Steve Palumbo: The "Warriors" of Hockey

You guys think you're so cool with Karlsson

Nice write up. I know Anaheim fans that honestly believe that they're winning their division... Looking forward to watching the sharks this year !

Easy there tiger. Ducks were crushed by injuries last yr and still 101 points. A healthy Eaves, Hampus, and the rest aren't going anywhere. The injection of Steel and Terry and the subtraction of Juice and Bueauch. This team got better you just need a new pair of glasses.

Miami Heat didn’t work well together?


They won 2 championships lol

Might need a few Cups before the Sharks/Warriors comparison has any merit.

Might need a few Cups before the Sharks/Warriors comparison has any merit.
- MnGump

Yup.


It’s not the same anyway, the Warriors are just more dominant. If they somehow landed Tavares too then maybe the Sharks are in the same universe but that’s still not close.

Vegas odds are implying that the Warriors have a 66.67% chance of winning the title

Meanwhile the Sharks are implied to have between 6%-7.5% odds of winning the cup this year


So Vegas thinks the warriors are 10 times more dominant of a team

Not even close

The 6th best player on the Warriors is a former Olympian and Finals MVP

KD and Curry might go down as 2 of the top 10-15 players of all time. Curry and Klay might go down as the best backcourt of all time.

Thornton, Pavelski, and Couture are all past their primes and many Shark wingers are still very young and only beginning to develop.

GS’s core however are all currently in their primes hitting their strides all at once right around the age of 30.

And they’ve already won 3 of the past 4 championships.

The Penguins and Blackhawks were much closer to being the Warriors of the NHL when they were coming off their 2nd and 3rd Cup runs a few years ago than this Sharks team currently is now.

Karlsson is no doubt a star, but his addition to the squad does not necessarily lend any credence to the notion that the Sharks have a "star studded" roster.

Sharks are very good team and even better now, but as nucker pointed out, they are still not Cup favorites.

But will Minnesota win a Cup in the 37 years left with Parise though?

Thornton
Pavelski
Couture
Burns
Karlsson
Jones

These guys are legit allstars having played in the "All Star Game"

Evander Kane and Vlasic are pretty damn good too.

Not to mention Timo Meier and Tomas Hertl...

This roster has more star power than any other in the league. Just Sayin'

Thornton
Pavelski
Couture
Burns
Karlsson
Jones

These guys are legit allstars having played in the "All Star Game"

Evander Kane and Vlasic are pretty damn good too.

Not to mention Timo Meier and Tomas Hertl...

This roster has more star power than any other in the league. Just Sayin'
- Max.Betts

It has exactly one backup-cup-ring, your "more star power than any other in the league".

Thornton
Pavelski
Couture
Burns
Karlsson
Jones

These guys are legit allstars having played in the "All Star Game"

Evander Kane and Vlasic are pretty damn good too.

Not to mention Timo Meier and Tomas Hertl...

This roster has more star power than any other in the league. Just Sayin'
- Max.Betts

It would be a scarier group if Thornton/Pavelski were younger. But yeah, they’re the clear fav in the Pacific, but it’s arguable if you want to discuss them vs Winnipeg/Nashville in the west or Tampa out East.


No one can really make arguments for other teams in the NBA

"Thornton
Pavelski
Couture
Burns
Karlsson
Jones

These guys are legit allstars having played in the "All Star Game"

Evander Kane and Vlasic are pretty damn good too.

Not to mention Timo Meier and Tomas Hertl...

This roster has more star power than any other in the league. Just Sayin'"

I hope you don't really believe this, because you'd be delusional. Also, the all Star game isn't always the best measuring stick. Unless you think Leo Komarov is a legitimate all star

It would be a scarier group if Thornton/Pavelski were younger. But yeah, they’re the clear fav in the Pacific, but it’s arguable if you want to discuss them vs Winnipeg/Nashville in the west or Tampa out East.


No one can really make arguments for other teams in the NBA
- Nucker101

They arent on the same level as Nashville or Winnipeg. Not sure how they could be considered "the warriors of the NHL". That's just joke worthy homerism

I see 8 legit contenders in the league...with a couple others out there with a good chance to jump into that category. The Sharks are definitely one of the 8 along with Nashville, Winnipeg, Washington, Pittsburgh, Toronto, Boston and Tampa.

However, they are not a step above those others.

Thornton
Pavelski
Couture
Burns
Karlsson
Jones

These guys are legit allstars having played in the "All Star Game"

Evander Kane and Vlasic are pretty damn good too.

Not to mention Timo Meier and Tomas Hertl...

This roster has more star power than any other in the league. Just Sayin'
- Max.Betts

Ummmm ..I'm just going to use the pens as an example, but there are others

Sid
Geno
Phil
Letang
Murray
(Those 5 alone hold more star power than the 6 listed above...outside of EK)
Then you add Guentzel (playoff numbers are amazing), Hornquist, an under rated Schultz, Brassard....

The high end talent in tbe east is incredible...plus those teams round out their rosters with guys who know how to get it done.

Gretzky's Oilers in the 80s were the GSW of hockey, before GSW was GSW. We will never see a team like that in hockey again for a few reasons, the biggest among them being the cap. If basketball had a hard cap they wouldn't either.

Gretzky's Oilers in the 80s were the GSW of hockey, before GSW was GSW. We will never see a team like that in hockey again for a few reasons, the biggest among them being the cap. If basketball had a hard cap they wouldn't either.
- leafsfann

Agreed.

Lets not forget that John Scott made an all star appearance
So in retrospect "all star" does not hold much weight these days

Wish we still had the ability to vote whoever we wanted. The allstar game is a joke so let the fans have some fun with it. Heck, let us vote former players. Get the 88 Oilers vs the young guns. It would be better than what we have watched the past 20 years

Lets not forget that John Scott made an all star appearance
So in retrospect "all star" does not hold much weight these days
- camfor

Eh, he won the MVP at the all-star game as well, basically more than justifying his invitiation. And Patrick Kane is a damn good hockey player, but whether he is more an all-star than John Scott (a sports personality youth can look up to) is more than questionable.

What are the most likely line combos?