West Finals

The Napkin

wise ass al kaprielian
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Jul 13, 2002
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St. Louis Blues (C2) vs. San Jose Sharks (P3)

Game 1 -- May 15, 8:10, @STL
Game 2 -- May 17, 8:10, @STL
Game 3 -- May 19, 9:10, @SJS
Game 4 -- May 21, 7:15, @SJS

Game 5 -- May 23, 8:10, @STL
Game 6 -- May 25, 9:10, @SJS
Game 7 -- May 27, 8:10, @STL
 

cshea

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Nov 15, 2006
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Weird play early. Vlasic scores on his own goal, but it gets waived off because Berglund was all over Jones.
 

Dr. Gonzo

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Not sure if this is technically a game thread so apologies for no substance.

The last ten minutes of this game has featured the Sharks coach with a giant rack behind him at every closeup. I mean, every shot of him now has his head between each boob. Amazing.
 

54thMA

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Not sure if this is technically a game thread so apologies for no substance.

The last ten minutes of this game has featured the Sharks coach with a giant rack behind him at every closeup. I mean, every shot of him now has his head between each boob. Amazing.
Between him getting busted in the SC finals a few years ago vs the Kings checking out the jugs behind him in the stands up on the scoreboard (the blonde Kings "fan" everyone was talking about) and this rack in St. Louis, he's had his fair share of encounters with big sets of cans......................
 

LogansDad

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Blues with a dumb penalty, which leads to a dumb decision by Steen to try to get a new stick, which leads to a goal for San Jose.

Then they put Brave Steve Ott on the ice so that he can take another dumb penalty.

Nicely done.
 

LogansDad

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And the Berglund runs into the corner of the bench, which came open as he was trying to make a check.... that looked like it hurt. A lot.
 

Catcher Block

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Tougher to figure out if the Sharks frustrated the Blues into playing their worst playoff game so far or if they got there all on their own. That was brutal.

Ott needs to sit now, and everyone else needs to stop trying to make the perfect play every time. Chip, chase, forecheck. It got them this far.
 

The Napkin

wise ass al kaprielian
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That Brouwer goal. Goodness.
The things these guys do - on skates - at that speed. Mind boggling.
 

Moosbrugger

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It's a weird dynamic, and I think it's a feature of the static nature of the top end talent of NHL rosters, but I'm pulling harder for Thornton and Marleau than for my team winning it all. It's kind of like seeing Yaz winning it all.
 

Catcher Block

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Pavelski's ability to tip pucks on goal is insane. He scored the GWG on a shot that was going to hit closer to the corner far boards than the net and managed to tip it in the short side from about a foot outside the crease.

It's also interesting to think the Blues are still in the series and they're getting production from everywhere but Tarasenko (0 pts). The Sharks have done a great job of smothering him, but he has to be dealing with an injury or something.
 

The Napkin

wise ass al kaprielian
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Every time I hear Joel Ward's name I think of the game 7 ot goal in 2012 that I'm convinced to this day was goalie interference.
 

BoSoxFink

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Jul 31, 2006
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Joe Thornton for Marco Sturm, Brad Stuart and Wayne Primeau. Another in a long line of moronic Bruins trades.......

Also I was looking into it the other day. Joe Thornton by the time he retired will possibly be top 10 in points all time. Oyyyyy
 

54thMA

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Sharks are about to wrap this up. Jumbo Joe is headed to the finals. Awesome.
Yup, if it wasn't the Blues getting to the finals, I'm glad for Jumbo Joe and the Sharks fans, they've been snake bitten for a long time, nice to see them finally get over the hump.
 

coremiller

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Jul 14, 2005
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Yup, if it wasn't the Blues getting to the finals, I'm glad for Jumbo Joe and the Sharks fans, they've been snake bitten for a long time, nice to see them finally get over the hump.
As a Sharks fan (maybe the only one on SOSH?), this is yuuuuge. Shades of the Bruins in 2011 bouncing back from blowing the 3-0 lead the year before. It's been great to see Patty and especially Joe finally get the respect they deserve.

The difference this year has been the depth on the blue line. In Burns and Vlasic the Sharks have two Norris caliber defensemen (Vlasic might be the most underrated player in the league), and Martin and Braun are both solid partners. The Sharks been able to control games from the blue line in ways they never have before.
 

Buster Olney the Lonely

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Yup, if it wasn't the Blues getting to the finals, I'm glad for Jumbo Joe and the Sharks fans, they've been snake bitten for a long time, nice to see them finally get over the hump.
Not exactly ranking up there with the Cubs, pre-2004 Red Sox, Browns and Indians though, right.

It is a feel good story though.
 

Salem's Lot

Andy Moog! Andy God Damn Moog!
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Jul 15, 2005
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Remember when Martin Jones was going to net the Bruins a lottery pick? :(
I'm happy for Joe. He got scapegoated by management and fans for losing a series he really had no business playing in. And honestly even if it was a lottery pick this management team would find a way to fuck it up anyway.
 

54thMA

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I'm happy for Joe. He got scapegoated by management and fans for losing a series he really had no business playing in. And honestly even if it was a lottery pick this management team would find a way to fuck it up anyway.
The trail of buffoonery from the Bruins front office moves is easily second to none in this city, the sport of hockey, or sports in general for that matter.

Thornton shipped out, then Kessel, which was in retrospect a great trade as it brought them Seguin and Hamilton, then they shipped both of them out of town.

I'm a casual Bruins fan and it's annoying; for a hard core fan, must be infuriating. As a hard core Patriots fan, I'm sure it's the two Super Bowl losses to the Giants/two AFCCG losses to Manning/level of infuriating for hard core Bruins fans..........................
 

Smiling Joe Hesketh

Throw Momma From the Train
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I'm happy for Joe too.

It bears mentioning that after that 2004 playoff series and then the lockout, that Mike O'Connell signed Joe to a big contract, indicating that they saw him as the cornerstone of the franchise....and then traded him 2 months into the next season. The classic "traded a horse for 3 ponies" kind of deal.

KPD must be sobbing into his Product 19 this morning.
 

coremiller

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Not exactly ranking up there with the Cubs, pre-2004 Red Sox, Browns and Indians though, right.

It is a feel good story though.
The Sharks have only been around 25 years, so they don't have the generation-spanning history of those franchises. But within those 25 years they've managed to rack up a pretty impressive roster of excruciating losses.
 

Smiling Joe Hesketh

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What was Thornton's injury in that 2004 playoff series? I can't remember what he had. I do remember it was later reported that he really shouldn't have been playing after getting that badly hurt.
 

54thMA

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I'm happy for Joe too.

It bears mentioning that after that 2004 playoff series and then the lockout, that Mike O'Connell signed Joe to a big contract, indicating that they saw him as the cornerstone of the franchise....and then traded him 2 months into the next season. The classic "traded a horse for 3 ponies" kind of deal.

KPD must be sobbing into his Product 19 this morning.
The front office personnel may change, but the Bruins management has the whole "traded a horse for 3 ponies" concept down to a science, so they've got that going for them, which is nice.......................
 

The B’s Knees

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Aug 1, 2006
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Good for Joe. And for Burns. Those beards deserve to be in the Finals.
Fittingly, both Joe and Burns were added to Team Canada for the World Cup in September.
Burns was a likely addition anyway (over PK and others), but Joe was probably not a consideration prior to the start of the playoffs.

Of note:
Marchand was added as well (over Corey Perry).
Kessel was left off the team USA roster.
Dougie was left off the Team North America roster.

One would think that 8 (including Loui) Bruins being representatives on World Cup rosters would indicate, at minimum, we have a perennial playoff team here - uhm... guess not.