It's almost that time again: 2013-2014 San Jose Sharks Ice Hockey

Can you believe it, the new season is just around the corner. With a redesign on the home and away sweaters, our favorite NHL team players will be looking good on the ice this season. I like the change. The jerseys have the leaping Shark on the shoulder (a bad ass symbol) with the older, classic shark on the chest without a bunch of lines to distract from the logo. Very nice! I've included a link to a video on the Sharks' official site where you can see the new uniforms modeled by Joe, Dan, Brad, and Brent.



What changes to the roster will we see this season? That is certainly a good question. Let's face facts here, if San Jose had played a regular year, I believe they would have placed much higher in the year end stats and probably made it to the Conference finals. How much faith does Doug Wilson have in his veteran players? I say enough to not ask Thornton, Marleau, or Boyle to waive their trade clauses. He brought Hannan in for his experience, but will Hannan stay a Shark?

Does GM Wilson trade Staylock or Anderson, or will he give one of the back-up goalies some ice time and rest Niemi to keep him fresh? Is this the season for Hertl to debut in the big league, or does the Sharks first rounder spend time in Worcester? It's a little early to know for certain. One thing is sure, it will be a welcome, full 82 game, season. Let us not forget the League restructured the teams this year.

When training camp opens, the rookies will be working hard to earn a spot on the roster. A series of games has been put together for the rookies. Below is the schedule:

Game 1	Edmonton vs Calgary	Sept. 5	4 p.m.
Game 2	Vancouver vs San Jose	Sept. 5	7:30 p.m.
Game 3	Winnipeg vs San Jose	Sept. 6	4 p.m.
Game 4	Vancouver vs Calgary	Sept. 6	7:30 p.m.
Game 5	Canucks Alumni Game	Sept. 7	5 p.m.
Game 6	Edmonton vs Winnipeg	Sept. 7	7:30 p.m.
Game 7	Vancouver vs Edmonton	Sept. 8	2 p.m.
Game 8	San Jose vs Calgary	Sept. 8	5:30 p.m.
Game 9	**Winnipeg vs Vancouver	Sept. 9	Noon

Another part of making a roster is cap space. Each team is allowed a 22 man roster and the Sharks have 25 per Capgeek with a cap payroll of $65,131,667.  and a salary payroll of $63,756,666. That means the Management has to whittle down there numbers a bit.

According to Capgeek, Pavelski and Couture and six year contracts while Vlasic has a five year deal. The big dogs of Joe Thornton, Patrick Marleau, Scott Hannan, and Dan Boyle are in the last year and each will become unrestricted free agents (UFAs) at the end of this season. Seven players have two years left before they become UFAs, they are Martin Havlat, Tyler Kennedy, Andrew Desjardins, Brad Stuart, Justin Braun, Matt Irwin, and Antti Niemi. James Sheppard, Tommy Wingels, Alex Stalock, and Jason Demers become restricted free agents (RFAs) at the end of the season. Raffi Torres and Adam Burish each have three years until they join the UFA ranks while Thomas Hertl becomes a RFA in that time frame.

I'm not going to pretend to understand the salary cap. I'm not an accountant. Should be interesting once Doug and Todd finish setting the team in September. Who will make it and who will be sent down?

I listed a couple of articles below. One is from The Bleacher Report. It's a short blurb on the authors top five biggest villains on Sharks history. His number one is wrong. It should be Link Gaetz. For those of you newer fans, Link played one season, the 1991-1992. He had a total of 326 penalty minutes. He set the bar for Sharks enforcers for years to come.

I gave up on my personal crusade for the Game Center boycott. No one wanted to join me and a one-person protest just doesn't have an impact. So, I'll work the system and figure another way to watch the games. With luck, we might be in the Bay Area in December where I'll be able to watch a game in person. It's been far too long since I have cheered the team on in person.

Glass seats facing behind the penalty box, or across the ice from the team so I would have an clear view.

Heaven!


Go Sharks!!


The links are below....

newly designed uniforms

http://video.sharks.nhl.com/videocenter/console?catid=125&id=263823

Dan Rosen talks about the Sharks

http://video.sharks.nhl.com/videocenter/console?catid=125&id=263823

and finally, we'll keep watch on how many times Scott Hartnell falls down (all in good fun, Scott)

http://www.hartnelldown.com/index2.html

MJ Kasprzak's Biggest Villains on San Jose Sharks History (not my choices)

http://bleacherreport.com/san-jose-sharks#

Stay safe out there!