He didn’t hesitate. “It will be fast”, he said. He played in 171 games with the Sharks over two-plus seasons from 1991-1994.
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Some of these, of course, are perennial contenders, who usually just stay out of the NHL’s limelight by default of being on the forgotten California team.
“Um, no. We got a new cat recently and she loves putting her paws in it. Other than that, I don’t think it’s very nice personally”.
“You obviously want to win [Game 1], but there’s going to be a little bit of a feeling out – there always is”. So we’ll need that again. “We have to be prepared for that”.
The Penguins were able to weather his absence against Tampa because 21-year-old Olli Maatta played so well after re-entering the lineup following a string of scratches.
Martin is also a major reason why San Jose made it here after years of playoff disappointments. Is it ironic that it’s against San Jose? Earlier in the playoffs the Sharks were able to split Thornton, Marleau, and Couture to attempt a similar approach. We’ve been improving every single day and I can’t say enough, how proud I am of this group. All of a sudden, the Sharks knocked off Los Angeles, Nashville and St. Louis to get here. Nobody backed into this thing because an opponent had too many injuries or an opposing goalie folded up.
Neither team will have an edge at home.
It’s hard to believe it has been seven years since the Penguins last made the final.
If that’s the case, the Sharks can prepare to leverage their strengths against the Penguins and prevail. The Sharks pull Martin Jones in favor of James Reimer and things get testy, with numerous penalties in the third period.
The story in San Jose, however, is not Jones so much as it’s Joe Thornton. “With the new coaching staff we needed to realize how we needed to play to win”. But he’s not just hanging on to win. Maybe it was because of his performance this past season, as he only had 38 points in 69 games in 2015-16.
After the Western Conference final, Blues coach Ken Hitchcock called Thornton, “More risky than he’s been in years”. It is, however, the quintessential way to play National Hockey League ’94.
Meanwhile, Logan Couture has got a handle on the playoff scoring categories that Pavelski didn’t. He is not going through the motions. Phil Kessel has a team high of nine goals for Pittsburgh. “But you work all year for this – to represent the Eastern Conference in the finals”. “As great of a player as he is and as good as a season as he’s had, nobody talks that much about him”.
Penguins’ fans will look to bring the same noise level and energy to game one against the Sharks Monday night.
The goaltenders, starting with Matt Murray, will be taking on a team in the Sharks that have never been to the finals, but they are loaded with experienced players who have yearned for this opportunity. Rust has contributed five goals, with four coming in series-clinching games.
If the Sharks are not overrun by first-time-at-the-dance syndrome, they can win the Stanley Cup.
Arguably the best matchup this series will be Brent Burns vs Kris Letang.
Morehouse said Crosby has “evolved” as a captain, but that has come from dealing with the insane amount of adversity that the Penguins have endured since they last won the Cup. Crosby has been terrific.
“It’s the best gift I can ever give to them is to have them be a part of this”. And we’ve got to make sure we’re not getting outworked by him. The Pens should not have any problem on offense. The distance between the two airports is 2,250 miles.
If that kind of success continues, it will be very hard for Pittsburgh to halt San Jose’s offensive juggernaut.
But it won’t be easy, as San Jose has done to the west what the Penguins have done to the east. There were no flukes.
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Thornton and Marleau have received the most attention in recent days because they were the first two picks of the 1997 draft and are playing in their first Stanley Cup Final. One note: The NHL has yet to decide whether NBC or NBCSN will televise Games 3 and 4.
