People still are having trouble taking the men in deep Pacific teal seriously. Ok, so maybe its hard to take anyone who wears that color seriously, but the San Jose Sharks deserve more respect. Though they finished the season atop the Western Conference many of the experts have looked to the Chicago Blackhawks and the Detroit Red Wings to make it to the Stanley Cup Finals. On Thursday night in San Jose, the Sharks raced out to a 3-0 lead and withheld a inspired comeback from the Wings to hold for a 4-3 win in game one. The Sharks dispatched a hot Colorado Avalanche team in the first round of the playoffs with ease. They have a in-form goalie in Evengi Nabokov, a first-rate goal scorer in Patrick Marleau, and a veteran assist machine in Joe Thornton. The Wings will try to even up the series this Sunday at the HP Pavilion in San Jose.

Todd McLellan is all set to take up the reins of the head coach of San Jose Sharks following his triumphant coaching stint with the Detroit Red Wings that enabled the team to lift NHL’s Stanley Cup. The Sharks general manager Doug Wilson expected the team to perform at its best under the watchful eyes of the newly appointed head coach. Wilson expects that the new coach will be able to bring in a set pattern among his hockey players and make them understand their goals and expectations of the top brass from them. The Sharks fans are also hoping for a great season ahead and are now on the internet in pursuit of buying tickets for the upcoming NHL season.

The Dallas Stars are currently on top of their game and this was clearly evident from the blitzkrieg of goals that they scored against the San Jose Sharks at the HP Pavilion last Sunday night. Brad Richards made a mockery of the San Jose Sharks defense as the offensive player had three assists and a goal in the NHL Western Conference semifinal, which they lead the Sharks by 2-0.

Star’s Modano said that his team played some brilliant hockey and stuck to their game plan right from the start of the match. He said that the team took advantage of whatever chances that came their way and was happy to see his team win the first two road games against the Sharks. The other goal scorers for the Stars were Michalek and Joe Pavelski and it would be cruel if the efforts of Marty Turco, who made 29 saves, are not mentioned.

The Anaheim Ducks came to their favorite touring arena in San Jose, California hoping to beat their arch rivals San Jose Sharks to close in on the gap at the Pacific Division. But San Jose Sharks got the better of them by defeating the Ducks 2-1. The Stanley Cup champions had no answer to the defensive traps set by the Sharks and did not have even a single shot at the Sharks goal during the third period. The Sharks controlled the entire third period with excellent defensive skills and good puck possession.

Joe Thorton one of the goal scorers for the Sharks said that his team is now playing the game with good confidence. The Sharks have now won 14 of their last 15 games. The dark horse in the three team Pacific Division race is close to grabbing a top two playoff place. The Sharks coach Ron Wilson said that his team had 75% of the puck possession and was happy that his team played like true champions.

San Jose Sharks beat the Nashville Predators 2-1 at their home and ended their three week long touring program with a franchisee record of ten consecutive wins. The San Jose with this game have played 11 out of the last 13 games as away games and have the best record for away games by any team in the NHL. Douglas Murray, the Sharks defense man said that the players were really tiring and was glad that the team picked up the momentum in the second period. The Sharks won the game, but felt that this was not the way they ought to finish the game.

The Nashville Predators coach Bary Trotz coached the Predators for a record 727th game and grabbed the 11th position of all time for being the coach of a single NHL team. The first goal scored by Pavelski was awarded to the Sharks after a long video review. The Sharks extended their lead in the 37th second of the third period and the Sharks coach felt that the players did not put up a game as was expected of them, but have scored a victory nevertheless. The goalie of Sharks, E. Nabokov made 26 saves in the match and the Predators goalie D. Ellis made 40 saves.

The San Jose Sharks, who have been loosing their last five games, came up with a stellar performance on Thursday night to beat the Philadelphia Flyers 3 – 1 at the Wachovia Center. The goal scorers for the Sharks were Jonathan Cheechoo, Milan Michalek and defenseman Douglas Murray. The Flyers team was not on top of the game and about 26 of their attempts on the goal were saved by the Sharks goal custodian Evegni Nabokov, who played the game with stitches on his nose. The Flyers have had a still poorer record than the Sharks prior to this game and have not defeated the Sharks since December 2001. Just before the match commenced, the Flyers honored the current Sharks center and former Philadelphia Flyers player Jeremy Roenick for achieving 500 career goals.

The game certainly had its moments of thrills and spills and half way through the first half, the left wings Jody and Riley had a brawl exchanging blows on each other for about 90 seconds. Mike Knuble was the lone goal scorer for the Philadelphia Flyers and the home crowd booed off the team after their ninth successive loss which could also see them out of the Eastern Conference playoffs.

Dustin Brown finished off a perfect Kings shootout yesterday as Los Angeles won for the 2nd time in 8 matches, 3-2 over the Sharks. Kopitar and O’Sullivan scored shootout goals for the Kings against Nabokov, who had stopped twenty-eight of thirty shots in regulation. The Kings ended a 5-game road trip by handing San Jose their 3rd straight setback. Anze Kopitar and Patrick O’Sullivan scored during the 2nd period as Los Angeles overcame a 1-0 deficit. Rivet produced a power-play goal to tie it 3:41 into the 3^rd period.