Life’s a big circle, right?  Our old pal Cheech is back, but only sorta.  He’s in Worchester on a pro tryout.  This is a bit confusing, so I’ll try to explain.  Feel free to stop reading if you know this already.  Every NHL team has a contract limit of  50 (not counting junior players).  That’s every single player the Sharks have the rights to- SJ Sharks, Worchester Sharks, Stockton Thunder, European leagues, etc.  As a practical matter, that means everyone on the Worchester Sharks, even though that is the AHL affiliate of the San Jose Sharks, isn’t necessarily SJ Sharks property.  Roy Sommer and the crew over there can sign a limited number of free agents to fill out the roster.  That’s what Cheech might be, and that’s what Claude Lemieux was once upon a time.  He’s not even signed to an AHL deal yet, he’s just on a tryout.   Even if he does make the team, any NHL team at any time could sign him to an NHL SPC (that’s “standard player contract”).  San Jose would have the benefit of a little inside information, being it’s their affiliate, but they would have no priority in signing Cheech to an NHL deal if he happens to regain some of his past glory.

Personally, I’m really pleased about this.  I like the idea of having Cheech back in the Sharks “family”.  And I’m also a little relieved that the big club isn’t on the hook for anything.   But don’t worry, Cheech will be ok- he is getting over a million bucks this year in buyout money from Ottawa.

The season is finally upon us, and the Dudes are there.  They digest the most recent Sharks news- Andreas Lilja being released, and wonder what sort of ramifications it will have on the team.  But the bulk of the show is devoted to something they do every year- preview the NHL for the 2010-2011 season.

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Per Pollak.  I’m not being facetious here.  I thought for sure he’d be on the opening day roster.  I guess that means two things- one, that Niclas Wallin is healthy enough to play.  Two, that Lilja wasn’t playing better (or better by a big enough margin) to play every night, so they might as well have Mike Moore or somebody else in the #7 slot.  We’ll be talking all about that tonight, along with our season preview.  Email us or post something on FB if you want us to talk about something specific.

The Dudes go to the final home preseason game, and make their roster predictions.  They also run down the goalie situation, and open some Mystery Pucks.

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Just got all three in the mail today. Who’s a happy camper? THIS GUY.

Per TSN.  I’m perfectly fine with that.  I think we both said on the podcast last week that we’d prefer Lilja to Leach.

As far as Sullivan goes, he did score that nice goal on Saturday, but in my terrible amateur scouting opinion, he made several gaffes during that game, not unlike our golden boy, Nick Petrecki.  Lilja has to be the big favorite at this point to make the club.

Don’t think about that either.

Don’t even think about it.

Hockey is ready to go, with the Teal and White game being played.  The Dudes break down the better-than-average scrimmage, take on some listener emails, and imagine the Sharks with their newest tryout, Andreas Lilja.

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Are you one of those poor saps that just has a blue background on your computer?  No color in your life at all, staring a screen all day, occasionally popping your head up from your cube like a prairie dog, looking for something interesting that just never happens?  Not that I’m talking about myself… I mean, no.  I was talking about, um, my friend.  Yeah, that’s it.

I always hate the idea of desktop wallpaper.  If you have something great, it’s a bit of a waste because it’s always covered up by a spreadsheet or TPS report, or an ‘alternative’ website.  Or you’re trying to impress people that walk by, like having a picture of yourself on top of Kilimanjaro, or your mugshot when you flashed those nuns that one time.  Not the picture of the flashing itself, because your boss would get mad.  You have that picture in your wallet.

Anyhoo, a couple of years ago I found the solution to my desktop wallpaper problem.  A Sharks schedule!  I’m always forgetting exactly when the games are, even though I have them in my calendar (which I always forget to look at).  Plus, when I do tear my eyes away from the drudgery, I get a little pick-me-up thinking about the next game.  Problem is, this sort of thing is generally a little hard to come by- I’ve gotten previous ones from HFBoards, then Chompboard had last season split into two, so I had to change it when the new year rolled around.  I dunno about you, but changing my wallpaper twice a year is just too much damn work.  Right-click and choose “Set as Desktop Backgrou… zzzz”?  See, I’m already taking a nap.

So this year, now that Chompboard is unfortunately no longer operating, and the HFBoards version depended on the generosity of one’s fellow man (which can never be trusted), I decided to commission my own.  Friend of the podcast Bryce (who can be contacted at bryce (at) storagebin (dawt) us for all of your graphic design needs) was kind enough to make me one that fits my exacting specifications.  And by kind, I mean he kindly took my bribe to make it.  But no matter, my loss is your gain!  A DOH branded wallpaper of the 2010-2011 San Jose Sharks schedule can now be yours for the low, low price of $0.00.  That’s right, FREE.

1900x1200 for the cool kids with a widescreen

1280x1024 for the poor kids stuck in 2002

Need another size?  Download The Gimp and teach yourself to resize an image.  Ingrates.