It's Not Time to Press the Panic Button

It's time to calm down, folks. Yes, the San Jose Sharks just returned from a less than perfect road trip, returning with a three game losing streak and only one win. Yes, Boston has overtaken them with a five point lead in the league standings. Yes, goalie Evgeni Nabokov is not exhibiting his best form to date. These facts are depressing, but certainly not debilitating, as many "fans" seem to think. What makes me sad is not our local hockey team's suddenly average play, but the accompanying poor attitudes toward the Sharks that I have observed around campus. Of course it's more fun when to be a fan when the Sharks are stellar, but part of being a true "fin- atic" is supporting a team through both the highs AND the lows. Instead of getting riled up over the missed saves and blocked shots that have tended to define the last string of games, let's focus on the positive: The Sharks are still second in the league, first in the Western Conference and first in the Pacific Division. They are heading into a three game home stand at the Tank against teams that they should be able to systematically annihilate. Finally, they still have three games in hand against the league-leading Bruins.

So let's not despair, Sharks fans. The play exhibited in the last few games should only have been expected in an 82-game season.  So please, take a deep breath  and remove your hand from the panic button. We're going to be just fine.

Back home at the Tank

Sure, I missed my family and friends, my dog and my cat, and my big bed and squishy pillow while I was studying abroad in London for the past 4 months. That's only to be expected when one embarks on life-altering adventures, right? What I unexpectedly missed the most, however, were my San Jose Sharks.

My love for hockey's greatest team was initiated in the 3rd grade, when my older brothers allowed my sister and I to take their two coveted spots next to my dad at a game. I spent all three periods in complete and utter confusion. Why would the team announce when they were about to perform an especially good move ("Sharksss on the power play!")? How did the players know when to jump on and off the ice despite a time out never being called? And what's up with all the fighting?!

Eleven years later, I've come to know the game inside and out, backward and forward, and up and down. I regard the "Tank" as my second home, and the players as my extended family.

This dedication made it painful to observe the Sharks' incredible success this season from across the pond. Having resorted to checking the scores and fan forums online each morning, my heart ached for the rowdy crowd and the inevitable chaos and excitement that each hockey game holds. My love for London, while substantial, was hugely marred by it's lack of an ice-hockey team. I mean, "football's" great and all, but it's severely lacking in ice, and skates, and sticks, and pucks, and... well, it's just not hockey.

As my Bay Area homecoming date approached, the superstitious side of me began to worry that my return to San Jose would somehow throw the Sharks off of their phenomenal winning streak. My mom assured my this fear was unfounded and unwarranted, as our team had enjoyed success for many years, despite my presence in the country. Worries aside, I attended the Sharks vs. Rangers game the very day I arrived back in the United States.

Overcome with emotion in the first period, I cried when the players skated through the Shark head at the beginning of the game. Overcome with a desire for breakfast in the second period (it was morning in London, after all), I scarfed down a pepperoni pizza. Overcome with jet lag in the third period, I fell asleep on my sister's shoulder.

I might have missed the end of the game, but I was wonderfully and comfortably home.

Season's over...

April 19, 2008, a day which will live in infamy in Minnesota Wild history. After outplaying and outshooting the Colorado Avalanche badly in St. Paul for game 5, they dragged their feet and played sloppy on route to a 2-1 defeat at the hands of Jose Theodore and Peter Forsberg. After a Northwest Division title and high expectations going into a favorable 1st round matchup with Colorado, the wheels just seemed to come off the train. Nick Schultz, a second pairing Wild defensemen underwent an appendectomy and was out said to be done for the series, little did he know that he would actually be done for the season. But enough of the poor and tiresome Wild, next year should be better for an injury plagued season that still produced great success. Onto a happier subject...


The Sharks!! My adopted Western Conference team in the South Bay! Going into a potentially dangerous series with the Calgary Flames and sharpshooter Jarome Iginla the Sharks fought off the pesky Flames to win a "heated" seven game series with a 5-3 victory last night at HP Pavilion. With that win the Sharks advance to the 2nd round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs and will head south to Texas to face the former Dallas (Lone)Stars. This is a sore subject for me, and any Minnesotan. You see, the "Dallas Stars" were actually stolen from my great state. They were originally the Minnesota North Stars. Norm Green will forever be known as a thief and traitor to the state for stealing away the beloved pro team from the State of Hockey. Regardless, my only two desires in hockey are for the Wild to win, and the (Lone)Stars to lose, and San Jose should make that happen in this series. GO SHARKS!!

Never Forget. Never Forgive Norm Green.