St. Louis Blues Need To Win Just To Shut Pete DeBoer’s Sharks Up

The St. Louis Blues team’s focus is going to be on Game 6 and finish off the Western Conference Final. As fans, we now want them to win for another reason and that is to rid us of the self-absorbed nonsense spewing from the mouths of the San Jose Sharks.

The St. Louis Blues grabbed a series lead by winning Game 5 in San Jose. Apparently, they also touched a nerve on a suddenly sensitive dorsal fin of the San Jose Sharks.

The Sharks have taken a page out of their coach’s book and begun whining about noncalls. There were quite a few interesting quotes coming from the teal locker room after Game 5.

“An arguably five-minute major on Tommy Hertl that, if it’s called, maybe that’s a momentum-changing play right there,” DeBoer said as reported in the Post-Dispatch. “But we come out of the first (period) down 1-0 and then Hertl can’t go, and you know, Karlsson can’t go, so we started taking on some water.”

No offense, but the fact that DeBoer would even dare bring up a five-minute major just shows that he has no clue. You can question whether a hit was a penalty or not and I probably won’t bat an eye. There was nothing done on the Blues part in Game 5 that was worth anything more than two minutes.

However, DeBoer thinking anything and everything should be a five-minute penalty shows he thinks everything should be five minutes after getting handed a penalty in Game 7 against Vegas. Sharks fans and players can disagree with that, but I challenge you to find a neutral that can watch the Blues-Sharks Game 5 and find anything that was deserving of more than two minutes.

I guess this should come as no surprise. One of DeBoer’s comments after Game 1 implied he thought the referees should have called more in that game and said he talked with the officials and they would call more going forward. That, in and of itself, is pretty self-absorbed. The Blues threw the body around a lot in Game 1, but anything that was not called was clean. Just because his precious stars got roughed up a little means nothing.

The coach whining is rubbing off on his players. “I saw the Hertl hit. Just watched the replay,” Logan Couture said as reported in the Post-Dispatch. “Yeah, that’s a tough one. But they had one in Game 3 on Braun and nothing happened, so they can do it again, right?”

Really? After all the slashes and knee-on-knee hits the Sharks have done to the Blues, they want to act like St. Louis is the aggressor? They want to pretend like St. Louis is the dirty team?

Give me a break.

Of course, we all want the Blues to win just so they have a chance at the Stanley Cup. That is first and foremost.

However, as if this team and its coach was not annoying enough, now I want the Blues to win just to shut them up. I understand being frustrated with your team getting so close and feeling it slip away.

Even so, this seems a bit beneath professionals. It should definitely be beneath professional players that have been handed a game in every single playoff series thus far.

The Sharks should have been eliminated by Vegas, but were given a bogus five-minute major that allowed them to come back from a 3-0 deficit. Against Colorado, the last game of that series should have went to overtime, but a technicality allowed the Sharks to hold on. While the Blues are at fault during Game 3 in regulation, the officials missed a blatant hand pass that led to the eventual game-winning goal.

I’m sorry, but I do not want to hear a peep from the Sharks about anything officiating related unless someone’s grandmother jumps onto the ice and starts pelting a player with a brick-laden purse. I do not want to hear anything from a coach who has had so many calls go his way whine about officiating and missed calls when Craig Berube, who had every right to complain about Game 3, made one short comment and moved on with life.

Some icing on the cake, the NHL agrees with Blues fans that there was nothing dirty about things. The league was looking into the Ivan Barbashev hit, where the Sharks complain it was a hit to the head. Instead, the NHL has decided to award no secondary discipline.

Of course, this is all coming from a Blues fan perspective. Sharks fans think St. Louis is only winning because they are dirty.

The truth is somewhere in the middle. However, my frustration is with the Sharks and their coach.

You have benefited from more blatant officiating mistakes than any team in recent history. Instead of just owning that and saying you’re not sorry for still being here, they get pissy.

The Sharks get all butthurt anytime anyone refers to them being lucky.

So, to the Sharks fans out there, you’re allowed to have your opinion. We have all faced teams we felt were dirty and did not see any of the things our own team did as such.

That said, your team has done enough dirty things in this series and over the course of recent history to more than even it out. Perhaps the players should take a page out of Joe Thornton‘s book, who is probably one of the dirtier players on that team, and keep your mouth shut.

You have been extremely lucky (and good, there is no doubt) and benefited from several calls and non calls. So, stop playing your sad violin. Hopefully the Blues win just so we can stop hearing this verbal garbage.