Stanley Cup Playoffs: Night 13

The results from Sunday night's Game 6's produced Game 7's.

Last night? Not so much.

I'll have more to add on this tomorrow, but wanted to at least throw a post up while my stream of concscious is still flowing like the Mississippi:

San Jose traded for Joe Thornton after failing to scale the mountain in 2004. In 2006 after the lockout, they stayed the course. After 2007, they added JR.

After 2008, they added a legit point man in Dan Boyle and more veteran presence in the form of Rob Blake...and they got rid of Ron Wilson and replaced him with Todd McLellan, who had just won a Stanley Cup as an assistant to Mike Babcock in Detroit.

The regular season produced a President's Trophy winner. But come playoff time, it was the same old tired story.

And as painful as the losses in 2004, 2006, 2007, and 2008 were, I daresay they don't come anywhere close to how this season feels.

Dallas sports fans certainly know the feeling because it was the Bay Area's NBA team that dispatched of our Mavericks in 2007. I certainly can't forget that series, but it's nor for lack of effort.

67-win season. All a footnote because the team crumbled in six games to the Warriors.

Well, congratulations you bunch of Sharks. You just gained that very same distinction. And because of that distinction, I just don't see how Doug Wilson continues to roll with this core in tact next season.

I don't know much about San Jose's future prospects, but I'm sure either Mike Chen at BoC or the guys at Fear the Fin will explore all that for neutral fans like me. That is, as soon as they calm down.

As for the Blackhawks, I think what happens tonight falls under the category of throwing everything but the kitchen sink but still coming up woefully short. In spite of Todd Bertuzzi's goal in the third, it was clear that Calgary had used up all their energy in the first two periods.

When Brian Campbell scored that power play goal, they were toast. And despite the lift that Criminal gave them, Chicago really controlled the play in the third period and coasted to the win tonight and their first playoff series win in 13 years.

So now it's Anaheim vs. Detroit and Chicago vs. Vancouver. At least the Hawks won't have to travel far to get to their next playoff destination.