Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, April 30, 1994 TAG: 9404300021
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: DETROIT LENGTH: Medium
This could be a bad omen for Detroit. The Red Wings, after routing San Jose to even their series at 3-3, have home ice tonight for the decisive game of the Western Conference series with the Sharks.
The Red Wings, who had the best record in the conference and fourth-best overall in the NHL during the regular season, should be happy.
But San Jose, a 3-year-old franchise that finished 18 points behind Detroit in the conference, has revived some bad memories for the Red Wings, who have a nasty habit of flopping in the playoffs.
"We're a desperate hockey team," Detroit forward Dino Ciccarelli said. "We're not going to change anything."
The Red Wings are desperate because many of them remember what happened in the first round one year ago. They routed Toronto 7-3 in Game 6, then Stanley Cup roundup. B3 returned to Joe Louis Arena where the Maple Leafs won on an overtime goal by Nikolai Borschevsky.
"We talked about that," Red Wings captain Steve Yzerman said. "We talked last year about how one day we would be in a situation like that. Now it's here, and it's exactly the same."
What happened between Games 6 and 7 last year was that the Red Wings worried themselves sick. By the time they skated out on the ice for the deciding game with the Maple Leafs, the Red Wings had exhausted themselves from worry.
"Come game time, we didn't have any juice left," Yzerman said. "Now, we know we have to relax. The reason we won Game 6 is because we worked hard. We have to realize that it may not be this same way in the next game. The next game is still starting at 0-0."
That's the way the Sharks feel, too. Nobody on the San Jose team is hanging his head about the 7-1 blowout loss Thursday night. They feel it was just an off-night for goalie Arturs Irbe who, otherwise, has been good enough to contain Detroit's high-powered offense.
"We've had trouble slowing them down all series," Sharks coach Kevin Constantine said. "In two games, we gave them three goals, and four in another game. You realize that at any moment, they have the ability to explode and score a lot of goals."
No matter what happens in Game 7, the NHL affiliate of the East Coast Hockey League's Roanoke Express has stamped itself as one of the NHL's most memorable expansion teams.
The Sharks' 58-point turnaround from a year ago was an NHL record for the largest single-season turnaround, surpassing the Quebec Nordiques' 52-point turnaround from 1992 to 1993.
If they win Game 7 against Detroit, the Sharks will go down in history for producing one of the great first-round upsets in Stanley Cup history. If they lose, they will have had the satisfaction of pushing one of the NHL's premier teams to the brink of elimination.
"San Jose is in a good position," Detroit defenseman Paul Coffey said. "They're probably saying they've played the worst game they could play. They hope we're over here, overconfident.
"They played their worst game of the series, and they've still got a shot. They're probably over there laughing."
by CNB