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In sports, fewer things are less intimidating than the San Jose Sharks dressed in teal teal, or the cheese shark with cartoon fangs, or the second forced syllable in the team's name when fans sing: Sha-arks.
That being said . . . Fewer things in the sport are more intimidating than the San Jose Sharks.
Many people would have been delighted to have St. Louis overtake Colorado and qualify for the first Stanley Cup Blues Cup final since 1970. They would have the opportunity to overthrow a team owned by Stan Kroenke. But succeeding in defeating the Sharks would be, or should be, more rewarding, as the way San Jose plays is more apt to compare himself to an avalanche.
The Blues can do it, but the series in this series that starts Saturday night will require a rise in the numerical advantage, neutral zone and, more simply, in general by the biggest names in the group. It's not enough for Ryan O'Reilly to make contributions only on defense and not score. Vladimir Tarasenko must become a factor when the Sharks have five skaters on the ice. Brayden Schenn? Even Oskar Sundqvist? You get the point.
We will need to see a maximum relentlessness.
"We're halfway there," O'Reilly said, "and it will not be any easier … they'll come out hard and physically, and we have to match that – and go beyond that to make A declaration. "
The Sharks are a fascinating group of grinders and scorers. They have three defenders who could be the best defender of many teams. But the most worrying factor for enemies – and will require that the Blues get bruised and neutralized – is the existence of Joseph James Pavelski of Plover, Wisc.
"He's a great leader, an incredible scorer and he works hard every night, scoring goals in dirty areas," said Patrick Maroon of the Blues, himself proud of dirty areas on the ice. "He is probably one of the best players in the league with tips, high prognoses, second and third chances, it will be difficult – we have to limit his time and his space."
In the summer of 2003, the same year, longtime Blues captain David Backes, 204 young men were recruited before Pavelski. Seventh round pick by San Jose, Pavelski eventually became the captain. This season, at 34, he scored 38 goals, the most in his team and the second in career. We talk a lot about the fact that the Blues play hockey without fear – that's how Pavelski works.
"A man of heart," said O'Reilly. "We know it's going to be a challenge. We will have to be hard on him. . . . He's one of those guys who does everything right. From confrontation to goals, to difficult goals, he is a guy who brings all these elements. He is one of the main players. And you see the way he plays and the guys follow.
O & # 39; Reilly will surely have changes against Pavelski. O'Reilly is one of those players who are so good on the offensive, it's remarkable when he does not score – but he's also one of those players who have such a good defense, sometimes his impact is not appreciated. . . or at least under-appreciated, in the non-stop action of a playoff game.
O'Reilly opened a little in his locker on Thursday before the team came to California. He admitted what many of us had seen – a lack of offensive punch in the first part of the Dallas series. He finished all seven games with five assists but no goals.
He says that he feels "good", even though in the playoffs, a guy might lose a tooth and a finger and say that he is insensitive to the pain. And O'Reilly knows he has to make things as difficult for the attacking Sharks as it is for their defensive opponents. It is a heavy task against the Sharks. And a task he had never had before: to participate in the finals of the conference.
"It's a very difficult challenge, I think we have the group that can do it," O'Reilly said. "And we have to prove it."
The fun aspect of this series is that a city without Cup will have the chance to play his boys.
The Sharks did not join the National Hockey League until the early 1990s, but decades have been enough for parents to pass on their passion. It's a hungry fan base. And a fan base that deserves the cut. And frankly, the Sharks deserve to win a Cup, on paper anyway. On the ice, they must first engulf the Blues. And like St. Louis, the Sharks have four lines deep, outstanding defensemen and a formidable goalkeeper. The series should go six or seven games.
San Jose's Joe Pavelski controls the puck as Blues defender Alex Pietrangelo dives into Pavelski's lap during a playoff game between the Sharks and Blues on May 19, 2016 in San Jose, California.
But what St. Louis wanted was that: the team did not see the best of all their best players. Unsung heroes have helped bring the Blues to where they are. Think, if it can be completed by the brilliant wait for Tarasenko, Schenn or O'Reilly?
Sharks are intimidating.
But the Blues, after all that they have gone through, find bullying as motivation.
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