News World 212: San Jose Sharks

Showing posts with label San Jose Sharks. Show all posts

Friday, May 27, 2016

Sharks head to 1st Cup final after 5-2 win over Blues

San Jose Sharks: Now or Never (2015-2016 Hype)

SAN JOSE, Calif. (KGO) --

After 25 years, the San Jose Sharks will finally play for the Stanley Cup.

Captain Joe Pavelski scored an early goal, Joel Ward added two of his own and the Sharks advanced to their first Stanley Cup final in franchise history by beating the St. Louis Blues 5-2 on Wednesday night in Game 6 of the Western Conference final.

RELATED: Longtime San Jose Shark Patrick Marleau has been waiting a long time for this chance

Joonas Donskoi also scored, Logan Couture had an empty-netter and Martin Jones made 24 saves as a Sharks team notorious for postseason letdowns will now play for the championship that has eluded stars such as Pavelski, Joe Thornton and Patrick Marleau for so many years.

Thornton assisted on Pavelski"s goal less than four minutes into the game to set the tone and Marleau had two assists in the third period that set off chants of "We Want The Cup! We Want The Cup!"

Game 1 of the Stanley Cup final will be Monday night. The Sharks will either host Tampa Bay or visit Pittsburgh, depending on which team wins Game 7 of the Eastern Conference final Thursday night.

PHOTOS: San Jose Sharks win Western Conference finals

With the loss, the Blues" postseason woes continue as the franchise still seeks its first championship and first trip to the Cup final since 1970. Coach Ken Hitchcock"s second goalie change of the series did not work as Brian Elliott allowed four goals on 26 shots in his return to the net.

Vladimir Tarasenko, a 40-goal scorer in the regular season, got his first points of the series when he scored twice in the third period but it was too late for the Blues, who still trailed 4-2.

Despite making the playoffs 16 times in 18 seasons and winning the second most games in the NHL since the start of the 2003-04 season, the Sharks have been known for their soul-crushing playoff disappointments.

They won just three games in three previous trips to the conference final, were knocked out twice in four seasons by an eighth seed and most notably blew a 3-0 series lead to lose in the first round to Los Angeles in 2014.

RELATED: Sharks captain Pavelski"s work ethic paying off in conference finals

The impact of that loss lasted for an entire year as San Jose missed the playoffs entirely last season. But led by first-year coach Peter DeBoer and bolstered by some key acquisitions by general manager Doug Wilson, the Sharks recovered this year and are now only four wins away from a championship.

This was the first time in San Jose"s history that the team played with a trip to the Stanley Cup final on the line. The atmosphere in the Shark Tank reflected the high stakes with the fans at a frenzy during pregame introductions and the "Let"s Go Sharks!" chants starting soon after the puck dropped.

The Sharks fed off that energy and were buzzing early as Hitchcock predicted before the game. St. Louis nearly silenced the crowd when Alexander Steen got a chance in the slot early in the period but Jones robbed him with a glove save.

That led to a breakaway for Thornton, who missed the net on his chance. But Pavelski recovered the puck behind the net and before Elliott knew what was happening, Pavelski tucked the puck in on a wraparound for his NHL-leading 13th goal of the playoffs.

San Jose added to the lead early in the second when Ward tipped a point shot from Brent Burns past Elliott to make it 2-0.

The Sharks had a chance to add to it when Scottie Upshall was called for a four-minute high-sticking penalty. But the Blues managed to kill San Jose"s potent power play and started to take over the play after that. They couldn"t get a goal the rest of the period, however, as San Jose kept them mostly to the outside and Jones made a great pad save against Jori Lehtera.

Ward"s second goal and another by Donskoi in the third period removed any drama and allowed the fans to celebrate.

For full coverage on the Sharks, click here.

Source: http://abc7news.com/sports/sharks-head-to-1st-cup-final-after-5-2-win-over-blues/1355132/

Thursday, May 26, 2016

Without A Net: Blues At San Jose Sharks Round 3 Game 4 Preview

San Jose Sharks vs St. Louis Blues. 2016 NHL Playoffs. WCF. Game 5. 05.23.2016 (HD) 9 GOALS!

Not a quitter among "em. - Aaron Doster-USA TODAY Sports

If there was ever a buzzword that I grew tired of last fall, it was "Reckless". In the hyper-accelerated lifespan of twitter, it went from catchy to snark to cliche in about an afternoon. Once the season got started, though, there was a marked difference to how the Blues played. This was not just a fiction of local homers - it was seen by the eyes of the world. If you wanted to hang a name on it, I suppose Reckless worked about as good as any.

However as the Blues succeeded despite injury after injury, another word seemed to replace it. It was less overt, never announced as such, but the team became better identified as Resilient. Whether it was the constant battles with the injury bug, rough patches in the schedule, or simply battling through games where rookie goalies suddenly looked like Hasek clones, there was always a bounce back.

The Blues find themselves in yet another situation where that resiliency will be tested. They"ve been here before, whether it was in Game 7s from previous rounds or from other elimination games of previous years. The scary thing, especially for spectators on the outside, is the fear of drawing from that well once too often. It"s nice to rely on something, but what if it isn"t there when you need it and it"s just a dark hallow void? The fortunate thing is that resiliency is a renewable resource. Even if one individual falters, it only takes a word from a coach, advice from a teammate with a touch of grey in his playoff beard, a good shift, or some sort of lucky break to instantly have it replenished. We"ve seen it before.

That"s what the Blues are going in with, and that"s what gives me confidence. This isn"t some sunshine-and-puppy-dogs nonsense promise. I have no idea whether or not the Blues WILL win. The Sharks are legitimately a team that"s hard to handle. But, I know that the Blues CAN win, and until the clock ticks to 0:00, that"s enough for me. Of course, we haven"t had that multiple OT game yet, so this might not happen until sunrise. If the Blues pull this off, we"ll all be dancin" in the streets.

As for the nuts and bolts of the game, the Sharks aren"t making any changes to the lineup. So far, they"ve been succeeding with the same roster each time, so why should they? The Blues, on the other hand, have been trying to find new mixes on a game by game basis. Per Hitch"s own words "We needed a jolt from Jake, and we got that. Now, it"s Brian"s turn to finish it". And with that, Jake Allen sits and Brian Elliott gets the start. This was a career-long stretch for Moose, so the break was well due. The expectation is that he needed some time off to physically and especially mentally hit the reset button, and should be sharper the rest of the way. There"s not been anything else said about other lineup changes, but keep an eye on the twitter feed below.

Much has been speculated about Vladimir Tarasenko and his struggles to score. Some wonder if he"s nursing an injury. Hitchcock says he"s 100% -- which is probably true in a relative sense. Nobody is 100% this deep in the playoffs, and hockey players, coaches, and management are certainly known to outright lie to the media. I don"t think that"s the case here, though. If you"re going to lie and get away with it, it needs to be vague or somewhat obfuscated. Allow yourself some wiggle room. Once the playoffs end, it"ll surely come out what injuries the players were dealing with, and you never spin a yarn that will be easily proven false later. So then, what of Vladdy? Well, Coach Hitch volunteered to "write your articles for you" in the off-day scrum (skip to the 2:20 mark), and two writers took him up on that. They are very similar, but check out both Lou Korac"sentry from NHL.com and Curtis Pashelka"sarticle from the Mercury News. Good points and some food for thought. If he can find some space, he"s going to be sitting on top of the world.

Tuesday, May 24, 2016

San Jose Sharks Sign Swedish Defenseman Tim Heed

2016 WCF Game 2 - San Jose Sharks vs St. Louis Blues May 17th 2016 (HD)

While the current roster of the San Jose Sharks fights for the Stanley Cup in the Western Conference Finals, its front office is already planning for the teams future.

The Sharks signed defenceman Tim Heed to a one-year two-way$775,000 contract.Heed, 25, was taken 132nd overall (5th Round) by the Anaheim Ducks back in 2010.

Speculation first arose back on May 11th whenSwedish media outlet Expressen reporteddiscussion between Heed and the Sharks office.GeneralFanagermade the official announcement onFriday, May 20, andExpressen later confirmed those reports.

#SJSharks have signed UFA D Tim Heed

Tim Heed (SJS)1 yr @ $775,000 cap hitBase: $675,000SB: $100,000AHL: $100,000, $200,000 guaranteed

General Fanager (@generalfanager) May 20, 2016

Born in 1991,Tim Heed shown exceptional development over the last few seasons. He scored10 goals, 27 assists (37 points) in 50 gamesfor Swedish Elite League (SHL) Skellefte in 2014-15 and then added11 more points in the playoffs (15gp).In the 2015-16 season, he produced23 points in 52 games andaddednine points in 16 playoff games to ultimately lose in the SHL Finals.

Tim Heed (Champs Hockey League, Twitter)

Standing 60 185lbs, Tim Heed is a prototypical blue liner, though he began playing as a forward. He excels on thepower play, an area in which the Sharks excel,and owns apowerfulshot.Though Heed is not overly aggressive,his creativity and skating style makeshim a solid choice for a team that needs more offensive-minded players on the defensive end of the ice,according toHockeys Future.

By adding more power to the back end, the Sharks create a more lethal defense that supports their increasingly dominating offense. Heed alone may not carry the team, but his talent combined with that of team member Brent Burns will make San Joses blue line an unbreakable force.

Source: http://thehockeywriters.com/san-jose-sharks-sign-swedish-defenseman-tim-heed/