for a great series.  A series that I desperately want to enjoy, but will have extreme difficulty doing so.  This is great hockey, people.  Two great teams battling it out, with quite different styles.  The Sharks crash and bang, go deep in the corners, Big Joe or Clowe extract it, blast from the point and sit in Howard’s lap.  Detroit will have five guys on the ice at all times that can dangle, with behind the back passes, one-handed dekes, and open ice being created out of thin air.  It would be so great to watch if I didn’t have an ulcer.

Marleau will hopefully avoid all Sizzlers, Red Lobsters, and the Hometown Buffet, and the Sharks will get their 44 goal scorer back for game two.  One thing I mentioned to Doug as we were walking back, is the Wings have the capacity to lay a big turd in a game now and again.  The Wings were up in the series 3-2, at home, and just forgot how to play in game six.  They were down 5-1 in the third before a late goal made it a slightly more respectable 5-2.  The Sharks’ worst game of the playoffs so far was the 6-5 shootout in game two vs the Avs, which they won.  We certainly can’t count on a lapse from Detroit, but it makes me feel a little better that it’s possible.

In other news, Doug and I have entered into a wager with WingsFanInSharksLand, who happens to be a friend of ours, and despite his obvious character flaw, is actually a really good guy.  I don’t want to give away the stakes,  but let’s just say either way the series turns out, it will provide some entertainment for you all.