Ducks Gameday—Stage Three: Bargaining

Round One, Game Three: (4) Anaheim Ducks at (5) Dallas Stars
(DAL leads series 2-0, JavaGeek ‘odds’: DAL 85%

Before we get into that post title topic, I thought I'd start with a little number-crunching first. I made a table that's complex, but I think it shows what’s going wrong with the Ducks. It segments the series by manpower situation and scoreboard deficit, and shows minutes, goals, and shots:

(Click image to enlarge)
First off, there’s an easy problem to spot in the row titles—the inability for the Ducks to play with the lead. Three times the game has been tied, and three times Dallas has scored to break that tie. This can be pointed directly at special teams; in tie-game situations, the Ducks have only generated 5 shots on goal on 4 full power plays. Additionally, the Ducks have yet to make a save on a Dallas power play when the score is tied.

Falling behind isn’t the biggest issue, though; I’m much more agitated by what happens afterwards. I’ve broken the table down by actual deficit, but here’s the summary: in the nearly 93 minutes that the Ducks have been trailing, they’ve been outshot 27-57, and have earned 5 power plays to the Stars’ 11. Compare that to the “tied game” row, where the Ducks have outshot Dallas 18-10 and earned 4 power plays to the Stars’ 2.

I’m no coaching genius, but it seems to me that the worst response to falling behind in a game is to employ the “shoot less, allow more shots, and take more penalties” approach that has been plaguing the Ducks. Now of course I realize this result isn’t the intention of the coaching strategy, but it’s the postseason—intentions don’t matter nearly so much as results do. And if this represents what we can expect when the Ducks are facing a deficit, then really there’s only one option left—never trail again.

As I noted in today's Ice Sheet, every playoff team has picked up a win this spring except for two: your cup finalists Anaheim and Ottawa. I hope the Ducks can find a way to trim that list tonight. Aside: I'm not data-gifted enough to do this analysis for more than a couple-game sample, but I would be interested in seeing more team stats broken down by score (tied, leading, trailing). My eyes and my gut tell me that coaches and teams approach these situations differently, but I don't have the data skillz to quantify that for a large sample of games.
---------------------------------------Anyway, enough with the numbers, it’s time for some bargaining! Now I really had no idea that my posts on this series would evolve into a series on the Five Stages of Grief, but hell, I’ve already gone through Denial and Anger, so I guess today’s theme is “Bargaining”.

I'm no psychology whiz, but as I understand it, the Bargaining Stage involves variations of the phrase, "If only x can occur, I pledge that I will do y." In this case, it's a plea to the hockey gods, and I'm sure it's something that all BoC fans might be interested in.

For Ducks Fans:
"If the Ducks can (get a lead tonight / win the series / convince Bertuzzi to retire this summer), I promise to (say sorry to a Sens fan / lay off the referees / name my daughter Teemu)."

For Sharks Fans:
"If the Sharks can (hold a lead tonight / win the series / get some postseason production out of Joe Thornton and Brian Campbell), I promise to (hang a toilet seat on my wall / lay off Ron Wilson / trade a quality player to Boston)."

For Kings fans:
"If (the Ducks and Sharks can both lose miserably / Tampa forgets to pick Stamkos / the Kings win a cup in the next 20 years), I promise to (take a shower / take a bath / take a breath mint at least)."

Or whatever. If you've got a story about a pledge to the hockey gods you once made, or want to make a fresh promise for the dire BoC situations this year, go as crazy as you want in the comments. You only have to convince the hockey gods; Blogger is legally powerless to hold you to anything.

Prediction: Here's the deal, hockey gods. You make the score Ducks 4, Stars 1, and I promise I won't stomp anybody's shin. Well, at least not on YouTube. Goals by Selanne x2, Pahlsson, and Carter.

Go Ducks.

The Streak is Over......

The Sharks winning streak is over thanks to fellow blogger and friend Mike Chen......oh yeah, outstanding goal tending my Roloson helped also. I think the streak was 4-5 games in when I realized that the Sharks had not lost since I had last blogged......and getting that Campbell guy didn't hurt either. Being the superstitious person that I am, I decided to leave things status quo until they lost. Of course my biggest mistake was mentioning this to Mike who decided to screw up the winning mojo and post a blog avoiding the topic....kinda. But what can you say, being down 11 pts in the standings and all of a sudden you look up and we have a small lead in the standings in the race for the #2 seed with games in hand. Dallas and Anaheim play this week and who do you root for? Just don't go into OT.

One interesting take from last night's game. If anyone saw the Sharks TV broadcast there was an interesting point in the game where Randy and Drew discussed the Pronger suspension. Randy mentioned he thought the penalty was light and it deserved more. To my surprise Drew had the opposite view. He explained he thought it deserved no suspension and that he was just trying to extricate his leg from Kesler's leg lock. This was the first time that I noticed a little tension in the broadcast as the fun-loving duo turned a little testy. Randy continued that he thought Pronger was a "bully" and needed to be punished. Drew countered with Pronger being a tough hard-nosed player and a major component of his team winning the Stanley Cup. Hard to argue that last point but anyone who saw the clip, knows that Pronger did that on purpose. 8 games compared to Simon getting 30? I think the answer is somewhere in between.

Ducks Gameday—Warning: Dangerous Karma Ahead

Anaheim Ducks (31-22-7, t-3rd in west) at Colorado Avalanche (30-21-5, 6th in west)

The scene is set February 1st, COL @ DET: Late in the 2nd period of a scoreless game, Milan Hejduk puts a puck past Dominik Hasek, but the goal is disallowed for goalie interference. Here's Bill at A2Y:

Scott Hannan was pushed. Brett Lebda did it. I saw it. Dominik Hasek dove. I didn’t see that but I can assume it. Hejduk’s goal should have counted, but it didn’t. And all of that made me smile last night, and still warms me this morning. Somewhere in Denver the 6 remaining Dive fans angrily switched back to the Oxygen Channel, convinced the world is against them.

And we laughed at them.

The Chief then proceeds to rip on some Avalanche complaints (good fun, that), including this prescient beauty:

“If the roles were reversed Detroit would have gotten the benefit or at least a review.” ...Please. Really? How many times (even though the call’s not reviewable) has Holmstrom been shafted in similar circumstances this year?

Forward to February 10, ANA @ DET: Late in the 3rd period trailing by a goal, Nicklas Lidstrom rifles a puck past J.S. Giguere, but the goal is disallowed for a very questionable case of Holmstrom interference. Here's Matt at On the Wings:

I’m a firm believer in the idea that profanity should only be used sparingly and in times of extreme emotion. Otherwise it loses its shock value. I’ve been pissed off enough before to use language I would otherwise not use on this site, but I have so far refrained from doing so. Not this time, however.

I’m in frank agreement with the fans at Joe Louis Arena: Dan O’Halleran’s call on Nick Lidstrom’s goal was bullshit.

Now Matt is certainly not alone in his sentiment (he was just the most eloquent), and I don't intend to pick on any of these bloggers for any reactions (I quite agree with all of them); they've just put in the legwork to set up the karmic imbalance for this post.

It's true. The referees hosed the Red Wings on Sunday, just like they hosed the Avalanche the week before. And yes, it is a tragedy that in such a low-scoring league such bad calls can go unchallenged especially in crucial moments of a marquee game. But really, this is a story about what goes around, comes around. The Red Wings got a referee's favor at the expense of the Avs, but a week later got their comeuppance at the hand of the Ducks. And if there's any truth in the karmic cycle, the Ducks should have an important goal disallowed tonight in Denver. The circle would be complete and karmic balance would be restored, all in a neat little three-game package.

I guess fortunately for me, life's generally not that fair, or at least not that tidy. It's more likely that the Ducks get awarded a questionable goal tonight instead.

Speaking of unfair, how did I not hear about the NHL's new movie endeavor? I hear the film's a tragedy, but it's critically acclaimed and everything!


OK, I guess I'm the asshole.
Prediction: The Ducks are playing this game Weightlessly; Dig-Doug has gone home early with a shoulder strain, so I'd guess the Ducks play the same lineup as we saw in Detroit. I don't really mind Pahlsson centering Selanne; for sure it's two individuals playing with different mindsets, but Teemu's in a no-lose situation. If he scores, fantastic, and if he doesn't, it's just because he's one point behind Kariya for the franchise scoring lead and wants to set a record in front of the home fans. I've probably angered too many hockey gods in this post to predict a win, so Ducks 2, Avs 3. Goals by Kunitz, Pahlsson, and Selanne's goal gets arbitrarily disallowed.

Go Ducks.

Revenge is best served in Minnesota

Minnesota > Earl.

Ducks Gameday—A History Lesson

Anaheim Ducks (27-20-6, 4th in west) at Minnesota Wild (28-19-3, 5th in west)

First off, tip of the hat to Steve Lepore from KK for offering this info: tonight's Versus telecast will be called by John Ahlers, John Vanbiesbrouck, and Jack Edwards. I remember when I first heard about Ahlers, the Ducks' regular play-by-play guy, getting a Versus gig. Somebody had started a thread at a Ducks messageboards in all caps: "AHLERS ON VERSUS!!!"

When I first saw the thread title, I thought, "Hey, that's really cool. I never pay attention to the AHL because it's never televised down here. Finally, some AHLers on Versus!" Boy was I suckered.

Oops. The Hockey News will have to do a new cover with Selanne now.
At any rate, Ducks play Minnesota tonight for the last time this season, and in some ways, the Wild may be getting lucky. They managed to play the Ducks the last game before Scott Niedermayer made his debut, and the way things are looking they might be playing the last game before Teemu Selanne reassumes his #8. Of course, Wild fans hate the Ducks, and tough to blame them. Twice they've made the playoffs, and twice the Ducks have soundly beaten them.

This may sound hollow (and maybe on some level it is), but I do sympathize. You see, the first two times the Ducks made the playoffs, they met their demise at the hands of their archnemesis, the Red Wings. Detroit swept Anaheim in the second round of the 1997 playoffs and again in the first round of the 1999 playoffs. Two playoff appearances, two brutal deaths at the hands of the Red Wings.

So I guess the message I've got for Wild fans is that there is hope (and for Ducks fans, there is worry). Sure, now that the Ducks have added Selanne a lot of experts have been calling them favorites, and on paper, there's a lot to support that. Still, history offers a lesson that to my eye is way too parallel to ignore: 2003 playoffs, first round, Red Wings vs. Mighty Ducks. Detroit came in as the defending Stanley Cup champs with a history of beating the shit out of the Ducks (sound familiar?), and dressed a roster loaded with superstars (good enough to lead the league in scoring).

So what happened in this parallel tale? Another sweep, except of course this time things were different; this time the Ducks came out winners. Even though Detroit was the better team nearly every minute of that series, Giguere and the Ducks willed their way to a tight victory. And another. And two more. Four one-goal wins against a team that hadn't lost even three straight all season. Three years later, the Ducks eliminated Detroit again, evening the franchise score.

Of course, both Wing eliminations were made all the sweeter by the previous history, but here's the question: Could the Mighty Ducks of '03 have beaten that Red Wings squad if it didn't have that history of losing? Was there extra incentive for Anaheim, enough to will those wins? Was it a case of karmic due?

It's never that simple, of course (Giguere is a huge wrinkle in the bitterness theory), but the fact remains: I am very, very afraid of that eventual next series against Minnesota, whenever it occurs. Sure the Wild have been humiliated in the past and I've certainly enjoyed our end of that, but having seen both sides of the equation, I don't know if any team is as emotionally ready to overthrow the Ducks in a best-of-seven as the Wild are. And I don't think any team, even twice-beaten Detroit, is as due.

Prediction: This could be the Ducks' last game with an all-North-American lineup. I don't expect Selanne to play, and I guess Pahlsson's not up to snuff either. The Wild will be ready to battle, so let's hope the Ducks are, too. Ducks 3, Wild 1. Goals by Getzlaf, Marchant, and Beauchemin.

Go Ducks.

Turning point?

Let's put all of the "Jeremy Roenick's 500th goal" stuff aside for just a moment; from a pure hockey perspective, last night's win against the Phoenix Coyotes had all the makings of The Big Turning point in the season. Doesn't mean that Jonathan Cheechoo or Patrick Marleau put in three-point nights, but I think there are a few things that stood out that showed that this Sharks team is finally getting on the right track.

-The power play: Having Sandis Ozolinsh out there definitely makes a difference. Ozo's still got his maverick instincts and great shot, but it's tempered by a certain level of responsibility that wasn't there during his first Sharks tenure. With Ozo on the power play, it's definitely less static, and even though that hasn't turned into a ton of conversions yet, it's starting to look a lot better than the old "Give it to Joe and stand still" tactic.

-Patrick Marleau: Despite killing countless fantasy teams across the world, Marleau's shown smarter, more dedicated play over the past few games. While Devin Setoguchi's goal was notable due to the crisp passing, a big, big difference over previous games was the fact that Marleau was battling and screening in front of Alex Auld. That shows two things -- 1) a team realization that peppering 40 shots on goal produces more goals when someone's screening the goalie and 2) Marleau's breaking out of his "I'll fail at deking past everyone" mold and willing to do more to help his team out.

-Secondary scoring: Goals from Roenick and Torrey Mitchell, a goal from the defense -- if your big guns (Marleau, Cheechoo, Milan Michalek) are shooting blanks, someone's gotta pick up the slack to win.

-Karma: If you've watched the Sharks this season, you'll know that they've hardly had any bounces go their way so far. Roenick's goal was one of those really fluky things that could only happen once a season; maybe, all of those posts, crossbars, and close calls will finally start going the Sharks way.

Monday night seems to be a reasonable to actually start Dmitri Patzold, but who knows what's going through Ron Wilson's head at this point. Having Joe Pavelski center Patrick Marleau and Jonathan Cheechoo produced an interesting side effect -- during overlap periods, Joe Thornton was out there with Marleau and Cheechoo.

Still, the jury remains out on whether or not this will produce the consistency that's so desperately missing. There've been several "Is this the turning point?" games so far this season, and they've all been followed up by a clunker. Even if the Sharks put in three or four games in a row, there's still the possibility of a dropoff and a lengthy lull after that. It's not just about getting Marleau, Cheechoo, and Michalek rolling, it's about getting the whole damn team playing like a team. If they can do that instead of being just a handful of freelancers out there, then things will start to fall into place. Still, Saturday night was a good first step.

Ducks Gameday—The Campbell Bowl is in the house tonight!

Round Three, Game Six: (1) Detroit Red Wings at (2) Anaheim Ducks
(ANA leads series 3-2, JavaGeek ‘odds’: ANA 75%)

I don't want to seem overconfident about the Ducks' chances tonight, because quite frankly, I'm not sure what to expect out of either team in G6—the Wings are facing their first legitimate 'must-win' game of the season, while the Ducks certainly do not want to return to Detroit. Each game in this series has, in its own way, been somewhat of a surprise, but the fact remains: if the Ducks win at Honda Center tonight then they win the west.

A lesson from the past—May 16, 2003, courtesy of USA Today:

When the Ducks finished a four-game sweep of the Minnesota Wild on Friday to reach the Stanley Cup Finals for the first time in their 10-year history, Kariya, the captain, was called to center ice to pose for a picture with the Clarence Campbell Bowl, given to the Western Conference champion.

He stood stone-faced for the picture. Then, he refused to touch the trophy. Kariya's message: We haven't won anything yet.

The only reason he posed with the trophy at all, he said, "was because I figured I'd get fined if I didn't."

In 2003, the 7th-seeded Mighty Ducks had swept the defending cup champion Red Wings, defeated the top seed Dallas in six games, and allowed only one goal to the Wild in another sweep. Their first nine victories were all by one goal, including five in overtime, and all this despite starting each series on the road.

But when presented a trophy celebrating those achievements in front of his home fans, Kariya refused to acknowledge it. Yes, I know he was sticking with tradition and superstition, but it turns out that would be the last hardware that Duck fans could cheer for at the Pond that spring—ignoring the Campbell Bowl didn’t win them the ultimate prize, instead they treated a western conference title as a paltry occurrence rather than the playoff miracle that it was.

Kariya and the '03 Mighty Ducks are hardly unique in their trophy avoidance; teams have been shunning the Campbell Bowl with regularity (and lately, with no success). Kind of a shame, really, as only one team wins the prize each year for winning a really tough western conference—it would be nice if it could be a cause for celebration instead of the usual cold shoulder approach.

So here's my theory: if the Ducks win G6 at Honda Center (by no means a given), Scott Niedermayer should go up and lift the Bowl over his head. Carry it around a lap. Pass it on to Teemu. Basically, Scott should act as if winning the west matters—that it's an achievement worth celebrating.

The crowd would go nuts. The TV cameras would love it. Maybe there will be an ultimate celebration later for the home crowd; maybe there won't be. But at least there won't be regret in thinking back at the time when the team could have celebrated with its fans but didn't.

So if the Ducks win tonight and are presented with the Clarence Campbell Bowl: lift it, touch it, or ignore it? You can shoot down my theory in the comments.

Prediction: Ducks 3, Red Wings 1. Goals by Perry, Pahlsson, and Getzlaf.

Go Ducks.

p.s. J.S. Giguere's OT record now is 12-1. He has allowed one goal (Jeff Cowan) on 115 overtime shots in more than 250 minutes of playing time (more than four regulations). That translates to an 0.24 GAA and a .991 sv%. Way to go Jiggy!

Tempting fate with the Jersey Curse

Longtime readers of my blog and the Battle of California will know that I am a ridiculously superstitious person when it comes to sports. There's a theory about religion and deities that they're only as powerful as the amount of belief/energy that people collectively give to it. I'm not going to go into a spiritual debate here, but I often wonder why my stupid sports superstitions, like the well documented Jersey Curse, doesn't seem to affect other people. Is it because I'm so paranoid about this?

In any case, at the beginning of the season I decided that it might have finally been time to put a name on the back of my Sharks jersey. At the end of last season, I had leaned towards getting a Steve Bernier jersey, but I decided to wait until a few months into the next season just in case Bernier, you know, decided that all of the awesomeness that he showed us at the end of the 2005-2006 season was a total and complete fluke.

Then the Sharks traded for Mark Bell. Again, longtime readers of my blog will know that I grew up a Chicago Blackhawks fan before joining the legions of disenfranchised Hawks supporters and cutting off my fandom. Still, I watched Hawks games on Center Ice and followed the team at a distant, and I always liked Bell. He was like a poor man's Keith Tkachuk without as much of a pure dickhead mean streak. I thought he'd be the perfect fit for the Sharks, and I was really excited about this trade. As a nod to my Hawks fan past, Bell became my top pick for my jersey.

Even though Bell didn't look perfectly comfortable the first few weeks of the season, he was still producing points and hitting. I was pretty comfortable with leaning towards Bell, but at the same time, I liked how Christian Ehrhoff was the only Shark blueliner who could skate through the neutral zone and fire off a monster one-timer and Milan Michalek impressed the hell out of me. So even though I was still considering Bell and Bernier, Ehrhoff and Michalek got in the running too. This is around the end of October and I figured that I'd never actually make a decision because I'm way too anal about this.

So, my friends went ahead and made a decision for me. And because of this, Mark Bell has sucked balls for the past three weeks.

Until recently, it took a few weeks to put in an order at the Sharks store for a customized jersey (they only had Thornton, Marleau, and Cheechoo at the store). For my birthday, my friends decided to just go ahead and put in an order for a Bell jersey. Right around the time, Bell began to totally suck balls. In fact, Bell hasn't had a point since my friends put in the order for the jersey. Coincidence or the return of the Jersey Curse? You be the judge!

I finally got my jersey at a birthday dinner on Friday night and wore it to last night's game. From my experience, the Jersey Curse lasts anywhere from 1-3 months. Last night, Bell had 16 minutes in PIMs, two fights, and he played with a lot more fire (hitting, shooting, speed) than I had seen in the past three weeks. Is he finally waking up and shaking off the effects of the Jersey Curse? I don't know, but I'm hoping that the Jersey Curse hasn't dragged Bell down for the season. Hopefully, the Jersey Curse lets up sooner rather than later because the Sharks sure could use the Mark Bell that got a good 25 goals for a shitty Blackhawks squad by planting himself in front of the crease and banging in rebounds -- not the Mark Bell who looks totally confused about where he should be in the offensive zone.

The Jersey Curse Continues

I am a firm believer in the curse of the jersey. I've documented here before about some of my own personal examples of the jersey curse kicking in. No jersey curse, however, has reached as deep as the one that affected Nils Ekman. You see, one of my friends decided to get an Ekman jersey after a pretty darn good 2003-2004 campaign, and that decision seemed reasonable at the time. However, this season it became evident that the jersey curse was hampering Nils down. Even after he got elevated to the Thornton/Cheechoo line, Ekman was still inconsistent to a frustrating level, and he never, ever learned to stay onside.

Ekman's got pretty good hands, and when he wants to, he can be a pretty good two-way player. Back in 03-04, he killed penalties on a regular basis.

So what happened? How did Nils Ekman lose his mojo? Simple -- my friend got his jersey and cursed him. Perhaps the curse was doubly strong because my friend had never owned a jersey of any kind before, let alone one with a name on it.

Earlier this season, Ekman had commented how he didn't want to get traded because he liked the Bay Area and he had just had a baby daughter. Well Nils, hope they sell Swedish food in Pittsburgh, because you've just been shipped out for a second rounder. Considering what Mike Johnson and Richard Zednick went for, Ekman's asking price was surprisingly high (a goalie prospect was thrown in, but he was way down in the Sharks' depth charts).

Is it a blessing or a curse? Ekman goes from what many consider to be a Stanley Cup contender to a bottom feeder. However, he's one of the NHL-proven talents on the Penguins roster. Does that mean he gets to play left wing with Sidney Crosby? If so, that's not too bad of a move -- going from Joe Thornton to Sidney Crosby as your center.

The one cool thing I liked about Nils is that, besides the fact that he had no eyebrows, he always seemed to be a genuinely nice fellow who was always smiling. In fact, on the occasion he was named one of the three stars, he'd skate and bow to the crowd a la Andre Agassi. I can't say that Nils will be terribly missed other than by my friend who now has to buy a new jersey, but I wasn't exactly opposed to having a 20-goal scorer on the Sharks third line. Perhaps it's a salary dump, perhaps it's the pre-cursor to another move.

All I can say is that with Vincent Damphousse gone and Nils Ekman gone, all of the Sharks players now have eyebrows.

Random Fandom

• [Edit] It appears the Ducks have re-signed uberDuck Teemu Selanne to a 1-year extension. Selanne is 8 goals away from his 500th career goal; it will be nice to see him get it in an orange-and-black (!) uniform.
• Speaking of which, June 21st is supposed to be the date of the new uniform and logo unveiling. I don’t know how much I will be able to comment (I will be on a boat for most of the latter half of June; I don't know if I will be posting anything between June 17 - 29 or so), but I’m sure it will be available for viewing online.
• As for these playoffs, here are a few lessons to consider:

1. Off the top of my head, were there any two more additive teams around the trade deadline than Edmonton and Carolina? Roloson, Samsonov, Weight, and Recchi were among the biggest four names moved. I doubt trade deadline activity dies based on this year’s results.
2. Depth is the name of the game in the playoffs, in all positions. Edmonton and Nashville look to be two teams that could not overcome an injury to their top netminders, whereas Anaheim and Ottawa to some degree managed better (and Carolina, though Gerber is more lazy than injured). It seems a second netminder, a seventh defenseman (Buffalo), or another scoring forward (Rangers) are likely to be pretty critical for a lengthy playoff run.
3. Higher goal scoring might be the product of poorer teams letting in more goals, not because the game is improved. Note that in rounds 2-4 of these playoffs, there are 5.42 goals per game (compared to regular season’s 6.05). A lot of this comes from PP production; rounds 2-4 saw 1.61 PPG per game (compared to the regular season’s 2.07), even though the number of PP opportunities remains about the same.

• Over at Battle of Alberta, Sacamano is taking his gig to Europe. Hitting Blogger since September 2005, his worst post would still be this site’s best. I almost want the NHL to expand to jolly old England just so I can read a little more about toeing the hubris line. Fortunately, he leaves behind what will still be the best set of team-bloggers in the Oilosphere. Best of luck, Sac.
• Andy Grabia and mudcrutch have noted a preference of NBC telecasts to CBC and particularly Bob Cole. I can’t comment on him too much, as I don’t get to see CBC in the postseason, but I will say that even if we do get a better telecast, for me to find something in the realm of “postgame reaction” means going online and looking it up. ESPN’s NHL Tonight is sorely missed.
• I think the league still has a lot of way to go towards ‘selling the game’ on its own on-ice merits. Seemingly, we need more Game Ones and less Games Three/Fours. However, you cannot fault players for prioritizing winning at this stage more than entertaining. The league just needs to find a way to have both priorities coincide better, so that the SCF doesn’t just become another year of “Who will be this year’s Calgary Flames?” In other words, winning should hopefully someday become more than just smothering puck movement, lining up along the blueline, and chipping the puck off the glass. Someday chances will be traded once again, I hope.
• Lastly, for any Oilfans who have truly given up hope, I offer two things. One, a karmic story from the recent past, and two, a proposed new target in Las Vegas. Best of luck with that.

A fishy story about Karma

(Author's note: I can't believe I forgot about this, since this bar was about 15 minutes from my house, but this is true.)


Early on May 9th, a Hermosa Beach bar called Sharkeez caught fire, causing over $1 million in damages.

As of that morning, the San Jose Sharks had won six straight playoff games. Since the bar ignited, they have lost their last three.

Now I'm no real believer in karma (thus my participation in this joint blog), but this certainly strikes me as odd.

But fear not, San Jose brethren! Sharkeez bar owner Ron Newman promises:

"We plan to rebuild as soon as possible."

No doubt Sharks owner Greg Jamison will respond similarly.

Unless, of course, you plan on winning tonight.

Good luck. Hope it goes seven.

Dang

I'm a very superstitious sports fan. For example, I haven't washed my jersey since the playoffs began. Why? Because the Sharks have won every game and I don't want to mess up any mojo -- even when some drunk jackass behind me spilled a little strawberry margerita on it (I did clean up the spots). During college, I once came home during a playoff game from my own hockey game and still had my cup on. Because the Sharks came from behind that game, my roommates and I decided it was important that I wear my cup for the rest of the series.

Between my friends and I, every time someone has gotten a new jersey with a name/number, the player has gone through a slump. For example, when we gave my buddy an Evgeni Nabokov jersey, Nabby had a bad season. Another friend bought a Selanne jersey halfway through the 2002-2003 campaign when Teemu was on pace for 40 goals. Right afterwards, Selanne went dry for the rest of the season and only finished with 28 goals. Heck, even when I bought a new blank jersey, the entire team slumped.

This season, every time I have criticized a certain player (whom I will not mention so I don't wreck his mojo), he has performed well. Consequently, every time I have remarked an opposing player has not been playing well, said player has immediately hurt the Sharks.

If you've ever read Nick Hornby's Fever Pitch (the crappy Jimmy Fallon movie was based on his excellent book), you know that sports superstitions occur no matter what sport or what league you follow. When mojo's working, you just don't mess with it.

How does sports mojo work? I'm not sure -- perhaps every fan does one or two things and collectively the sports mojo comes together or breaks apart based on the cumulative actions of each fan. Or perhaps I'm just stupid (along with every other superstitious fan).

One aspect of mucking with mojo is talking about a future series before it has come. Consequently, I fear that my participation in The Battle of California blog may have had adverse effects on the Sharks/Oilers series. Sure, it could just be that the Edmonton fans gave their home team a huge boost, and the team experienced some bad breaks in Game 4 before collapsing into a defensive shell. Or it could be the team came out in a defensive shell for Game 3 and just played scared for most of the game.

All's I know is that I'm not a superstitious guy except for gambling and sports. I just hope the power of my unwashed jersey will be enough to get the Sharks back on track tomorrow.