rulururu
Two dudes blogging and podcasting about the San Jose Sharks, straight from sunny California.

post Sharks Lose Opener 3-2 to Nashville

October 6th, 2005, 9:31 am

Filed under: blog — Written by Mike

I was pretty surprised, Nashville has got some jump in ’em. The Kariya-Erat-Legwand thing was going pretty good. Turns out DirecTV doesn’t have Fox Sports as part of the package, so I frantically ran around trying to figure out if I should get Center Ice, or just the Sports package, and then if I can even get the Sharks games without the Sports package if I have Center Ice, blah blah blah. So I didn’t get to TiVo the game until the second period. I formed my own opinion during the game, but this article in the Mercury sums it up pretty well.

  • The power play sucked (0 for 6). They have some of the fastest players in the NHL, and the Sharks were doing the ol’ dump-and-chase for many of their power plays. I have no idea why.
  • They didn’t tighten up too well in the third. They had a 2-1 lead, and ended up losing. Bad times.

Hard to see the Sharks lose like that on the first game of the season. Next two games are at Chicago and at St. Louis, and I hope the Sharks come back for the home opener 2-1. Both of those teams are very beatable- neither should make the playoffs.

post Pumped? Hell Yes!

October 5th, 2005, 9:34 am

Filed under: blog — Written by Mike

Today’s games:

Montreal at Boston
NY Islanders at Buffalo
NY Rangers at Philadelphia
Columbus at Washington
Atlanta at Florida
St. Louis at Detroit
Pittsburgh at New Jersey
Carolina at Tampa Bay
Ottawa at Toronto
San Jose at Nashville
Anaheim at Chicago
Los Angeles at Dallas
Calgary at Minnesota
Colorado at Edmonton
Phoenix at Vancouver

I’m pumped for the season. I’ve read the previews in Hockey News, on ESPN.com, and in ESPN the Magazine (which I’ll vent about later), I’ve drafted my fantasy team, I’ve pored over the Sharks website for news and information. Maybe this will be the least-watched, least-cared-about, and most-ridiculed hockey season ever. But I don’t care. I’m a hockey fan, dammit, and I’m going to feed my puck habit any way I can.

post Hockey Night

October 4th, 2005, 1:51 pm

Filed under: blog — Written by Mike

ESPN.com – NHL Index: “ESPNEWS is your one-stop location for NHL coverage this season, starting Thursday with Hockey Night. Get in-progress and postgame highlights along with Mr. Mullet himself, Barry Melrose.”
NHL Tonight may be gone, and ESPN may not be televising games any more, but perhaps this is a palatable substitute.

post Fantasy Fantastic

October 4th, 2005, 1:27 pm

Filed under: blog — Written by Mike

I love fantasy hockey. It’s a great excuse to follow a whole bunch of players you’ve either know only peripherally, or never heard of at all. In my case, I’ve been following the NHL long enough to recognize most names, but every now and again I’m surprised by a good performer I’ve never heard of. Either way, you (well, I) end up spending way too much time debating the relative worth of Daniel Sedin vs. Craig Conroy vs. John Madden. Great time sink! We had our fantasy draft last night at my place, and here’s my draft in order:

  1. Marcus Naslund
  2. Tomas Vokoun
  3. Pavel Datsyuk
  4. Rick Nash
  5. John Grahame
  6. Martin Havlat
  7. Wade Redden
  8. Mike Modano
  9. Richard Zednik
  10. Mathieu Schneider
  11. Matt Barnaby
  12. Gary Roberts
  13. Mattias Ohlund
  14. Adam Foote
  15. Chris Simon
  16. Jay Bouwmeester

An ok draft, I guess. I’m happy with getting Modano and Foote when I did. Today I dropped Chris Simon and picked up Ty Conklin, because I needed another goalie. So now I have vested interest in a number of teams I would normally ignore- Montreal, Florida, Columbus, and Tampa Bay. And I drafted no Sharks! Marco Sturm is available on waivers though, might be a good pickup…

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