They became teammates with the Sharks more than a decade ago and won a gold medal for Canada at the 2010 Olympics. Maybe now they’ll talk about him more, but that’s because there are no other teams left. The 2015-2016 San Jose Sharks really are a unique story, but they are showing us all why the National Hockey League playoffs are all about who gets hot and who’s defense steps up at the right time.
Advertisement
“When you don’t finish celebrating with champagne and hoisting a Cup, it’s disappointing”, Brouwer said. “This is just another challenge we’re hoping to come out on top on”. The victory sends the Sharks through to the Stanley Cup Finals where they now await the victor of the Pittsburgh/Tampa Bay Lightning series. Along with Burns, the Sharks have also had lockdown defensive play from both Paul Martin and Marc-Edouard Vlasic. That being said, I’ve been very happy with what Jones has done this postseason, especially at even strength. Those two are some of the best players to ever play the game. And that does not even get into Duncan Keith who has been building a Hall of Fame resume during his career. They’ve done pretty much everything else. They sometimes take a bad rap in the media, which is unnecessary. There is a lot to look forward to for this franchise as rookies Robby Fabbri, Colton Parayko, and Joel Edmundson have bright futures ahead and we can expect bigger and better things from them and this team next season. Oftentimes, they bring out both over the course of a 60-minute game.
It’s Thornton’s first trip to the Final, too, and it’s been a long wait: The first overall selection in the 1997 draft, Thornton’s 1,341 points were the most among active players who had never reached the Final.
After Pavelski and his teammates shook hands with the Blues players, the Sharks had their picture taken with the Clarence Campbell bowl, awarded each season to the victor of the Western Conference.
Ward’s second goal, his fourth in the last two games, came off an assist from Couture 3:01 into the third period and all but sealed the win. Poor passes through the neutral zone led to breaks for the Sharks.
Vladimir Tarasenko scored twice for his first two goals of the series, with his second coming with 3:35 to go in the third period to cut the Sharks’ lead to 4-2.
But on the same ice surface where they watched the Kings celebrate on the way to their second championship, the Sharks posted the biggest win in their 25-year history. “They’ve been through a lot, Patty especially”. Another former T-Birds player, Brenden Dillon, will also make his first appearance in the Final.
Aside from the shot-blocking, his description of the Sharks sounds eerily similar to the way the Penguins like to play, which will make for an interesting clash of strength vs. strength.
In that moment, all those past playoff disappointments and collapses were forgotten.
Those recounting the tale tend to hit on the same bullet points: Thornton, who had just signed a contract with the Bruins months earlier, was blindsided by the trade, which involved two last-place teams.
Advertisement
For as much as physical assets are important to success in athletics, emotions and mentality play a large role as well.
