Round 2: Sharks vs Red Wings

[SJVP408]

BELIEVE!!!!

The Sharks will open this series READY TO KICK ASS!!!

I BELIEVE!!!!

This is for all the HATERS out there!

Nice smiley! Being objective, I think DET is the favored team here. But of course I believe the Sharks can win this. Nemo is capable of playing well to makeup for the defensive deficiencies and the Sharks forwards are as good a group as any in the playoffs. Howard is a good goalie when he is at his best and the Sharks can get to him.

 

[bdave]

But why are the Wings favored when we knocked them out 4-2 last season? We were the better team and that team has not changed much other than them getting hudler back... so why are they favored? I don't get it, they are more beat up than last year too with Zetterberg coming back, has'nt played a game in a while and the Mule is not healthy yet either. Oh well maybe being the underdog will finally spark this team to something. Seriously it doesn't make much since though this whole favorite thing.

 

[Cmon_WTF]

But why are the Wings favored when we knocked them out 4-2 last season? We were the better team and that team has not changed much other than them getting hudler back... so why are they favored? I don't get it, they are more beat up than last year too with Zetterberg coming back, has'nt played a game in a while and the Mule is not healthy yet either. Oh well maybe being the underdog will finally spark this team to something. Seriously it doesn't make much since though this whole favorite thing.

Sharks Dmen are collectively worse for one. Boyle is playing probably the worst he's played since coming to San Jose. Wallin...well I don't need to say much more than that about him and while I like what White brings his defensive game has made me cringe on more than one occasion. All year the forwards have not been nearly as good in their own zone as last season. Second would be Detroit's overall health. Last year coming into the series against the Sharks they had seven of their top nine forwards and three of their top four dmen trying to play through major injuries. This year the only ones with questionable health are Zetts and Franzen.

 

[rares]

Yeah, this year, a series win over Detroit would be legit, for sure.

 

[caliraftdude]

Yeah, this year, a series win over Detroit would be legit, for sure.

Then in my book you rip their spine out of their ass and beat them down with it... and send all these Bay Area "DET fans" (who probably don't even know where the hell it is) with them!

GO SHARKS!

 

[Cmon_WTF]

I can buy that. With TMac getting the last change, do you think he will opt for strength on strength as well (Thornton vs Datsyuk, etc), or will he throw any changeups. It's not like the Sharks have a true checking line anyway.

My guess at what TMac will do which may also be what Babcock wants:

Thornton vs Dats
Couture vs Zetts (or Filpulla)
Pavs vs Helm

Then
Demers/Vlasic vs Dats: gotta have the footspeed to keep Dats towards the perimeter. This is the only pairing that may come close to doing that.
Boyle/Murray vs Zetts: Crankshaft vs the Mule
White/Wallin vs Helm

Last PO's and during the regular season this year McLellan seemed comfortable matching top lines. It was the 2nd and 3rd line matching as well as the D pairings that tended to be all over the board. I think McLellan will try to keep Coutures line away from the faster Detroit lines. Neither Clowe, Heatley, or Couture have much speed and periodically over the season had problems handling that type of game. The Pavelski, Mitchell, Wellwood line is much more suited for it.

 

[rares]

From teh blog:

****Todd McLellan knows Detroit well enough to have a quick answer when asked whether he expects to see Datsyuk and Zetterberg on the same line or different ones.

“They’ll be apart, they’ll be together. I know exactly how it’ll work over there,” he said. “Both those individuals are comfortable playing together or apart, not unlike what we have with Patty and Jumbo.

 

[bdave]

Sharks Dmen are collectively worse for one. Boyle is playing probably the worst he's played since coming to San Jose. Wallin...well I don't need to say much more than that about him and while I like what White brings his defensive game has made me cringe on more than one occasion. All year the forwards have not been nearly as good in their own zone as last season. Second would be Detroit's overall health. Last year coming into the series against the Sharks they had seven of their top nine forwards and three of their top four dmen trying to play through major injuries. This year the only ones with questionable health are Zetts and Franzen.

Howard is not that great of a goalie, he'll be easier to deal with than quick. This Detroit team is good but you got to think they aren't getting any younger. With Niemi and Howard having trouble keeping the puck out of the net you got to think this is all about who gets the last goal and in my opinion the sharks have the advantage with more scoring depth.

I guess if this is the year we get our first cup we'll some how pull through on these guys. I'd love to see us beat the fuck out of a tired Vancouver team as well. Let this be the year.

 

[rares]

Howard is not that great of a goalie, he'll be easier to deal with than quick. This Detroit team is good but you got to think they aren't getting any younger. With Niemi and Howard having trouble keeping the puck out of the net you got to think this is all about who gets the last goal and in my opinion the sharks have the advantage with more scoring depth.

I guess if this is the year we get our first cup we'll some how pull through on these guys. I'd love to see us beat the fuck out of a tired Vancouver team as well. Let this be the year.

Not trying to pick on you but I'm not sure how tired Vancouver is going to be.. that series vs. NSH always looked like 5-games-max type of matchup to me so they'll have plenty of rest for next round, IMO.

 

[Cbrower91]

I think the sharks size at forward is going to be problems for detroits smallish d

 

[Cmon_WTF]

Howard is not that great of a goalie, he'll be easier to deal with than quick. This Detroit team is good but you got to think they aren't getting any younger. With Niemi and Howard having trouble keeping the puck out of the net you got to think this is all about who gets the last goal and in my opinion the sharks have the advantage with more scoring depth.

I guess if this is the year we get our first cup we'll some how pull through on these guys. I'd love to see us beat the fuck out of a tired Vancouver team as well. Let this be the year.

They are not any younger but they are more rested and much healthier than last year. Detroit also boasts three strong scoring lines and a checking line that is much more reliable than the current Sharks 4th line. The Sharks might have a very slight advantage in scoring depth but it's certainly not much. I just see Detroit with a superior group of defensmen and their forwards are much better in their own zone than the Sharks are and I think that's going to be the difference.

We'll see what happens. I'd love them to role through Detroit but I just don't see them matching up well against a healthy Wings squad.

 

[filosofy29]

This should be a good series. I think it will be 6 or 7 games no matter who wins. The Sharks will not be able to take any games off though. Keep in mind too, even though the Sharks took out the Red Wings in 5 games last year, every game the Sharks won was very, very, very close. The only blowout belonged to the Wings. That series was much closer than the 5 games indicated. Niemi is going to have to rebound and Boyle has to be the best player on the ice consistently for the Sharks. If those two things happen, I think the Sharks win in 6 or 7. If they don't, I think the Wings win in 6 or 7.

 

[Nimesis23]

Not sure where all this optimism is coming from given the schizophrenic play of the last series. Wings in 5. Niemi and the D is just not strong enough to handle the skill/strength of the Wings. Hopefully I'm wrong.

 

[rares]

Yeah, I'm not sure either... Terribad defense + Niemi = book your tee times.

Put me down officially as "Wings in 5" for my pick.

We should have asked everyone to post their picks before Game 1 or something...

 

[SJVP408]

Yeah, I'm not sure either... Terribad defense + Niemi = book your tee times.

Put me down officially as "Wings in 5" for my pick.

We should have asked everyone to post their picks before Game 1 or something...

I should have made this a poll. Maybe next round...

Matchups favor the Wings. I'm a homer.

Sharks in 7.

 

[Hovertical]

if the sharks go all the way we just better hope they don't face the Bolts with Roloson in net =)

 

[SJVP408]

Latest news from DET practice is Datsyuk and Zetterburg will be split up. Interesting to see how Babcock will match lines now that he has last change. This is how their practice looked:

Franzen-Dats-Holmstrom
Cleary-Zetterburg-Bertuzzi

 

[Destroydacre]

Latest news from DET practice is Datsyuk and Zetterburg will be split up. Interesting to see how Babcock will match lines now that he has last change. This is how their practice looked:

Franzen-Dats-Holmstrom
Cleary-Zetterburg-Bertuzzi

It'll be interesting to see if Zetterburg can create anything on that line. He's obviously not 100% as he hasn't done anything like what we're used to seeing from him. Datsyuk is really the only guy who has been able to consistently create opportunities in the offensive zone. Franzen isn't close to 100% either. I've barely even noticed that he's playing.

 

[SJVP408]

It'll be interesting to see if Zetterburg can create anything on that line. He's obviously not 100% as he hasn't done anything like what we're used to seeing from him. Datsyuk is really the only guy who has been able to consistently create opportunities in the offensive zone. Franzen isn't close to 100% either. I've barely even noticed that he's playing.

Totally agree. He doesn't have the balance and quick turns that I'm used to seeing from him. He scored on a nice wrister but that has little to do with his knee since it was on the PP and there was extra ice for him to work with. He never had to create space for himself on that shot. Holmstrom and Franzen on the same line is going to slow down Datsyuk imo. We'll see.

 

[Ron_Swanson]

I don't know which game I hated worse;
Today's game or the game on mother's day where I had to listen to my hockey know-it-all, bitter Kings fan, brother in law tell me about how during the Sharks' 3rd period meltdown, he wasn't cheering for Detroit, he was just cheering for good hockey. Which just happened to be Detroit at that moment. For a supposedly objective observer of the sport, he seemed to take great pleasure in rubbing both mine and my father's nose in the loss.

I didn't even talk to him about the Kings series when it was happening!

Talking points:
-JR was correct. JR is like the Charles Barkley of hockey broadcasting. It'd be easier to be mad at him if he wasn't correct most of the time and he was correct about his Marleau assessment after game 5. Marleau didn't show today. Very disappointed.
-Heatley: Bust? Getting close if he isn't already IMO.
-What happened to the physical play? The Sharks were cleaning the Wings' clocks on the boards in games 1-3. Now the Sharks were on the heels all night long.
-Power play: Where did it go? Teams don't get far in the post season if they can't score with the man advantage. The scoring woes are magnified by the Shark vets not scoring. We can't count on the 1st and 2nd year guys to do all the work.

I think it's high time to start seriously thinking about what we can get for Marleau or Heatley if the Sharks don't win the cup this year.

This series is brutal to watch.
The Sharks have nearly succeeded in making like all sports less.