NHL conspiracy theory and game scheduling

I wouldn't have wanted to be in Las Vegas if I didn't have to. It was triple digit temperatures in LAs Vegas this week. Ovie tweeted photos of hanging out in swimming pools. I bet half the people there had no idea who he was (could they even understand what he was saying?). Tickets to the event were a little pricey, though.

This year I had to watch the replay from home since I was scheduled to work. Darn those pesky Game Wardens - you would think they would understand the importance of the NHL Awards show and all take the day off, right? The job must go on...somebody has to answer the radio & phones.

Break out the Xanax because I'm depressed. Once again, poor Patty is DENIED silver. No Lady Byng trophy for Patrick Marleau. If it wasn't enough that his team, the San Jose Sharks failed to make their goal (sorry, folks) of bringing home Lord Stanley's Cup to Northern California, then at least he could have carried home to San Jose from Las Vegas. Instead, he hung out with the boys.

Let's face it. Patty's not known for being an enforcer. How many times have we seen him drop the gloves? Perhaps if Marleau had been a little more assertive, the team might have followed suit and they would have not allowed LA to win those four games.

Ouch.

Hey, don't smack down the messenger. I happen to like Marleau. I think he's a skilled player but this season's post-season melt down was just the tip of the iceberg. LA turned up the heat while SJ decided they wanted to hit the golf courses early. How else do you explain the loss?

My husband has maintained that the professional sports (all teams in general) have an idea who they want to do well' each year. When we watch games, he points out obvious missed calls by refs that benefit the opposite teams. "See, that ref wants San Jose to lose."

I try to stick up for the zebras. "No, he just didn't see the incident. He was watching the play on the other side of the ice." Sometimes its tough to justify non-calls - such as a puck passing across the goal line but the ref refusing to acknowledge the goal judges or linesmen trying to get their attention to go to review. I saw this watching other teams, too, not just San Jose. I think there were two key points in SJ's post season loss. The first was Vlasic's injury and the second was the failure to score on a five-on-three power play. LA gathered momentum and never looked back.

This week the NHL released the 2014-2015 pre & regular season schedules. Let's beat a dead horse to a bloody pulp: the San Jose Shark's opening game is on the road - in Los Angeles - where the Kings will raise the Stanley Cup banner.

Who in the NHL has it out for San Jose to start them against the team that turned around a 3-0 deficit to a win in the first round? How cruel is that? Couldn't the Sharks have started out playing Anaheim then the next game played LA? The scheduler must have spent a long weekend at a S&M club getting whipped within inches of his (or her life) by some leather-clad dominatrix to come up with that plan.

I just hope the NHL decides to go ahead with giving San Jose the outdoor game this coming season. I know it is a carrot, but after all the team has gone through, they deserve it; just don't have them play LA or Anaheim. Make it interesting. Bring in Detroit, St. Louis, Dallas, or Montreal for a Canadian flair.

San Jose fans are just as loyal as other other team. We've stuck around despite the dismal losing post-seasons. We love our our team. We wear our teal proudly. We were ripped out of seeing the Hanson Brothers at our All-Star event because the League didn't think the brothers properly represented the spirit of hockey. That's okay, Owen Nolan gave us a hat trick to remember. Now, give us an outdoor game.

We will support it and the Bay Area & the world will see how great hockey is.

Meanwhile, Patty, Joe, Edouard, Logan, Tomas, and all the other guys...enjoy your summer and we'll see you back in September.

Go Sharks!

stay safe out there