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.

Today’s games:

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.

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.

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…

Not much going on in the NHL the past few days. A couple of big signings- Eric Lindros to the Leafs and Joe Thornton resigned with the Bruins for 3 years. The Sharks? The only news in the past week really is that they resigned Tom Preissing and Wayne Primeau for two years each. Not exactly a blockbuster. I’d bet 90% or more of hardcore hockey fans couldn’t identify either player if they ran into them on the street, and they were wearing shirts that said “Hi, My Name is Tom Preissing/Wayne Primeau”.

So what do we do now? Wait for training camp I guess.

1. 9/18 – Los Angeles at San Jose, 5 p.m.
2. 9/21 – San Jose at Anaheim, 7:30 p.m.
3. 9/23 – San Jose at Vancouver, 7 p.m.
4. 9/25 – Anaheim at San Jose, 5 p.m.
5. 9/27 – San Jose at Los Angeles, 7:30 p.m.
6. 9/28 – San Jose at Phoenix, 7 p.m.
7. 9/30 – Phoenix at San Jose, 7:30 p.m.

All times PDT. That’s 40 days, 1 hour, 20 minutes and counting…

I’m so desperate for Sharks and NHL news that I’ve taken to combing ESPN and Hockey News articles looking for any mention of the Sharks. Please tell me Doug Wilson is actually trying to earn his paycheck! Latest news? Paul Kariya is talking to the Oilers, but the Sharks are talking to him too. The article says Kariya is in touch with the Kings as well. I think the Oilers and Kings should be disqualified because they’ve already signed so many free agents. If that makes me sound like I’m bitter, it’s because I am.

Let’s talk about a certain player, call him Player N. Player N is a big time NHL player, with several Stanley Cup wins. He is being courted by many teams around the NHL, including his current team. The Sharks, having made no moves at all in free agency, are in the sweepstakes. However, the Sharks, for no reason I can fathom, have apparently not pursued any other free agents in the market. The Sharks watch them being picked up one by one. Holik, Amonte, McCarty, Gonchar, Hatcher, Rathje. The Sharks still wait. Aucoin, Demitra, Leetch, Modano are gone. The Sharks don’t make a peep. They want Player N. The problem? Player N wants to play with his friggin brother. This is not exactly breaking news. It was a big story two years ago when the Devils met the Ducks in the Stanley Cup finals.

Now the Sharks really look foolish. At the beginning of this free agent flurry (not Fleury), the Sharks didn’t do squat, and then they run after a player they have virtually no chance of signing, missing out on a truckload of good players that have been traded or signed by other teams in the West. Now the Ducks are better.Calgary got Darren McCarty and Tony Amonte. The Oilers got Chris Pronger and Michael Peca. Dallas resigned Mike Modano. Vancouver got Markus Naslund back. The Kings signed Pavol Demitra, and now Jeremy Roenick is there too. The Sharks? All they’ve done is manage to lose one of their big 4 defensemen, Mike Rathje. I guess it could be worse. He could have gotten picked up by the Coyotes.

Well, the first news involving a Sharks player appeared, and it ain’t good. There’s a lot of news out there. On the defensement front, it’s gotten a bit thinner. Adam Foote, Adrian Aucoin, Sandis Ozolinsh are all off the market. D men left? Neidermeyer and Gonchar are the only two I can name off the top of my head, unless we want to give Marcus Ragnarsson another spin (no thanks). The Sharks better get moving. Demitra just went. Naslund and Forsberg are still out there. Will they sit on what they have, or watch the Kings and Anaheim get better?

I wonder what the teams are waiting for. So far, only the Flyers and Wings have released players. LeClair and Amonte from the Flyers, Derian Hatcher, Darren McCarty, and Ray Whitney from the Wings. What, no Bobby Holik? No Owen Nolan? The deadline is Saturday…