Some of you need to get a grip. The Blues are now the hunted..this will be new territory for them. Sharks for the first time in a long time are the underdogs. They have nothing to lose.
Totally agree.
Its great to be an 8th seed. Nobody expects much out of you. The Blues swept us 4-0 regular season and will possibly be overconfident too.
They may be boring games but we are playing with confidence right now. Looking forward to the series.
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What?! Look, he thinks he's people!
In all honesty I think we should fare better against the blues than the canucks if the coaching staff can pull their heads out of their ***** and setup the system to beat the trap.
Of course goal tending is a huge ****ing question mark....
I hope that the Sharks do waste a lot of time beating the Blues' trap... As a Blues fan, of course.
In 2000 when the Sharks played the Blues we were 0-4 or 1-5 against them as well. Regular season means nothing. It's all about how your team is playing now.
No reason we can't beat the Blues here. This is way better than playing Vancouver.
That Blues team was well coached by Joel Quenville as well, so who cares about the Hitchcock factor.
In 2000 when the Sharks played the Blues we were 0-4 or 1-5 against them as well. Regular season means nothing. It's all about how your team is playing now.
No reason we can't beat the Blues here. This is way better than playing Vancouver.
That Blues team was well coached by Joel Quenville as well, so who cares about the Hitchcock factor.
Lightning doesnt strike twice in the same place. These are two different teams, different era, different players, different expectations on STL's part and STL doesnt have the same pressure of having a PT and a top 5 payroll, Just sayin'
Why are you guys such a bunch of whiny little children? The Blues are not this invincible juggernaut. All this "we'll be lucky to score a goal" or "lucky to win a game" talk is embarassing. Go into the threads of every one of the 15 other teams in the playoffs and you will hear confidence and people finding reasons their team can win. I'm shocked by the *****ing in here. We need a positivity thread where we can realistically talk about what the Sharks could do to win rather than have the rest of you (majority, not all) mope here in the dark alone.
Lightning doesnt strike twice in the same place. These are two different teams, different era, different players, different expectations on STL's part and STL doesnt have the same pressure of having a PT and a top 5 payroll, Just sayin'
Sure that's true, but the same reasoning can be applied to regular season and the playoffs. These are two different teams than the ones that played a month and a half ago.
I still say regular season record has no barring on how this series plays out.
This is a very good Sharks team. They take this in 5. All games will be nail-biters.
This Sharks team is made for the playoffs. We have many 3rd/4th line players that can outshine their regular season performances: Moore, Winnik, Gally, Desjdy.
Our D is much better than last year. Our weak PK is offset by Stl's weak PP.
Blues on the otherhand are built like the 03-04 Sharks. No real elite forward talent, exceptional goaltending, play great as a team. Hitchcock teams are always tough in the playoffs too...but my gut says the Sharks take this series.
Does anyone else think that since Martin Havlat missed the last 2 games against the Sharks, that the spark he's provided lately could maybe change the outcome of this series slightly? I think his speed will definitely prove useful against a very stingy Blues defense. I'm not saying he's going to win us the series but he'll definitely help us.
Blues in 5. This isn't going to be a contest. Trying to win that game in the third period was the stupidest decision the Sharks made all year. Watch the Kings coast by Vancouver.
before any games today i was saying anyone but st louis....i was ok with van. but honestly, the blues limped in, had great breaks against us all 4 games, got all the calls. not denying they were the better team, but i think the sharks are starting to play for eachother and have realized that is how they are going to win games. i think they hadnt figured out yet what their identity is when they played st louis, and i think they look determined out there. van has been quitely shutting teams down lately in the home stretch, and no, they arent scoring at the same clip as last year, but i like SJ's odds vs the blues simply even beacuse for the first time in years, they come in as the underdogs in the first round. this team has potential to disappoint a young blues team who's sick goalie tandem has looked...well...human, in the last two weeks.
What sucks about this series is start times for games in St. Louis. If the games in STL on a weekday have a 5:00pm Pacific opening faceoff, local ratings will suffer. I know most here don't care about that, but it's worth pointing out.
I'm hoping due to the fact that now all games are televised nationally (and supposedly every game in its entirety so no possiblity of JIP because of an earlier game you don't care about), games in STL could possibly start at 6pm Pacific / 8 pm Central.
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2011: Outcoached by Vigneault. 2012: Outcoached all season and postseason by Hitch.
2013: Outcoached by most coaches in the NHL. Who's left? 12 year olds on Xbox Live? SACK T-MAC NOW
The sharks will actually prep specifically for the blues now. When effort is equal the more talented team wins the majority of the time. As long as the sharks don't get outworked they will win in 5 or 6. If the sharks would have backed into the playoffs I would be more concerned. Instead they just won 4 must win games against tough opponents in a row. They have a monster powerplay, more than 12 NHL forwards, 8 NHL defensmen and at least 2 good goalies. They are ready.
Ken Hitchcocks system is good but he only gets good results in the playoffs with a good amount of talent. The blues aren't there yet. This will be a good learning experience for them. They haven't faced playoff Thorton, Marleau and Boyle yet. Also very interested to see how Burns reacts. He's a gamer I think he steps up another level just as he has this last couple weeks. Havlat will be a force too.
Oh and a blues defensman will score on his own net.
Starting on the road is going to give this team a little jump, I believe. Home playoff games are basically must-win, so it will help them a lot to not be in a must-win from the start. I think they will surprise some people.
What sucks about this series is start times for games in St. Louis. If the games in STL on a weekday have a 5:00pm Pacific opening faceoff, local ratings will suffer. I know most here don't care about that, but it's worth pointing out.
I'm hoping due to the fact that now all games are televised nationally (and supposedly every game in its entirety so no possiblity of JIP because of an earlier game you don't care about), games in STL could possibly start at 6pm Pacific / 8 pm Central.
i am worrying about JIP for myself up here in canada due to the odd start time. we get most games at 6pm and 9pm central. but with this one starting at 7, i could see a JIP or a non-showing. tsn or cbc up here will obviously show the van games (boo!) and the sens games... and the pit games im sure will be on cbc cuz of crosby. sj/stl could be on tsn. likely tsn2 i guess. just hope it doesnt get trumped by other stupid ****ing series, but i think i might get first and second round games on my CI no?
No they aren't. I won't be happy, but after we're swept I'll come back and say it.
That hardly means anything. It's a win-win for you. Sharks get swept: I told you so! Sharks win: who cares, Sharks win!
The series should be close, and regular season really means nothing going into the playoffs. Not to mention Blues play well when they sit on the lead, if the Sharks get the first goal, they'll be on their heels. From what I remember, 2 of the games, the Blues first goal was a 5/3. Another game, it was an extremely lucky bounce off the boards into an empty net.
