The San Jose Sharks are in a scary place right now when it comes to the NHL Playoffs, in a pivotal game seven against the Detroit Red Wings in the Western Conference Semifinals. They had three separate chances to close our the series, and failed to do so, losing to Detroit three times in a row after winning the first three of the series and generally looking great while doing so. So tonight, they're at the HP Pavilion in San Jose, with the "choker" label and all of that looming overhead, and they've got their backs against the wall. If they win tonight, they aren't chokers anymore, regardless of what happens in the Western Conference Finals against the Vancouver Canucks, but if they lose, the rest of the league really will never let them live it down. Jump for more.
There was almost a new team after that very choker label, the very same Canucks that are now in the conference finals. They won three straight games against the Chicago Blackhawks, before losing three and taking them on in game seven, where they won to close out the series. Can the Sharks do it too? Perhaps they can, especially if the trend pointed out by anduriliam on Fear The Fin holds true. The Sharks have shown to be at least partly attached at the hip with the Canucks thus far:
San Jose's 1st round series record: W L W W L W
Vancouver's 2nd round series record: W L W W L W
That's a good looking match right there, no? How about when we look at the Canucks' first round and the Sharks' second round?
Vancouver's 1st round series record: W W W L L L W
San Jose's 2nd round series record: W W W L L L (?)
Care to fill in the question mark at the end?