GDT: Game #51 Winnipeg Jets @ San Jose Sharks 7:30pm PST 23 Jan CSNCa Joe PavUSA edition
- Thread starter AstroDan
- Start date
magic school bus
***********
I don't think so. Niemi is performing like an average starting goaltender does. He's also paid like one but I doubt his next contract will be him asking for a similar deal. I'd expect him to ask for and receive in the open market a deal in the 5-6 million range. I would prefer not to pay a goalie that amount and utilize that on depth on the blue line or with the forwards.
He had a great season last year and deserved his Vezina nomination but that was his career year and his career average is that of an average starting goalie. And that kind of goalie should be something the Sharks can manufacture through their system on a fairly regular basis. I think Stalock can hit that level at a cheaper price.
Timos Death Stare
Seek and Destroy
Quid Pro Clowe
Registered User
I don't see any of the teams outside the top-8 making a realistic push. Unfortunately, I see the Canucks as a lower seed.
SHAR KS
Choking Hazard
- Dec 7, 2011
- 3,016
- 100
I hope they make the Playoffs, another 1st round exit(hopefully sweep) would be awesome to see. Canucks window is closed IMO. The twins aren't the same players and after that they don't have much.
Timos Death Stare
Seek and Destroy
Daniel isn't and hasn't been the same player for a while. Henrik is fine though - great center.
Alwalys
Phu m.
- May 19, 2010
- 25,894
- 6,140
As things stand now, Sharks will have home ice for the 1st round. Likely odds have to be a first round win and a second round exit.
If they make it to the conference final, we have to expect the likely opponent to be either the Hawks or Ducks with the Sharks not having home ice advantage. That is not good odds considering Sharks road record against quality western teams.
I think I would prefer a match with the Hawks than the Ducks. Best bet is for the Sharks to win 1st round and lower seeded teams knock off the Hawks and Ducks in the 1st. If that happens, I would expect the Sharks to be favorite for the finals from the west.
But who knows as there is plenty of season left for injuries, trades, hot streaks, and Lady Luck to shape the playoffs.
They would meet the Ducks in the 2nd round if both the Sharks and Ducks advance in their current positions.
Led Zappa
Tomorrow Today
How does that work? As far as I can tell in the semi-finals the teams are reseeded and there is no division rule.
It's divisional playoff format for the playoffs this year and going forward. The wild card determines the last spot in each division. So for right now, they Pacific Divisional playoff bracket will be Anaheim and Minnesota (because they would lose the tiebreaker to Vancouver via ROW and Anaheim is top seed over Chicago) with the other playoff series being SJ/LA. The two winners face off against each other. Winner goes to the conference finals.
Negatively Positive
Mr. Longevity
- Mar 2, 2011
- 10,298
- 2,202
Right now I think the Sharks would have to go through LA, then Anaheim, then Blues/Hawks to get to the promised land unless there's some upsets. That's about as difficult as you can get and definitely not the ideal road. That's why I'm hoping Anaheim falls and the Sharks can take the division and take on Minnesota/Phoenix/Vancouver in the 1st round instead. If healthy, the Sharks can definitely beat LA in the 1st round but taking on the playoff-tested Kings that early is not the recipe for success if they wanna go all the way.
Led Zappa
Tomorrow Today
Well, that sucks. I've been trying to find something clarifying it other than simply saying reseeding and finally found a video on the Kings site. We'd probably have to play the Ducks in the second round regardless though if they continue their current play. It would help if we could get the wild card in the first round though.
[nhl]534043[/nhl]
Juxtaposer
Outro: Divina Comedia
**** that. Basically means we're definitely going through LA -> Anaheim -> Chicago. **** that. I hate the Eastern Conference.
Your right jux. It would be interesting if they combined both conferences and reseeded. Like some have talked about but since the west owns the better part of the top 8 in the league by round 2 we would probably be on the same boat as I bet mostly west teams would be standing. But it would be fun and make for some cool new rivalries
Led Zappa
Tomorrow Today
Except for the 2 wild cards in each conference in the first round it is a divisional format. Watch the video I posted above.
I'm looking forward to it to be honest. The rivalries should increase with better chances of meeting each other on a continuous basis in the playoffs. This will increase the chances of the Sharks and Ducks getting another crack at each other and it would help the game in this region to have that occur more often.
Led Zappa
Tomorrow Today
On the other hand, nothing will help the game in this region more than winning a Cup and that's likely going to be more difficult with this format for the near future IMO. Whatever, it's here, let's get it done.
Did the video address if wild cards are from the same division, and both win in the 1st round? That would leave the brackets unbalanced, division-wise.
So, if the top three division winners stay the way they are right now, but the wild cards are Minnesota and Dallas. Then 1st round brackets would be:
Wild at Hawks
Blues at Avs
Stars at Ducks
Kings at Sharks
What happens if Wild, and the Stars win their 1st round? Sharks defeating the Kings would leave only one team from the Pacific division for the 2nd round. Do the Stars stay in the Pacific bracket? The video suggests they would return back to their division bracket.
Better yet, what if the Hawks won in that scenario, not the Wild. Does the Stars migrate back to their Central division bracket and the winner of the Blues/Avs migrate to the Pacific division bracket?
Lets use a bit different scenario. The canucks get the 1st wild card spot (better record), and the wild get the 2nd wild card (worst record).
Anaheim plays the wild, chicago plays the canucks.
In essence the wild become part of the pacific, and the canucks would become part of the central. For the remainder of the playoffs.
So if it works out some years we could potentially see a kings vs sharks conference finals. And so forth.
I know that was also possible (actually more likely) in the other format.
Leidi J
Registered User
That's not how it works. The only way there is a cross-over between divisions is if both wild cards come from the same division. Otherwise, the top seed from the pacific faces the wild card from the pacific no matter whether they are the '1st' or '2nd' wild card.
