GDT : STL vs SJS G5

Wait, What??

...like this...

Any word on EK65?

A look at the Sharks lucky streak and some of the things that have happened in past Playoffs. Great read


You’ll have to forgive the national media and recent bandwagon-jumpers for considering the San Jose Sharks the NHL equivalent of a four-leaf clover or lucky rabbit’s foot.

Yes, the Sharks have been the beneficiaries of a hat trick of controversial calls, non-calls, and coaches challenges in these playoffs. The latest was Erik Karlsson’s OT winner in Game 3 of the Western Conference finals, initially set up by Timo Meier’s illegal handpass to Gustav Nyquist. One Associated Press writer went so far as to call it “sketchy,” as if he were discussing a backlot drug deal and not the zenith of a playoff hockey game.

Those currently accusing the referees of being partial to the Sharks seem to have a short memory, if any memory at all. (More on that later.)

Also in Game 3, what Joe Thornton (and a continent of viewers) believed to be an over-the-glass delay-of-game penalty by the Blues’ David Perron was missed by officials. Minutes later, Perron scored to the game, then scored again to put St. Louis ahead 4-3.

The Sharks also lost Game 2 of their quarterfinals series against the Vegas Golden Knights. It seemed they had broken a 3-3 tie on a goal by Logan Couture, but an official immediately waved it off and instead gave Couture a two-minute penalty for goalie interference. The Sharks protested vociferously that Couture was outside the blue paint, but to no avail. The Knights converted on the ensuing power play to go up 4-3 and complete the two-goal swing. Postgame, coach Pete DeBoer insisted that Couture was “entitled to that ice.”

Consistency with the rules surrounding goalie interference have plagued the National Hockey League since the Coach’s Challenge was introduced for the 2015-16 season. They have been a mixed bag for the Sharks all season long. San Jose won three of its six goalie interference challenges during the regular season, according to scoutingtherefs.com.

Those with longer memories, particularly Sharks fans, know that the Sharks have been on the wrong end of some playoff calls. None of them has been of the historic variety, collected for permanent posterity in the vast annals of the interwebs. Certainly there had been nothing to compare with the infamy of Brett Hull’s “in-the-crease” goal against Dominik Hasek to win the 1999 Stanley Cup over the Buffalo Sabres in triple overtime.

But there are a few that haunt a franchise now in its 28th year without a Cup, and two top the list.

In the 2014 quarterfinals against L.A, the Sharks were certain the whistle had been blown before L.A.’s Justin Williams scored a goal that gave the Kings the lead late in the third period. This was Game 6 of the Sharks’ historic series miscarriage, the one where they blew a 3-1 lead in games. Video review upheld the goal, and the Sharks lost the game.

“We got cheated,” McLellan lamented.

In the 2011 Western Conference finals against Vancouver, the Sharks were runnning out the clock on a Game 5 victory that would send the series back to San Jose with a chance to force a Game 7.

Then came a controversial icing call against San Jose. The Sharks vehemently disputed the call, claiming that the puck was last touched by the Canucks’ Daniel Sedin. Ryan Kesler scored on a tip-in with 13.2 seconds left to tie the game.

Still hailed as a classic game in Vancouver, it reached double overtime and ended with possibly the worst bounce in Sharks history.

A shot by Vancouver’s Alex Edler hit a stanchion and disappeared entirely from the view of the referees and players — every player except Kevin Bieksa, upon whose stick the puck serendipitously landed as the Sharks stood dumbfounded.

It could be argued that the play should have been blown dead once the puck hit the stanchion, and maybe it would have if the refs had seen it. Instead, it was a Bieksa tip-in and the sudden death of the Sharks’ season.

And then there are the playoff heartbreaks that had nothing to do with the officiating. There was the four-overtime loss to Dallas in Game 6 of the 2008 conference semis. And the overtime loss to Colorado in Game 7 of the 2002 conference semis — yes, the one in which Teemu Selanne missed a wide-open net.

There were overtime losses in Game 6 to end the season in both 1998 and 1999. And there was 1993, the Sharks’ first visit to the Stanley Cup playoffs. After stunning the top-seeded Detroit Red Wings, the Sharks held a 3-2 series lead over Toronto, one victory away from reaching the Western Conference finals, five away from playing for the Cup in only their third year of existence.

They were thisclose to pulling it off, too. In overtime of Game 6, Johan Garpenlov’s shot hit the crossbar. The Sharks lost the game, and then lost the series.

So you can say the Sharks have been lucky of late. I’ll say it’s about time.

Wow Brownie is fired up on the Sharks Pregame live!

Afternoon games favor every team that is East of San Jose.

Win the fucking game

They've done this for years and I've never understood why, but why do the fans chant " You suck" before the anthem?

Take this game! Take it!! No fucking passengers!!

Ffs

Fucking Kane