I have a facebook and I don't really use it very much. Maybe for like 5 minutes in a day. I'll usually just check who's birthday it is, and most importantly, poke back. If you don't know what a poke war is, then here's a link with various definitions, all of which are correct in their own way (read them, all 7 are true in their own way). You can make up your own rules, but these are the ones my friends and I use.

I don't know why, but I really don't mind poke wars. I have 2 going on right now, and some people like my friend James have 13 (at one point he had 27). Some crazy people (like me), have notifications on their phone, so they can poke back almost instantly. Right now, I'm 2-0 and both of the people I beat, immediately demanded a rematch for reasons I can't understand.

Anyone else have poke wars?

Can't really think of anything else to say, but I don't think I have to, that should be over 75 words. So yea, that's it, my typical fanpost, stupid topic + just as stupid poll. No need to thank me.

Okay, like, so I was going to like, talk about like, New Years resolutions because like, New Year's Day is like, in January, but then like, I realized I don't do that, and like, if even if I did, I'd be like, too lazy to go through with it. You know?

So instead, to get this thing over 75 words, I'll tell you about this crazy weird dream I had about Harry Potter after I watched the Deathly Hallows.

Alright then, Voldemort and I were fighting outside my house and for some reason he had 2 Elder Wands. With one, he was launching killing curses at me and I was dodging them because I was like a ninja. And with the other one, he launched this black circle of death and he kept making the circle smaller and smaller to draw me closer to him. After getting too close, I gave up and just as Voldemort was about to kill me, Hagrid comes out of nowhere and announces that he has 2 cheeseburgers and asked if anyone wanted them. So Voldemort was like "BACK OFF, THEY'RE MINE!!!!!", so he grabbed them and dropped the Elder Wands.

Then I grabbed the Elder Wands and combined them into one because I was just that bad ass. So I started chasing after Voldemort trying to kill him. But then, one of my killing curses missed by a lot, and hit a reindeer on my neighbors roof. Voldemort and I were like, "OMG, NOOO REINDEER!!!", so we worked together to try to bring it back to life, but we couldn't, so we just turned it into a stuffed animal. After that, we celebrated, and while I was distracted he grabbed the Elder Wand and we had like a Tug of War. That made the Elder Wand break, but he got the bigger, more powerful piece and he killed me and I woke up.

Oh yea, and happy new year, I guess.

So, just incase you haven't heard by now, Nevada beat Boise Sta...wait, what's that? You don't care? Oh, alright, that's cool.

Well anyways, it's December and do you know what that means?! I have offseason conditioning for track & field!!! Oh yea, and that Christmas thing too. I'm normally more excited for Christmas break, but 1st semester senior year has sucked so far and it's just drained me of all my energy. People have always told me that it's the easiest year of high school...they're wrong...so far. Filling out all those college applications and writing those essays has been really stressful. But the good news is that the only thing standing between me and freedom is finals. And after that 2nd semester should be a lot easier...at least that's what I'm hoping for. Huh? You still don't care? Fair enough.

And now, the thing you've been waiting for (more or less), my signature random poll thingy.

Whoaaa. I can't remember the last time I made a fanpost or commented regularly on this site.

I was going to put this in the previous OT Thread, but it got sucked in a black hole and even my non-existent awesomeness that I don't have can't get it back. So I'll just put it here to make getting to 75 words that much easier. If they finish the season undefeated (and Alabama or Ohio State loses a game), does Boise State deserve to go the the National Championship Game? Personally, I want to see them play in it and I'm tired of all the haters saying how their schedule isn't strong enough. It's not their fault that they are in the WAC and it's not their fault that other national powerhouses won't agree to play them. And if you're a school like Alabama, why would you play them?  If you win, then it's no big deal, you were supposed to beat them. But if you lose, then you're going down in the BCS. So until then, they'll have to settle for playing teams like Oregon State.

I think they deserve a shot a National Championship. C'mon, they haven't given me a reason why they shouldn't.

Wow. Is that 75 words? Doing that much writing about the Not-Sharks makes my head hurt. Need. Hockey. Now.

So yea, talk about whatever. College football, MLB playoffs, pudding or something as insignificant as how your day went.

And as usual, with all my fanposts, there is THE POLL QUESTION!!!

I'll make this short and to the point like I usually do.

Yea, it's playoff time and I know that we're going to get crazy whether we win or lose. Last year, when the Sharks postseason run came to an end, there were like 20 fanposts saying "They didn't want it as much as the other team", "They didn't drink enough energy drinks before the game", "They had no heart", and so on. And there were even more comments saying the same thing. It's really annoying hearing it from the media, so do we really need to hear it from ourselves? (Don't answer that).

That being said, please try not to whin about how the Sharks are a bunch of emotionless, heartless players that only skate for a pay check. I know at some people do that during Gameday Threads and that's fine with me, but please don't make it as bad as last year's pessimistic fanpost jamboree. We don't need a fanpost from every member of FTF saying something that's been recited over and over.

Hell, if you feel the urge, feel free to use this fanpost to let out you're anger with a "OMG THE SHARKS CARE MORE ABOUT THEIR WIFE'S TOE NAIL CLIPPINGS THAN THEY DO ABOUT THE PLAYOFFS" comment or something along those line, preferably not as weird as that.

And last, but not least, something I always put with my fanposts: a BS poll!!!!! (by the way, my answer to the 1st option is "yes" :D)

Well, I'm just curious about this and I thought I'd bring it up because of how we were talking about stuff that happened before we were born during the the Sharks-Kings Gameday Thread. This question I have is for all of the older people on this blog, so enough wasting time, here it is. Where were you when the Miracle on Ice happened??? And what was your reaction to it?

Continue reading this post »

First of all, I just want to say, this isn't a bullshit post. Just like all seasons are, this season was a rollar coaster ride. The end result wasn't what any of us wanted, but it was still one hell of a ride. Feel free to do as you please, read the entire post, skip to the poll, hell, most of you probably think this post is still going to be full with a bunch of BS. But here are my thoughts on another season in the books.

Continue reading this post »

Reader - You're 15 years old and you think you know enough about winning the Stanley Cup and succeeding in life?

SP716 - Yes.

Reader - Well...uh...how the hell do you know this crap stuff already?

SP716 - I saw it on TV.

Reader - I guess that makes sense, I learned how to say the alphabet on TV.

SP716 - Elmo?

Reader - Yup, so what are your keys?

Alright, here are my keys:

1. get ahead
2. stay ahead
3. finish what you started

Or Sharks fans might interpret this as:

1. score first
2. score more (than your opponent)
3. develop a killer instinct

Continue reading this post »

Well, I said that I would start to post again when it comes playoff time and Mr. Plank is saying that this weekend against the Ducks is the first playoff atmosphere weekend so here I go!!! Here's the standings as of the moment I'm typing.

I'm looking for the Canucks to win their division over the Flames. They've played better over the last 10 games than the Flames have. Plus, this would mean the Chicago and Calgary would play in the first round. I really don't like either of them, but at least in this scenario, 1 of them is guaranteed to be gone after 1 round.

And now, I'm going to try to attempt to kind of break down that giant clusterfuck in the middle of the conference. Other people call this the 6-8 seeds. But don't worry, after I attempt this, I'm sure some of the moderators of this site will tell me how wrong I am in the comments. Either that, or they'll agree with me and then they'll give real reasons why my predictions will come true.

I'm thinking that Columbus finally makes the playoffs and stay in 6th place because Rick Nash says so. They'll face the Northwest division winner, and I honestly believe that the series will last 6 or 7 games. Will they win? Hell, I don't know, I hope they do, I love Cinderella stories (but I hate Cinderella).

The Ducks will drop out of the playoff picture, "if" the Sharks beat them this weekend, which means the Blues will take over the 7 seed and the Predators will take the 8 seed.

So with that said, here is my top 8 in the Western Conference:

1. Sharks
2. Red Wings
3. Canucks
4. Blackhawks
5. Flames
6. Blue Jackets
7. Blues
8. Predators

 *Disclaimer - This fanpost is a combination of what I think will happen and what I want to happen. And if you know me well, neither of them are usually right.

Bay area team is in a slump and no we're not talking about baseball...or basketball...or football. Last time I posted a poll asking what you thought was wrong with the sharks, half of the voters said it was because of fatigue, the flu or injuries. Can't be the flu. Nabby may be sick but he isn't the entire team. I doubt it's fatigue because I would think most of the sharks except the rookies would be used to the long NHL season. And when you look at who's on IR right now, none of them contribute a lot on the stat sheet so I don't think injuries are making the sharks play worse.

So what's wrong? Everyone is saying that sharks don't have the killer instinct, and well, for the last couple months that's been true. Anyways time for another poll. If my fanpost has made you depressed or discouraged in any way, click here.

*For the superstitious ones out there, including myself, I will be doing like 10 BS fanposts during the playoffs just like the good old days.

I don't even think they deserve to have me press Shift when I type their name. Okay, maybe I'm being a little brat about it, but I'm one of the many brats who care. What's wrong with them? At the beginning of the season, it felt like they won every game. Even when they lost, it felt like they dominated the other team.

In teenage language all I hear and see are a bunch of hockey players playing a pick up game against and NHL team. Somehow this group of people are still on top of the Western Conference as I'm typing this. Other "experts" and people who have actually "played" the game would say something like "They're not winning the battle for lose pucks," or something else that I barely understand. So that's enough BS for now. I'll be punching my pillow until the sharks start to bring their game again.

Don't worry, since I'm only 15, this won't take very long.

I became a Sharks fan the year the were eliminated by the Oilers in the playoffs a few years back. I am the first Sharks fan in my family and I managed to brainwash rub off on my dad a little bit. I have no clue how I became a Sharks fan, it just happened and so far I'm not regretting it. But like I commented on someone's post, (I can't remember who's) I've never been to a Sharks game.

When I heard about Joe Thornton trade I was at Jersey Joe's in San Carlos or Belmont, I forget where it is. I was taking a bite out of a sweet pepper steak when I saw it on one of the tv's inside. With me being new to hockey that year, I had no idea who he was. Yea yea, I know I should slap myself for saying that. But if it makes you guys/gals feel better the sweet pepper steak was tasty.

And my most remarkable/rememberable goal is Joe Pavelski's goal in Game 5 of the Western Conference Semifinals. I know it's not that long ago, but hey, this is only my 4th year being a Sharks fan. So that's just about everything.

What is it with schedule making that makes it so hard? Basketball is the only major American sport where each team plays against every other team at least twice. Obviously, football doesn't have enough games to meet that standard. With 162 games in the season, baseball should be able to make it happen, but no one wants to add another month to an already long season to make room to play 10 more teams.

Now that brings us to hockey. The hockey and basketball seasons are both 82 games each. Yet somehow, the hockey commissioner and his crew can't schedule each team to play eachother at least twice. If the NBA can do it, why can't we? Last year, I remember not being able to see Crosby or Ovechkin play. Why can't we just make the schedule like this?

• 5 games against division teams
• 3 games against non-division conference teams
• 2 games against opposing conference teams
• 80 games total

Changing to this schedule would not only make it possible for each team to play eachother twice. It would also provide an easier tie breaker process. For example, if the Sharks and Red Wings were tied and the season ended right now, the Sharks would move ahead after taking the season series 2-1. <= OMG how convenient!!! This would throw out any stupid tie breakers, but I'm not going to mention any, GOAL DIFFERENTIAL.

Anyone else have any ideas? Different Schedules? Holding the Commissioner captive until he makes some changes?

Here are the latest standings from nhl.com. As usual Sharks in first, Red Wings is second. Sharks in first, Red Wings is second. Sharks in first, Red Wings is second. Sorry, I just love saying that. The Penguins seem to be experiencing some sort of Eastern Conference Title hangover, or maybe it's a different kind of hangover, you know, the type you get when your captain gets into a fight that makes him and his team look desperate and stupid.

Anyways, is seems as though the Stars have finally hit their "stride", or whatever you want to call it, because they are only a win away from pulling into a tie with the 8th seeded Wild. But to those of you thinking "Oh @#$%, they might actually make the playoffs," here's something to cheer you up. They play the Red Wings 3 times this month.

Wait a second, doesn't that mean the Red Wings get 3 easy wins? I'm confused. Who do I root for? It sucks if either of them win.

Contenders or Pretenders. I believe we've played this game before. I was going to do this post earlier, but I was too lazy. Alright, I'm looking at the Eastern Conference standings as I'm typing this and I'm not that surprised. Don't worry, it won't be as long as the last post.

1. Bruins - Weren't these guys the 8 seed last year? One word, goaltending. Right now, they've given up 2 less goals than the Sharks. That's right I said LESS. But, we were without Nabby for a couple weeks, so I'm willing to through that stat out the window. Either way, they actually look like a team this year.
2. Rangers - They were off to a good start, but they've cooled off a little bit. Nothing to freak out about, but definitly someone to look at out the corner of our eyes.
3. Capitals - Ovechkin is play great as usual. The difference maker Semin, he got off to a great start when Ovechkin came out cold. Now he's like the mini Ovechkin and I think we'd all take one of those.
4. Penguins - Crosby and Malkin top 2 in the league, no surprise. Fluery keeping it up. And this is all without Gonchar. I know one player doesn't make a team, but he'll definitly help a lot. I'm looking for them to jump the Rangers as the season goes on.
5. Canadiens - Price, Koivu, Tanguay and Kovalev. Not surprised they're up here, what I am surprised is that they're this low. I'm looking for them to jump the Bruins. With all this talent, they can't possibly choke and miss the playoffs. That comes during the playoffs. Ignore the 24 Stanley Cups. And people think the Yankees are a dynasty, they must not watch hockey. Almost as many championships in 20 years less time.

Anyways, that's now, this is what I'm looking for come playoff time.

1. Penguins
2. Canadiens
3. Capitals
4. Rangers
5. Bruins

Hmm, I haven't done a poll in a while, so let's do one now. So who WILL be top 5 in the Eastern Conference at the end of the year? Be realistic, and say why if you have too much free time on your hands.

*idunno, don't even think about considering mentioning CCS playoffs.

Alright, let's play a little game. Contendors or Pretendors? As you all know, the Sharks are leading the Western Conference, with those stupid annoying Red Wings behind us. But what about those other loser teams? You know, those guys that fill the void between opeing night and the Western Conference Finals. Enough of that, let's play the game.

1. Sharks - Enough said.
2. Red Wings - Enough Said
3. Wild - So far, so good, but will the defense hold? Ours did last year, too bad for them that they're not the Sharks.
4. Ducks - I hope they choke, it would be hilarious for me, but they'll make it to the postseason.
5. Canucks - Can they keep up the goal scoring? Last year they didn't and choked down the stretch since they forgot you have to score more goals than your opponent.
6. Blackhawks - Can Campbell, Kane, Sharp and Toews carry them to the promise land? I think they might sneek in.
7. Nashville - Well, uhh. I don't know. They always seem to be around come postseason time. So, until they don't make it, they're in to me.
8. Flames - Alright, I just don't like them because of Iginla. I think they'll get passed up by...shit, everyone else behind them is playing horribly. If the playoffs started now, we'd be playing them again. That's okay,  I don't mind watching 4 more blowouts.
9. Blue Jackets - For Rick Nash's sake, I hope they make it. It's sad to see a great player not make it to the postseason, plus it would mean the Flames would be out.
10. Oilers - I'm not seeing it. They won't make it. Doesn't look too well for them. Oh well, they tried.
11. Coyotes - They look good. I think Doan and Olli can make it happen, plus they go The Great One behind the bench.
12. Avalanche - They have Sakic, so I guess they have a shot, but it's highly unlikely.
13. Kings - HAHAHA!!! Please, does anyone really think they can make it?
14. Stars - I think they can comeback. It's still early. They have a reliable goaltender in Turco, and they have Modano, Morrow and plenty of young talent. I think they have what it takes to make a comeback.
15. Blues - It wasn't long ago they were sitting infront of the Red Wings. What happened? What an ironic name.

So, who are your 8 playoff teams from the Western Conference? Who's going to stick around to make things intresting? Who just plain out sucks? Is anyone going to choke harder than the Canucks did last year?

I just took a look at idunno's comment on sharks bait. Sorry for the language in advance Mr. Plank, but are you fucking kidding me?!?! I looked at the calender and it's not April Fools Day. Get to the polls and start voting. So far only Dan Boyle and Evgeni Nabakov are even mentioned in the top polls. No Big Joe, Marleau, Cheechoo or Blake. If your expecting a joke or a poll, you got another thing coming. Get your asses to www.nhl.com and start voting. NOW!!!

I just got out of the hospital. The doctors had to put me in a coma to save my life. I had internal bleeding, a lacerated spleen and mild kidney explosions. While I was in that deep sleep, I had these strange dreams. I had a dream that Pavelski missed a shootout attempt, Nabby got hurt, we got 200+ comments on a post and the Sharks lost to the Coyotes after going through like a 3 minute 5 on 3. Wait...what? All that stuff really happened? But..how? Why? OMG, I leave you guys for a couple days and all this garbage happens? (not including getting 200+ comments, kudos to you Mr. Plank, it's about time that happened, and only took this site 7,777,777 posts)

Don't worry, I wasn't in the hospital, don't wet yourselves like Umberger after getting hit by Campbell.

So, what is the most shocking? WHY? (only like 2 of you have answered that, come on people) And thanks to the last 3 minutes of the last game, I know what happens when there are 3 penalties against the same team. (Marcello, Mr. Plank, thank you) And one last note, look at idunno723's previous post. Please, help out any way that you can.

alright don't worry about me asking if the sharks are going to own. somewhere half of you just thanked God. this time it's all about the power play. todd mclellan said that he would boost the power play and get the defense involved to get more scoring. well, the defense is involved, just look at the improvement of ehrhoff and vlasic.

but the depending on how you look at it, the power play might seem the same. if you look at the numbers, as of the moment i'm typing this the sharks PP% is at 17.9% and ranked 15th in the league. but there's a bright side that i and anyone who watches sharks hockey regularly. last year there were times when i would be screaming at my tv "WHY CAN'T YOU GUYS EVEN GET INTO THE OFFENSIVE ZONE!!!" unlike last year they're more efficient, they're getting A LOT more chances. in my opinion, it's only a matter of time before the power play takes off.

so what do you think of the power play? WHY(a lot of you don't answer that question)? will we improve? why don't you guys tell other sharks fans to come on this website? alright, that last one had nothing to do with getting the puck in the net, but maybe if we all did that, maybe that way we'd actually get 100 comments per post like the non-hockey blogs on sb nation.

alright this, hopefully this will be the last time i ask you guys if the sharks will own. if you silly people (thanks Amoc) still don't agree with me, then you must not have seen the sharks dominate the red wings. other than a few shaky points in the beginning of the 1st and 2nd periods, the sharks were in contol for the entire night, not including rafalski's goal in garbage time. okay i think i've made my point, activate poll now!

brian boucher has been an outstanding goalie of late. for you unfaithful people out there thinking "ohh, well, he was only facing the kings and lightning. they aren't going to the playoffs, they both suck." all that stuff is true, but how about i have kopitar and stamkos run you guys down and pelt you with 100 mph slap shots. that's right.

anyways, on to a less violent subject, we all love nabby, but he's given up 18 goals in his last 4 starts. boucher has been solid, but how will he fare against pittsburg and detroit?

with the sharks having 2 tough games in front of them, who do you put in goal? and why?

alright, some of you are reading this and thinking what is this guy thinking, and what's with the wierd title? well you might remember one of my previous fan posts. i said that the sharks were going to own after they beat the ducks on opening night. half voted for "they're going to own", which is exactly what i expected with this being a sharks blog.

the other half said "ehh, get back to me in 20 games". for all you people out there who voted for that. this is a 1 of 4 part series thingy, just for you somewhat unfaithful fans. odds are i won't do 4, it's just an estimation. and don't bother commenting to say "i'm not unfaithful!", i already know half of you unfaithful people are thinking that.

alright, the sharks are 5-1-0. they have 10 points and are 1st in the western conference. still really early, but still a good sign of things to come considering the last 2 teams to win the stanley cup (ducks and red wings) started off to phenomonal starts of at least 10 wins in their 1st 15 games.

i've been thinking a lot about this lately. just like in th nba, it seems like making the playoffs in the western conference in hockey is harder than in the eastern conference. almost everyone not named the kings seems to have a shot at the playoffs.

1. sharks and red wings - enough said
2. ducks - chris pronger will eat anyone in his way
3. stars - high puck control, they're the team we wanted to be last year
4. canucks - roberto luongo is the best goalie in the nhl not named nabokov
5. flames - very physical, nightmare for any eastern conference team or the sharks at least
6. wild, avalanche, predators, blues, oiler, blue jackets, blackhawks, and coyotes - don't really see a reason why they can't go, they're all a giant maybe when it comes to the playoffs

let's see. the sharks gave up two power play goals...wait, what? but that doesn't really mean anything to me and it shouldn't mean anything to you. i doubt that it will happen very often.

but just think, we scored TWO shorthanded goals. and that's without torrey mitchell. last year it felt like michell and grier had a shorthanded chance every other game. just think how good out penalty kill will be when he returns. they will own all power play units. hoplefully that includes detroit, because so far it seems like they are our only competition. maybe i'm over doing it, but it can't hurt to dream right?

i don't know about you guys, but friday was absolutely beautiful. the sharks have learned what the word "offense" means without dismantling their defense. woo hoo! last year injuries plagued cheechoo, setoguchi wouldn't work hard and the others wouldn't stand infront of the net unless doug wilson dropped a $1,000,000 check there. but cheechoo looks like himself, setoguchi is looking good and there are guys standing if front of the net now with no money to be found.

the new coach looks good so far. looks like this is going to be a great year.