NHL Playoff Race Tracker

[JRoZe410]

ALl I have to say is

Lets Go Caps

[Krebs]

hey i heard that paul stastny guy was pretty good, maybe the sharks should get him, what do you think ravin?





:saythat:

[killgod]

hey i heard that paul stastny guy was pretty good, maybe the sharks should get him, what do you think ravin?





:saythat:

I'd say it's a toss up between him and Evgeni Malkin. But Malkin can't play D.

[Ravin]

To bad both have new contracts, or the sharks could get players that could maybe get them by the first round! :D Since they have a history and all of failing in the playoffs. ;)



Back on topic though

I feel they have to move Thorton. His price is high, but how much longer do you keep a guy on your team who you know is not going to show up. As the old saying goes "fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice, shame on me." Well, the sharks have been fooled about 3-4 times now with him. It is time to let him go. Someone as always will pick up the tab for Thorton because he is a star player and can help make a team better.

But as pointed, you can't do anything if you are not willing to change your style. I noticed that as well, that they always wanted to get it to the point and let them fire away. But when you have a) a ton of guys in front and b) a goalie in Hiller who is moving post to post like mad and blocking every shot from the point, you need to give it up and try something else. It got to the point where the Ducks were giving them from the hash marks to the blue line to shoot the puck. When a team is giving you that, and you're not scoring, you have to change something.

[Tailback U]

I can't believe more of you didn't notice that I just stole calgaryballer's post about the Flames and changed it to fit the Sharks. Some parts didn't fit (like the Boyle stuff) but some parts fit perfectly.

Anyway, the Sharks need to get rid of Marleau. He's just way too soft. Or at least strip him of the C and give it to Boyle.

Thornton is not a superstar but he is a good player. It's obvious that he is not a playoff player but he is still the best offensive player on the team. So how do you get rid of your best offensive player?

Nobody on the Sharks played well. Michalek, Pavelski, Clowe, Setoguchi, Marleau, Thornton - none of them generated quality scoring chances and those guys make up our top 2 lines. Our 3rd and 4th lines were completely non-existant sans Torrey Mitchell.

Sharks have too many pretty players. Too many big names, too many old guys. KG, Blake is good for getting shots to the net but that is all he can do. He is too old and too slow to be out there any more. He is a liability in the defensive end because he is out of position and can't make up for it because he is so slow which forces him to take penalties. He lead the team in penalties during the regular season and the guy really is not a physical enforcer out there by any stretch of the imagination so all his penalties were hooking & tripping calls due to his slow and lazy style of play.

Murray was a real bright spot I thought. At times he reminded me of Scott Stevens (don't worry I'm not really comparing him to the great Scott Stevens).

Ehrhoff is so fucking soft I think I could kick his ass.

But like KG said, and I've actually been saying this for quite some time now, the Sharks are not a very good passing team. They had a hell of a time trying to transition the puck up the ice because they couldn't hit teammates in stride. It was left to Boyle or Ehrhoff to just skate it all the way up the ice and into the opposing zone which is just a terrible strategy, especially when it is your only strategy.

At the same time, let's not forget how long it took guys like Steve Yzerman and Ray Bourque to win their first cups. Some of the greatest hockey players of all time received the same criticism that guys like Thornton & Marleau are receiving before they sipped champagne from the cup.

That said, I think they are too soft. I would take 10 Torrey Mitchells over 10 Joe Thorntons any day of the week when it comes to playoff hockey.

[killgod]

ROFL @ WR50L

Where's that wanker.

[JRoZe410]

Caps Baby!!!!!!!! WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

[killgod]

Marty WHO!?

Canes score twice in the final minute to go up 4-3 on the Devils.


WOW

[JRoZe410]

Marty WHO!?

Canes score twice in the final minute to go up 4-3 on the Devils.


WOW

Im with you on the WOW part.I can't believe 2 goals in the final minute to lose the series.O Well,I didnt wanna face Marty in the next round anyway.Bring on Sid the Bitch!Lets Go Caps!

[Ravin]

I prefer to play the caps then I do the bruins at this point.

[Apocalypse]

Yuck. goin west to play Anaheim....Wings in 5.

[theMINI]

Hey guys,

just popped in to say BOSTON SUCKS! GO CANADIENS

[Ravin]

Time for the annual NHL/Gary Bettman is a moron rant. Why schedule both game 7's at the same time. Ok so start times were 40 min apart, but due to contractual obligations Versus was unable to show the end of the Canes amazing comeback win. Gary Bettman should go talk to David Stern and ask him how to run a league. The NBA would never allow such shenanigans. Does the NHL even have a marketing department? What better way to show how exciting your sport is than to let people watch it.



Caps vs Pens is gonna be awesome.

You go by what the arena's have booked. It was always just unlucky that both East teams, who play at the 7-7:30 time slot had to go to a game 7.

[Ravin]

Well the ducks really need to work on staying out of the box if they want any chance of winning games in this series. Though I must say, the hit on Hudler should not have been a match penality, as it was perfectly clean. Hudler just passed the puck (you could still see it on TV when he gets hit in slow mode) and had his head turned the other way. Brown didn't use an elbow, but put his shoulder down and hit him clean.

[Ravin]

And this game is a good example of why I am not a huge Malkin fan. He is a lazy backchecker, and could have stopped two goals if he would have just got off his duff and skated back into the play.