Worlds has basically been a big JMFJ lovefest so far because he's the best player on Team USA (yeah, sad, I know) which is of course fantastic for me! Sadly, the comment thread on LA Kings Insider doesn't have as much love for him. :( A lot of them make fun of his +/-, some comments of support, and half of it is asking why Donuts didn't go to Worlds. :( One of the commenters provided an answer for this:

Drew Doughty Wayne Simmonds and Trevor Lewis are all at the Aria in vegas right now. No Joke, my uncle just called me and told me he saw them in the casino.

harleymae: CAN YOU IMAGINE HIM AT THE BUFFETS???
early_afternoon: I DON'T WANT TO
THERE WOULD BE NO FOOD LEFT

I'm not sure whether it's because the Kings series was so traumatic and left me so wimpy that I haven't recovered for the Red Wings series, or because I actually have sleep this past week, but this is the least nervous I've ever been for a playoff series. This is not to say it's to do with confidence - if the Sharks played the way they had in Round 1 they lose this series, not even a question - but just kind of a... resignation? That's not it either. I dunno.

Anyway, I went to Game 2 yesterday and it was lots of fun! I am so so so proud of the Sharks' defensive coverage. It makes me want to cry. Pretty much everyone did a good job, no weak links and I was surprised by how hard that Vlasic battled with people and for pucks. He's so grown up now! *cries* Also when he and Bertuzzi (!!!) were taken off for roughing (!!!) penalties, he was laughing in the box in disbelief, which I thought was hilarious and awesome.

I fucking love Jason Demers. He's like the... anti-Ehrhoff haha. I need to find nice photos or screenshots of him for an icon. :) He does need to calm down a bit and lay off the high hits, though. I call him the anti-Ehrhoff because he doesn't have that indecision in his game (especially in the playoffs) where Ehrhoff would just... hesitate when he should have been pressing the attack. Demers just goes when it seems like he should. I don't even mind mistakes. when you have consistent hesitation that is so much worse. (This is the "Donuts shouldn't stop gambling even though he fucks up sometimes" argument).

Antti Niemi was really solid. I thought his most important save was the Darren Helm short-handed chance. Watching the game on TV it seemed more even than being at the game where it just seemed like Sharks dominance most of the time. It's one of those things where... players get shots and they're not dangerous and rack up the SOG? Compared to great scoring chances on the Sharks side that don't even register as SOG because people whiffed on the puck with open net chances.

I was wearing my 2003 rookie T-shirt with Clowe, Pavelski, Vlasic and Carle on it and I'm so proud of how they've all turned out (err, you know, the ones who are still with the Sharks :P). And Carle was the most heralded one of the lot at the time!