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Sharks: Disappointment, Redemption, More Disappointment



A quick summary of the Sharks\' 2014-15 season: it sucked, then it was great, then it sucked again.

The Sharks first became almost famous by almost missing the playoffs in a deeply, profoundly disappointing regular season, and then storming back to make the Stanley Cup Finals. How improbable was that? The Sharks snuck into the playoffs as the final Pacific division wild card with a game 82 win against their California rivals, the Los Angeles Kings. It turned out that the Sharks didn\'t need the win - the Anaheim Ducks finished 3 points behind after losing to the Arizona Coyotes that same night - but it took the final game of the season for the Sharks to secure a shot at the Cup. For a team that hadn\'t finished with fewer than 109 points in any of the previous 4 seasons, this was like setting an alarm clock 30 minutes early, then sleeping through it and waking up 45 minutes later and having to brush your teeth in the shower to get to the big meeting on time. [Ed. is this really the best analogy you can come up with?]

All sins are forgiven once the playoffs begin, though, and the Sharks were looking forward for a chance at redemption against the President\'s Trophy-winning Calgary Flames (119 points, for the record. The written record I mean, not an EHEC record, although it was pretty close [Ed. stop it already!]). Incredibly, the Sharks put together 3 straight wins to begin the series - a thrilling 4-3 OT win in game 1, courtesy of Derek Forbort\'s scorching blast from the point at 62:53, followed by more convincing 5-2 and 5-3 wins. Game 4 was a hiccup, with a 6-2 loss making it seem like the Flames were ready to challenge for an epic 3-nil series comeback. But the kindling flames of hope [Ed. better effort...] were quenched with a another solid deja vu-all-over-again [Ed. no. just no.] 5-3 win in game 5.

The reward for finishing off the top team in the West? A rematch of 2013\'s first round LA-SJ matchup, which saw the Sharks blow a 2-0 series lead and lose four in a row. This year\'s affair was considerably more balanced. The Kings opened at home with a 5-3 win, only to be tripled up in a 6-2 rout in game 2. Game 3 was a 4-3 nailbiter featuring a Mike Komisarek game-winning goal (!), but the Kings returned the favour with a 6-2 win in game 4. The see-saw battle continued with the Sharks winning game 5 4-3, but the Sharks blew a chance at clinching the series at home by losing game 6 5-3. Game seven headed into the third period with a 2-1 San Jose lead, promising to be the first tightly regulated defensive contest of the series. Instead, both teams stormed out of the gate, trading goals every 2 minutes until noted tough guy Tobias Tornkvist scored the eventual game winner at 48:18. The Kings pressed hard to tie the game up with Steve Mason pulled in the final minutes, but their efforts came to naught partly thanks to a bizarrely-timed, momentum-interrupting fight instigated by Mirko Hoeflin with 35 seconds to go.

Speaking of rematches, in a curious confluence of coincidences [Ed. appalling alliteration], the new divisional playoff format and the Jets\' shift to the Western Conference meant that the Western Conference final would be a rematch of the 2012 Cup finals: Winnipeg versus San Jose. The series began by ending the streak of regulation time finishes, albeit not by much - Alex Radulov rifled home Game 1\'s winning goal just 31 seconds into overtime. Unfortunately, the Jets lost steam [Ed. steam powered jets, really?] and stalled badly in their attempt at revenge for 2012. The next 3 games were all lopsided wins by the Sharks, with a combined score of 17-6. Thanks to captain Jumbo Joe\'s incredible 24 points in 16 games, the Sharks were headed back to the Finals for the second time in the last 3 years.

... which brings us to the Finals themselves, a thrilling matchup between the high-scoring Tampa Bay Lightning (2010 champions) and the San Jose Sharks (2012 champions). Unfortunately, most of this series is a whisky-addled haze for me. [Ed. wait, you said you had the flu?] Look, game 1 was great. The Sharks were outshot 22-40 but chased Jaroslav Halak all game, putting up 6 goals. Jonathan Bernier was a wall, allowing just 2 goals for a sparkling .950 save percentage. Game 2 also seemed promising. Again the Sharks were outworked and outhustled by a disciplined and determined Lightning team, but playoff hero Mike Komisarek came up big with a game-tying goal with just over a minute to go. Why was Mike Komisarek on with a minute to go in a 3-4 game, you ask? Good question. Unfortunately, the effort was wasted, as Marian Gaborik\'s laserbeam (and remarkable 15th goal of the playoffs) ended the game just 30 seconds into overtime. I guess game 4 was kind of cool too, when Ivan Telegin scored two goals (his 8th and 9th of the playoffs) to give the Sharks a 2-3 lead midway through the second. Predictably, though, they blew the lead and allowed Marian fuckin\' Gaborik to score another overtime winner, this time a whole minute into extra time. I\'m not even going to talk about game 5, or how the Sharks traded Telegin plus two picks for a skinny kid who hasn\'t even played a single AHL game. Those are stories for another time, and another drink.


San Jose Sharks
Posted: 2015/07/04

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