San José Chomps Where No Shark Has Chomped Before

The original Men of Teal have finally broken through.

It's been a 25-year wait, but the San José Sharks have made it to the Stanley Cup Finals with their 5-2 triumph in Game 6 of the Western Conference championship series.

They did it with velocity that, over a long series, the St Louis Blues just couldn't match.

The only thing these Sharks didn't deploy was a strike from the depths.

Just know that, even then, Joel Ward would've been there for the tap-in.

Dude continued his Justin Williams North act in the clincher, swooping in for a pair of goals to sink the Blues.

Frankly, St Louis deserves credit for extending the series this far. Full marks to Ken HItchcock's in-game adjustments and his squad's response to them. If the dude hasn't earned an extended contract after this spring, crime pays.

Meanwhile, memories in the Bay Area of a breathtaking choke job two seasons ago -- San José blew a three-games-to-none playoff lead to the Kings -- and an empty spring last year are becoming distant, perhaps spun as being their own painful version of the process that would befit a Silicon Valley team.

So, the Sharks stayed within arm's length + one inch of the Clarence Campbell Bowl for the first time and await the survivor of tonight's Game 7 to decide their opponent from the East.

Given the teams in that one, the Finals should be a blur.