Image details: San Jose Sharks v Calgary Flames served by picapp.com
The Sharks need to get angry and put the Flames away for good

Being a Bay Area fan, quick exits are unfortunately nothing new to me. The Giants and A's can't seem to make it past the first round of the playoffs, if they make them at all. The Warriors can't seem to make the playoffs. The Raiders and 49ers seasons are usually done half-way through the year recently. The Sharks are the most winning franchise in the Bay Area when it comes to major professional sports, and they can't seem to get past the first round! It's not their fault so much as I'm tired of watching these teams underachieve in the post season. Am I alone?

During this series with Calgary, the Sharks have looked tired. The Flames have normally looked faster, stronger, and hungrier. I, along with my partner Spencer Mills, have written this in past posts throughout this series. Now, I'm just mad. This isn't last year when the team was still meshing in the post season. All except for a couple of the guys have been playing together all year!

If they hadn't walked into the playoffs on such a run, my expectations would be much lower. The problem is that didn't happen. They awoke with a little more than a month of the regular season and went on a tear moving their way up from the eighth seed all the way up to the second. If they had a couple of more weeks, they may have become the first seed...or, judging by this series, maybe not.

This is NOT how you play playoff hockey. In past years, when the Sharks have lost in later rounds, I didn't question their drive, or in other words, their heart. If they end up losing in the first series of the playoffs this year, it will be difficult for me not to. That's what makes me mad. I haven't been this frustrated since Jeremy Giambi didn't slide into home plate against the Yankees!

I don't want to be angry, frustrated, and of course disappointed by this years' playoff results. It would be a very long offseason if that were to happen. Do you think the Sharks players feel that way? My hope is that they do. If they intend to travel to the second round, they have to win game 7 at home on Tuesday and to do that, they're going to have to be angry too.

Rob Calonge is a contributor to The Cold Shoulder. He also contributes to The City and Thoughts From the Darkside.