Takes and trash talk from both ALL sides of the NHL's most obscure PATHETIC* rivalry

* Thanks, Kevin Lowe!

Wednesday, April 30, 2008

Sharks Gameday: Quick & Painless

I don't think any of us have illusions about this Sharks team coming back from a 3-0 deficit but I've come to expect the unexpected with them. In the meantime, I've started to try and pick apart what went wrong here, and while I'll do a post-mortem once things are officially over, I don't think things are as bad as people think.

There are places where certain players regressed and certain needs must be addressed, but (and maybe I'm in the minority here) I truly think that the core of this team is still there. I am, however, 100% behind letting Ron Wilson go. There are two paths to take after Ron Wilson, but I'll save that for another post.

Jeremy Roenick had talked with the press about how the Sharks have had bounces go against them this series. JR, I love ya, but I'll tell you the same thing I wrote to Cory Sarich once he bitched about bounces: there's no such thing as luck, only what you make. And when you can't contain the down-low cycle of Brenden Morrow, you've got a problem.

One thing I will be very curious to see is the injury report. Considering how Joe Thornton was basically the only Sharks player trying during last year's playoffs, his listlessness is surprising. He's also not moving his feet well or using his lower body to protect the puck as well as he can, so I wonder if he's got a leg injury or something.

Well, here's hoping there are three more Gamedays to write for this series. But I doubt it.

10 comments:

RudyKelly said...

Wait, so you're telling me that the Sharks hit adversity and Jeremy Roenick placed the blame on something else? I am completely shocked.

Wait, no. The other thing. Unsurprised. My eyebrow actually went down when I read that.

Earl Sleek said...

JR's illustrious career apparently has been only an illusion created by an incredibly lucky bouncy puck.

Anonymous said...

this has become one of my favorite blogs, even though i'm a stars fan. i like how you don't talk about phoenix unless you have to. that may be the best thing about it.

and you'll actually give dallas some credit when it deserves it :)

brokeyard said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
brokeyard said...

Yeah well there's talk of it becoming the "Battle of the Pacific".

Not sure how serious of a talk it is, but it's been at least jokingly suggested.

Earl Sleek said...

brokeyard, to be fair, this idle talk has floated around in different forms all season, so it's a possibility, but not a "hold your breath" possibility.

And Matt, with me being such a sucker for flattery, you're now one of my favorite readers.

Kirsten said...

Sleek-your discussion of karma came true. We owed Colorado some karma for game 7 in '03, and we got ours.

brokeyard said...

this idle talk has floated around in different forms all season

I figured that might be the case, but i've only been reading since the Playoffs started, so I couldn't speak for before then.

Anonymous said...

thanks earl - i'm new to this one. only a couple of weeks ago I discovered it.

the MS paint cartoons may be one of the highlights. you should just create a gallery of those.

by the way, i f-ing hate JR, which seems to be a recurring theme around here.

Anonymous said...

I'd like to think my purchase of a ridiculously overpriced six-pack of Anchor Steam here in Texas had something to do with this victory.

No sweep for you!