Toilet (lid) humor in the hours before Game 3
CALGARY — Finally, a little playoff intrigue.
As soon as the Sharks opened their locker room to the media today — and this being Calgary, there was a boatload of media present — everybody zeroed in on a toilet seat, complete with Sharks logo, hanging near the ceiling just above the boom box on top of the Coke machine.
This being Canada, the top question on everybody’s mind was: What’s up with that?
And nobody, not even Jeremy Roenick, was ready to let outsiders in on the inside joke.
Maybe it was tied to the team’s success on the road — “That’s where you feel most comfortable, right?” Roenick said.
Maybe it was tied to playing in a British commonwealth — “We’re like the queen,” Joe Thornton said. “We take our toilet seat with us.”
There was a very strong hint that if you lifted the lid, there’d be a photo there, but when I tried to use may notebook to attempt that, a quick reprimand followed. “Respect the room,” one of the team’s PR crew ordered, only half-smiling.
Then somebody — I think it was Roenick, but in the chaos, who knows? — let slip that maybe Evgeni Nabokov’s photo was under that lid because, you know, he was the star of Game 2.
I tried an end run, heading to the far side of the locker room where Patrick Rissmiller, I hoped, hadn’t been paying attention to the fuss.
“So what’s up with the toilet seat?” I not so innocently asked.
“I don’t know,” he not so honestly answered, keeping his eyes cast downward. “And you’ll probably find 25 other guys who don’t know either.”
Point made.
Teams sometimes get a little goofy in the playoffs, trying to keep things loose. Last year, for example, the Sharks passed around a Wonder Bread cap to each game’s best player, a tribute tied to the Will Ferrell flick, “Talladega Nights.” Maybe the toilet seat is this year’s Wonder Bread cap.
Which, of course, begs the question of, if that is the case, how that came to be and, so far, that’s what is staying in the room. Roenick did refer to a prank, but wouldn’t provide details. “Use your imagination,” he advsied.
OK, so maybe we don’t want to go there and don’t need to know everything. Hah.
The toilet seat prompted the first question at Coach Ron Wilson’s press conference and he was giving anything up. Yes, it was an inside joke, no he would not explain it. At any time? No.
******On maybe a more serious note, defenseman Christian Ehrhoff skated for about five minutes, left the ice with trainer Ray Tufts, then returned about 10 minutes later. Even then, his skate today looked less intense than Saturday’s. I’d be real surprised to see him in Game 3.
******I noticed some earlier speculation as to which referees would be handling tonight’s Game 3. Dan O’Halloran and Eric Furlatt have that task.
So all games on CSNBA even if the TVguide and TiVo menus don’t say anything? Bollocks.
Interesting topic, David. This is why your blog is so popular - you bring up things that you wouldn’t read in any paper here in the Bay area. I don’t know if I want to know why Nabby’s in the middle of toilet, but let’s hope he plays as good as he played on Thursday. I imagine Carle will be back in the lineup?
And as it’s been said in the previous thread, I am also worried about officiating, and I am praying it is not Koharski and Co. Whoever is officiating tonight will have a huge game on his hand.
Ivano,
Two minutes after I posted today, I went back in and added the referees for tonight’s game, hoping nobody woul d have read anything in that short amount of time. Obviously, you were quicker than I was. You’ll see now that Dan O’Halloran and Eric Furlatt are the refs for tonight’s game.
IMO, neither ref is horrible. I’m still expecting them to be consistently inconsistent.
That’s because we all sit around and wait for your post - especially on game days!! Like Ivano said - you won’t get this stuff anywhere else
lol funny a toilet maybe it is there to distract the media. even if you know it is a ploy you still got pay attention to the crapper. hahaha
There you go! It was simply a distraction so the media would stop asking everyone about the referees or Keenan’s comments!
Awesome DP. I’m getting razzed by my girlfriend when I’m checking for updates to this blog when I’m visiting family.
On a side note, anyone growing a playoff beard? I’ve been au natural since last sunday and it is killing me. I always get a kick out of seeing Randy Hahn with his.
I know before my games I get a little bit anxious and need to shed some wieght sometimes…. maybe nabby had a nice pregrame shedding and gave credit to it.
Of course my imagination is always in the gutter!
Funny post, thanks for sharing.
Great blog David!
Anyone watching the Rangers and Devils? Sean Avery sure is a piece of poo. I hate players that push the envelope and try to annoy only to turtle when someone drops the gloves. Please NHL, get rid of the instigator so when can get rid of the Otts and Averys of the league.
#10 Sac Ben:
Are you kidding me, that was awesome! I hate little turds like Avery, Ott and Fleury back in the day, but Avery waving his hands and stick in front of Brodeur’s face? That was classic! Every team likes guys like that on their team. Maybe not your style but it disrupts the other team. And he scored directly after that. It’s up to NJ to clear him out from in front of the net or take him down within the rules of the game.
Well, at least David Gregory and the other announcer on VS aren’t even attempting to be neutral. They might as well be showing Tim Horton’s commercials during the breaks.
It sure didn’t take long to chase kipper out.
OMG, Corey Sarich’s dirty elbow…..Stupid zebras messed that one up big time…
So, anybody want to bitch about Patrick Marleau?
Anyone want to tell me there is no Canadian bias from the refs? That Sarich elbow was the most blatant blown call I’ve ever seen. DW and RW need to be on the phone with the league tomorrow. Obviously Calgary has decided that they can’t beat the Sharks healthy, so last game they went after Joe and tonight it’s Patty. No class.
I don’t want to bitch about Marleau, but I love how he gets up after being absolutely hammered, with blood coming out of 2 places on his face, and he doesn’t look any different than any other time. He didn’t even look pissed. Talk about a calming influence.
I could bitch all night about the announcers though. Did I mention that they totally suck? It’s like they want the phlames to come back soooooooooo bad.
The game is on FSNBA, or whatever they’re calling it now. You don’t have to watch it on Versus.
Dick are you referring to CBC’s announcers?
Versus is carrying the Canadian Broadcasting Company feed. So if the announcers seem to be tilted toward Calgary, maybe it’s because they are. On the other hand, they are very professional.
I think we’re starting to see the results of Keenan’s womanly chirping about the officiating: Marleau takes a vicious elbow to the head, with no call, but McLaren brushes a Calgary player’s head with an elbow, and it’s a two-minute penalty.
BC #16
Keenan whining about officiating is not a gender based attribute, it is being a poor sport. And we all hope that the Refs will NOT be swayed by a whiny coach or GM.
Unfortunately, I expect the officiating to be like this the rest of playoffs. It is one-sided today (refs want to leave Canada alive), but we’ll see a lot more blood with no penalties called. Not surprising at all, and the longer American teams keep winning the Cup, the longer we will see this kind of bias.
Very crucial third period is coming up. Not sure my heart can handle it.
BC #16…I wish.
#19, the refs are TOTALLY swayed by whiny coaches. That’s why we don’t get the break.
I hate VS, by the way. Did I mention that?
it doesn’t matter whether he is in St louis, phoenix, or calgary, the 40 y.o. man Cujo outplays nabokov again.
blowing a 3 goal lead. what a disgrace.
Looks like Nabby will need to bail us out again. Sigh
michalek has not done squat in 3 games.
clowe is showing up bigtime, too bad michalek and cheechoo can’t.
NHL referees are biased in favor of Canadian teams. Simple fact.
how will the sharks respond to another total playoff collapse?
beaten on the short side again. what a friggin sieve. playoff choke again
Wow. Just, wow.
I think someone the other night said it best: Keenan’s, “Let them play,” translated, is really, “Let my team clutch and grab.”
And that’s exactly what these clowns of officials did, and the result was a cheap Calgary victory.
washed up Cujo and washed up Owen Nolan beat the no guts Sharks.
playoff choker nabokov does it again
Wow. All I have to say is that our Dmen really failed us in this game. Vlasic and Mclaren were terrible-again. Looks like we still need 1 more legitimate Dmen for us to
get a chance to win this thing.
Total meltdown. How does any team, let alone a trendy pick to win the Cup, let a 3-0 lead slip away? This is no different than last year when the Sharks choked and lost to the Red Wings, or the year before when they choked and lost to the Oilers. This year will be more of the same — great regular season, then a choke in the playoffs.
At least we’ll all save some money that would have been spent on the second round, the conference finals and the Cup finals. The Sharks should be ashamed.
What an ugly loss. I can’t believe we decided to fold like this.
When someone is doing the things Flames were doing to Marleau, we needed to answer, either by scoring more goals, or by shedding blood. Instead, we gave the game away, as the team decided they’ll let Flames push them around and do whatever they wanted.
Terrible game by Thornton’s line. Terrible game by defense. Terrible game by coaching staff.
Where is Michalek? Where is JR? Where is Grier?
If we don’t win the next game, the series will be beyond our reach. I am hoping the season will not be over so soon.
Can’t blame the refs for this one, regardless of the hit on Marleau. We choked it away, plain and simple.
Aside from the captain, I didn’t see much heart out there. We were handed a gift in the last 3 minutes when Calgary shot one over the glass, and we couldn’t even set up a single shot. Our guys just didn’t want it as much as they did.
The Sharks, much as I hate to say it, will continue to be labeled as underachieving playoff chokers until they prove their critics wrong on the ice. Here’s hoping it’s this year…I’d hate for us all to be let down yet again.
I agree that McLaren was horrible. Whether it’s age or the knee injury, he is just not the same defenseman that he was at the beginning of the season. Vlasic, I thought, was great about half the time, and average the rest. Campbell had another absolutely brutal game. Rivet was good. Carle was good when he saw ice. I never thought I would say that the defensive corps misses Ehrhoff.
The power play was abysmal. Look at Calgary power plays: two or three red jerseys constantly in Nabby’s face. Hell, at even strength, they’re continually crashing the net (to the point that they should have gotten two or three goaltender interference calls for intentional contact in the crease). Our PP? Almost entirely perimeter passing, with Clowe occasionally going to the front of the net and getting his ass beaten by two Calgary penalty killers.
The penalty kill came up small tonight. The Iginla goal was a fluke bounce — nothing you can do about that. But the Langkow goal was the result of Grier and Mitchell getting outworked.
And even strength, it was a flashback to the early part of the season: Sharks jump out to an early lead and then try to protect it, the predictable result of which is that the other team, playing with nothing to lose, beats them.
It amazes me that nobody has put Owen Nolan on his ass yet.
We didn’t fold! Keenen got his way…both bloody hits on Patty were penalties..instead, THEY get a power play, and bam it is 3-1..then they allowed holding holding holding..and Calgary gets a couple of flucky goals..getting the cups means skill, but officiating along the way has to go mostly your way to win it…
Sharks, how do you spell pathetic…..
You cannot win with only one line producing. Unfortunately two members of that line failed to tip the puck over the blue line, the Flames kept the puck in the Shark’s zone and scored goals 3 and 4….Marleau and Clowe.
Marleau had a great game, with the exception of failing to clear the puck that resulted in the third goal.
The D…what D? Anybody seen Campbell? is this the guy we are prepared to pay 6M smuckers for? He’s all but vanished.
They are making Carle look really good.
McL, please stop taking stupid untimely penalties.
The Sharks defence is terrible, but that includes many forwards who do not take care of their defensive duties.
Now that I got that off my chest. Let’s go Sharks and bring home a victory in game 4.
that is what happens when you have a well known playoff choker in net, team leaders who are easygoing nice guys, and a coach who does not demand fiery emotion from his players
It is up to Wilson now..he has to cry and talk to the league about the officiating…it sure worked for the Flames..Wilson Has to do it…you apparently have to to win the cup..and stupid Betman was there watching!!
WOW.
Total disbelief of what i just watched. Our D was horrible granted, but playing canadian teams in the playoffs has begun to look like watching the Harlem globetrotters games. Crazy antics ensue and you know who wins in the end. I’m done spending money on hockey tickets. Listening to the commish squirm while randy asked about the elbow to marleaus head or about ” being excited with the number of teams from new york area in the playoffs” was disgusting. There are obviously hidden agenda’s for the league, and when a coach complains about the officials to the media in order to change the rules of a game is nuts. Good luck to the sharks, wish the game didnt have so many outside influences. I’d much rather stick to baseball and watch guys on steroids. At least the rules are the same every day.
Sickening the way the CBC or whoever was on Versus announcers were…Marleau with blood all over him..no high hit call though, not even a mention…Marleau must have scratched himself on the way down…talk about homer announcers…
how do you spell choke?
S-h-a-r-k-s
just like last year
Sorry Topcat (#30), I’ve gotta agree with the others - the Sharks choked this game away plain and simple. Yeah, that was a BS play against Marleau (and the fact that THEY got the power play out of it was mind-blowing!), but from the point forward the Sharks collapsed like a house of cards. They looked completely lost out there while the Flames absolutely skated circles around them.
Section 219 (#26) summed it up - this was no different then Detroit last year or Edmonton the year before. Let’s see if all that talk about this being a different team really meant anything, because right now it’s looking like the same ol’ Sharks.
Its games like these where people will cry for Wilson’s head. What’s the saying about a prevent defense? Oh thats right…it prevents you from winning.
BTW - Kyle McLaren = worst possible hockey player the Sharks had tonight. Pathetic
Another season - another choke job in the playoffs!!! A typical Sharks game- a quick start then play with no fire or passion the rest of the game. I don’t know why some of the experts picked the sharks as their Cup favorites when the history has shown that the Sharks fold in the playoffs!! I hope I’m wrong, but I think the Sharks are done!! Unless they even up this series next game, they are bounced in the 1st round!!!!!!!!
Why couldn’t we play the way we did in game 2?
RW have proven to us year in and year out that he can’t change the game plan during the game. It appears we scored three goals too quickly, and he did not find a good way to explain to his players what we need to do to preserve the lead. And then here comes the line shuffling, and panic in all sides of the puck.
Coaches better spend the next 48 hours carefully watching the film, and coming up with a game plan to change things or all of them will soon be out on the job market.
Brutal loss. Next game is another game 7 for the Sharks.
As to the broadcast. Why can I get a HD Canadian feed on Comcast and not a local one? Was there a HD feed on Directv? The whole thing is a confusing, pathetic mess.
you will get no improvement by shifting the blame
the Sharks have had 17 PPs
Calgary has had 9 PPs
yeah, those awful refs are to blame
Also, will RW be bold enough and change the line-up? JR needs some rest, so let’s throw Seto in there. I also hope we can get Ehrhoff back for McL. Heck, even Ozo will look better out there. And what’s the point of having Shelley out there if we don’t dare to retaliate?
Oh man… the sharks know how to make a grown man cry… well the officals had some to do with it, especially NOT calling the elbow to Marleau and then calling a penalty to clowe.
I just hope that wasn’t the hit we look back on as in previous series.
The Sharks DID choke the game away. BUT, the hit on Marleau was also bullshit. Checking to the head is not legal no matter what the ‘new’ NHL says, this is typical homer favortims to help Canadian teams win.
The Sharks would have likely have lost anyway, but the crappy reffing is disgusting to watch and I am sure that the NHL is allowing it. I know that I have been watching the other games and so far what I see reffing wise I am not ‘down’ with the clutching and grabbing that the NHL ‘icehole’ brass have decided to let in again. Next year I am taking my money elsewhere, even if the Sharks win the Cup I am not watching boring old 1970s Flyer hockey. If I want to see that I will watch Slapshot, it is more entertaining.
The coaching was definitely bad, tonight.
Calgary is, for the most part, playing a 2-2-1 trap: send two forecheckers to pressure the Sharks D into turning the puck over in their own end. Then Calgary can fight for possession and cycle. When the Sharks have been successful against this, it’s because they’ve been able to make clean passes out of their own end. This catches the Calgary forecheckers deep, and forces them to skate 180 feet to get back into the play.
In other words, Calgary’s strategy is to try to force the Sharks to play an east-west game in their defensive zone. If the Sharks let themselves be pressured into playing east-west, then the result is what happened in the second and third periods tonight, and in Game One: cheap Calgary goals off deflections, screens, and scrums in front.
On the other hand, if the Sharks forwards move their feet away from the puck, and the defense makes smart first passes, then Calgary’s trap gets stretched and collapses, and the result is what happened in Game Two and in the first period tonight.
The coaches’ inability to get the players to stick with that gameplan for 60 minutes definitely leaves them open to criticism.
Kyle McLaren is killing the Sharks. Milan isn’t much better….these guys are sleepwalking thru the playoff!! How do you do that?
And Brian Campbell, he’s playing scared!! Seems like he doesn’t want to puck much and when he has it doesn’t know what to do with it!!
I disagree about protecting the lead…I give credit to Calgary once they got the goal to make 3-1 on the non-Marleau call..they pressed and pressed, and we need to respond by quick counter attack, but we did not do a good job. I know we did not play very well for the rest of the game, I just HATE when a ref turns the game momentum…plus the announcers were making me puke! I would have paid a $1000 for the Sharks to shut them up. Can’t blame Wilson though, he can’t play the game.
favortism
Wow, the word is certainly out—the Sharks can be intimidated!
It looks more and more that the Boston press’ and fans’ appraisal of Joe Thornton was ‘right-on’—he’s a no-show for ‘real’ playoff games (for example, games not involving Nashville). He and the rest of his line were AWOL! As others noted, this series is eerily similar to last season’s Detroit series.
And yes, it appears the bloom is coming off the Campbell rose. His D-play is awful. We need Ehrhoff badly. Christian can skate well (unlike McLaren and Murray), plays tough D, and has a good sense for the play.
Keenan does not kiss egos like RW. if his best player in the first 2 games, Kipper, gets 3 down, he pulls him to spark his team, not to blame him.
but RW, after nabokov blows the lead, does nothing to spark his team. he should have put Boucher in to let them know he won’t tolerate another choke job this year.
instead, he leaves him in to choke on a short side bad-angle, bad goal
Done with this team.
Joe T isn’t playing too bad, what can you do when your wings are not skating. but his wingers sure are. Michalek and Cheechoo have been pathetic, especially Michalek, who has no excuses at all. he has been a huge disappointment.
If we go down, I at least want to see Shelly 2-glove punch (in the back of the head) Iginla, Sarch, or Phanuof on the way out.
Even Thornton will not look very good when two guys grab and hold him when he gets the puck. As far as us being intimidated, we proved against Dallas that we can’t be. But in this game, if we had gotten tough, it was so obvious that the refs would have made us pay dearly with penalties. What were they to do?
Fire Ron Wilson! Doesn’t the “buck” stop with him? Isn’t he responsible for getting the team ready for the playoffs?? He does not have the mental toughness for this team. Maybe the team does not believe in his “system” anymore or they have tuned him out. Ron Wilson needs to go!
Maybe the Sharks believe their own press! That they are the “trendy” pick to win it all! Or maybe the “Teal” is actually causing them to lose in the playoffs. What are the primary colors of Calgary and Detroit?????? Makes ya think…….
Wow… THAT was a stunning collapse, even by the Sharks standards! deja vu all over again as the poet once said - I’m flashing back to Raffi Torres hit on Michalek 2 years ago… a series-changing hit that the Sharks never responded to…
Hope Ehrhoff heals in 48 hours, because Mclaren has got to sit… never thought I’d say this, but I’d rather see Semenov instead of K-Mac… And Campbell - his play was beyond horrendous… but the bottom line is the entire team lost their composure completely. Gut check time for game 4…
I’m on a roll……Have you noticed during the playoffs, when the opposing team shuts down Joe Thorton, so do the Sharkies. The Sharkies should be EMBARRASSED by the way they played tonight!
I don’t blame being intimidated, I blame our defense not being able to get the puck out of the zone at all. We need to do that and establish a freaking forecheck.
Topcat, #47
The problem with that reasoning is that the Flames will continue to do what they do best and get away with it unless we send the message and punish them somehow. The refs are not going to do it for us. We couldn’t do it by scoring goals and we at least should have done it physically.
Can you imagine Flames doing the same play to Selanne or Morrow or Ovechkin or Crosby or Kovalev and getting away with it? Why could we not punish them?
Is everything lost? Probably not, since Flames are very inconsistent and have not won two games in a row in a while (meaningless win against Cancucks at the end doesn’t count). But it’s not looking good for us.
Anyone else feel like Bill Murray in the movie Groundhog Day? I feel like I haved lived this day before….The Sharks sure like digging themselves a hole.
Kudos to Marleau and his game tonight.
I hate to agree with all the Joe Thornton pesimists but maybe they’re right….he was tonight!
I guess we now know what was under the toilet lid in the locker room tonight. It was the words “Three goal lead”!
I’ll be watching Tuesday with high expectations.
Ironically the missing word is “invisible” in the JT section of my comment!
Intimidated?
Not to give them an excuse for the way the defense played, but if you feel like anyone can take a run at you whenever they want with no consequences……….? Might be looking over your shoulder a bit. Love hockey, if i wanna see a car wreck or a fight ill watch nascar or UFC
Topcat’s is being too too kind to the Sharks!.
I would say Dallas pushed the Sharks around pretty well in game 82—as they are doing now to the Ducks.
As the legendary coach of the Toronto Maple Leafs in the ’50s, Francis (’King’) Clancy responded to a sports’ writer’s comment on the beauty of figure-skating: “yes, but nobody’s checking them”! King Clancy knew well that the ability to respond to checking was a big measure of a hockey player, and more-so for intensive playoff-hockey checking. Thornton (and his line mates) were not a force out there tonight—-Owen Nolan was a force!
For the next game.
Bring in Seto and put him with Joe and Cheechoo. Michalek is another no show…
Sit Shelley, he was brought in to be the tough guy and all he could manage tonight was a death stare and nothing else. In the meantime our Captain got roughed up and bumped around and the only guys who try to do something about it were Carle and Clowe.
Put Michalek in the fourth line with Brown and JR.
Bring in Ehrhoff. Even if he can only skate on one leg he is going to help more and be less of a liability than McL.
Feed two bowls of raw red meat to Pickles before the game, see if he can master some nastiness.
Tell Campbell that if he does not improve, he is going to find himself back in Buffalo, freezing his backside for most of the year.
For RW, buy a copy of “how not to be outcoached in playoffs”; make sure he and his coaching staff read it three times before the next game.
Make every player write “I need to clear the puck from our zone” 100 times.
If they do all of the above, we should be fine for game 4.
It wasn’t Joe’s fault that we allowed four goals and it wasn’t his fault that nobody else wanted to open or crash the net on PP or during even play. Why do we always have to look at Joe during our losses?
FYI - he had an assist today, spent more time on the ice than anybody except Campbell, and was 0 on +/-.
Never thought I’d say it, but I miss Bernier. His big body and his physicality at this point would have meant more in this series than shut-down Campbell (eh.. if we ever made the playoffs without Campbell).
Do you people think that Keenan is going to play Cujo for the next game?
He definitely looked better than Kipper. Although the only goal where Kipper looked shaky was the first one. Not sure anybody could have stopped the other two.
Ivano, I tend to disagree with your comment on Bernier. I believe Clowe is providing that kind of presence for us.
Bernier was not exactly setting the world on fire when he left. He had a great first game for Buffalo and then…???????
We look at Joe cause he’s the superstar making the most money and he’s being outplayed by many Flames and Sharks. I know he is focused on more in the playoffs but so is every superstar in the playoffs and most of them find a way. I’m sorry Ivano but 1 assist and an even +/- in the biggest game of the year with lots of ice time does not impress me. The biggest disapointment is the lack of passion in his game right now. How many hits did he have? How many shots did he block? How did he stick up for his captain tonight? I love the guy but he is a non factor so far plain and simple.
Shelley is a great player to have during the regular season, but is useless in the playoffs. The type of players you need in the playoffs are agitators who have skill. See Claude Lemieux, see Sean Avery. You need the guys who have skill, and Shelley is useless when it comes to any production or even throwing any big hits. He is a regular season fighter and that’s about it.
Tano -
There is no need to start a GK controversy there. In the long run Cujo is worse than Kipper and no way he wins the Cup for Calgary. Kipper will have to do it. You’re probably right on Bernier. I just hated the lack of physical game today. Even Clowe - where was he the rest of the game? One hit on the game is not what we expect from him (and -1 as well). At least we got three hits from Cheechoo, of all people.
SacramentoBen -
This was not the biggest game of the year. Next one will be. He’s not lacking passion either. What he’s lacking is space since two or three Flames players are always after him, and you’d think Cheechoo or Michalek would be open, but they aren’t and in desperation RW is shuffling lines again. Flames found a way to shot down Joe, so what? Let’s trade our best player?
The next game will be the biggest game of the year because they lost this game. That is why I thought tonights game was the biggest so far. If Cheech and Michalek can’t get open then maybe Joe needs to try something new and adjust. Take it to the net perhaps? If the D crashes down on him wouldn’t that leave someone open?
I’m not saying they should trade him but are you not concerned about it? If it’s so easy to shut him down in the playoffs (every team has so far in his career) then why can’t they do the same in the regular season? I’m not asking for heads to roll. I just think Joe can step it up! Believe me, I WANT him to make me think diferently of him. Until he does, he’ll continue to be a non factor imo.
Your phrase, “every team has so far in his career” - not sure what you are talking about. He has 39 points in 59 playoff games. That’s not every team was able to shut him down. Just because he hasn’t won the Cup yet doesn’t mean he folds in every game.
Either way, I think we may have to win this series without two-points-a-night performance by Joe. In both games we lost thus far, it was more of a defensive loss than anything. Defense needs to step up. Remember, defense wins championships. Allowing four goals won’t get you far in the playoffs.
Turn the page. Tuesday and Thursday will define the Sharks forever.
I’m either stupid,crazy,blindly loyal or all three.
Sharks in 6.
Fwiw, Flames fans could hardly believe it either. And Bettman was at the game so maybe the 2 refs will be MIA for the rest of the playoffs……. And be assured that there isn’t a single person in Canada who believes Bettman would ever be happy seeing a Canadian team winning the Cup. He’s desperate to pump up the value of the League which means improving sales in the US.
(D’ya suppose the toilet lid was filled with those puke bags from the airplane?)
This will be the last time I respond to this. I’m not trying to make you think the way that I do or that your wrong or I’m right. All I’m saying is 39 points in 59 games is hardly what I expect from him. Thats about .66 points a game. In his career he has 756 points in 754 games. Thats a little over a point a game average. I apologize that I expect superstars to play “even better” when it matters the most. I bet if you ask Joe he would tell you that he should play better than he has. I’m saying that regular season Joe is better than playoff Joe. I’m not trying to take anything away from JT as he is a outstanding player. It just seems around playoff time he stops dominating games and carrying his team. Again Ivano, just my thoughts….
Bruce,
I can’t agree with you more. I hope your right!
Why cant the Sharks play physical, its so frustrating! With a 3 - 0 lead they should have sent a physical message to Calgary instead of sitting back and losing. Iginla needs to be punished every time he touches the puck. Even in the “new NHL”, a physical team will beat a skilled team in the playoffs. I am half tempted to shave my beard right now!
Do the Flames get the flukiest goals or what?
Barring any more fluky goals, I agree with #62.
But I still don’t know what stopped Jody from doing his thing tonight. I saw him yapping but that was it.
I can’t believe that people are calling the Sarich hit an elbow. Maybe you need to invest in a bigger TV because it is very clear (and my tv is only 34″’s) that Marleaus head was down and that Sarcih hit him with his shoulder/bicept.
And as far as the officiating goes… there have been brutal calls on both ends, so don’t think that the Canadian teams are being favored by the refs. In Canada this game sells regardless of the teams results in the playoffs; makes sense that the bias would be in favor of the American teams?
I am amazed at the lack of faith and the panic.
Hey, they blew it tonight. Stopped playing aggressive after 4 minutes and two lucky goals — allowed momentum to continue. They could have held on, until the Refs made themselves a part of the decision. The NHL should be embarrassed.
Intimidation: there was none, even though you think you saw it. Where?
D is getting too much blame. It’s the wrong analsys. The fwds were usually too far up the ice in our own zone not supporting well enough. The fwds can’t get thru, so they send the puck back to our own zone. That helps “their” fore check.
I can admit, the Flames are doing a great job on Jumbo and Soupy. But, it isn’t just those two. Which ever D has the puck, they are pressuring hard.
Pressure and goal tending is all they have! We beat pressure handily in game 2. We did for 3.5 minutes in game 3. Game 2 would have looked like the first 3 min of this game if it weren’t for Kipper in Game 2. Kipper won’t be that good all the time…rewind to to the first 3.5 minutes of game 3 for samples. As I said before, the Flames D is not that good. We beat the pressure enough times to score a few more goals tonight too — Cujo save the day for them.
Enough analysis. Enough of us won’t agree or understand because you really didn’t watch game close enough when things started going bad. I’ll not throw anyone under the bus. There is NO goat for the game 3 loss.
It was the non-calls that make difference, but more so the hockey that didn’t get played for a good share of the night. Still, a bounce going our way for a change, there would have been different result.
GP
About intimidation. The Sharks were not and will not be, especially after tonight. Comparing this to the Torres hit…not even close and wasn’t the case. If you think so, you’re just looking for a reason to jump off the bandwagon you’re riding.
NHL embarrassment! Yes! They’ve allowed the perception that refs won’t make calls according to the rules. It’s a thankless job, but they HAVE to be better and more consistent.
#62, its a little much to say Tues and Thur will define the Sharks forever. It’s not the end of anything if they lose the next next two.
I can only now think, the Sharks in 6 or 7.
BTW: DTV: the Versus HD started, but was shut off right after the 1st goal of the game. So no HD via DTV. I had to switch to CSNBA in blurry-vision. NOTE: CSNBA looks better on DTV than on ComCast Cable. Was HD available on InCom’petant’cast Cable service?
GP
Another thought. Unlike the Flames in game 2, The Sharks actually have some gripes about the officiating for both Game 1 and now 3.
GP
I think Purdy needs to retract his article. Just total tabloid and BS.
GP
Oh man… When the Sharks gave up the GTG, I knew Calgary had this one in the bag. But I really thought they would last until overtime. The rollover tonight just hurt.
Calgary knows the drill: if you get a little behind, just rattle the shark cage a little. Works like a charm.
How on earth did Soupy manage a +1? I still think he should be signed but his salary must be dropping with each playoff game… What happened to the breakout? And what’s up with JR?
Sure the officiating was unfortunate tonight but that only explains one goal. MAYBE two. The loss tonight was 100% local.
Ah well. Sharks in 7. And I’m scared to death to watch the next game.
The bottom line, here, is that the Flames are playing from the playbook they pioneered the last time they met the Sharks in the playoffs: play dirty, take cheap shots, dare the gutless NHL officials to whistle you — and if they do, then kill penalties by neutralizing Joe Thornton and forcing some other San Jose player to beat you.
It worked in the 2003-2004 playoffs. The formula also worked for Edmonton in the 2005-2006 playoffs. And the formula’s worked for Anaheim during the last two regular seasons.
It’ll continue to work until either one of two things happens: the league gets serious about stopping it by fining coaches and suspending players, and/or the Sharks show that they can score consistently on the power play despite Joe Thornton being a non-factor.
Tonight I wrote a letter to the NHL’s biggest corporate sponsors (Best Buy, Bank of America, Budweiser, Kraft, McDonalds, Gillette, Home Depot), with a copy sent to Gary Bettman’s office, informing them that they have lost me as a customer until the NHL enforces its own rulebook.
You can blame the refs, blame the hits, blame the ice, the bad bounces…… It comes down to one thing HEART!!!!!!! Until the Sharks start playing with heart they are never going to go all the way. It has been the same story since before the lock out. The real test of this teams heart will come Tuesday. If they can respond and come out and not fold like a cheap suit, as they have in the past three seasons, then maybe they will win. I still think we can win this series, I have been saying all along that this was going to be the toughest series in the first round.
Lets see how they respond before you jump off the band wagon!!!!
this is the sad fate of the sharks gutless players who stick stand instead of showing grit. man we have seen this too much go get some real men (instead of flashy boys) that want to hit someone instead of fan the puck crap these girls are just waiting to get hit instead of dishing out the pain, everyone of you stickhuggers knows the the truth this group is a bunch of spineless weiners you captains bleeding and nobody throws a shot noone!!!!take a friggin minor for sake!!!! its over lose the girls and fire the professor man i hope this guy ripped his players after this tank job if not there you go sunny cali boys cant take the shots it takes to go get the prize could you see walsh trying to explain why they tanked a 21 point lead to a number seven seed.somebody own up to this crap!!!!! i quit
The Flames don’t play dirty, we are just good at playing a physical game. You let us off the hook and we came back. That’s it live with it.
Go Flames Go…
Welcome to the C of Red…
In reply to
AF in WC Says:
April 13th, 2008 at 9:24 pm
NHL referees are biased in favor of Canadian teams. Simple fact.
BS. Run out of things to blame for the defeat
I have been watching and playing ice hockey since 1960. This year’s playoffs (not just last night’s Sharks game) have me saying that it is it, done for me NHL-wise. I am not wasting anymore time/money on the NHL. Hugging and holding is not ice hockey, hits to the head are not ice hockey. Yes, the Sharks lost the game my not keeping their foot on the gas, but the refs (and that means orders from the NHL brass) allowed Calgary to goon it up and wreck a perfectly good game and sport.
Last night all the games were sickening. Next year I am using Slingbox to watch Euro-hockey so I can see some real ice hockey again. When I hear the NHL pulls it head out of its Neanderthal butt I will watch it again, but I am not holding my breath.
TaxSharkFan Says:
April 14th, 2008 at 5:16 am
You can blame the refs, blame the hits, blame the ice, the bad bounces…… It comes down to one thing HEART!!!!!!!
Lot of excellent views and commentary but I totally agree with TaxSharkFan…it’s all about HEART. I don’t know why it’s not there, they do this for a living, play to win the Cup but then they let a lesser talented team like Calgary kick them around the ice and like all of you…I’m sick of it. HEART will win the game on Tuesday…if they can find theirs.
Will someone explain to me what the point of having Jody Shelley? He’s an enforcer! (Career games 411, goals 12, penalty minutes 1116). If he doesn’t go after someone after the hit on Marleau, what good is he? Why have him on the ice at all? I can’t believe they hit our captain (clean hit by the way if you read the rule book) and we do nothing. That was the series right there.
Someone was saying earlier about how calm Marleau was after the two big cheapshots he took, and props to him for jumping back to his feet right away and playing immediately, but I for one would have liked to see some fire and yelling from our Captain. Maybe its just me…
He did look pretty good out there though.
Have fun watching Sling-box euro-hockey. I will assume this will be your last post since this a NHL blog. That’s to bad.
Goaliepuke. The HD feed was on Comcast Cable. It was the Canadian feed with their announcers. I choose blur vision on DT
In reply to mrrythm.
Calgary a less talented team. My behind.
Iginla, Phaneuf, Kiprusoff to name a couple.
What`s next. Home team advantage becuase of lack of oxygen (Calgary being high up) or cold weather (yep it was only 71f. Let me know when you come up with something more original.
I am not sure what was worse, watching our team crumble after such a great start, or listening to those idiotic homers on CBC/VS. Being in Colorado, we are forced to Versus since the CSN broadcast is blacked out on Center Ice when VS is on.
Both were just agonizing. If that happens again, I guess I’ll move my XM radio down to the TV room.
Go Sharks, you’ve got to play better Tuesday or it is essentially over.
C’mon San Jose fans - give it a rest already. Your team had the majority of the calls in game 2. The Flames showed a lot of character by not quitting and working to get themselves back into the game. No - I don’t respect Keenan for taking his case to the press when complaining about the officiating. He needs to ensure his guys play smarter and stop taking STUPID penalties.
Hats off to the Sharks’ Captain - very gutsy to bounce right up and after taking such a hit and not going to the refs and begin jumping up and down for a call (unlike most of the people on this forum). The TV replay was not the greatest angle but from what I saw Sarich did not have his elbow extended away from his body and did not leave his skates to leap into the hit. The San Jose player had his head down and was looking away from the direction of the hit and got clocked with what was mostly body. Yes - the officials could have made a call but I don’t think it was as obvious as people are making it out. Was nowhere near as blatant an elbow as a Washington player threw against a Flyer in game 1. The two players were skating in opposite directions and the Cap player extended his elbow 90 degrees away from his body as he threw it into the face of the oncoming player. Yeah - he got a two minute minor for Ebowing. Probably should have been at least a double minor or maybe even a five minute major penalty and a fine from the league.
I am going to say something controversial here:
I was watching the Versus HD telecast on Comcast.
The homerism of the CBC announcers was shameful.
That is on Hockey Night in Canada, with a 70 year tradition.
Then came the Sarich hit on Marleau. The announcers said it was a clean, shoulder hit.
I agreed with them! Marleau had his head down - a no-no.
I was surprised to see Randy and Drew claiming it was an elbow. Even asked Gary Betman about it.
Then Ron Wilson and Mark Purdy claimed the same elbow.
I guess an elbow - like beauty - is in the eye of the beholder.
Go put your ROSE colored glasses away, this is just the beginning of another Shark playoff melt down. OH Where OH Where did my Big Joe Go, Oh
Where Oh Where can He Be!!!
I’m a long-time Flames fan and was ecstatic to see them come back against the Sharks last night.
I am also the fan of the tough guys who play the game and Patrick MARLEAU gained a new supporter when he got up after being crushed by SARICH. How he got up, I don’t know, let alone continue to play the game and be (arguably) the Sharks’ best player.
Not surprisingly, there are those who were quick to berate SARICH for a dirty hit……they should go back to the replays and watch what happened. Obviously there are Sharks fans out there who need glasses (not unlike some Flames fans when the shoe is on the other foot!)
May the wars continue.
I have read all postings and as usual they are worth reading. I think I have had almost every thought and shared every emotion reflected in the postings.
I believe virtually every position taken can be supported with convincing argument. It will be fascinating to see how this all plays out.
1. Campbell is throwing the series.
2. Joe Thornton has gone into witness protection and taken his line with him.
3. Sharks are STILL soft. Up 3-0 in the first, after the Marleau hit, somebody had to be punching Sarich in the face repeatedly.
4. Mike Greer is 3 years older than last year.
5. I still love Owen Nolan.
Hello there. I’m a Flames fan from Calgary. Your comments are amazing in that it basically mirrors everything that Flames fans were saying in game 2. Horrible reffing, top players not showing up, bad defense, etc.
In regards to the CBC homerism, in the post-game show for game 1, their analysts basically blasted the Flames for relying on Kipper to steal the game.
Gotta say, your team shrank after that Sarich hit. I thought the Sharks had more bite (pun intended).
(Visiting Flames Fan Here)
Sharks fans, this is borderline heresy for a lifelong fan of the red and black - but I find it mildly disturbing that I seem to have more respect for your team at the moment than most of you do.
I get that you’re frustrated about Thorton’s lack of results and he’s been a non-factor for much of the series so far - but am I the only one who noticed how much he raised his game yesterday? He was regularly getting position on Robin Regher - and that’s saying something. He was wide open for much of the last minute, and would have had a near open-net scoring chance if not for a (very) fortunate block by Lombardi.
Nabokov has been stellar. Complain about Calgary’s “fluky bounce” goals all you like, but that’s because often the only way to beat him has been ricocheting shots off of traffic. Without his circus stops on Nolan alone in the second, it could have been a different game.
And Clowe? I have no idea who he is, or where he came from, but I hate that guy. Haaaaattteee that guy. It doesn’t seem to matter who he matches up against, he single-handedly turns nothing into prime scoring opportunities (See the first five minutes). He has been dubbed “Clowe-verfield” in my basement and we literally hate seeing him step onto the ice.
Don’t get me wrong. Calgary’s still going to win, because we are pure of heart and righteous ™, but I don’t think for a second that this isn’t going to seven… so no need to break out the cyanide capsules (yet).
I doubt I can overcome homer sentiment here - but the only thing that’s really bugged me about the officiating in this entire series is the worrying trend of phantom calls at bad times - for both teams.
The Yelle “slash” to start the game was questionable, at best - and was really depressing given the brutal pounding it sparked. But the Mclaren (Non)Elbow was worse.
By the same token in Game 2 almost all of the Flames 2nd period bonehead string of penalties were legit, but there were a couple of real head scratchers (Iginlas “holding” penalty, and whichever shark got an interference or something right off the top of the third).
I really don’t care if the game is called tight or loose, but it would be nice to see some better consistency.
As for the Marleau hit - you could maybe make an argument that it was a hit to the head, but from my homer eyes, it was a pretty clear check. Marleau’s head hit Saritch’s shoulder, so it’s not like a stick or elbow or anything was involved.
FWIW, This series has been a lot more enjoyable than I thought it would be hockey-wise, so let’s all be thankful that this isn’t another New Jersey / Rangers series.
Oh yeah, a quick question on the “Homer” broadcast complaints.
Is “Vs” just mirroring the CBC feed? If so wouldn’t it make more sense to complain that a (supposedly) national network can’t be bothered to produce their own package than that a Canadian network is being homer-centric to the only Canadian team left in the Western conference?
Also, you’ll respect that the first period stomping puts play-by-play in a tough position, especially with a late game, as if they don’t talk up the possibility of a “big comeback” or “still lots of game left to play”, they’ll lose a gigantic chunk of their audience - most of whom are in the East (like me) where it’s almost midnight by the second period. In close games it’s a lot easier to give equal time to the play of both sides.