Hockey Season is almost upon us!

The temperature is beginning to drop. I doubt we'll have any triple digit days and maybe we won't see the thermometer rise past the low nineties. It means two things: the summer is almost over with fall on the horizon and it's time for training camp!

That's right, the ice hockey pre-season is just around the corner.

I have been going into withdrawals, not having live hockey to watch. Sure, the NHL Channel is showing old games from last season but it's not the same thing. I know the score when I view the previously broadcast games. It seems like cheating when I watch a game I've already seen. It wouldn't be so bad if the shows were good games (when San Jose won) but the only ones I have seen so far include the losing post-season series.





Put on some of the old All-Star games. I'd especially like to see the one where San Jose hosted and Owen Nolan scored a hat trick. Now THAT was a fun one to see.

San Jose is playing an outdoor game this season. It is scheduled for Feb 21rst. I'm going t be my best to get tickets. I just wish they weren't playing LA. I would have liked to see a Canadian or Eastern region team instead - say, Vancouver or Boston.

The big question with San Jose this year is how the guys will respond after coming off that terrible loss to LA. As it stands right now, the team doesn't have a designated Captain or Alternate Captains. Who will wear the 'C' on day one? My bet is Logan Couture. I wouldn't be surprised to see Vlasic with an 'A' and maybe Marleau.

Hertl should be healthy and I'm looking forward to seeing this kid in his sophomore year. I have no doubts he would have won the Calder Trophy for best rookie had he not been injured. Raffi Torres will be out for the first part of the season, rehabbing from his second surgery. I wonder what Raffi could do for the team if he was hale. Niemi and Stalock are the two goalies. Stalock showed some good numbers during his limited play and I wouldn't be surprised if he gets more ice time this year.

I think, and I've also read this on many of the sites, that Niemi & McClellan will both be looking for new jobs should they fail to raise their performance. Thornton always put up good numbers but I could see him moving to a contender team after this season IF they don't do better than the last. Below is a link to an article on San Jose's site about the perspective team.

http://sharks.nhl.com/club/news.htm?id=729317&navid=DL|SJS|home

Who will win the Cup if San Jose doesn't? New York gave a good showing in the play-offs, so I think they could be up there along with Boston and Chicago. I don't think LA will repeat.

As a recap, here is last's year's player stats:

orwards & Defensemen

#	POS	PLAYER	GP	G	A	P	+/-	PIM	PP	SH	GW	S	S%
8	C	JOE PAVELSKI	82	41	38	79	23	32	16	1	3	225	18.20
19	C	JOE THORNTON	82	11	65	76	20	32	2	0	3	122	9.00
12	L	PATRICK MARLEAU	82	33	37	70	0	18	11	2	4	285	11.60
39	C	LOGAN COUTURE	65	23	31	54	21	20	4	2	6	233	9.90
88	D	BRENT BURNS	69	22	26	48	26	34	2	0	3	245	9.00
57	C	TOMMY WINGELS	77	16	22	38	11	35	0	2	7	163	9.80
22	D	DAN BOYLE	75	12	24	36	-8	32	6	0	1	154	7.80
5	D	JASON DEMERS	75	5	29	34	14	30	1	0	0	105	4.80
48	C	TOMAS HERTL	37	15	10	25	11	4	3	0	3	98	15.30
44	D	MARC-EDOUARD VLASIC	81	5	19	24	31	38	0	1	0	138	3.60
83	L	MATT NIETO	66	10	14	24	-4	16	1	0	2	124	8.10
9	R	MARTY HAVLAT	48	12	10	22	14	10	1	0	2	72	16.70
15	L	JAMES SHEPPARD	67	4	16	20	3	35	0	0	0	84	4.80
52	D	MATT IRWIN	62	2	17	19	5	35	1	0	0	147	1.40
81	R	TYLER KENNEDY	67	4	13	17	-10	34	0	0	1	143	2.80
10	C	ANDREW DESJARDINS	81	3	14	17	-8	86	0	0	1	95	3.20
61	D	JUSTIN BRAUN	82	4	13	17	19	20	1	0	1	121	3.30
27	D	SCOTT HANNAN	56	3	9	12	1	55	0	0	0	52	5.80
7	D	BRAD STUART	61	3	8	11	4	35	0	0	3	64	4.70
13	L	RAFFI TORRES	5	3	2	5	4	7	0	0	0	9	33.30
18	R	MIKE BROWN	48	2	3	5	-10	75	0	0	0	44	4.50
38	L	BRACKEN KEARNS	25	3	2	5	-2	6	1	0	0	37	8.10
43	C	JOHN MCCARTHY	36	1	1	2	-11	4	0	0	0	49	2.00
42	R	MATT PELECH	6	1	0	1	1	22	0	0	1	3	33.30
76	R	ERIAH HAYES	15	1	0	1	-2	2	0	0	0	17	5.90
37	R	ADAM BURISH	15	0	0	0	-4	6	0	0	0	9	0.00
75	C	FREDDIE HAMILTON	11	0	0	0	-5	2	0	0	0	13	0.00

GOALIES

#	GOALIE	GPI	GS	MIN	GAA	W	L	OT	SO	SA	GA	SV%	G	A	PIM
31	ANTTI NIEMI	64	64	3740	2.39	39	17	7	4	1705	149	.913	0	2	0
32	ALEX STALOCK	24	18	1252	1.87	12	5	2	2	571	39	.932	0	0	2

Here is the roster for San Jose - final roster won't be set until after pre-season.

orwards

#	NAME	POS	HEIGHT	WEIGHT	DATE OF BIRTH	AGE	BIRTH PLACE
18	MIKE BROWN	R	5' 11"	202	JUN 24, 1985	29	CHICAGO, IL, USA
37	ADAM BURISH	R	6' 1"	195	JAN 6, 1983	31	MADISON, WI, USA
	RYAN CARPENTER	C	6' 1"	180	JAN 18, 1991	23	OVIEDO, FL, USA
39	LOGAN COUTURE	C	6' 1"	200	MAR 28, 1989	25	GUELPH, ON, CAN
73	CHRISTOPHER CRANE	R	6' 1"	190	DEC 2, 1991	22	VIRGINIA BEACH, VA, USA
10	ANDREW DESJARDINS	C	6' 1"	195	JUL 27, 1986	28	LIVELY, ON, CAN
55	PETTER EMANUELSSON	R	6' 0"	200	AUG 7, 1991	23	KIRUNA, SWE
	BARCLAY GOODROW	C	6' 2"	210	FEB 26, 1993	21	TORONTO, ON, CAN
	MICHEAL HALEY	C	5' 10"	205	MAR 30, 1986	28	GUELPH, ON, CAN
75	FREDDIE HAMILTON	C	6' 1"	195	JAN 1, 1992	22	TORONTO, ON, CAN
76	ERIAH HAYES	R	6' 4"	210	JUL 7, 1988	26	LA CRESCENT, MN, USA
48	TOMAS HERTL	C	6' 2"	210	NOV 12, 1993	20	PRAHA, CZE
	MELKER KARLSSON	C	6' 0"	180	JUL 18, 1990	24	LYCKSELE, SWE
81	TYLER KENNEDY	R	5' 11"	185	JUL 15, 1986	28	SAULT STE. MARIE, ON, CAN
	BRYAN LERG	L	5' 10"	175	JAN 20, 1986	28	LIVONIA, MI, USA
12	PATRICK MARLEAU "A"	L	6' 2"	220	SEP 15, 1979	34	ANEROID, SK, CAN
	TYE MCGINN	L	6' 2"	205	JUL 29, 1990	24	FERGUS, ON, CAN
83	MATT NIETO	L	5' 11"	190	NOV 5, 1992	21	LONG BEACH, CA, USA
67	TRAVIS OLEKSUK	C	6' 0"	200	FEB 3, 1989	25	THUNDER BAY, ON, CAN
8	JOE PAVELSKI	C	5' 11"	190	JUL 11, 1984	30	PLOVER, WI, USA
72	RYLAN SCHWARTZ	C	5' 10"	200	JAN 8, 1990	24	WILCOX, SK, CAN
	JOHN SCOTT	L	6' 8"	259	SEP 26, 1982	31	EDMONTON, AB, CAN
15	JAMES SHEPPARD	L	6' 1"	215	APR 25, 1988	26	HALIFAX, NS, CAN
71	DANIL TARASOV	R	5' 10"	185	JUN 20, 1991	23	MOSCOW, RUS
19	JOE THORNTON "C"	C	6' 4"	220	JUL 2, 1979	35	LONDON, ON, CAN
50	CHRIS TIERNEY	C	6' 0"	195	JUL 1, 1994	20	KESWICK, ON, CAN
13	RAFFI TORRES	L	6' 0"	215	OCT 8, 1981	32	TORONTO, ON, CAN
57	TOMMY WINGELS	C	6' 0"	200	APR 12, 1988	26	EVANSTON, IL, USA

Defensemen

#	NAME	HEIGHT	WEIGHT	DATE OF BIRTH	AGE	BIRTH PLACE
51	KONRAD ABELTSHAUSER	6' 5"	225	SEP 2, 1992	22	BAD TOLZ, DEU
61	JUSTIN BRAUN	6' 2"	205	FEB 10, 1987	27	MINNEAPOLIS, MN, USA
88	BRENT BURNS	6' 5"	230	MAR 9, 1985	29	BARRIE, ON, CAN
74	DYLAN DEMELO	6' 1"	195	MAY 1, 1993	21	LONDON, ON, CAN
5	JASON DEMERS	6' 1"	195	JUN 9, 1988	26	DORVAL, QC, CAN
77	TAYLOR DOHERTY	6' 7"	235	MAR 2, 1991	23	CAMBRIDGE, ON, CAN
	TAYLOR FEDUN	6' 0"	198	JUN 4, 1988	26	EDMONTON, AB, CAN
27	SCOTT HANNAN	6' 1"	215	JAN 23, 1979	35	RICHMOND, BC, CAN
52	MATT IRWIN	6' 2"	210	NOV 29, 1987	26	BRENTWOOD BAY, BC, CAN
41	MIRCO MUELLER	6' 3"	195	MAR 21, 1995	19	WINTERTHUR, CHE
80	MATT TENNYSON	6' 2"	205	APR 23, 1990	24	PLEASANTON, CA, USA
44	MARC-EDOUARD VLASIC	6' 1"	205	MAR 30, 1987	27	MONTREAL, QC, CAN

Goalies

#	NAME	HEIGHT	WEIGHT	DATE OF BIRTH	AGE	BIRTH PLACE
36	J.P. ANDERSON	5' 11"	185	APR 27, 1992	22	TORONTO, ON, CAN
34	TROY GROSENICK	6' 1"	185	AUG 27, 1989	25	BROOKFIELD, WI, USA
31	ANTTI NIEMI	6' 2"	210	AUG 29, 1983	31	VANTAA, FIN
32	ALEX STALOCK	6' 0"	190	JUL 28, 1987	27	ST. PAUL, MN, USA