Dirty Sharks

Think Brent Burns and the San Jose Sharks are a completely different team from the Dallas Stars and the Chicago Blackhawks? Well... check this out.

John Hefti-USA TODAY Sports

They are all physical (less Dallas, more Chicago), but the Sharks' physicality has had a bigger impact on the Blues than either DAL or CHI. They wore us down in the first couple games.

They've all got some goons... Some pretty dirty goons. We have goons, but our goons don't deliberately try to take-out star players. Here's Burns' first shot caught on camera.

Burns inadvertently hits Tarasenko in the face with his stick. #stlblues pic.twitter.com/jpLOf9fANz

— Cristiano Simonetta (@CMS_74_) May 22, 2016

Up next? Burns again. On Tarasenko... again. This one was undoubtably intentional.

Brent Burns with a cheap shot to the ribs of Vladimir Tarasenko pic.twitter.com/YF4RDQ8xGh

— Hockey Tweets (@HKY_Tweets) May 22, 2016

​Need another angle?

Here's the overhead view of Brent Burns punching Vladimir Tarasenko in the ribs. #stlblues pic.twitter.com/0DpMNN6On5

— Cristiano Simonetta (@CMS_74_) May 22, 2016

Then there's Joe Thorton, who—mind you—put a dent on David Perron's career with the St. Louis Blues (whether you're a fan of him or not). 

Joe Thornton just hit Alex Pietrangelo in the back of the head. #stlblues pic.twitter.com/OOx6lNFU4h

— Cristiano Simonetta (@CMS_74_) May 22, 2016

Maybe I'm biased as a Blues fan, but these guys don't look like a Stanley Cup team. Andrew Shaw did this type of stuff. The Stars (Benn's flopping) shouldn't have made it to the Conference Finals. So maybe it's because I'm a Blues fan, or maybe—just maybe—I'm on to something here.

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P.J. Cox
​@pjcoxx