The San Jose Sharks won’t have to wait long to attempt to avenge their playoff exit from a season ago. The Los Angeles Kings ousted the Sharks during last years Stanley Cup semi-finals and the two teams will meet again in the first round this year.
There isn’t a drastic gap in any matchup in the Western Conference this season. However the based on the grueling fashion of last year’s matchup with the Kings, the Sharks may have drawn the worst first round opponent possible.
Rivalries can be manufactured in the regular season but they are birthed in the playoffs. This will be the third playoff meeting between the Sharks and Kings in the last four seasons.
Based on how last years series went this is shaping up to be a brutal and exhausting, yet entertaining series.
The Sharks have a more adaptable team that’s capable of playing to the style of their opponent and excelling. Over the course of the season, the Sharks have beaten teams in slugfest, defensive struggles and wide-open offensive affairs and looked the part.
It’s a bit of an identity crisis of kinds but it may work in their favor when they face a multitude of styles in the Western Conference.
The problem with that is the Kings are the best at their grinding, defensive style of hockey and they have arguably the best goaltender between the pipes in Jonathan Quick.
During the Kings’ Stanley Cup run in 2012 he earned the Conn Smythe Trophy as playoff MVP looking much like he did last season in the Sharks series. Some believe Quick stole that series against with his play.
The Kings are also the best possession team in the league. The Sharks are no slouches themselves but they don’t tend to do well when they’re defending for long stretches. That’s something that frequently happens against the Kings.
Last year there were numerous occasions when the Kings would wear the Sharks down until they finally broke with a mental or physical mistake.
The team’s haven’t changed much since last season’s seven-game battle, but there are some new faces who bring a different dimension to this years addition.
Raffi Torres embodies everything the Sharks tried to change about their team at the end of last season and continue forward with this season. He plays a hard-nosed, physical style of play with speed and skill intertwined.
Torres was suspended for the remainder of the series after a hit from behind on Kings center Jarret Stoll in Game 1 last year. Many of the Sharks’ players and coaches felt if they had Torres for the series they would have won it.
He may not be 100 percent healthy going into this series but he will make an impact one way or another. If healthy, he only adds to the forward depth the Sharks can bring on a nightly basis.
Tomas Hertl created a buzz with his play early in the season, scoring 15 goals in 35 games. Then he collided with Kings’ captain Dustin Brown and underwent knee surgery.
The surgery required Hertl to miss the rest of the season until the final two games. His recovery was well ahead of schedule (many predicted he would be lucky to see action in the second round).
Ironically, this is arguably the healthiest the Sharks have been all season long going into the home stretch. That’s a luxury a lot of other teams weren’t fortunate with.
Even in his broken English, Hertl managed to display some animosity toward the Kings. Hertl told CSN Bay Area, “It’s personal. It’s L.A.”
Look for the Sharks to get a boost from Torres, Hertl and the best forward depth they’ve had entering a Stanley Cup run.
If there’s a trend you’re noticing in these notes it’s not just a coincidence. The Sharks and Kings don’t like each other and they each have just reasons for it beyond the typical Northern California vs. Southern California rivalry.
There’s a nastiness and an edge to each player when these teams clash.
Players come out of their comfort zones when these teams meet and it makes for some surprising spectacles (Joe Thornton fighting Drew Doughty last season).
The last time the teams met on April 3, the Sharks (not known for being a physical team that dishes out a lot of punishment) set a franchise record with 52 hits.
When the teams met last season, L.A. had home ice advantage and the home team took every game of the series. That wasn’t a gimmick either.
Over the course of the last three seasons, playoffs included, the home team is 20-2.
It’s unfortunate that one of these two Stanley Cup favorites will be out in the first round and the winner will surely feel the effects as they advance in the playoffs. Luckily for fans, that is a hockey rivalry at it’s greatest and it will be an entertaining series to watch.
San Jose Sharks – Tejus covers the San Jose Sharks for Inside Edge Hockey News. I am a longtime Sharks fan who instantly fell for the game of hockey after being introduced to the sport by a friend. I would love to work in the world of hockey in some capacity some day. I play guitar in band and enjoy making movies which stems from my initial experience of cutting Sharks games into personal highlight films.