Playoff Mode: Recent Episodes
George Hand
Playoff Mode is an honest opinion from a fan's persepctive on how the San Jose Sharks have performed in the Stanley Cup playoffs...
As long as the team is still in the game we will have an episode to release and in each show will look back on each series as it happened game by game
It was a tough battle but ultimately there was nothing left in the tank after two seven game series and it would be the Blues who would take the spoils and eliminating the sharks in six games...Patterns seen throughout all three rounds reared their ugly heads again and this time proved costly as in the final show we reminise on the 2019 Western Conference Final
It was another seven game bonaza as the sharks failed to win key games that would have allowed the series to end earlier which could have allowed the team more time to rest so that players with injuries could recover...
Nevertheless though it was a thrilling series to watch and in this episode we look back on how the sharks grinded their way into the conference finals
History was mad ein this rematch between the two clubs after having met in the second round last year for the very first time but this time round this playoff match up would cement these two as bitter rivals for years to come...
The sharks pulled off one of the biggest comebacks in history as having forced Game 7 after trailing the series 3-1 SAP Center would become the place for dirty hits and game changing powerplays which saw the sharks prevail and Vegas licking their wounds
For me personally I felt that if it wasn't the new kids then we might have had a chance to make the conference finals once again alas though it wasn't meant to ve as Vegas' cinderella story continues...
On this show we will look back on a tense back and forth series which provide a lot of thrills and shocks in this battle of key games which unfortunately for us the Golden Knights kept on winning
It has been quite some time since we were able to sweep an opponent and given what happened the lastt time these two sides meant I'm quite surprised myself that Anaheim didn't put at least one dent in the sharks spectacular form...
In the first episode of Playoff Mode 2018 we look back on the impressive sweep of our neighbours from the south including that impressive blowout victory in Game 3!!!
This one is a lot harder to swallow compared to previous years as a combination of going from potential division champs to third place finishers plus with the heartache of 2016 still fresh in all our minds this would end up being a lot tougher than predicted...
And so on to the actual matchup which had plenty of surprises and moments where fans from both sides would find themselves scratching their heads but for very different reasons
Well you can't say we didn't try as one of San Jose's best runs in a long while comes to a sad ending as Pittsburgh hoisted the cup in our own barn
In the final show of Playoff Mode 2016 we relive every moment from start to finish and trust me the pain is on full dispaly my fellow Teal Town citzens and it's no't going anywhere anytime soon
History was made as on May 25 2016 the San Jose Sharks were going to the Stanley Cup Final for the first time in franchise history when defeating the Blues 5-2 in Game 6
But plenty of action happened before we get there which we look back on in this episode of Playoff Mode 2016
See ya in the finals!!!
I'm not sure what the strangest thing was in the series between every game being won by the home team or the fact that during Game 1 a black cat found it's way onto the ice!!!
That aside where the action really count the Sharks and Predators really made a good go at this matchup showing the league that they really want to be in the playoffs something I pay close attention to the Final 16 every year
I would like to say to Nashville what a great series this was that could have gone either way and I'm sure it won't be long before we see you guys in the Stanley Cup Final one day
After the last time these two teams met there was going to be plenty of tensions in the atmosphere however the Sharks put what happened in 2014 to one side and gave the Kings a good run for their money
Sadly it wasn't a sweep however this time round the sharks would not let a 3-1 series lead slip from their grasp
I really don't know what to say here as I'm sure like a lot of my fellow Teal Town citizens we all felt that this series was in the bag but for me I felt that it was Game 3 that proved to be the turning point as it was the first time the Kings showed any signs of life to the sharks attack...
And so this episode will feel like two halves as in the end that's exactly what this series was with the first half making you go yay and the other half makes you go boo!!!
Well, well, well another year has sadly come to an abrupt end and with having a shortened season it makes this year's playoff run feel quite abrupt
Anyways we've got to review it and we shall as this was a strange series between two archrivals as the home side won every game plus four of the games ended in 2-1 results with three of them going the sharks way
After the trials and tribulations of getting a 2012/13 season at all the fact that we're even here is a triumph...
And so here we are as the Sharks swept the Vancouver Canucks having learnt from the lessons that saw the Canucks get the better of us in the Conference Finals two years ago
How could we ever compete against a team who has a deep core of veterans and this season had one of the best goaltending we've seen in a very long while...
I suppose we should be lucky it wasn't a sweep but as you'll discover in Playoff Mode 2012 the sharks struggled in quite a few areas as they suffered a very early exit indeed
What a cruel way to have to bow out of a playoff run that promised so much for our San Jose Sharks as they had so much left in the tank to give...
However Vancouver showed us why they are this year's Presidents Trophy champions and got well and truely under the shark's fins especially one player in particular
Oh my god I don't know about my fellow sharks fans but I for one sure felt that this series was going to give me a heart attack as 2011 continues to be an almighty battle for San Jose
Despite the first three going our way the Red Wings proved why they are a dynamite team when it comes to playoffs over the years and mounted the comeback by winning the next three in a row before San Jose took a page out of their opponents books to win the series
Oh my god you guys I don't know about you lot but my heart could not take that opening round against the LA Kings as these two teams both showed us how badly they wanted to be in the playoffs but as we all know only one can survive
And after an extremely tightly fought series which had all of our hearts racing our sharks would be victorious and we get to relive every and I do mean every single moment of what was a thrilling series
Top of the table clash as the No.1 Seed faced the No.2 Seed in the Western Conference and sadly for our sharks they were no match for the Chicago Blackhawks
Although despite being swept most of the games were quite close and the sharks certainly had their chances in all four and if certain turning points in the series went the sharks way then it could have been a completely different story
After a tense first round against Colorado the Red Wings certianly weren't going to make things any easier as this series also had a spooky pattern as this time three games in a row were 4-3 victory for the sharks
And whilst Detroit did give us a scare in Game 4 I knew San Jose would prevail and I wonder if they'll be any strange patterns in the Western Conference Finals
Well that was more hard work than you would have thought with how these two teams on paper shaped and with San Jose getting the best of Colorado in the regular season
But these are the playoffs after all and both sides throughout showed just how bad they want to be there but for very different reasons so let's look back on a series which saw three overtime games in a row
Well hello and a very warm welcome to this brand new show providing a fan's voice on how the San Jose Sharks playoff campaign is going...
In our very first episode we look back on what proved to be a tough matchup against the Anaheim Ducks who got the best of the newly crowned Presidents Trophy champions as our sharks were eliminated in six games