Here’s 10 reason’s to love the Sharks TV Schedule.
1. We’re back and the band is back together
The last time we ((Drew Remenda, Brodie Brazil, Bret Hedican, Jamie Baker, Dave Maley, Curtis Brown and yours truly) called a live game was April 21, 2012 from St. Louis. That’s just too long between broadcasts. We all love what we do and can’t wait to get back at it.
2. Opening night January 20 at Calgary
Finally we get to see the Boys In Teal back in action and what a venue to begin in. Lockout or no lockout, hockey is Canada’s national passion. Flames fans will be out in full force and the city of Calgary will be teeming with anticipation. It’ll be similar 2 nights later in Edmonton.
In 1994/95 I was playing for the Sharks when we played 48 games in a lockout shortened season. That year we played our first game on Jan 20 … sound familiar.
Here is what I remember and what I assume most of the players are thinking right now!
- The best time of year, from a player’s standpoint, is the playoffs. It’s adrenaline, intensity, passion and all of it maxed out. The NHL playoffs are awesome!
- A 48 game regular season against conference teams only, is like 3 months of playoffs, before the playoffs. Players know you have to get out to a great start, especially with the extra point for OT of shootout losses that was not around back when I played.
Welcome to the 2012-13 NHL season! It’s really great to be talking about the sport of hockey, the NHL, and the pursuit of the Stanley Cup which begins for the Sharks on Sunday, January 20th on the road in Calgary.
At this writing, the Sharks are on the ice for their very first practice with Todd McLellan, Larry Robinson, and Jim Johnson directing traffic. From the start, a high-tempo, intense series of practices are scheduled, with lots of skating, little time for rest and recovery, and a few twisty surprises thrown in.
That’s the way it’s going to be for all 30 NHL clubs, beginning this week and sprinting all the way to June, and when I say “sprinting,” I mean it. The Sharks are going to have to party like it’s 1995, the last time that a 48-game schedule was played. For those who remember it, it proved to be a topsy-turvy year with many curves of differing cambers, straightaways featuring blazing speed, and surprises for which few could possibly prepare.
One thing that is different this time around is that the biggest unknown factor will be the existence of the three-point game and how it will affect the inevitable losses of momentum that occur in any NHL season. Back in ’95, the Sharks started the season 5-1-0, and then held on for dear life to make the playoffs with a 19-25-4 record, and 42 points. With a three-point game, it could make a standings turnaround all the more difficult in a shortened season.
If one were to extrapolate the last 48 games of the most recently played season, the Sharks would have a record of 24-18-6 and 54 points. Something tells me that mailing in that number right now would produce a result that will look pretty good in the standings, but who can really tell?
As training camp began, the Sharks had 28 players in camp, and the thin area appears to be on defense for the moment. With Brent Burns and Jason Demers not taking part in the first practice because of injuries, that left 15 forwards, 11 defensemen, and 2 goaltenders participating.
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.
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!
Read the rest of this blog entry and vote on this week's Sharks Territory finalists.
We just closed out 2012 on a high note. We carry a three game winning streak in to the new year and one thing I've really learned about our team is that it has a lot of talent and character.
Many of our games have been one-goal games and we have ended up on the winning side of most of them. Whenever we have been down, we found a way to come back in many of our games. This has helped us become more confident. It makes the games even more exciting and fun to play. We're looking forward to keeping our current roll going through the next part of the season – although hopefully we can win a few games by more than one goal and skip the dramatics.
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!
Read the rest of this blog entry and vote on this week's Sharks Territory finalists.
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!
Read the rest of this blog entry and vote on this week's Sharks Territory finalists.
Tuesday Trivia is a weekly feature of the Daily Chomp. Answer this week's question, then check back next week for a new question and prize.
On Monday, Dec. 17, the San Jose Sharks and HP Pavilion at San Jose hosted an ECHL matchup between the San Francisco Bulls and the Stockton Thunder. As part of the event, fans were treated with complimentary tickets and encouraged to visit downtown San Jose businesses and donate to the Sharks Foundation Toys for Tots drive. At the end of the night, despite the "home" team losing 6-4, positive impact was made for San Jose business, the community, and hockey fans.
TRIVIA: How many fans attended the ECHL game at HP Pavilion?
This past Saturday, Comcast Sportsnet California provided a nostalgic hockey fix with the first of many Sharks Classic Games. It was a game from the second season. The Sharks beat the Kings 7-3 on Boxing Day 1992. It was the only win in a span of 34 games...Ouch...or Yea ... depending if you're a glass is half full or empty.
It got me thinking about the early days of the team when I was an Assistant Coach.
In fact, the last time Sharks General Manager Doug Wilson and I spoke, we reminisced about the years and the team at the Cow Palace.
We may have lost a lot of games but I have nothing but fond memories about the great people that made up those teams. So I went back to the Sharks Inaugural Team roster and wanted to pass on some trivia and a few "where are they nows."
In that first year we had 45 players suit up for at least one game. That is an amazingly high number and pretty tough to develop continuity with 45 guys in and out of that line-up.
One of the aspects I'm most proud of us that many of those 45 players have gone on to prominent roles in hockey.
sjsharks.com is the official Web site of the San Jose Sharks. The San Jose Sharks and sjsharks.com are trademarks of the San Jose Sharks Hockey Club. NHL, the NHL Shield, the word mark and image of the Stanley Cup and NHL Conference logos are registered trademarks of the National Hockey League. All NHL logos and marks and NHL team logos and marks as well as all other proprietary materials depicted herein are the property of the NHL and the respective NHL teams and may not be reproduced without the prior written consent of NHL Enterprises, L.P. Copyright © 1999-2013 San Jose Sharks Hockey Club and the National Hockey League. All Rights Reserved.