Will this series be worth the staying up late when the Wings play at the Shark's home in San Jose? It will be for this first reason to see how the Red Wings are going to defend Joe Thornton and Jonathan Cheechoo. This series will have great defense against tremendous offensive skills and puck possession. The test on the road for the Red Wings will be to generate offense from the defense. Now this will not assume that the Wings will not score on their chances around the net of San Jose look at Dan Cleary and Henrik Zetterberg after the face off. These two Red WINGS are good enough without defensive take aways. The first reason as to why the Red Wings and SHARKS will be good watching is to see how the Wings will matchup and contain the first two lines throughout the seven game series. Doing this on the road is a must for Detroit. Otherwise it could out of hand and the Red Wings will have to win all four at home. This will be another reason for the Shakrs and Wings being a series you will not want to miss.
The second reason to turn on the television and watch this series is that I think the Sharks will take one when they are the Joe. I am not going to give away the strategies that I think each team will use to win games on the road, I am not a coach. But the team who wins two or more games on the road will win the series. Propelling the team closer to the Stanley Cup. Now after that I think that the Sharks are tough to beat and the Wings proved that they are to when they they had to better than good against the goalie in the last series against the Calgary Flames. San Jose will not be shooting at a Red Wings net with Manny Legace but Dominik Hasek. This is the second reason why hockey fans will want to watch the Sharks in Detroit, for them they will have to play better than good on the road.
The third reason is to see when Todd Bertuzzi is going to have his game breaking goals and hits. The other player on the Wings is Dan Cleary. He shows up, plays tough and he moves the puck to score and that is it plain and simple he is a play maker. Disagree? Tell me why. But he was the best Red Wing in the series in Calgary, he is one reason why the Wings closed the series with a win on the road. And if the Sharks think all they have to do is to take care of Dan that would be only be a small start. But like Red Wings being tested in reason one the Sharks defense will be tested with four lines who shoot the puck and are not afraid of getting angry around the opponents net.
Game on and watch Thursday. It will be worth staying up late for.
The Wings showed a different side of themselves in the Calgary series. I don't believe the Red Wings had more hits in a single GAME all year long let alone a 6 game series. Then, the fact that they out-hit the Calgary team that is KNOWN for it's hitting? This was key, I believe, in the Wings showing what kind of playoff hockey they are going to play this year.
Bertuzzi is going to be another vital key to the San Jose series. He seemed to get better with each shift during the Calgary series. He is a freaking BEAR and has to be covered by a double team at times. Henrick and Nick are getting their wind back. My biggest concern is Nick...he seems to favor that back a bit more than he should be. We also need to get Homer back to the ice. Hope his eye heals up quick.
SJ fans better hope Nabokov has his Wheaties. That man is gonna see a lot of puck.
The Wings are going to need to attack hard and fast against the weaker Sharks defensemen. Bertuzzi has been playing hard, and though I think has been forcing things too much, he's not afraid to get his hands dirty and was a huge factor in the Calgary series.
The game of hockey is intense, it is a game that is not about finesse all the time. It is about second chances and detmerination and the fight to win welcome back DMAC #25!
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