If there’s one thing I was not too keen on studying in school, it’s philosophy. I handled Calculus, wrote articles about school sporting events, and even made some pretty killer bowls in Ceramics. However, I remember that high school was not the most fun for me when I studied philosophy. Something about Aristotle’s beady little eyes staring back at me in a picture from the Power Point being shown during a lecture freaked me out.
There was one thing I remembered, and it was a theory called, “Tabula Rasa,” meaning “blank slate.” Basically, the oversimplified version of what I gathered from the lectures was that it states that a human's knowledge is built based upon experience and that everyone's born with a clean, blank slate.
There is no excuse to lose the last two games to teams that are going to be enjoying an extended summer vacation. The last few games should have been “gimme games,” maybe with the exception of the Coyotes. The fact that the Sharks won the President’s Trophy just because the Boston Bruins couldn’t get the job done against the Buffalo Sabres doesn’t make me feel as good about them winning it at all. I’m just focused on the aspect that the Sharks had the opportunity to clinch and they couldn’t. That’s just what it says to me.
I do have to give the Sharks some credit. They've clinched home ice. They’re the best in the West. They’ve won the President’s Trophy. Those are all accomplishments that I did not expect before the season started.
However, it’s not exactly like the Anaheim Ducks are a cake-walk team to be facing during the first round. I was watching the St. Louis Blues/Colorado Avalanche game this afternoon, and I have never been so anxious for Scott “Minister of Defense” Hannan and the rest of the Avalanche to get a win. However, the Blues won, and the Ducks have become the Sharks’ first round opponent.
Although the travel would be favorable against the Ducks, I don’t think that the Ducks would be the best team to face in the first round. From a fan's point of view, this is a great, entertaining series. But, in regards to the Sharks' journey to win the cup, this series is probably not the best to have.
It seems eerily similar to the Calgary series of last year because it was very entertaining, but going through a seven-game series definitely didn't help the Sharks against the Dallas Stars.
The Ducks can be just as physical as the Flames were towards the Sharks. Except, this time around, it’s worse: the Ducks have scoring. Seriously, just look at some of their roster: rookie forward Bobby Ryan (31 G 26 A), defensemen Scott Niedermayer (14 G 45 A) and Chris Pronger (11 G 37 A), physical forward Corey Perry (32 G 40 A), Ducks leading scorer Ryan Getzlaf (25 G 66 A), Shark killer Teemu Selanne (27 G 27 A) – the list goes on and on.
The Ducks have got Jonas Hiller, who stepped in for Jean-Sebastian Giguere nicely and has proved to be a great starting goaltender for the Ducks. The one thing I see against him is that he has absolutely no playoff experience. Hiller’s posted a 2.39 GAA and a .919 save percentage through 46 games, whereas Giguere’s got a 3.10 GAA and a .900 save percentage.
I personally believe Ducks head coach Randy Carlyle’s going to give the go-ahead to Hiller as the starting goalie, but having a backup who’s actually won the Stanley Cup will prove to be a great asset for the Ducks. It’ll be interesting to see what happens if Hiller doesn’t get the job done.
Overall, the Ducks are too physical of a team to be playing right off the bat. To me, there’s no doubt about it – a series between the Sharks and the Ducks would go to a game seven.
I’m sure Sharks fans would like nothing more than to beat the Ducks in a seven-game series; however, imagine the bitterness that’ll arise during the six meetings between the Sharks and Ducks as Pacific Division opponents if the Sharks, dare I say it, don't get the job done. It’ll be the highest high if the Sharks beat the Ducks, and the lowest low if they get knocked out in the first round.
The Sharks have a lot riding on this first-round series. I acknowledge that anything goes in the playoffs. The regular season doesn’t matter. Let’s start with a blank, clean slate – a Tabula Rasa, if you will – and hope that the Sharks will start off fresh and forget about the poor play they’ve been demonstrating lately.
-Danielle
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As a side note, I’m going to be in Texas over the next week for some personal matters. So, if you notice me absent during the most important time of the season, know that I’m out of town and with no access to the Center Ice package. I’ll be back for (hopefully) at least game three. 
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