Marty’s Better

Today we will look at one of the more interesting matchups in the Stanley Cup playoffs.  After the jump I will break down the in’s and out’s that is the Sharks Flames Western Conference matchup.

This is the matchup of playoff underachievers over the past couple of seasons.  There is no excuse why the Sharks and Flames have not been more successful over the past couple of playoffs.  The Flames continue to have problems with secondary scoring. The Sharks despite there record have leadership and toughness questions which leads to something you can dust under the rug in the regular season but becomes a glaring issue as soon as the quest for Stanley begins.  They have become the “show me state” of NHL organizations.

 Five on Five:

This is a pretty even when the teams are at even strength.  Both of these teams have a grind it out, cycle down low, look for a counterattack type of offense.

 The Sharks offense revolves around Joe Thornton.  Despite the fact that Patrick Marleau had a terrible season he is still a threat and Milan Michalek continued his growth this year scoring 24 goals.  Despite missing games to injury Jonathan Cheechoo still ended up with another 20 goal season and is always a hat trick threat.

The Flames are led by Jarome Iginla.  He does everything on this team and I mean everything.  The 50 goal scorer is the not only the heart of this offense he is the soul of the club that looks for their captain to carry them on many nights.  However, do not sleep on the Flames offense.  The sharks had nine players with double digit goals including 30 from Daymond Langkow.  Also Dion Phaneuf is a clear threat adding 17 from the blue line. 

 5 on 5:  “Push” these two teams are about as even as can be in this category. Special Teams:

At the trade deadline the Sharks acquired the power play quarterback special that they so desperately needed; Brian Campbell.  Campbell had 12 power play points in just 20 games with the Sharks and really sparked a floundering power play. 

The Sharks penalty killing ranked as the leagues best in 07/08.  The Sharks have many gritty forwards that they can consistently roll out there and when your goalie (more on that later) has the year that he has it is easy to see why the Sharks had the league’s best pk.

The Flames were middle of the pack in both special team categories.  Jarome Iginla did have 15 power play goals and 33 power play points in total.  Dion Phaneuf’s laser from the point led to 10 power play goals and 33 power play points as well.

The Flames pk unit struggled for much of the year and part of that is the up and down play of the defensive unit and inconsistencies between the pipes.

 Special Teams: Sharks   Goaltending:

Evgeni Nabokov had a career year for the Sharks, appearing in an amazing 77 of 82 games.  Nabokov; a favorite for the vezina; had a mine blowing 2.14 goals against, a .910 save percentage and a solid 6 shutouts.  Evgeni was consistently the best player on the ice and carried the Sharks on many occasions this season.

Mikka Kiprusoff gets to play against the deal that gave up on him a few season’s ago.  The all world goalie was good in 07/08 but he did have some stretches this season that made you scratch your head.  Kiprusoff had an inconsistent season but still ended up with 39 wins and 2.69 goals against average.

 Goaltending: Sharks Coaching:“In his first three full seasons behind the bench in San Jose, Ron Wilson has established the Sharks as one of the National Hockey League’s top teams, advancing deep into the Stanley Cup Playoffs each year.” –Sharks.com

There is one problem with that statement; “deep into the Stanley Cup Playoffs.” A team this talented has no excuse not to make the finals.  When a team like this does not make a run; it falls on the leaders of the team and the head coach.  Ron Wilson will clearly be under the microscope this season.

Mike Keenan has been through the grind of the playoffs.  He has had his ups; raising Lord Stanley; and he has had his share of disappointments.  If there is anyone in the league that can get more out of his players for just a brief period of time before they revolt and storm his office; it is Mike Keenan.

Coaching: Flames

 Intangibles:

This is an interesting category because I believe the lack of some clear leadership on the bench is what has been holding the Sharks back.  I know this team has had a great season but guys like Thornton and Marleau have failed miserably in playoff past.  However they have added a guy by the name of Jeremy Roenick. While Roenick only had 14 goals in the regular season we need to look a little closer into his season.  10 of his 14 goals were game winners and this is the kind of guy who will need to step up to take the Sharks to that “next level.”

While the Flames had an up and down season they do have a clear home ice advantage playing in front of the “red sea.”  This is not a knock on Sharks fans; The Flames have a rabid fan base that is magnified 10 fold in the postseason.  Also they have a goalie that is capable of signal-handedly stealing a series.

 Intangibles: Push 

Predictions:

This has all the makings of a very tight series.  Both teams are evenly matched and feature super star players and all-world goalies. For the Sharks to win they will have to have big series from there secondary scorers.  For the Flames Iginla must do what he does best and Mikka Kiprusoff will have to make up for some shaky defense. 

Prediction:  Sharks in 6

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