I Don't Recognize This Team
What is this team I have been watching for the last 3 games? It certainly is not the team I have been watching all season. Even during their inconsistent Round 1 you saw glimpses of brilliance. I don't recognize anyone in teal in this series. This series is pretty easy to figure out. Dallas forechecks the hell out of our D. Our D coughs it up and Dallas capitalizes. The odd thing is that the people making the errors are players I never thought would have problems. Grier looks in a daze making terrible decisions with the puck and in the defensive zone. Was I just seeing things or did he just let Ribeiro just skate around on the game winning goal in OT? Sure, Dallas is getting all the bounces, but you know what they say "you create your own luck." All during the third period and OT I never thought we were going to win. I can remember only once good scoring chance (Milan in OT) in the 3rd period or OT. The whole team is just skating around in a fog. You see Ron Wilson on the bench yelling "wake up" to the team but no reaction. It seems that this team has tuned him out and has no motivation to play for him or each other. I am just at a loss for words to describe this team.
11 comments:
Reason the Sharks are down 3 - 0:
A) They're playing the Stars, who beat the Ducks
B) They're not as good as the Ducks
not trying to be a dick here, but i dont agree with brokeyard in the least.
i feel the same way cheechew. ive got nothing.
There are 2 teams in this series. 2.
dunno what you've been watching mr plank but
A) The Sharks are, in fact, playing the Stars, as confirmed by NHL.com
B) The Ducks managed to churn out two wins against the Stars, the Sharks have not managed one.
and a new bonus
C) The Ducks won the season series against the Sharks
Ping pong should help prior to game 4.
Contrary to Cheechew's assertion that this isn't the team he's been watching all season, it's exactly that team. Streaky, often disinterested, lacking consistent secondary scoring, lacking timely goaltending. Yup, that's the Sharks. It isn't the team that put up the 20 game points streak at the end of the season, I'll grant you, but it's the one that played the 60 games before that. That streak made me think they'd put it behind them, could protect a lead, and dictate the play. Nope. I'm not happy I was right about this shit.
brokeyard, if it makes you feel better that your Ducks put up a slightly better fight after being mortally wounded by the Stars in round 1, good for you! The whole premise is too...pointless?...to debate.
Buh bye, Ron Wilson. I don't think this team's teenage-mood-swing play is necessarily your fault, but you sure aren't the solution.
brokeyard, if it makes you feel better that your Ducks put up a slightly better fight after being mortally wounded by the Stars in round 1, good for you! The whole premise is too...pointless?...to debate.
That's true, no sense in comparing measures of futility here.
I don't know who's going to make it, but I fully expect to find a State Rape cartoon involving Texas and California somewhere on the internet soon (I certainly deserve it). Dallas has had made it look awfully easy destroying both Cali contenders.
I'll agree it's a mystery how a team whose bread and butter all year was limiting shots, good D, good goaltending, and thus a low GAA, suddenly becomes such a defensive mess.
I disagree that it happened in round 2 though. It was pretty apparent in the Calgary series that the Sharks were having major problems getting the puck out of their zone. I think they broke the all time NHL record for passes behind your own net in these two series.
...oh, and this applies to the PK too. How did such a great PK become so horrible in the playoffs? Certainly, as you point out, an alien seems to have taken over Grier, for starters....
As a huge Stars fan, I'm obviously loving this, but it's totally unexpected. It's all blissful disbelief over here.
We HAVE seen the Stars play this well earlier in the year, so it seems to be a case of a team just re-gaining its swagger. I honestly think the last regular season game against SJ was the impetus. In their horrible season-ending skid, they were trolling around, very confused and blase. SJ put up the dukes and forced the Stars to respond in kind, thus allowing the Stars to regain their flair and attitude, which has aided them thus far in the first 9 games.
I'm confused about SJ. I kind of feel for you guys because obviously this team isn't the team that had that amazing run to end the season and capture the Pacific. To see a team set up those kind of expectations and then falter is miserable, trust me, those of us in Dallas know all about that (See Stars 2003, 2004, and Mavs 2007).
I don't think the Sharks need to change much, just keep bringing up young talent, especially on D.
A) The Sharks are, in fact, playing the Stars, as confirmed by NHL.com
And the Ducks are out of the playoffs as confirmed by nhl.com. As Earl said debating this is really futile.
Oh God how it sucks to be a Sharks fan right now.
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