Worcester Sharks TV!

http://www.sharksahl.com/sharkstv/index.asp

I'm not sure how many of you pop along to the Worcester Sharks website, but they have a really great Sharks TV section.  I was just looking through and found an awesome video of a few of the players 'Crib'.

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After watching the Colorado Sharks game, it occurred to me that although San Jose may be a place for players to be able to escape from the harsh glare of the media in hockey crazy cities such as Toronto or Montreal, perhaps the sharks back office staff could do more to keep the press from talking to players before they are prepared to be interviewed.

Take this picture as an example:  Notice anything funny?

via img.photobucket.com

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Read all about it! Iowa Chops Suspended!

Apparently, the owners of the Iowa Chops used the business as leverage to get a loan.  Pretty normal in everyday business, but not allowed in the AHL!

Does anyone know what implications this will have for Anaheim's farm system?  Although they dont seem to rely on youngsters as much as others, it seems that if this was a Shark issue, we would have no idea how our Junior Man Crush prospects were doing in the minors, and obviously with our luck with injuries being the way it is, this could be a serious problem.

Maybe I have this all wrong, but am I right in thinking that there will be no ice time for Anaheim's prospects unless they make the big show at training camp?

***EDIT****

Never mind according to this article, Anaheim ended it's ties with the chops in May due to non payment of affiliation fees.

Morti got his facts straight

http://www.montereyherald.com/ci_12476051?source=rss

Although, he does have some insider info.

Click the link for lazy journalism.  If anyone else wants to clutch at straws, it might be time for us to start our official Rostercourse session before Purdy comes in and spills Natty Ice on our party.

If Purdy were a beer he would be... I'm guessing something over rated. Budweiser? Coors light? Miller light? 

Actually with all the bad Spanish (Los tibur.... Sorry cant finish that sentence) he'd probably be a Tecate or one of those buckets of Margarita mix.

So a few of us were deeply involved in some rostercourse this evening.  You could say it was almost "Afternoon Delight" but, it was after 6.  I dont think there is any thing special, nor any hillarious songs sung about Rostercourse after 4pm.

Anyway!  The subject of rostercourse is tricky, and I wanted to throw my hand in and show my support for the Big Man.  I am of course referring to your favorite puck handling shark (Literally, with his hands!), Semenov.  Semi. The Russian Bear.  Whatever the parlance of our time is.

See, I like Semenov (Apparently, correctly pronounced Sem-en-yov).  I think his biggest draw back as a player is he has taken a little too long to really hit his potential.  I think all that will change next season.  Teams will hardly be beating a path to his door but yet he won't be commanding a Rob Blake sized salary, and he has the potential to be Rob Blake Lite.

What I mean by that is he is a bit like a trial version of some free software.  He'll have the shot power of Rob Blake, the physical presence of Rob Blake, but he will completely lack the positional awareness of Rob Blake.  You have to pay for Rob Blake to get that shit.

So at dinner, I was trying to convince many people that he would be great for the Sharks to keep around.  But how do you reach a bunch of people in a bar who packed their pitchforks and are out for blood?

I think you reach them like this:

"If Semenov were a beer, he would be Natural Ice.  It's cheap, but it'll get you there.  You'll wish you had the money for something better, but you dont, and you won't care in the morning"

We love you Semi!

I keep missing all of these meet ups and would love to share a beverage or two with my FTF brethren.

So does anyone fancy a medicinal ale prior to the Dallas game on Saturday? I'll be with my buddy, Art, who as you know from previous posts has never attended a Sharks game we've lost! 

Forget about Steven Segal or Corn!  it's Art we need!

(Perhaps we can get him some corn?)

This made me laugh very hard.  and it's late.  I have no business laughing this loud and this late.

http://cgi.ebay.com/SAN-JOSE-SHARKS-KOHO-TEAM-SIGNED-JERSEY-10-AUTOGRAPHS_W0QQitemZ190284304093QQcmdZViewItemQQptZUS_SM_Fan_Shop?hash=item190284304093&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14&_trkparms=66%3A2|65%3A10|39%3A1|240%3A1318

Scroll down about half way.  Jollamon Citedoo.  That is all I have to say.

If the link is dead in the morning, then you all missed a good one!

My foray into this obsession began at a pretty young age.

My home town had an ice rink and little else to do.  The stories of getting tickets for ice hockey in my hometown back in the 80's are pretty legendary.  The reason? American sports (football in particular) were all of a sudden being broadcast on our TV's!

For years in England we were aware of this outlandish sport where people basically play "futuristic Rugby",  but no one had actually been able to see a game.  The interest in American Football piqued the nation's interest in other sports which we did not have common access to.  All of a sudden amateur basketball started popping up, and dads all across the country were staying up until late on Sunday nights to catch the Buffalo Bills playing the Bengals. 

Whilst I'm fairly sure hockey existed as a pro sport in our country prior to our media placing a spotlight on it, it did wonders for the game.  Our town just happened to have an ice rink and a decent team when the people were ready to get into a new sport.

Getting tickets to see the Telford Tigers was a challenge!  Queueing in the cold starting at 6am on a Saturday morning was just the beginning.  When the box office opened at 9am (no tickets sold prior to game day!), if you hadnt already succumbed to hypothermia, you were one of the lucky ones!

Those kids lucky enough to get to see the game were changed!  They would come into school on Monday and tell everyone about this bloke who got checked into the boards, and these other two guys were fighting.  I'm surprised the sport wasnt bigger!

Anyway, as a result of the success of the pro team, lots of junior teams popped up and although I never played myseld I must have gone to school with at least 10 kids who did play.  Many of which went on to represent Britain at the junior level, and many of those guys still play for semi-pro teams (They pay you, but you have to keep your day job)

Over the years, interest waned in our local team and I think they declared bankruptcy at least twice. 

Fast forward to the nineties, and once again a channel has stepped up to show NHL hockey on TV again.  and live no less!  As long as you dont mind staying up until 2am to watch it!  This worked perfectly for me as my girlfriend at the time was living in California and I was keeping almost an East coast schedule so that we could talk at a normal time.  Whilst whispering sweet nothings to my sweetheart I got to fight off those sleepy feelings by catching hockey games, and once again my interest was sparked.

The first time I got to watch a Stanley cup series was the year the Devils played the Ducks.  I just happened to be visiting the states whilst this was going down.  I remember even staying up to see Giguerre on the late show.

My girlfriend and I got married! and her not really wanting to live in cold, dreary England meant that I made plans to move out here.   and so I moved to California, the Bay Area to be a little more exact.  This was still back in the day when you could still watch hockey on ESPN! and I did.  Whatever chance I got to see a game, I took it. I followed the Sharks because they were my local team, but the further I got into the sport, the more I felt like the Sharks were my team, not just because they were local.

That first Christmas my wife bought us tickets to see the Sharks play Phoenix and of course we won! I think that was the same season we went to the conference finals.  A good year to really be a hockey obsessed Sharks fan.

From there I have tried to attend as many games as my wallet would allow.  This season it's 12 games, last season was 2 games and the season before was 1 game.

I would say the one thing that has caused my Shark interest to spike in the last couple of years has been high speed internet and DVR.  The internet for discussion and review of hockey highlights and DVR because my wife didnt want to be a hockey widow. 

Wow, if you read all of that, you win a lollipop.

I love hockey jerseys.  I especially love throwback jerseys.

One of my favourite things to do at Sharks games is to spot an old jersey and see what name is on the back.  I'm not sure why I get so much pleasure out of this simple task, but I do! (I sometimes even watch the game!)

At the Sharks v. Tampa game I probably had my best night.

2 Irbe, a Falloon, and the lady who always sits infront of me has a sweet Dahlen jersey that I would wrestle off her back if it werent too small for me.

I personally rock a #14 Ray Whitney jersey (away).

I check Ebay everyday to see if I can find a Vlasti Kroupa jersey.  No dice yet.

My rules for this game are as follows:

1) To truly be old school, the sweater in question has to have the hooped pattern on the sleeves.

2) That's it!

Do you have a sweet sharks jersey that you want to share a picture of?  I will give extra marks for a Kroupa!