Mission Accomplished: Sharks Rule the Pacific as Flames Evaporate

Sorry..

Sorry.. Not this year!

hey you!!

and it’s not that we don’t commend you on your effort, but … you know how it is … we’re sorta attached to getting that Pacific Division title … :)

We took out Mueller for you… a game later than you wanted, but got him none the less.

Feel free to win in the first round so we can settle this on the ice! That would be fun…

Before this season, the Coyotes franchise looked like a mess and a half.

Challenging for the Pacific crown in April is quite an accomplishment. Cheers, canines.

Damn, you shouldda stood up! And taken a bow! Been all “yeah, that’s right, I’m mymclife, and I’m the shit!” :-P

And for the fifth time on this thread, awesome.

Also, this is our 5th Pacific division title overall, which ties us with Dallas for the most Pacific Division titles since the division was created in 1993! Not bad. We’re slowly erasing Dallas from the Pacific division record books. Now if we could only get that pesky shiny trophy…

you’re right, thanks.

Looking forward to how putting McGinn, Couture and Clowe do together in the post season. I am also interested in how the other newbies do Heater, Manny, Nichols, if they can add that passion and intensity to the team for the playoff push.

Yeah that theory definitely makes sense. If only Mclellan had started the process a lot sooner.

Seeing Couture and Mcginn play so well just makes me wonder if we really do know better than Mclellan and company a lot of times. Couture and McGinn would’ve been in the lineup a loong time ago.

mcginn is skating with a ton of confidence right now, and putting clowe out there with him is a matchup nightmare. couture adds the jelly to the bread. all three of those guys are smart, strong guys, they go to the body, and get through the tough areas.

interesting to se the 2nd unit getting 1st nod on the late power play too.

We looked great for the first 30 minutes. The 2nd period was kinda back and forth. I don’t know what was going on in the 3rd, but it was less than impressive and worries me.

It is really making me nervous. We need the HTML to be on their game, or we really don’t stand a chance.

Marleau was out skated by Steve Staios on a break… something is going on we don’t know about.

As I think we’ve touched on before a few times, teams have switched up their strategy since the beginning of the season, focusing much more heavily on effectively shutting down HTML and eliminating them as a threat. How long has it been since we’ve seen the types of goals where Heatley or Marleau is camped out in the crease, tapping in a textbook pass from Jumbo? You know, the types of goals that allowed Heater to notch two hat tricks in as many months? The goals from that line have had to get dirtier and dirtier as the season has progressed.

That being said, I think at least part of the reason that secondary scoring has come to life in the second half of the season has been precisely because the blueline of opposing teams have focused so much on taking HTML out of the game. The ideal situation would obviously be to strike a balance between the two, allowing HTML to still produce in proportion to their salaries and skill on paper, while still providing opportunities for the 2nd and 3rd lines to make their presence known on the scoreboard.

First of all, yay for Sharks taking the division. Second, yay for the Flames getting knocked out.

Now onto those last 30 secs., Calgary was in a mad rush trying to put pucks on the net, but in one sequence, the puck cleared the zone and a Calgary defender put the puck back in causing a delayed offside. This was an excellent chance for the Sharks to milk the clock. Then Seto, likely out of instinct, tried to play the puck out of the zone, which led to the Flames recovering the puck and reentering the zone, ensuing to the final mad dash.* Luckily, Sharks managed to win, but I hope the coaching staff hones in on that just to improve their situational hockey going into the playoffs.

*Although I’m kinda dumping on him for this, overall I was impressed with his play towards the end of the game. He was skating hard, beating people to the puck, pure hustle – just think he coulda wasted more clock.

or, the lack there-of was the key.

probably one of the most solid all around defensive games i can remember lately. only a few odd man breaks, and the recovery was really solid. the over-pursuit by the back-checkers that plagued them over the past month and a half was no where to be seen.

the defensemen were really active in front of the net, and fulfilled their end of the bargain by tying up the forwards and giving nabby clear lanes to see the puck.

that game gives me a small glimmer of hope that they are figuring things out, and can be competitive this year in the playoffs.

I did, but it was far too late. It tied the game up, but it wasn’t enough.

I enjoyed the double mojo of Palin Mask and Ghost’s Palin Mask with Pigtails portrait. All hands on deck at this time of the year!

I’m actually really starting to think the Sharks will play the Wings in the first round. They’ll need to win out to have a shot at #1 seed.