A San Jose Sharks Blog

March 14, 2010

With an opportunity to sweep the season series against their Southern California rivals, the San Jose Sharks dropped the ball. After an awful first period, Team Teal just couldn't get things going against the Anaheim Ducks. In fact, it wasn't until the third period when San Jose finally got on the board. Unfortunately, it was too late as the Ducks controlled the game from start to finish. With a disappointing loss to Florida yesterday, Team Teal has now dropped two games in a row in less than 36 hours...ugh.

March 13, 2010

This afternoon, the Florida Panthers did their best San Jose Sharks impression and came back from a two goal deficit before winning the game in OT. After coming out with a lot of energy and pressure, Team Teal was able to rattle off two goals, putting the Panthers in a hole. Unfortunately, the Sharks' play over the latter half of the game was weak. In fact, they seemed to be waiting for the final buzzer rather than continuing the attack and icing the game. To be honest, it was a pretty disappointing game...just when you think they've straightened things out with their slow starts, they give you a bad finish.

March 12, 2010

Ok...we get it. The San Jose Sharks are a strong comeback team. Now that Team Teal has proved this fact over the last few games, let's get out of the bad habit of falling behind early. Granted, these games have been extremely exciting; especially last night's huge third period rally. However, this type of play won't be good in the playoffs. Typically in the post-season, the checking is tighter, penalties are less frequent, and goals aren't scored very often. With that said, boy...what a game!

March 7, 2010

Going into the mini-break, I thought it would be nice for the San Jose Sharks to win. Not only would it be the beginning of a winning streak, but also an opportunity to keep those Olympic juices flowing. Almost all of the players who have come back from Vancouver seem to be playing with a lot of confidence. Fortunately, Team Teal found a way to win against Columbus' stellar goaltending and tenacious play.

March 5, 2010

I'm not sure what was being said in the locker room, or at the players' homes, but the San Jose Sharks were playing angry last night...and I'm not going to lie...I really liked it. As the game got chippier, the chirping got louder and you could just see the anger on some of the players' faces. Both squads were slashing, cross-checking, tripping, punching...it was awesome. From a Montreal Canadiens perspective, I imagine their passion came from simply needing the points to get into the playoffs. As of this morning, Montreal is in a three-way tie for the final playoff spot in the East with the New York Rangers and Atlanta Thrashers. In regards to Team Teal's display of a mean streak, I think they were just tired of losing having dropped three out of the last four games.

March 2, 2010

Well, the San Jose Sharks opened up thier post-Olympics season with a loss against the New Jersey Devils. Thanks to give-aways, bad face-offs, and some questionable goaltending, Team Teal found themselves deep in a hole. Fortunately, San Jose rallied late in the third period...not enough to win, but enough to give Sharks fans something to cheer about.

March 1, 2010

What a game...the scene could not have been set more perfectly...for Canada that is. I can't imagine that there is anything better than winning an Olympic Gold Medal in hockey against the United States of America on home ice. Well, that's what Team Canada did yesterday and fortunately for us Sharks fans, four of our boys got to celebrate. With the number of players we had headed to Vancouver, it was all but guaranteed that a Sharks player would come home with the Gold. With players on Team Canada, USA, Russia, and Sweden, San Jose had a very good shot at bringing home some Olympic hardware. In the end, the San Jose Sharks collected a total of five medals; four gold and one silver...not bad at all.

February 25, 2010

Well, if there's a silver lining from last night's game between Team Russia and Team Canada...at least only one San Jose Shark finished his run at the gold medal...instead of four. However, to see Evgeni Nabokov get torched out there was tough. We all know how strong Number 20 is mentally, but after an outing like that, I still worry about how it may affect him once he's back in a San Jose sweater. Granted, it was essentially an All-Star game out there...a ton of shots coming from Canada and very little defense coming from Russia. More specifically, Evgeni saw 23 shots on goal in his 24 minutes of ice time...that's almost a shot a minute. You translate those numbers into a full 60 minutes and you get a 57 shot night! Unfortunately, Nabby didn't get to see 60 minutes as he was pulled after letting in a sixth Canadian goal. Granted, the Russian netminder couldn't stop the puck like he normally does, but the commentators made it seem like it was all Nabby's fault.

February 24, 2010

Well, it's been just under a week since I last posted and you can blame the Olympics. Every two years, I find myself in a fog...unable to focus on anything else but the Olympic games. Between the Winter games and Summer games, Winter is my favorite for obvious reasons. The level of hockey has simply been amazing. Not only has the play been great to watch, but the Olympics has given me the opportunity to pay attention to players who I never get to really see on a consistent basis. Pool play allowed me to see the Eastern young guns such as Crosby, Malkin, and my personal favorite...Ovechkin. There is just so much talent in the NHL and the Olympics do a great job of showcasing it. Unfortunately, like all good things, the Olympics will eventually come to an end. Tomas Greiss of Team Germany was the first San Jose Shark to finish his run at the gold medal, but after tonight, he will have some company.

February 18, 2010

With Team Sweden taking on Team Germany, San Jose Sharks fans were confronted with a difficult choice to make for the first time during these Olympics. Who to root for? Well, maybe it wasn't that difficult a choice for some, but last night's game did mark the first time that a Shark faced another Shark in Vancouver. Fortunately for Douglas Murray, Team Sweden ended up on top in what proved to be a much closer game than anticipated...much of that is thanks to a strong performance by Tomas Greiss.