Playoff Chokers advance to Conference Finals

The San Jose Sharks are entering uncharted waters. They’ve only been to the Western Conference Finals once in the franchises history. Try telling them that.

After years of watching the team look like fish out of water, Sharks’ fans are pinching themselves trying to let the thought of this team advancing past two rounds register.

This arguably was the biggest series in franchise history. Over the last three to four seasons the Sharks have boasted Stanley Cup favorite teams. They were anointed playoff chokers after being unable to advance beyond the second round after 2004′s Western Conference Finals.

In the two rounds, they’ve faced virtually every tribulation that did them in over that time. They’ve learned from their mistakes, and put the pieces together to make this years team the most memorable one the franchise has ever seen.

The Sharks are attracting as much attention from the hockey world as my playoff beard is from my college of over 30,000 students comparatively (added incentives to me since the Sharks are now almost guaranteed to be playing when graduation rolls around).

While the reality of the Sharks being in the conference finals settles in, lets look ahead to the two potential opponents.

Chicago Blackhawks

What the Blackhawks bring is a very similar to what the Detroit Red Wings brought from an on-paper standpoint:

A team that has scoring depth to spare. Their second scoring line would be most teams first option. Jonathan Toews is every bit as good a two-way forward as Henrik Zetterberg and Pavel Datsyuk. Dustin Byfuglien’s becoming the net-front presence that’s made Tomas Holmstrom notorious.

Facing that factor before-hand will help San Jose. However, the Sharks had issues with the Colorado Avalanche’s speed in the first series. The Blackhawks bring that same element, but they can’t be grinded down as easily as the smaller Avalanche team was. Evgeni Nabokov will have to be more than a no-mistakes kind of goaltender if this is their match-up. He will have to steal a game or two, possibly the series.

A defense-corps without blemishes that can contribute equally as well in the offensive zone as in their own. Duncan Keith is a franchise defense-man that brings the same multiple dimensions that Nicklas Lidstrom does; only Keith is 26, not 40.

Keith and Brent Seabrook are one of the league’s best defense pairings and are often played against an opponents best line. This particular match-up would be interesting to see because it’s unclear which of the Joe’s they’d be matched up against based on the way the playoffs have gone.

A rookie goalie holds fort between the pipes. The Sharks were helped on occasion by Jimmy Howard with some soft goals. That can’t be blamed on a lack of experience. Nabokov is advancing to the finals after allowing some suspect goals in games. Antti Niemi hasn’t clearly shown that he can carry the Blackhawks through a series to this point.

This is the match-up where the series would be decided. Neither starting goalie has had to really carry their team through a series thus far. They each have enough talent in front of them. It’s merely a matter of whomever let’s in less of those goals they shouldn’t.

Vancouver Canucks

The Canucks have a neatly fitted team that can beat you in many different ways.

Their forwards play their roles to a tee. It doesn’t matter if they play 20 minutes or 8, forwards 1-12 know what they’re asked to do while still being able to contribute offensively. Once again the match-ups would be interesting to see in this series. Would shutdown forwards like Ryan Kesler be utilized against Joe Thornton’s line or Joe Pavelski’s? Or would the Canucks elect to put their dominant puck-controlling Sedin line out to keep the puck away from those players in the opposite zone?

Vancouver’s defense doesn’t get the accolades of Detroit’s or Chicago’s but they’re as solid a group as any in the NHL. Sharks’ fans should be well-aware of what Christian Ehrhoff can bring. Both the good and the bad. The depth at defense means the Shark’s might not get the contributions from second tier players that they’ve been getting thus far.

Players like Kesler, Alex Burrows, Kevin Bieksa and Shane O’Brien will test just how much pestering the Sharks players can take. They’ve shown they can get under the skin of the opponent. Though the Sharks may not crumble to that strategy the way they used to, they don’t exactly keep their heads calm, cool, and collected either. If anyone needs a reminder look back to the regular season meeting on April 8.

Roberto Luongo can control the outcome of any given game. His consistency hasn’t been there this postseason but that’s not to say he wouldn’t find it given the circumstances of a conference finals series. The Sharks have faced a goalie on top of his game in their first-round series against Craig Anderson. No bashing on the Av’s, but Anderson didn’t have the help in front of him that Luongo would.

Waiting Game

Once again the Sharks will play the waiting game. Whether it benefits them or not will be determined in game 1 at the Tank, regardless of the opponent.

Sharks fans are genuinely excited. To this point it’s been a lot of “this is nice, but we’ll wait and see how they do when it counts.” Now they walk the streets like giddy children squealing over the next round of book to movie revelations.

They’ve cleared every hurdle thrown at them to this point. They are not like the teams of old. This San Jose Sharks squad is like none before. Here’s to more pinching in the near future.