WCQF: - (3) San Jose Sharks vs. (6) Los Angeles Kings

[therizzle]

SHARKS SET TO FACE RIVAL KINGS IN CPHL FIRST ROUND ACTION







SHARKS GM THERIZZLE PREDICTS TOUGH SERIES

SAN JOSE - "To be honest, I was hoping for this matchup all year," said San Jose GM therizzle. "About a third of the way through the season, I saw that it was probably going to materialize. The only thing is, I figured it was going to be a (1) vs. (8) matchup, with the Kings as the top seed."

Seems like most San Jose fans would agree with the GM in this case. The Sharks got off to a very slow start, going 15-12-5 in their first 32 games. It looked like the Sharks might not even get into the playoffs, sitting idly in 4th in the highly competitive Pacific Division. However, the Sharks went on a tear after that, posting an otherworldly 20-4-0 record over their next 24 games to vault into 1st place in the Conference. Clearly they would not be able to maintain that pace for the remaining 25 or so games, and they didn't, playing slightly better than .500 hockey the rest of the way. That was enough to keep them near the top of the pack for the Conference crown all season, and the Sharks finished 6 points ahead of the Kings for the Division lead.

There is plenty of optimism swirling about in the Shark Tank right now, from players, coaches and the GM himself. "This is a team that we know we can beat," proclaimed GM therizzle. "That said, it is going to be a tough series, and I can see it going 6 or 7 games. But I'm not the kind of guy who wants an easy walk through the first round. Some of these guys need to learn very early that the playoffs are a battle, and the best way to show them is have a series like this in the first round. We don't have any superstars here, but we have a deep team that plays physically and can put points on the board."

See below for the San Jose Mercury News full series preview.

[therizzle]

(3) vs. (6)


CPHL 2010-2011
WESTERN CONFERENCE QUARTER-FINAL








SEASON SERIES

1. L.A. Kings (4) vs San Jose Sharks (3)
2. San Jose Sharks (3) vs L.A. Kings (5)
3. San Jose Sharks (3) vs L.A. Kings (2)
4. L.A. Kings (3) vs San Jose Sharks (5)
5. San Jose Sharks (2) vs L.A. Kings (1)

[Cheese]

Nice...and just like in the NHL we have the 2 left coast teams playing the quarters.

[SweetDoc]

Thanks for the write up Ryan; I haven't been feeling all that great and I wouldn't have been able to do one for the series.

Good luck!

[Swayze11]

This is going to be one of the best series for sure. Looking forward to it.

[Da_Chief]

I agree with Patricia, both these teams are evenly matched up. I see foresee tons fo goals though.

[therizzle]

vs

277 : Goals For : 269
Advantage: Sharks

265 : Goals Against : 242
Advantage: Kings

Brad Boyes 31G 39A 70P +7 : Leading Scorer : Paul Stastny 30G 60A 90P -10

Advantage: Kings


Joe Pavelski +18 : Leading +/- : Jeff Schultz +24
Advantage: Kings

Scott Hartnell 256 PIM : Leading PIM : Ryan Kesler 120 PIM
Advantage: Sharks (i guess?)

7th (3.38) : Goals for (Per Game) : 9th (3.28)

Advantage: Sharks

17th (3.23) : Goals Against (Per Game) : 9th (2.95)
Advantage: Kings

16th (19%) : Power Play % : 17th (18%)

Advantage: Sharks

5th (83%) : Penalty Kill: % : 3rd (84%)
Advantage: Kings


12th (33.13) : Shots for (Per Game) : 5th (34.55)

Advantage: Kings


22nd (32.88) : Shots Against : 6th (31.41)

Advantage: Kings


28th (14.33) : PIM/Game : 5th (8.99)

Advantage: Kings


3rd (23.22) : Hits/Game: 10th (22.43)
Advantage: Sharks