Coaches are always looking for examples of leadership. They seek advice from other coaches, players and will go outside the sporting world to ask business leaders for stories and opinions.

I was shown an interesting article the other day by a very accomplished coach that leadership is for the birds. It was a story off of a leadership website by Michael Hyatt. He posted a guest blog by another leadership coach, Sean Glaze.

Sean Glaze told the story of penguins at the San Francisco Zoo and the changing of a culture. For years the 46 penguins at the San Francisco Zoo lived a comfortable country club life. They laid around, ate and swam. Taking occasional dips to keep cool and keep their feathers sleek.

As Sean Glaze wrote, “life was un-challenging.”

That is until six new penguins from Ohio were introduced to the colony.

A breakdown of Marc-Edouard Vlasic's goal

The long wait for Sharks fans is finally over. The home opener is tonight at HP Pavilion at 7:30pm against the Phoenix Coyotes. Not only do fans finally get to see the Boys in Teal for the first time since last April, but also they’ll be welcoming a team that comes home with a 2-0 record after impressive wins in Calgary and Edmonton.

There are so many positive takeaways from the road trip.

• The stunning and franchise record 6 goal first period against Edmonton.
• Patrick Marleau’s 4 goals as he became the first Shark to record multiple goal games in the first two contests of the season.
• Joe Thornton’s 5 assists
• Logan Couture’s 2 goal 2 assist start and his “stare down” of Taylor Hall and the Oilers other “Young Guns”
• Antti Niemi’s brilliance in the first period of the first game in Calgary when he gave the Sharks a chance to win

And those were just the headlines.

Keep submitting Sharks Territory photos, because every week we will post the best 3-5 photos of the week on the Daily Chomp blog. Fans will vote on their favorite photo each week. The winner of the week's best photo will receive a mini Sharks Territory sign autographed by their favorite Sharks player!

Check out this week's top fan photos and be sure to vote on which one you think is the best in the form below.

I was really excited to hear the lockout was over. It gives us even more incentive to continue to work hard. Obviously, I am very interested to watch the Sharks play; not just to cheer for them but also to watch the systems and plays that they are using. We use many of the same systems and plays here in Worcester, so it is good to watch them in use at the NHL level.

It has also been fun watching some of the players who were on our Worcester team playing now for San Jose. Those players with San Jose right now were a big part of our team, and very good leaders in the room so it has been a little tough without them. However, it gives other guys on the team a chance to step up.

We have been in a little rut for the last few games but we've had a good week of practice to gain back our confidence. Hopefully we will end that rut soon. We have a few players missing, either in San Jose or injured, so other players will have an opportunity to step up.

What’s it like traveling on the road with an NHL team? Well, it is interesting, exciting, unexpected, routine, unexpected, and exhausting, sometimes on the same day and at the same practice. It’s never dull.

After a good season-opening win against the Flames, it was all of the above for the Sharks. There was a trip to the hotel, but not the one in Calgary. No, it was off to the airport, and a trip to Edmonton in a practice where some say that landing instructions need to be radioed for as the plane is taking off. The flight is less than an hour, but it’s all business for the coaching staff, the training staff, and the players themselves.

On our way into town, we pass a cycling store that has a huge mural of Lance Armstrong holding up seven fingers. I wondered what Oprah Winfrey would think if she were driving by, and whether any cyclists would hold up any fingers as they entered and exited the store during regular business hours.

As it turns out, Ms. Winfrey may very well have seen that very mural, only days after her legendary interview with Mr. Armstrong took place. She likely drove right past it on the same roads that we had just traversed, because she is in Edmonton.

Sarah Peters | 11:30 AM Mountain Time

Hey Sharks fans! This is Sarah Peters and Patrick Hooper writing from the road for sjsharks.com. We just left Calgary and we are headed north to Edmonton. The weather in Canada is much different than the Bay Area as it’s about twenty degrees right now in Calgary and only five degrees in Edmonton. Edmonton is roughly 190 miles north of Calgary and a four hour bus ride. There is snow on the ground outside and blue skies ahead.

In Calgary, the restaurants that had televisions usually had hockey on every channel. Hockey is a major part of life in Canada and that was evident at last night’s game. Almost everyone in the crowd had a hockey jersey on and the Saddledome was loud. The press box was up in the rafters and we could feel our seats shake when the crowd cheered.

Patrick Hooper | 11:45 AM Mountain Time

As Sarah mentioned, it's rather chilly compared to what we're spoiled with in the Bay Area. I'll definietly have to check myself the next time I try to complain about 48 degree weather.

Early observations of life north of the border... it's cold, hockey is life, and at least for the western lifestyle of Alberta, everything has the word Canadian or Deer in it.

Keep submitting Sharks Territory photos, because every week we will post the best 3-5 photos of the week on the Daily Chomp blog. Fans will vote on their favorite photo each week. The winner of the week's best photo will receive a mini Sharks Territory sign autographed by their favorite Sharks player!

Check out this week's top fan photos and be sure to vote on which one you think is the best in the form below.

Well it was a bit late in coming, but Sunday will mark the start of the 2012-13 season for the San Jose Sharks.
Due to the work stoppage this year the NHL will play an abbreviated 48 games schedule vs only Western Conference foes. The Sharks will be playing 48 games in just 97 days. Every game will be a 4-point swing and teams must be ready to play after a very brief training camp. Any team that gets off to a slow start will have a devil of a time trying to climb the ladder to a top 8 playoff position. More than ever before the shootout format could very well determine who makes the post-season.

On the Sharks side, there could be some factors that they can use to their advantage. The club is virtually the same squad as last season with the addition of free agents defenseman Brad Stuart and gritty veteran forward Adam Burish. The Sharks had 12 players who played competitive hockey while the NHL was on ice. So far in this short training camp several young men from Worcester could make it difficult for coaches to get a final roster in place for this weekend.

The sad news of the death of George Gund III, the original owner of the Sharks, brings forth a flood of incredible memories and a large share of gratitude on a multitude of levels.

Where do we begin? Without George Gund’s love and passion for the game of hockey, we wouldn’t be referring to San Jose as a hockey city, which it most definitely is. His excitement over the entrepreneurial challenge, his willingness to take a risk, and his overriding desire to make people happy were among the reasons why he jumped (with both skates) at the chance to make Sharks Hockey a reality.

When George Gund is involved, there is always a story, and that seems to be the case in every facet of his life, whether it involves Western art, independent film, ranching, philanthropy, or hockey. It is because of these stories that a smile inevitably appears on the faces of those who are speaking of him.

I’ll always remember the night of October 24, 1998, when the Sharks played the Dallas Stars at their old home, Reunion Arena. In the locker room after the game, I stopped to inform coach Darryl Sutter that I would not be on the team plane back to San Jose, due to the fact that I was going to catch a plane to New York the next morning to help my parents celebrate their 40th wedding anniversary.

Overhearing the conversation, George immediately came over, his famous eyebrows flashing and his eyes twinkling. “I’m going to New York tonight,” he said. “Do you want to join me?”