SB Nation Bay Area: All Posts by Jason Plank

National Hockey League commissioner Gary Bettman is slated to be in Glendale Monday to announce the...

2012-05-07T14:17:35Z

National Hockey League commissioner Gary Bettman is slated to be in Glendale Monday to announce the NHL has reached tentative terms to sell the Phoenix Coyotes to an ownership group led by Greg Jamison. The move is a major step in Jamison’s bid to buy the Coyotes and keep them in Arizona.

Bettman is slated to hold a press conference before the Phoenix Coyotes-Nashville Predators playoff game. He is expected to announce the Coyotes are no longer on the market and the league is finalizing a sale with Jamison.

The NHL has owned the team since 2009. Jamison is the former CEO of the San Jose Sharks and is a minority owner of that franchise.

>> Phoenix Business Journal

2011-2012 San Jose Sharks Season Review: Jim Vandermeer

2012-05-03T10:00:17Z

Jim Vandermeer probably didn't have the season he'd like to have had with the San Jose Sharks.

It's not really his fault, either.

Playing on a blueline that was congested with seven players to start the season, and eventually eight guys with the recall of Justin Braun in late October, Vandermeer struggled to find any consistent playing time throughout the entirety of his 2011-2012 season.

Vandermeer missed 20 games throughout December and January with a hand injury. His most active month of game action was February when he played 8 games, the catalyst for that spike in ice time being Douglas Murray's adam's apple injury.

All in all he played a total of 25 games this season, averaged 9:59 in ice time, and didn't really make much of an impact on the team. In fact, he played a good amount of those games as a fourth line forward, a position that isn't really suited to his skill set.

Jim Vandermeer Advanced Statistics

YEAR	GP	PTS	QUALCOMP	D-ZONE%	CORSI REL	CORSI REL QOC	+/- ON/60
2011-2012	25	4	-0.167 (8th)	46.9% (5th)	-7.1 (6th)	-1.116 (8th)	+0.74 (1st)

Vandermeer kind of reminds me of Alexei Semenov now that I think about it.

He's a player who is fine in a depth defenseman role but isn't going to swing the pendulum too much in either direction, a guy who the coaching staff used as a forward despite he hasn't really played there at the NHL level, a guy who brings that defensive defenseman skill set to the table and can provide acceptable minutes for a team when injuries hit.

Vandermeer does a helluva lot in the community, is a good guy to be around, and wore the "A" in Edmonton. He has leadership qualities that his teammates and organization undoubtedly appreciate and will drop the gloves every now and then to settle the tempo and give his team a boost.

But on the wrong end of 30, coupled with a disappointing season from the Sharks as a whole, it's hard to expect that Vandermeer will return to San Jose next season.

Changes are coming. It's a long shot Vandermeer survives those changes.

Defensive defenseman are a commodity that becomes especially important towards the deadline when teams are fighting the injury bug and looking for guys to come in and patch some holes. Vandermeer still has value in this League for a team looking to round out their defensive core, even if that team isn't San Jose, and even if he'll be one of the many players of this ilk that will probably still be looking for a home in early August.

Contract Status: Vandermeer is currently a UFA. He signed a one-year contract worth $1.0 MM last offseason.

The Vote: Rate Vandermeer below on a scale of 1-10 based on his performance relative to his potential and your expectations for the season.

If he had the best year you could have imagined him having, give him a 10; if he more or less played as you expected he would, give him a 5 or a 6; if he had the worst year you could have imagined him having, give him a 1.

Poll

How do you rate Jim Vandermeer's 2011-2012 season with the San Jose Sharks?

10

5 votes

9

3 votes

8

14 votes

7

51 votes

6

79 votes

5

104 votes

4

108 votes

3

74 votes

2

22 votes

1

27 votes

487 votes | Poll has closed

2012 NHL Playoffs: The Ballad of Kent Huskins

2012-05-01T14:33:18Z

After the Kings won another road game last night, bringing their record to 5-0 away from Staples Center this postseason, I thought about a lot of things.

I thought about how physics says Jonathan Quick's groin should have fallen apart two years ago because no human being should be able to take away the bottom of the net that quickly. I thought about how LA's bad luck all season was finally coming around. I thought about how sneaky (in a good way, mind you) Ken Hitchcock was to buy an extra timeout when he pulled Brian Elliot, put in Jake Allen and then put Elliot back in like a minute and a half later. I thought about Willie Mitchell because he's fucking awesome. I thought about how important Alex Pietrangelo is to the Blues and how losing him to injury hurts them in so many aspects of the game. I thought about Los Angeles holding St. Louis to 0 for 9 on the power play, which included a lengthy 5v3.

Yeah, I thought about that last one a lot.

But the first thing I thought about when Los Angeles put up a four spot in the first period was Kent Huskins.

Why? Because Kent Huskins is a guy who knows how to win.

"What the hell are you talking about Plank?" says the dumbfounded Sharks fan who never let Huskins live down a mistake he made in a preseason game or something like that. "Huskins is a depth defenseman whose quality of competition and CORSI numbers are pedestrian at best. He sees bottom six minutes, and while I'll admit his down to earth attitude and occasional end to end rush make him a decent enough player to have around on a roster, what has FTF come to if you're writing an article about him in the middle of a second round that he's watched from the press box? The guy cracked into the NHL at the age of 27 for heaven's sake!"

Nay I say to you good sir. Nay I say! For you have let your knowledge of advanced statistics and "context" blind you to what lies in front of you, clear as the twinkle Kent Huskins ever-caring eyes. You come to me with your scientific validity, spout well-reasoned arguments about "regression to the mean" and "shot quality", but never once do you dare enter the lair of the Huskinator.

Because just like opposing team's scoring opportunities, when you enter the lair of the Huskinator your argument prepares to die.

Because Kent Huskins is the best damn defenseman in the NHL at suppressing opponent's shooting percentages.

Kent Huskins On-Ice Save Percentage

Year	Team	GP	ES TOI	ES SV% On-Ice	NHL D-Man Rank
2011-2012	St. Louis Blues	25	14:30	.953	3rd
2010-2011	San Jose Sharks	50	15:04	.946	7th
2009-2010	San Jose Sharks	82	15:09	.931	35th
2008-2009	Anaheim Ducks	33	15:04	.941	14th
2007-2008	Anaheim Ducks	76	14:17	.951	5th

Well wouldja look at that.

Good ol' Kent Huskins, the man who toiled away in the AHL for five seasons before making the big show, sure has a knack for keeping the puck out of the net. He's strong as the average American male, about as quick as your uncle Jack who used to run track in high school, and oftentimes will burn his tongue when he eats soup too quickly.

But I'll be damned if he doesn't do one helluva job keeping the puck out of the net every time he's out on the ice*.

*Among others, George Parros is another guy who bucks the trend of SV% when on the ice. If Kent Huskins grew a mustache I wouldn't be surprised if he didn't give up an even strength goal against the rest of his career.

Poll

Is Kent Huskins awesome?

Yes.

99 votes

Yes!

123 votes

222 votes | Poll has closed

Marc-Edouard Vlasic and Justin Braun set to play at 2012 IIHF World Championships

2012-04-30T10:00:19Z

Two young San Jose Sharks defensemen are about to get some recognition.

Both Marc-Edouard Vlasic and Justin Braun will play for Team Canada and Team USA at the upcoming 2012 IIHF World Championships, which will be held from May 4-20 in Helsinki, Finland and Stockholm, Sweden. Vlasic has had previous experience at the World Championships, but this will be Braun's first appearance as a member of the US National Team.

It's hard to think of Vlasic as a veteran player considering he's only 25 years old, but ever since cracking the Sharks roster at 19 years old in 2006-2007 he's made huge strides every single season in the defensive end of the ice. Commonly tasked against opposing team's top players and thrown into integral defensive situations, Vlasic has logged at least the second highest amount of ice time on the blueline since his second NHL season. Those trends stayed consistent this year where he led all players in even strength and shorthanded minutes. Furthermore, his advanced metrics have always proven that trust was well-placed and well-deserved, with this season being another extremely solid year for Vlasic by the advanced numbers.

Justin Braun's 2011-2012 campaign should garner just as much praise if not more, for the sole reason that Vlasic is a known commodity whose defensive brilliance is expected. Coming into this season however Braun was a relative unknown-- his talent and potential was readily apparent during 2010-2011 of course, with Todd McLellan deploying him heavily in defensive situations which Braun handled quite well, but as is the case with so many young players it was hard to gauge exactly where he would fit in.

The roster was filled with 7 defenseman with more NHL experience. His defensive game needed more work. And there was a need for him to get game action instead of sitting in the press box.

Following training camp he was sent down to Worcester for more seasoning.

Braun was recalled on October 22 and never looked back.

Three weeks after his recall we looked at his season to date and found some very encouraging signs-- he was leading the blueline in some important metrics and had effectively played his way up from the minors to a starting role on what was then a Sharks team that was on pace to compete for the Presidents' Trophy (ah yes, those blissful days filled with hope...). At the end of the season Braun had played the fourth-highest amount of games amongst Sharks defenseman and surpassed just about every conceivable expectation we had for him coming into the year.

Although quality of competition obviously has to be taken into account (an area where he finished 5th on the team), consider this-- Justin Braun led the team in relative CORSI this season and had the toughest defensive zone starts on the team. What this means is that he was able to push the play in the right direction without the benefit of starting soft minutes in the offensive zone.

It's a testament to his skating ability and his passing ability. It's a testament to the coaching staff's trust in him to do the things that win hockey games.

With a spot on Team USA's roster, it looks like Braun is getting the attention he deserves.

NBC Sports Network will carry every Team USA game at the World Championships. A full schedule can be found here.

Debate Tactics For The Upcoming Offseason

2012-04-25T10:00:16Z

My favorite debate tactic is the one where you take a stance against an irrational opinion held by one person and blow it way out of proportion. All of a sudden everybody else feels this way except for you and some trusty friends, even if that couldn't be further from the truth.

You then proceed to rally like-minded individuals by appealing to their belief system (one you are already aware exists), paint a black vs. white scenario, and then absolutely batter the opposing argument by listing off rational responses to the initial opinion that was levied.

In other words, you establish yourself as a crusader for intellectual honesty when you're really just cherry-picking your spots to strike.

This works especially well in politics-- one member of whatever group will say something stupid as hell, and then everyone gets all jammed up and decrees that anyone who is affiliated with that member (however loosely) holds the same beliefs and therefore is just as dumb as the original person who said something asinine.

For example, one or two people will make a comment about something or other, and then someone will write something that starts like this (emphasis mine):

"There's been a lot of talk lately about [Hypothetical situation] being a direction that [Individual or Group] should head in. That's absolutely ludicrous for the following reasons:

Example A of why this opinion is ludicrous

Example B of why this opinion is ludicrous

Example C of why this opinion is ludicrous

[Summation of why this is ludicrous, emphasize a lot of talk one more time; close with a witty remark]"

I wouldn't necessarily call it a straw-man argument although it has the same core function. The difference is that instead of misrepresenting your opponent's position (a straw-man) you don't misrepresent it at all. You focus intently on it, dissect it with aplomb, and address every single point he or she has made.

At this point you're a boss, and everybody knows it, and you know everybody knows it because you know how everybody is going to react. You're tapping into cultural capital, appealing to existing belief structures, and using facts or research to back your argument up.

Where the difference lies is how you amplify the magnitude of that opposing opinion. The key here is not to misrepresent the initial argument. As stated above, you handle your response with precision.

The key is to make that opposing opinion seem as as large as possible in scope. It could be one yahoo on Twitter or a blog or whatever but you'll be damned if that stops you from making a scene. It's time to retweet, repost, reply, and renounce everything that one innocuous comment floating in the depths of deep internet space stands for until your chubby little fingers go raw.

Your biggest asset (if you're trying to be a dick) is presenting the opposing opinion as one that a large amount of people hold. It's not about intellectual honesty at this point-- it's about making this appear as if the inmates are running the asylum, the world as we know it is coming to an end, it's a dog vs. dog race, and public opinion is split 50-50 on the issue. It's contentious. It's vicious. It's really happening.

In other words, things have to appear black or white.

And it's up to you to set the record straight.

Screaming "WHO'S COMING WITH ME!!!" is optional, but very effective.

The reason I bring this up is because I think it has a lot of relevance to the current offseason. You're going to see one or two people talking about how all the management needs to go, all the players need to go, the SAP Open needs to go (well would ya look at that...), the popcorn vendor needs to go, the writing staff at FTF needs to go, and the sun in the sky needs to go lest we all experience something that ruins our existence as human beings.

But at the end of the day, there are only a few individuals who hold those insane opinions. The rest of us are rational human beings who understand that shit happens in sports, and while it sucks, there's no reason to re-create the Manhattan Project and blow it all up.

Things aren't black and white. And while the debate tactic above is fun as hell (if you're trying to be a dick), I think we have to realize that opposing opinions, while incongruent with our own, should still be valid discussion pieces in this space.

In other words, don't let the statements of one or two yahoos paint every argument in the same light.

For every person who is an idiot and says that Doug Wilson should be fired because he "built a team of chokers" or something equally asinine, there's another person who raises questions about transactions and the prospect pool that are valid and worthy of debate. They should be engaged with in a respectful manner, not vilified.

Even if they're still an idiot.

Because seriously, Doug Wilson is undoubtedly a Top 5 GM in the entire League and even a cursory glance at what the organization has accomplished over the last decade should make that point abundantly clear. I can't believe so many people are talking about this without realizing their heads are placed firmly up their--

Right.

Sorry guys.

I guess I did it again.

*For the record, I think the community has done a damn good job of going back and forth in a respectful manner during the last four days. And I truly appreciate that, because I feel that a healthy debate on all of these issues is something that teaches us all a lot about our own opinions. Keep up the good work guys.

An Overview of the San Jose Sharks Transactions from 2009-2012

2012-04-23T10:00:36Z

The saying "past performance does not guarantee future results" probably applies to this offseason in more ways than one.

You have the obvious tie-in with the Sharks playoff performance. After two straight Western Conference Finals appearances the Sharks put together their shortest playoff run in franchise history, ousted from the first round in five games by the St. Louis Blues.

And then you have what the question of what will happen in regards to free agency, trades, and decisions on other management personnel. Today we are going to look at decisions the organization has made in the past three seasons following a playoff exit in an attempt to gain a better understanding of what exactly might happen this offseason, but considering the extremely disappointing regular season the Sharks went through as well as how quickly they went out in the postseason, I really have no idea if this has much relevance.

In other words, I'm not sure how this offseason is going to play out.

Let's try and get a better understanding of what we may see:

2009-2010 Sharks Transactions

What Happened The Year Before: First Round loss to Anaheim (President's Trophy)

In via Trade: Dany Heatley, Niclas Wallin

In via Free Agency/Other: Scott Nichol, Manny Malhotra, Jed Ortmeyer, Jay Leach

Out via Trade: Milan Michalek, Jonathan Cheechoo, Christian Ehrhoff, Brad Lukowich

Out via Free Agency/Other: Mike Grier, Jeremy Roenick, Marcel Goc, Jody Shelley, Tomas Plihal, Claude Lemieux, Travis Moen, Alexei Semenov, Brian Boucher

Following what was probably the Sharks biggest playoff disappointment in franchise history, Sharks General Manager Doug Wilson retooled his lower lines with solid two-way forwards Scott Nichol and Manny Malhotra, bringing both prowess in the faceoff dot and penalty killing abilities into the fold. The Sharks added extra depth with Jed Ortmeyer and Jay Leach via free agency and waivers respectively, and relied largely on young players like Logan Couture, Devin Setoguchi, and a recently rehabbed Torrey Mitchell to help fill the holes left by the vast sum of departed forwards.

Dany Heatley was that offseason's only major acquisition, acquired in early September in a blockbuster trade with the Ottawa Senators for mercurial left winger Milan Michalek and a declining Jonathan Cheechoo. While not directly involved in the deal, Christian Ehrhoff's departure from San Jose was likely made to clear cap space for Heatley. At the deadline, the Sharks acquired Niclas Wallin.

The Sharks would go on to the Western Conference Finals where they were swept by the Chicago Blackhawks.

What We Learned: The Sharks aren't afraid to make a blockbuster move (evidenced by the acquisition of Dany Heatley), but aren't exactly interested in fulfilling the media's fascination with "blowing it up" either. The vast majority of the acquisitions and replacements that offseason were of the third/fourth line variety, with the majority of the shake up coming in the bottom six.

2010-2011 Sharks Transactions

What Happened The Year Before: Western Conference Finals loss to Chicago (2nd in West)

In via Trade: Ben Eager, Ian White

In via Free Agency/Other: Jamal Mayers, Kyle Wellwood, Antero Niittymaki, Antti Niemi, Niklas Hjalmarsson**

Out via Trade: Jay Leach

Out via Free Agency/Other: Rob Blake, Evgeni Nabokov

When a team hits their first Western Conference Finals in five years you usually don't see much action, and that belief held true in the 2010 offseason.

Evgeni Nabokov's decade long tenure between the Sharks pipes was brought to an end when he was let go during free agency; Antero Niittymaki (on July 1st) and Antti Niemi (on September 2nd when contract talks with Chicago proved fruitless) were brought in to replace him.

RFA Niklas Hjalmarsson was tendered an offer sheet which he signed, but the Blackhawks matched the offer less than a week later when they decided to keep the left-handed defenseman under contract, thereby sealing Niemi's UFA fate.

The loss of Rob Blake made acquiring a puck moving right handed defenseman essential, and the Sharks answered the bell when they acquired Ian White leading up to the deadline. Both Ben Eager and Kyle Wellwood were brought in to add to the Sharks depth after a brutal run in January.

The Sharks would go on to the Western Conference Finals where they lost to the Vancouver Canucks in five games.

What We Learned: If it's not broke don't fix it. With the Sharks core players intact, and the rise of Logan Couture allowing San Jose to avoid getting involved in a mad dash at the deadline for a top-six forward, San Jose essentially ran with their roster from previous seasons besides Nabokov and added pieces as the season went along. This was the least aggressive moves the Sharks made in the last three years, likely due to two back to back excellent regular seasons and a WCF appearance the year prior.

2011-2012 Sharks Transactions

What Happened The Year Before: Western Conference Finals loss to Vancouver (2nd in West)

In via Trade: Brent Burns, Martin Havlat, Daniel Winnik, Dominic Moore, TJ Galiardi

In via Free Agency/Other: Michal Handzus, Brad Winchester, Colin White, Jim Vandermeer

Out via Trade: Devin Setoguchi, Dany Heatley, Jamie McGinn

Out via Free Agency/Other: Scott Nichol, Kent Huskins, Jamal Mayers, Ben Eager, Kyle Wellwood, Niclas Wallin, Ian White

A big summer for the Sharks saw them trade Devin Setoguchi and Dany Heatley in separate deals to the Minnesota Wild in exchange for Brent Burns and Martin Havlat, serving as the first major shakeup to the roster's top-six since the trade of Milan Michalek to Ottawa in 2009. Third line spark plug (and FTF favorite) Jamie McGinn was traded to the Colorado Avalanche at the trade deadline, with Daniel Winnik and TJ Galiardi coming in to replace him.

On the blueline the trend from recent years manifested itself. They lost another right handed defenseman in the offseason, with Ian White joining Rob Blake from the year prior, but added depth in the offseason with the acquisition of Colin White and Jim Vandermeer. The addition of Burns in the offseason, as well as the blossoming of Justin Braun, made an outside acquisition unnecessary for the first time in years.

The Sharks would make the playoffs as a 7 seed and lose to the St. Louis Blues in five games.

What We Learned: Perhaps growing discontent with their inability to break through to the Stanley Cup Finals, the Sharks went through what was easily their most aggressive offseason of the last three years by moving out high-impact players in return for other high-impact players. Whether it was due to a lack of on-ice chemistry or poor luck during the regular season, the entirety of the 2011-2012 campaign was filled with inconsistent results, their worst playoff performance in franchise history, and their worst regular season record since 2002-2003 (when they missed the playoffs).

After looking at the transactions in the last three years I think the broad questions are this:

Do the Sharks feel as if this current roster needs another year to play together in order to reach their full potential? In other words, did all the roster turnover this season cause more harm than good?
Was the regular season performance of this team their true talent level? Or was it influenced by factors out of their control?
Should the regular season results and subsequent 7 seed be the key takeaway from this playoff run (as I mentioned on Saturday, I think it should) or is this team's core not able to "get over the hump"?
Assuming contract clauses are out of play, what available options do the Sharks have in the trade market to retool the team? Do they want to pursue those options if they are available?
If the answer is "Yes", how big of a barrier will they be to complete a deal? What are the internal ramifications of pursuing these scenarios?
Is a first round loss a blip on the radar as it was three years ago following the loss to Anaheim?
Or is a first round loss a sign of things to come, just as it has been for many organizations who saw their Cup window pass?
How many hours will I waste away with Matt on ME3 multiplayer now that the Sharks are out of the playoffs?

In 45 days all of these questions get answered.

It's a long way until mid-June.

But it's never too early to hold on to your butts.

Seriously guys. This might get rocky.

San Jose Sharks come up short against the St. Louis Blues, lose Game 5 and the series

2012-04-22T03:15:02Z

With 8 minutes and 43 seconds left on the clock the Sharks appeared to be headed to a game six at HP Pavilion.

45 seconds later, after Niemi's lone mistake of the night and a deflection off the stick of David Perron found twine, the Sharks were headed to an early first round exit.

Sum of all fears right now.

Let's hit the bullets:

A first round loss in five games (the Sharks shortest playoff run in history as a matter of fact) is not good enough for the players, organization, or fans. Having said that, as we said from the outset of this series, the Blues were a better team up and down the lineup. Everything the Sharks do well the Blues do just a little better. Therefore, as much as this loss stings the nostrils, it was something I think many of us could see coming. In the postseason, teams lose to better teams. The Blues are the better team than the Sharks. This makes the loss understandable.
Having said that, the fact that the Sharks had to sneak into the postseason during the final two weeks, and end up with the 7th seed, is what sets this apart as something that is acceptable. Sure all season long we tallied up how San Jose was a better team than what their record indicated, and how either statistical variance, luck, or whatever you want to call it played a role in their struggles, but at the end of the day the 7th seed was something that proved to be the backbreaker. The Sharks put themselves in a position where they had to play the best team in the Western Conference in the first round by virtue of their regular season performance.
I think that should be the key takeaway out of this abbreviated playoff run.
Joe Thornton is an amazing hockey player, an amazing Captain, and an amazing leader. I'm glad that the bullshit narrative of him being a playoff no-show is even being questioned in the media because he was flat out phenomenal this series and has been for the last three postseasons.
The penalty kill has to be addressed this offseason, both in terms of personnel and strategy. Ranking in the bottom third for the last two seasons is unacceptable. As The Neutral has covered in his excellent scoring chance posts, this series was extremely tight at even strength. The difference was special teams, and with the Sharks losing both games three and four due to this differential, it's clear that is the biggest issue that needs to be addressed.
We say this every year and every year it is forgotten and ignored. So what the hell, we'll walk down this road again. The players care about this loss more than you will ever understand. Any idea to the contrary is a sterling reminder of your lack of basic cognitive ability.
One thing that is going to get lost in the sea of defeat, but I think is extremely relevant, is how an early first round loss effects the team's financial outlook. As we've seen from Forbes annual roundup of NHL teams, the Sharks operate in the middle part of the League. Playoff revenues are a big factor for all NHL teams, and while I can't say with any certainty how this actually effects the Sharks ability to spend to the cap, you have to assume it will play a factor. The fact that San Jose only got two home games this postseason could play a role in their offseason moves from a financial standpoint, not just a competitive one. I have no idea if it will but it is something to keep an eye out for.
This offseason is going to be, how do you say it, interesting.
Congratulations to the St. Louis Blues organization on the series victory, and a shout out to our friends across the way at St. Louis Gametime. A lot of good folks involved over there, and despite the sting of an early defeat, you have to tip their cap to them and wish them luck the rest of the way. We've had nothing but great interactions with them and I'm glad that both sides were able to handle themselves with dignity and class.

Thanks again for another great season Fear The Fin. I can't say enough about the writers on our staff, from Matt to The Neutral Snark SD to Jon to Ann. Furthermore, special thanks to the moderators (who are probably going to be extremely busy in the next ~~24 hours~~ 24 days)-- idunno, Elvis, and Nael are the unsung heroes around here and deserve just as much praise as anyone on the writing staff.

It's a long road ahead this offseason.

But until next time...

Go Sharks.

Sharks Playoff Gamethread: An Opportunity

2012-04-21T22:55:10Z

These are dark days my friends.

When Matt Taylor, whose 1000 word treatise after game one galvanized the masses and brought hope to this little corner of the internet, writes a gameday that sounds like a letter from his deathbed you know you're in trouble.

When the San Jose Sharks, whose consecutive playoff streak spans the last eight seasons, feel a little jittery before a game five you know things are dire.

When the St. Louis Blues, whose 30-6-5 home record this season was second in the NHL, get a chance to secure their first playoff series victory in a decade you know things are going to be difficult.

That's the situation we find ourselves in tonight.

But this situation is one which presents a unique opportunity.

Tonight, ladies and gentleman, tonight is the chance to drag this series kicking and screaming back to HP Pavilion for a pivotal game six that will introduce a peculiar set of circumstances into the playoff formula. A place of refuge, where the thunderous bass and intimidating fog that settles throughout the pregame ceremony plants that tiny seed of doubt in the hearts and minds of the blue note. A place where, as Blues Head Coach Ken Hitchcock mentioned in the aftermath of game four, "has been a graveyard for so many teams this time of year." A place where an opportunity to catch a flight back to St. Louis with the wind behind your back is just 60 minutes away.

There will be time for I told you so's, awkward autopsies, and deeper analysis all summer if this goal is not obtained.

But tonight is not about that. Do not concern yourselves with it. Pay the Reaper no mind. He is irrelevant as he waits in the shadows, twiddling his thumbs while the fat lady readies her pipes.

Tonight is about finding a moment you can rally behind, whether that be a hit, a goal, a save. It is about not just finding a way, but understanding that one way is the only road in which your legs will find willing to walk.

Bring this shit back to San Jose.

Because then things get interesting.