The Panther
Registered User
I'm asking this because while I recall the '93 Wings/Leafs series somewhat, and I also recall (though I wasn't very interested) the '95 Wings/Devils Final, I have basically no memory of this whatsoever. Maybe it wasn't broadcast in western Canada, so I missed it...? Or I blanked it out? Anyway, I was looking at the series summary here:
1994 NHL Stanley Cup Western Conference Quarter-Finals: DET vs. SJS | Hockey-Reference.com
and it's interesting that the Wings scored 27 goals in the series, yet lost (this was Bowman's first year behind their bench). Yzerman dressed for only 3 games, which may have been a factor. For the Sharks, it appears that Sergei Makarov, then getting a bit longer in the tooth, did rather well, with 6 goals in the series, while even better was the professor (and future Red Wing) Larionov, with 10 points!
But what jumps out at me is that almost all the San Jose players were minuses in the series. Even given the Detroit blow-out in game six, it's all a bit odd. The Detroit team, in total, was +34 and San Jose -37 in the same series, yet San Jose won. It would appear Scotty was winning the five-on-five match-ups but losing the special teams...? I dunno, though, because the Sharks scored only one more PP goal than Detroit in the series. And Osgood had a better save-percentage than Irbe.
The Sharks were a sub.500 team that season and, as I recall, only made it into the playoffs because L.A. crapped the bed with a hugely awful year.
How did the Sharks do it?
(Another thing: Unless Hockey Ref. is wrong, it appears that this was one of those 2-3-2 series, with the three games in San Jose being all sandwiched in the middle of the series.)
1994 NHL Stanley Cup Western Conference Quarter-Finals: DET vs. SJS | Hockey-Reference.com
and it's interesting that the Wings scored 27 goals in the series, yet lost (this was Bowman's first year behind their bench). Yzerman dressed for only 3 games, which may have been a factor. For the Sharks, it appears that Sergei Makarov, then getting a bit longer in the tooth, did rather well, with 6 goals in the series, while even better was the professor (and future Red Wing) Larionov, with 10 points!
But what jumps out at me is that almost all the San Jose players were minuses in the series. Even given the Detroit blow-out in game six, it's all a bit odd. The Detroit team, in total, was +34 and San Jose -37 in the same series, yet San Jose won. It would appear Scotty was winning the five-on-five match-ups but losing the special teams...? I dunno, though, because the Sharks scored only one more PP goal than Detroit in the series. And Osgood had a better save-percentage than Irbe.
The Sharks were a sub.500 team that season and, as I recall, only made it into the playoffs because L.A. crapped the bed with a hugely awful year.
How did the Sharks do it?
(Another thing: Unless Hockey Ref. is wrong, it appears that this was one of those 2-3-2 series, with the three games in San Jose being all sandwiched in the middle of the series.)