How the West will be won

The San Jose Sharks are on the road to redemption. Prolonged pains of playoffs past are being erased by each passing victory. After Dan Boyle's unfortunate own-goal in Game 3 against the Avs, the Sharks have gone 7-1. Along the way, the unthinkable happened. The Sharks took out the mighty Red Wings who until then, had taken the Sharks lunch money every day at 1 PM sharp since '95.
Now they are swimming in uncharted waters. Sure the team in '04 made the Conference Finals but they ran out of gas in that series losing all 3 games at home, flaming out to Calgary in 6 Games. Usual suspects Joe Thornton, Evgeni Nabokov and Patty Marleau all started slow this post season, but were at their best against the Wings.
By the time the Sharks and Blackhawks drop the puck this Sunday, the Sharks will have been off for a week. Chi-town finished off Vancouver on Tuesday so they will be rested as well. Rust may be a factor but neither team should have trouble getting the blood flowing. The Tank will be a madhouse (myself included) and both these teams have a lot of post season experience.
Up and down the roster, these teams mirror eachother significantly. But it is the subtle differences between them that will decide the series. For the Hawks, Antii Niemi has played solid in net but not spectacular. If Evgeni Nabokov stays hot like he was against Detroit, the Sharks will have a chance to win every night. Nabby is desperate to shake the label of post season underachiever, not to mention he is an unrestricted free agent after the playoffs.

Sharks need to get off to a hot start. They need to take advantage of that home ice. They got off to a quick start against Detroit and never looked back. All four of their victories in that series were by one goal. This is the type of resilience fans have been hoping for in San Jose for years. Should this trend continue, this team has a legitimate chance to advance to the Finals. It is highly unlikely this series will be over before Game 6 or 7. It will be a war of attrition. Players like Manny Malhotra and Scott Nichol need to come to the forefront and make life hell for the tough Chicago forwards. Some more timely scoring by Pavelski, Marleau, and Heatley would make things easier as well.
These games will be close. Forwards are about even, Hawks have a the edge with their deep and talented defense, but the edge in net has to go to Nabby. This is going to be fun.
Prediction: Sharks in 7.

THE THINK TANK returns! 9/3/09

We are back for another semester of hard hitting sports talk on KSFS. Myself (Ryan Covay), and Charles "Big Papa Knockout" Palmore are teaming up once again to share our opinions (however twisted) about the current state of the world of sports. We will be on KSFS every Wednesday night from 8-10 PM. For our first show, we welcome back Nick "Tuch Money" Vertucci to the program. Nick is a huge sports fan with a passion for Chicago Bear football (What a guy!). We had a hardcore football debate with topics ranging from Mike Vick, Brett Favre, and of course, JAY CUTLER!
Thanks for listening and for supporting the program.

PART 1



PART 2

Stanley Cup Playoffs- First round match-ups and predictions

#1 SAN JOSE SHARKS VS #8 ANAHEIM DUCKS

If the Sharks can get their scoring touch back and use their speed, they should be able to take out the Ducks. The pressure is on the Sharks now, more than ever on the heels of their first Presidents trophy.Joe Thornton, Patrick Marleau, Dan Boyle, and Evgeni Nabokov will need to elevate their game. Thornton has been disappointing in the post-season in the past and has slowly begun to shake that moniker. Only a deep post-season run with Jumbo leading the way will do that. The Ducks will try and muddy up the waters and slow the series down. Watch out for Anaheim rookie forward, Bobby Ryan. He has a tremendous skill set and the top line of Ryan, Corey Perry, and Ryan Getzlaf will cause the Sharks fits. Anaheim is a veteran team who is only 2 years removed from winning the Cup. Jonas Hiller will start, but the Ducks won't hesitate to go to J.S. Giguere if Hiller falters. For the Sharks, the health of Marleau is key. The Sharks need to roll out 2 complete scoring lines and with the return of Marleau and Clowe, this is possible. This will be a tough series that could get very nasty. Player to watch: Sharks Joe Pavelski
Prediction: Sharks in 6.

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#4 CHICAGO BLACKHAWKS VS. #5 CALGARY FLAMES

The Chicago Blackhawks make a triumphant return to the post-season. Led by their young snipers, Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane, this team appears to have every reason to believe they can make some noise in the playoffs. The signing of free agent defender, Brian Campbell rounded out a D corps that also features Cam Barker and the underrated Duncan Keith. Patrick Sharp returned from injury and the acquisition of Sami Pahlsson should help on the penalty kill. For the Flames, they made the big trade deadline move to bring in Olli Jokinen. Things started out well after the trade, but the Flames struggled mightily the last few weeks of the regular season. Their poor play down the stretch cost the Flames a division title and home ice advantage in round 1. Goalie Mikka Kiprusoff will need to play very well and Sarich, Regeher, Phaneuf and Leopold will need to bring a sound defensive effort to stop the 'Hawks high powered scoring team. Captain Jarome Iginla can't be expected to do it all. A player to watch on the Flames is Mike Cammalleri, who had a career year. The Blackhawks appear poised for a post-season run if Nikolai Khabibulin can regain the form that won him a cup in Tampa in 2004.
Prediction: Blackhawks in 7.

#2 DETROIT RED WINGS VS #7 COLUMBUS BLUE JACKETS
The Blue Jackets make their very first post-season appearance behind the tremendous play of Captain, Rick Nash. The other key component for Head Coach, Ken Hitchcock's team is rookie of the year candidate, goaltender Steve Mason who's 33 victories and 2.29 GAA gave the Jackets a chance to win on most nights. They are facing a daunting task however facing the defending Stanley Cup Champion, Detroit Red Wings. Things aren't all great in Hockeytown however. Goaltending has been an issue and it appears Osgood may have done just enough to be the game 1 starter. Up front Detroit is deeper at forward than any team in the league. Zetterberg, Hossa, Datsyuk, Holmstrom, Hudler, and newly re-singed Johan Franzen round out a very strong goal scoring core. If the Blue Jackets can get a split in Joe Louis and come home 1-1, the Columbus crowd will surely be in a playoff frenzy. It will be a tough road, but I think the Blue Jackets are capable of making life difficult for the Wings. A player to watch is Blue Jackets center, R.J. Umberger whose game is tailored for post-season hockey. He had a nice run last year while with the Flyers.
Prediction: Detroit in 6.

#3 VANCOUVER CANUCKS VS. #6 ST.LOUIS BLUES
The Blues are the "feel good" story of the NHL this season. They came on in the second half of the season and climbed all the way to the 6th seed. Brad Boyes (33 goals) and David Backes (31 goals) have provided the scoring. Veteran Keith Tkachuk is the calming presence on the bench. This team came out of nowhere and was red hot down the stretch. Former Nashville goalie, Chris Mason has made the most of his chance in net. A ton of credit goes to Head Coach, Andy Murray who made all the right moves and now the Blues are not only in the playoffs, but have a chance to make some noise. The Canucks won the Northwest division in the final days of the regular season as the Flames fell apart. The addition of Mats Sundin hasn't exactly gone as well as they would have liked. The Sedin twins had solid campaigns, (82 points each in 82 games each) to pace the Canucks. Center, Ryan Kesler had a career year and is a terrific two-way player. Willie Mitchell (plus 29) will be relied upon to shut down the Blues top line. But when you talk about the Canucks and their chances for success, look no further than Goaltender, Roberto Luongo. He battled through injuries and it took him a few weeks to get back into form. He did record a startling 9 shutouts in only 54 games. If Luongo is hot, it could be a tough series for the Blues. St. Louis is a nice story, but it may be close to midnight for this Cinderella. Player to watch,Brad Boyes. This guy is on the verge of becoming an elite NHL player, he just has to do it in the post-season.
Prediction: Canucks in 7.