Sharks Hockey is BACK!!!

The signs are here. The nights are getting cooler. Cloudy days are replacing sunny skies. Hunters are happily trudging through brush and forest, hoping to bag a trophy buck. The glow of bright orange reminds us that Halloween is coming. Nights are rowing longer and the days shorter.

Fall has arrived and with that is the start of the NHL's ice hockey season. Skate blades hang from the locker room, sharpened and ready for use. Hockey sticks wait, fresh tape on handles. Eager fans argue on which player will get the most goals, highest number of assists, and top the penalty points on the roster.

Which rookie will make the team? Who was traded and which players were picked up during the off season? What odds do the different sports media give the team to win the Stanley Cup?


I am a Sharks fan.

No, this isn't an opening to some twisted clinic. I proudly wear my teal & white. I proclaim my colors every time I open the door to my teal & black motor vehicle. I have a "This is Sharks Territory" sign posted above my preferred dispatch workstation. At home, I have an ever-increasing display of Sharks memorabilia going back to day one, year one. One of my treasured photos is a snapshot of my son (in his younger days) skating with SJ Sharkie in a parade as a member of the Kids Club. He couldn't have been more than ten at the time, playing street hockey with a boy's love of the game. We went to many games, just the two of us through-out his awkward teenage years.

Every October, our family would sit back to watch the games. Looking at the 'new' team, we'd all high-five one another and say, 'Yep, looks like this could be the year for the guys!" We'd cheer on the guys, and occasionally hiss & boo when a player would make a bonehead move. At the end of the playoffs, we'd sigh and say, "Next year, we'll bring the Cup home."

Is this the Sharks year? Darn right it is and until the final horn blows in the last game of the Stanley Cup final, no one will convince me otherwise. I know the players won't touch Lord Stanley's Cup until they win it. One year, when Sebastian & I were at the Tank for a game, the Cup was there on a tour. We had the chance to have our photo taken standing next to it. Of course we took advantage of the opportunity. It's the second favorite hockey photo I have.

I am hoping to see the guys holding it high during a victory parade in San Jose. That will be my third favorite.

One more thing: my crusade to get NHL channel is hit a road block. I'm just not a big enough fish. Charter Cable (in Reno) doesn't believe there are enough hockey fans to warrant signing NHL to their line-up. Great, but we have NASCAR, golf, two horse-racing (which I do happen to like), and a gazillion foreign language channels (which I can't watch but HAVE to be on the Guide - go figure). And both the NHL Center Ice and NHL Game Center still consider Reno NEVADA part of San Jose CALIFORNIA. Therefore the games are blacked out.

No worries. They set the rules. I came up with a way around them. I caring family member OUTSIDE of the black-out area has signed up for a game center package and is letting me use it in their name. I'll be able to watch the games.

You hear that folks? Just find someone in a no restriction/non-blacked-out area and have that person register and pay for the service. They will need an email account - used Gmail or yahoo. They only need give you the sign-on information and you will be able to watch the forbidden games!

I didn't set the rules, I just found a way around them.

By the way, Hockey News has the Sharks odds at 19:1

as of Sept 29th, the roster is as below:

GO SHARKS


from the official site of the San Jose Sharks

Forwards

#	Name	Height	Weight	Date Of Birth	Age	Birth Place
37	Adam Burish	6' 1"	195	Jan 6, 1983	30	Madison, WI, USA
88	Brent Burns	6' 5"	230	Mar 9, 1985	28	Barrie, ON, CAN
39	Logan Couture	6' 1"	200	Mar 28, 1989	24	Guelph, ON, CAN
10	Andrew Desjardins	6' 1"	195	Jul 27, 1986	27	Lively, ON, CAN
9	Marty Havlat	6' 2"	210	Apr 19, 1981	32	Mlada Boleslav, CZE
48	Tomas Hertl	6' 2"	210	Nov 12, 1993	19	Praha, CZE
38	Bracken Kearns	6' 0"	195	May 12, 1981	32	North Vancouver, BC, CAN
81	Tyler Kennedy	5' 11"	185	Jul 15, 1986	27	Sault Ste. Marie, ON, CAN
12	Patrick Marleau "A"	6' 2"	220	Sep 15, 1979	34	Aneroid, SK, CAN
43	John McCarthy	6' 1"	195	Aug 9, 1986	27	Boston, MA, USA
83	Matthew Nieto	5' 11"	190	Nov 5, 1992	20	Long Beach, CA, USA
8	Joe Pavelski	5' 11"	190	Jul 11, 1984	29	Plover, WI, USA
42	Matt Pelech	6' 4"	230	Sep 4, 1987	26	Toronto, ON, CAN
15	James Sheppard	6' 1"	215	Apr 25, 1988	25	Halifax, NS, CAN
19	Joe Thornton "C"	6' 4"	220	Jul 2, 1979	34	London, ON, CAN
13	Raffi Torres   **	6' 0"	215	Oct 8, 1981	31	Toronto, ON, CAN
57	Tommy Wingels	6' 0"	200	Apr 12, 1988	25	Evanston, IL, USA

Defensemen

#	Name	Height	Weight	Date Of Birth	Age	Birth Place
22	Dan Boyle "A"	5' 11"	190	Jul 12, 1976	37	Ottawa, ON, CAN
61	Justin Braun	6' 2"	205	Feb 10, 1987	26	Minneapolis, MN, USA
5	Jason Demers	6' 1"	195	Jun 9, 1988	25	Dorval, QC, CAN
27	Scott Hannan	6' 1"	215	Jan 23, 1979	34	Richmond, BC, CAN
52	Matt Irwin	6' 2"	210	Nov 29, 1987	25	Brentwood Bay, BC, CAN
7	Brad Stuart	6' 2"	215	Nov 6, 1979	33	Rocky Mountain House, AB, CAN
44	Marc-Edouard Vlasic	6' 1"	205	Mar 30, 1987	26	Montreal, QC, CAN

Goalies

#	Name	Height	Weight	Date Of Birth	Age	Birth Place
31	Antti Niemi	6' 2"	210	Aug 29, 1983	30	Vantaa, FIN
32	Alex Stalock	6' 0"	190	Jul 28, 1987	26	St. Paul, MN, USA
** = Injured Reserve Stay safe out there!