NHL Playoffs 2012: San Jose Sharks and St. Louis Blues Are Now Officially Rivals

Before the San Jose Sharks and St. Louis Blues began their playoffs series on Thursday, they did not know much about one another. The last time these two teams had faced off in the playoffs was in 2004. 

The Sharks were used to playing division rivals such as Anaheim, Dallas, and Los Angeles in the playoffs. The Blues had only made the playoffs once in the past seven seasons. Therefore, there was not much of a rift between the Sharks and Blues.

That meant that these two teams had to learn to become rivals, which is what Ray Ratto pointed out in his article "St. Louis Blues—the team you must force yourself to hate." 

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This is the segment of the show known as, “Know The Guys You Have To Force Yourselves To Dislike,” and it only happens at this time for hockey fans. 

This installment is The Saint Louis Blues, a team that really isn’t hateable at all, so you’ll have to put in extra work for maximum fan enjoyment/delusion.

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Game 1 on Thursday night did not have much action. During a game that took two overtimes, there was just 16 penalty minutes between the two teams combined—and no fights. 

Game 2 on Saturday night was a much different story. The teams combined for 61 penalty minutes, including eight fighting majors, 10 roughing minors, and five game misconducts. Even though the game itself was not close (the Blues won 3-0), the two teams proved Saturday night that they now officially hate each other. 

The first fight to break out was midway in the second period, when a routine scrum around the net after a shot on goal resulted in Joe Pavelski and Kris Russell dropping the gloves.

The two teams continued to give each other a hard time, roughing each other up between whistles. 

With less than a minute remaining in the game, with the Blues up 2-0, Dan Boyle showed his displeasure of a hit by Alexander Steen by dropping the gloves with him.

Then, after the final buzzer sounded, the big one broke out. B.J. Crombeen hit Douglas Murray, causing all five skaters on both sides to grab onto each other. This resulted into three separate fights— Dominic Moore vs. Vladimir Sobotka, Justin Braun vs. Roman Polak, and Douglas Murray vs. Barret Jackman. Ten separate penalties were dished out at the 20:00 mark of the third period.

So what does this mean? This means that the San Jose Sharks and the St. Louis Blues now have a reason to hate each other. It also means that Game 3 on Monday night in San Jose will be a lot more physical and rough—and therefore a lot more interesting. 

It took two games, but the Sharks and Blues finally have a chip on their shoulders. It is clear now—the Sharks and Blues are officially rivals.