Sharks and Ships

2 goals for Mr.Murphy

2011-10-09T19:40:00.001-07:00

Last night was one of the best nights of my life (I have been saying that to myself quiet often since my arrival in Long Beach) and I have some pictures to prove just how great it was.

I have my number 11 jersey, I am wearing number 11 because my coach Dmitriy Zharov wore that number when he was a player. Dmitriy has been teaching me how to skate and play hockey for a few months now and because of him (and some hard work and commitment on my part) I have had an amazing game 1 in my hockey life.

I scored a powerplay goal on my first shot of the game, it was a very nice play in which I scored 5 hole and on a breakaway (I still dont know why that team didnt have any players on their own blue line but its all good to me).

The second goal was a complete garbage goal, the puck was shot from the right side and the goalie made the save...and dropped it right in front of me. So I put it into his net for him :)

I think that after playing a few more games with these guys "Saturday Knights" I am going to have to play the level above "initation". It wasnt very challenging or competative. The playoffs start in a 5 weeks and if we win like 4 of our next 5 games I think we can get home ice advantage for the first round of the playoffs.

If anyone is interested in seeing me play some hockey just let me know and I will hook you up with some free tickets!

2011 Stanley Cup playoffs Philly vs Buffalo

2011-04-13T10:35:00.000-07:00

This series is going to be much more interesting then the western confrence number 2 seed playing the number 7 seed. The flyers have a lot of good things going for them, not the least of which is the BEST defence corp in the NHL. No joke, the bottom pairing defencemen these guys have would be the top pairing on some teams (Columbus and Florida I am talking about you). They are lead by the towering 6 foot 6 inch man named Chris Pronger who has been to the Stanley cup finals 3 times since the lockout. The only other star player who has done that is Marian Hossa. Chris Pronger is out with a wrist injury right now and we dont know when he will be back, but when he is back you will know. Last year he averaged around 27 minutes of ice time a game. After the clear cut all star their are some guys named Matt Carle, Kimmo Timmomen, Shayne O'brien and Braydon Coburn. Matt Carle use to be a San Jose Shark so I really like this guy. For Buffalo they ended the season on a 16-4-4 run. That run is exactly what you want GOING into the playoffs. Goalie Ryan Miller is just like Henrick Lundquist except he is American and is clean shaven. Also he doesnt have the same shut out numbers but he is the back bone to this team. Miller will have to be spectacular for an upset. That being said I think that the Sabres WILL upset the Flyers. Sabres will win this series in 7.

2011 Stanley Cup playoffs Caps vs Rangers

2011-04-13T10:07:00.000-07:00

Dear the loyal followers of "Sharks and Ships" The Stanley cup playoffs start today, and if you know me at all (and you do) then you know that this is my FAVOURITE 2 months a year. Playoff games are what the NHL is all about. Seriously. If you are like the Sharks, Canucks or Capitals you really have a 82 game preseason. Those teams (along with a few others) have some extremely high expectations and they should. Round 1 is my favourite round because its a fresh slate for all teams involved. That being said allow me to give my predictions with round 1, in the eastern confrence we have the Capitals and Rangers with the 1st and 8th seed respectively. This series is going to be a Capitals win because they have the advantage in every single department except goaltending. I like what the GM of the Capitals has done this year with this team, acquiring through trade Scott Hannan, Dennis Wideman and Jason Arnott. What these guys bring to this team is expeirience, leadership and they are all still very effective hockey players in their respective roles. Scott Hannan by the way is the only man left from the Sharks epic 5-3 penalty kill (during which we lost 2 sticks so it became a 5-2 pretty much) left in the NHL. Jason Arnott is a very tall and strong center who could be the Caps number 1 center on some nights. He is excited to be on this team after playing in some rather boring teams like the Predators and Devils (by boring I mean defence first) he is playing on a team that is very happy to score 6 goals even if it means giving up 1 or 2. The Rangers have essentially 1 thing going for them as I mentioned before and that is Henrick Lundquist. This guy is amazing. Simply put if I ever get my dream job of becoming a NHL GM and I ever get a goalie like him I am going to lock him down with a LONG term deal. Like 8 years or so. He gives you a chance to win every game, he can steal some games and one of my favourite stats from him is the fact that he leads the NHL with 11 shutouts. Basically every 6 games he doesnt allow a goal. No big deal. Except these games he is facing the best hockey players in the world. So unless Henrick pulls of a Halak (check youtube if you already dont know what this guy did in the playoffs last year) the Caps are going to win in 5.

Murphmobile2

2010-11-25T11:37:00.001-08:00

These pictures are that of the '08 SCION Xd that I bought earlier this week. As you can see its not at all manly BUT it does kind of feel like a space ship because it has buttons to control the radio on the steering wheel and A LOT of other miscelleneous buttons that I am sure to figure out sooner or latter.

This car is was bought primarily because it gets 37 miles to the gallon and has a messely 12,000 miles on it which makes it essentially brank spanking new. I have saved up for this purchase for a VERY VERY long time and plan on enjoying the fruits of my labours for an even LONGER time.

Sycamore Huanted ship

2010-10-30T10:51:00.000-07:00

This is one high quality costume, I was getting complements all night from every angle and had a lot of fun with it.

As you can see the pants were a touch too big, but aside from that it was a perfect fit.

Some of the kids wanted to know if I was the joker from the movie, to which I reluctenly said no but they still wanted to shake my hand and take picutres with me which I did so gladly.

There is another costume party tonight that I am going to go to, so you might see more of this handsome devil known now as the "Canadian Joker"

what you can get for $200 at the Shark Tank

2010-09-18T20:18:00.001-07:00

Below we have a Sharks 20th anniversary t-shirt, its pretty cool in my humble opinoin. Its going to be a collectors item for sure some time down the road. Also I purchased pictures of 2 players I dont already have. Joe Pavelski and Danny Heatley. When I get home I am going to take down some old pictures and put these bad boys up. I may even frame them.

on the left we have offical NHL western confrence finals pucks. They were used during the pregame warmup by none other then the likes of Joe Thorton, Patrick Marleau, Danny Heatley, Rob Blake, Joe Pavelski and even the Chicago players such as Patrick Kane and Marian Hossa.

Below we have the most bad ass trash can I have ever owned. I really will have trouble topping this one off. I mean who else is proud of there trash can like I am? This thing is going in my bed room and I am going to clean it out everday and wash it like once a week. Nothing but the best trash bags go in that trash can. EVER.

Above we have the sharks pillow that looks like a jersey, it is the perfect size for my bed (small), and super comfortable. Please note that it even has strings like the real jersey does at the neck part. My ship mates are totally jelous, and to make up for it they kind of tease me a little bit but I know its just because they are jelous.

So I dont have pictures of the Christmas presents that I also bought while I was there, and also I didnt get pictures of the hockey cards that I bought while I was there or the sharks banner of playing in Sweden this year for the first 2 games of the regular season. Once I get my own home I am going to have a room dedicated to the Sharks and it will bu flying proudly in that room.

Thank you grandma and grandpa and mom for taking me to the sharks store, I really had a great time and I am already excited to go back to that place.

When your heart has been broken

2010-08-26T17:49:00.000-07:00

Hello ladies and gentelmen of whom take the time to check and read my blog. Today I wrote a poem on what it is like to be heart broken. These are simply the feelings that a 20 year old male experianced when getting dumped (during a deployment none the less, but in all reality the timing probably wasn't too big a factor). It's a tad bit more on the depressing side so if you are looking for a pick-me-up I would suggest NOT READING IT. I wrote it because my best friend Alex said that I should embrace the emotions and feelings, not hide or ignore them. That being said if you do read it please enjoy.

When you're not hungry, your stomache doesnt want food
When you're not happy, your face doesn't want to smile
When your heart feels heavy and hard like a rock,
When your sleep gives you no rest
And your rest gives you no life
This is when you know your heart has been broken

The lights are dim,
The food has no flavor
The fire feels cold, and the flames are blue
This is when you know your heart has been broken

When you have given your everything
When your future is a jet black sheet of nothing
When your mirror shows you the face of failure
When you have these feelings my friends,
You are heart broken

Never again will I mock a heart broken man
Never again will I tease a heart broken woman
I will treat them with class
I will treat them with comfort

Now that I have felt the stomach that doesnt want food,
Now that I have had a face that doesnt want to smile,
Now that my sleep has given me no rest
And my rest has given me no life

Now that I have seen the dim lights,
Now that I have eaten the flavourless food,
Now that I have felt the cold blue fire,

Now that I have given my everything
And seen the future of black nothing,
And seen the face of failure in my mirror

Now that I have had my heart broken,
Now that I have had my heart broken,
Now that I have had my heart broken,
I am living a half life
I am only living a half life because my other half has left me,
But before she left,
She made sure that I was heart broken

My first ink has a joke behind it

2010-08-08T08:27:00.001-07:00

Yesterday I got my first ever tattoo, it's placed on the top right part of my back. I think that its a great place for it and am very happy that I didnt get it on my arm as I was originally thinking.

I think that it turned out great and that I will enjoy this tattoo for the rest of my life. One part that I am not enjoying that much right now is the fact that it was suppose to read "King of Kings" and "Lord of Lords". Key word in that sentence is SUPPOSE to read. Matt forgot the last "s" in the Lords part and so it turns out that wearing my "Comnedy of Errors" t-shirt wasnt that good of an idea after all....

I am sure that this is an easy fix though, adding a "s" shouldnt be too exspensive and when I go get my next tattoo (probably related to hockey) I will have the artist add the missing "s".

Montreal or Philadelphia? Its just too hard to say

2010-05-16T00:34:00.000-07:00

So in the eastern confrence we have what no one could have expected: Montreal winning a best of 7 series against a Washington Capitals team (the Caps scored 101 more goals then the Canadiens) followed by beating the defending Stanley Cup champions. The thing is Montreal is playing like they just cant be eliminated. Playing NOT to lose, the way that Vancouver did when they first acquried Roberto.

Then there is Philadelphia who has just made history by over coming a 0-3 playoff hole. The last time a team did that was 35 years ago. 35 years ago my mom wasnt thinking about me that much...if at all. So despite the fact that these 2 teams are not the cream of the crop as far as regular season success goes you can expect an extremely good series against these teams and whoever makes it to the finals is going to give the western confrence a hard time.

Of course that team is going to be the San Jose Shark, as they will beat Chicago in 6 or 7 games :)

San Jose Sharks vs Chicago Blackhawks, this is going to be worse then Detroit

2010-05-12T20:54:00.000-07:00

So my beloved San Jose Sharks are going to be playing in round 3 for the second time in franchise history and its going to be against a very dangerous team. How dangerous you might ask? Ask the fans of the Vancouver Canucks who just got defeated 4 games to 2, in a series that they never really looked like they showed up. Henrick Sedin who lead the league with 112 points in the regular season didnt even lead his team in scoring through 12 games, the title of top scoring Canuck during the post season belongs to Mike Samuleson.

The thing is during the Blackhawks 4 good games agains Vancouver they dominated the Canucks. Out scoring them it seemed by at least 3 goals to 1. The Blackhawks had 2 hat tricks in the 6 game series. You are going to be going far in the post season when you score a hat trick every 3 games. They looked like the grittier team in the series and thats not something that I say often. In Vancouvers defence (no pun inteded) I think about half of their top 6 defence were out with injuries during this series.

For the Sharks to win this is what must happen: 1) Nabokov must be the Sharks best player for the 7 or less games agains the Blackhawks. Nabokov has been extremely good in the playoffs this year but he is going to have to elevate his game even further against the Blackhawks. 2) The Sharks must stay out of the penalty box, this hasnt been a problem for the Sharks for the first 2 rounds but they need to keep moving with their feet and playing with energy. 3) The team must put defence first. Ever forward and defence man must play their best ever hockey in their own zone. Winning defencive faceoffs and getting the puck deep into the Blackhawks zone is going to be key to winning this best of 7 series.

So there you have it, my prediction is that the Sharks will win in 7 games.

Also the Montreal Canadians have just beat the Penguins in 7, so I am going to say that in the next series (against either Boston or Philly) they will win in 7.

To the Western Confrence Finals they go!

2010-05-09T19:12:00.000-07:00

I am extremely happy to say, that after watchin an extremely close game between the San Jose Sharks and Detroit Red Wings it was the Sharks who again emerged victorious and are heading to round 3. The Western Confrence Finals. The final score was 2-1 and both of the goals that the Sharks scored were largley due to Jumbo Joe dominating the game they way we know he can. Winning 10 of 14 faceoffs in game 5, scoring 3 goals in 5 games agains the defencively strong Red Wings and setting up Patrick Marleau for 2 game winners which included the O.T. winner in game 3 and the series clincher in game 5.

Joe Thornton was simply the best player in this series, its probably the first time in his 12 year career that some one can say that. It's the first time in his 12 NHL years that he will be playing in the 3rd round which I think is mind boggling due to his skill level. He is averaging a point a game this year in the playoffs.

Patrick Marleau and Evegni Nabokov have also been as good (even better at times) their regular season selves. Nabokov faced probably the most difficult screens that he is going to have to face in the playoffs in this series and came away with a 4-1 record. The next team that Sharks will face is most likely the Chicago Blackhawks but we can't count out the Canucks yet, with Loungo you are out until you win 4 games.

These Sharks have won close games all these playoffs, they have rebounded with a win after every time they lose and they are 7-1 in their past 8 games and havent lost on home ice since April 14th. They also have not lost a game yet when scoring the first goal of the game, or going into the second or third period with a lead. These are obviously statistics that can change in the next 2 rounds but with the way these Sharks have rebounded I dont think that it will matter.

Round 2 has some of the best matchups you could ask for

2010-04-30T19:34:00.000-07:00

Those of you who follow hockey as well as I do will likely agree with my title. It has a rematch of Chicago and Vancouver that will have some beautifully physical play, the kind that you only see in the playoffs. These 2 teams hate eachother and the Canucks captain Roberto Loungo was crying when he allowed 7 goals in the game 6 that had the Canucks eliminated last year. This time I believe that the tables will turn and the blackhawks will be leaving 2 rounds sooner then they would like. I say this because I think that Roberto Loungo is going to be amazing, and he has 4 forward lines that are producing better then the chicago lines are.

Philly and Boston is a rematch between the winter classic teams for the second year in a row (last year Detriot and Chicago) will meet in the playoffs. I thought that neither of these teams would be in round 2 and I was wrong. So now I am going to say that Boston will win this series in 6 games. The main reason I voted Philly off of the island last round was because their goalie was 3rd string and playing against Martin Brouduer. This match up isnt going to come to goaltending, it will come down to how well the forwards play as both teams are missing some of their top scorers and will be needing now more then ever some production from their depth players.

I am had a pretty decent chuckle at one of my earlier blog post where I said that the 8th seed of the eastern confrence would NOT be going to round 2. I was wrong and for the second year in a row the president trophy winner lost the first round. 3 days latter I still cant believe that the Washington Capitals have lost but it is what it is and now I am going to say that the Pittsburgh Penguins will win in 5 games.

I wont go to indepth with the Sharks and Red Wings because I pretty much made an intire blog post on that series alone but I will say that I am super happy that my room mate who doesnt like hockey (Tyler Juel) has duty on Sunday (game 2 day) so my more hockey friendly roomate (Giacalone) and I can watch the game on the big screen t.v.

Sharks agains the Red Wings...this could be bad

2010-04-27T21:28:00.000-07:00

So it is now set in stone, the sharks will be facing the red wings in round 2 and this has got to be the worst matchup the sharks could have in round 2. The Red Wings had a 3-1 regular season record against the Sharks, and I believe that was there record during the regular season last year and 3 years ago the Sharks were eliminated by the Red Wings in 6 games. That makes the record 4-10 from there most recent games from what memorie serves.

I just have a bad feeling about this, to make matters even worse the top line of Joe Thornton, Patrick Marleau and Danny Heatley that combined for about 83 goals throughout 82 regular season games has combined for 1 post season goal in 6 games. If the San Jose Sharks are to win this series the biggest thing that needs to change is the production from the big line. It has to step up to its regular season numbers or better.

The special teams are pretty even although I would give the edge to the red wings on the powerplay and say that the sharks are better penalty killers. Another advantage for the sharks would be that they were the least penalized team in round 1, if they can keep that up then I would say that the sharks have the all around better special teams for this round.

I am saying that the sharks will win in 5 games, Nabokov will be stunning in goal and the big line will be offensively productive, after winning the first 2 games the Red Wings will know that they arent going to be able to win the series and wont.

round 2! Its been a while...

2010-04-24T22:40:00.000-07:00

Okay so i struck out when i guessed that philly would lose to New Jersey but I was correct in saying that the Pittsburgh Penguins would defeat the Senators and more importantly I was correct in predicting that the San Jose Sharks would defeat the Colorado Avalanche.

The sharks scored 5 or more goals in 3 of the 6 games and Nabokov (with the exception of allowing 3 goals on 4 shots in period 2 of game 2) has been extremely solid and has given his team a chance to win every game. Looking back on the series, the arguement could be made that the sharks should have swept the avalanche. The sharks just had 2 extremely unlucky bounces go against them and that is why it went to 6 games.

The sharks powerplay was extremely good chipping in 5 goals on 26 (19%) powerplay opportunities, there penalty kill only allowed 2 goals on 15 chances (87%), if the sharks can keep the special teams working so well there is no reason to think that they can't win the cup.

Next up for the sharks to sink there sharp playoff teeth on: Nashville, Los Angelas, Detriot or Phoenix. Essintally half of the teams in the western confrence playoffs might be visiting the shark tank in the coming week and we will have no idea for sure who we will be playing until Monday night at the soonest. I am personally hoping to face the Nashville Predators because we have a 2-0 playoff record against them, that means that they Chicago blackhawks would be out of the playoff picture and they (just like the Avalanche) lack any kind of scoring forward.

Now I can watch the rest of what has been a spectacular first round with no stress :) I will be just like the sharks taking a day or two to rest (The rest will only be a menatl one as I still have lots of work coming to me this week on the Sycamore).

I would just like to note that after watching the game, i got an email from my Naylene saying that the sharks won! In capital letters too, so obviously she was happy for me :) it made my day knowing that she knows my passion and is willing to help me keep up to date with it.

New house and room

2010-04-22T21:28:00.000-07:00

bathroom floor

shelves that I made
my full closet

my room with a canuck towel for some reason? :)

this wall is more like it :)

So for those of you who are well informed with my life you know that because of one reason or another i have had to move to a new house. Here are some pics of the place, I love the place so far and my room feels like a real bed room.

Why the sharks will beat the avalanche

2010-04-12T15:20:00.000-07:00

The sharks will beat the avalanche in the stanley cup playoffs this year because:

The sharks have the superior special teams in comparison to the avalanche, including a powerplay that clicks 3% more often and a penalty kill that stops the puck an allarming 5% more often.

The colorado avalnche have no one on their team with over 30 goals, the sharks have 2 such players in Patrick Marleau (44 was a career high) and Danny Heatley (39 was actually a disapointment considering he spent much of the season playing with Joe Thornton). You can easily make the conclussion that the sharks will be scoring more goals then the avalanche in this series.

The sharks have a better goalie. Evgeni Nabokov finished the season with 44 wins and only lost in regulation 16 times through 70 starts. Those numbers are simply jaw dropping and even though I would give the vezina trophy (awarded to the top goaltender in the league as voted by the 30 general managers at the end of the season) to about 3 goalies before giving it to Nabokov i would say that Nabokov has been the most consistent goalie this year by far.

So there you have it, I think that these 3 reasons alone justify why the sharks will beat the avalanche in 5 games. Of course, i have been wrong before in saying that the sharks will advance past round 1.....

The Sharks will get past round 1 this year

2010-04-12T13:24:00.000-07:00

So the stanley cup playoffs are FINALLY here again, for us shark fans it has been a really long time since the ducks eliminated us in 6 games. 28/April/2009 was the last day that the sharks got to compete for the stanley cup.

So here are my predictions for round one of the playoffs this year:

Western Confrence

Sharks over the Avalanche in 5 games
Blackhawks over the Predators in 6 games
Vancouver over the Kings in 7 games
Coyotes fall to the Red Wings in 6 games

Eastern Confrence

Capitals over the Canadien in 5 games
Devils over the Flyers in 7 games
Sabers over the bruins in 7
Pengiuns over the Senators in 6 games

I will explain why I pick who to beat who in another post, right now i have to get my laundry.

Its that time of the year again

2010-04-05T07:56:00.000-07:00

So when I say "its that time of the year again" I mean that the Stanley Cup playoffs are just around the corner, 12 of the 16 playoff teams have already been decided ( including 7 out of 8 in the western confrence) and most teams have 4 or less games left in the season before the "real season" starts.

Now for those of you who know me, I am a very passionate San Jose Shark fan and will be cheering for them throughout the entire playoffs and to their first Stanley Cup. Thats right, I am already going to say that the SJ Sharks will win the Stanley Cup this year. They will have a photo that looks something like this:

I am however getting too far ahead of myself, one of my favourite rounds of the stanley cup playoffs would be round 1 because everyone is fresh and there are 16 teams alive and kicking. For the most part if you make it into the playoffs you can make a prety decent arguement on why you can make it to round 2 or even further. The exception would be in the eastern confrence where whom ever gets the 8th seed is going to face the Washington Capitals. I am going to say right now that the 8th seed in the eastern confrence wont make it to round 2.

So once the final seeds have been planted for both confrences I will make another blog post on who I think will win and in how many games.

Snowboarding at its finest (just kidding)

2010-01-30T18:13:00.000-08:00

so I have been into this little thing called snowboarding for the past 3 weeks or so and now I have got some pics of what it is like. Today the weather was mostly good, just foggy in some areas. I took all of these pic on the single chair lift (one of two in north america) the fourth photo is my fav, it has everything in it and you can see very clearly what the traffic is like during a busy cordova saturday (we are talking like 30 people showed up today). I am really starting to love this place now that I have something to do, I feel less fat and much happier in general.

The house I call home in Cordova

2010-01-17T19:49:00.000-08:00

So in no particular order I have finally posted pictures of my home in Cordova. The house has been under some serious cleaning over the past two days and I decided that I would capture it in all of its glory. Not that you can tell but right now it even smells good in the house. The second picture is a little bit of my bed room. I was quiet surprised with the amount of trash I was able to find and of course throw away.

In the fourth picture you can see the wood burning stove, although we hardly use it anymore it is a very nice homing touch. It gives a sort of classical feel to the house. In the fifth photo you can see the couch. Everyone loves the couch because it is super comfortable and you have a great view to the t.v. (nothing like watching the hockey game comfortably). In the last picture we have the kitchen that I went even as far as to do the dishes and bleach the counter.

Cordova Christmas

2009-12-25T23:17:00.000-08:00

I apologize for how unorginized this blog enty is, I cant seem to get the pictures to go in the right spots so please just bear with me.

T
The stoking is something that I will likely have for the rest of my life, and the hoodie (top) is very classy. So classy that if I were to meet the president I would wear that very hoodie.

So this was the first Christmas that I spent away from my family but it wasnt as bad as I thought it would be because I managed to talk to just about everyone over the phone and I managed to rake in some Shark clothing.

About 5 days ago I cut down a Christmas tree for the added sense of Christmas, it is the smallest tree that I every rember having but size matters not according to a very wise person from Star Wars.

I also got this book called "Exposure" from Alex Cutler, and it is a book full of amazing swim suit models in the Caribbean. Not many words in it but still pretty hard to put down :)

I will be cleaning this up soon

2009-12-09T21:33:00.000-08:00

This is what my room looks like now. I have been very fortuneate to be given the second biggest bedroom in the house and it is indeed a perfect size for me.

The only problem is that I have some how become extremely lazy and dont clean up anything. Althoug I dont really have a good place to put stuff that doesnt mean that I should leave my clothers on the floor as you see them now.

I am getting underway for a while starting this Thursday and if everything goes according to plan I shall have it all cleaned up in weeks time with everything orginized too boot. If you want to get a hold of my the email should be working: nathanile.d.murphy@uscg.mil.

Pictures from my best trip yet

2009-12-02T20:38:00.000-08:00

These were the hundreds of moped like bikes outside of a japanese mall. Also, there were lots of direction signs in english and japanese. Weird, it seems like I can be a world class traveler with only the english language being mastered.

Picture from Russia, I think that this is a statue of

Stalin. It was pretty big, like maybe in the 40 foot range.

My first thanksgiving without family had family

2009-11-27T23:23:00.000-08:00

So as far as I can tell, I have been extremely fortunate in the fact that I have always been able to share the holidays with lots of my family. This was my first thanksgiving without any family in the sense of parents, cousins, grandparents and siblings. Even though I miss all of them a lot (I really do miss my family) I managed to have a really good time thanks to BOSN who is the officer of deck force.

He invited every one from the ship over and about 20 were there. It was for starters a beautiful, warm and welcoming house. The best house in Cordova I have seen since I got here. There was a big screen t.v. in the living room that was playing foot ball games and several tables put together to feed about 18 or so people.

It was pretty typical with many of the men drinking beer and watching the football game and the wives making the meal. BOSN was very much like my own dad being a very good and busy host, he kept a warm fire going and took his time to talk with everyone making it a very welcoming enviorment. He even managed to cook some of the food on the grill outside. Of the three or so football games on that day none of them were really close. Not that I am a football buff (because I am not) but it seemed like the games were over in the first half.

After dinner several people continued to watch the football game but I didnt. I was too busy playing some intense games with Jackson. Jackson is a charming young boy who also happens to be BOSN's son. These games were SORRY and TROUBLE. I think that it would have been funner with some more people but it was still pretty much a good time dueling with him over who could roll the higher numbers quicker (With only 2 people you just try to get home A.S.A.P. and dont really have to worry about him hitting you).

After some "motivation" by the women we all left the house and shot some "gernade shells" that BOSN offered. I had the honor of firing the second shot and it was pretty fun. They were shells that are desgined to scare ducks, or bears or whatever you were trying to hunt. We then went back inside and finished off some deseret.

So on behalf of everyone who made it to BOSN's house I say thank you for a great thanksgiving. It was truly better then what I thought it was going to be and for about those 8 hours I didnt think of my family once because you and my fellow shipmates are another family to me and I am very proud to say it.

The sharks are lousy

2009-11-24T20:55:00.000-08:00

So I have a while to go before I can show pics of the house but I figured that I would put something on my blog for everyone to enjoy.

These are all funny from the sharks, my fav would definatly be Dan Boyle and Big Joe

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-m6vykvwvEM

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F9gwDT-r5fY&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O_FQW0r-dek

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1s-ohOU8wl0

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aE7oZCfYqoc

While I was surfing I saw some more that werent as shark related but super funny

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xfjKMpbJOs4

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_MEpzRGgtok

I think that the last one means that I wouldnt make it into the NHL (as a player anyways). So I decided to add to my Christmas list: Socks.

My Sharks continue to collect points

2009-11-15T19:59:00.000-08:00

So my prediction earlier today was very wrong. They didnt win 4-1, the were on the losing end of a 4-3 O.T. score. The good news is that they still get that extra point and are now a sparkling 14-4-4 and 4 points ahead of the closest teams that trail them.

Dany Heatley scored in the game which ties him with the league lead in goals with 14 on the season. It was another snipe, beautiful wrist shot with an equaly beautiful pass by You-Know-Who.

Patty Marleau also scored a very nice goal, and it is the league leading 9 goal on the road. Those are some very impressive stats and if these guys keep it up this is the year that the sharks will go all the way.

I was told to put up my Christmas List on my blog and after some thinking here it goes:

A new electric razor (I lost half of the blade to my current one which still works but not well)

A snow board, with snow boarding extras (whatever it is that snow boarders wear with the snow board) because there is a mountain/hill that my roomates are going to now that there is snow and I think that it would be nice to join them. I would think that the most important thing that someone would need to know is that i am a size 9 and that when I snow board I put my right foot forward.

Pokemon cards (just kidding)

Shark clothing (not kidding)

Socks, preferably long and warm and white

Some video games that I will post once I see what I have after I recieve my house hold goods.

Maybe some moveis or Two And A Half Men seasons (I have the first 3 seasons so anything after that would be appropriate)

A girlfriend (not kidding)

pictures of family, preferably of them smileing and doing fun things.

Something that will motivate me to exercise

A way to charge the battery in my camera

So that is what I was able to come up with after some thought and I will be sure to add or subtract from it accordingly.

I'm not dreaming of a white Christmas

2009-11-15T12:25:00.000-08:00

The reason that I am not dreaming of a white christmas is because i am actually dreading it. It has been snowing pretty much on a daily basis since the day before holloween. It wasnt that bad untill about a week ago. Now it is something that makes me wear several of coats, at least two pairs of socks and gloves (or whatever i can get my hands on for additional warrmth). This is the first time in my life that i will be having a white Holloween, a white Veterans day, a white Thanksgiving and a white Christmas.

So far I have been on duty and shoveling snow for Holloween, Veterans day and I am schedualed for Thanksgiving as well. I really hope that means that I can get Christmas off. Although even if I do get Christmas off i wont be where I want to be. I really want to be home in Aldergrove B.C. for Christmas but it looks like that wont be happening this year. Really depressing because I think that all I want for Christmas is to spend a week with the beautiful young siblings that I have.

Looking at moms blog I can tell everyone right now: Nick has the potential to be a professional hockey player. This baby was working hard for dad and accquired a bloody nose, but he kept working and even smiled through his pain. That is the hockey player mentality, working through the pain and doing it for the team. I couldnt be more proud of him.

Also the sharks have been doing amazingly well, I thought that this year they would start to decline (its hard to become better after winning the presidents trophy and setting all of those important franchise records, also other teams have improved dramatically namely Colorado, Los Angeles and Phoenix (two of those dramatically improved teams are in the pacific division with my beloved sharks). My sharks havent lost in regulation time since Oct 22, which is amazing and could also come to an end today when they finish a back to back with the Chicago Blackhawks. I hope that some one lays out Brian Campbell because he should be wearing a Sharks jersey with childhood friend Joe Thorton but appatently he wanted more money then he was worth and Chicago was going to do that for him. I think that one of the key reasons that the San Jose Sharks have been so energized recently has been the all star play of Dan Boyle, and Danny Heatley. Boyle has six points in his past 4 games (including 2 goals) and Heatley put an end to St.Louis penalty killing streak (they had killed 32 straight penalties before Heatley one-timed a shot past Chris Mason) and has 13 goals in 21 games.

Storm is my dog

2009-05-10T17:10:00.000-07:00

So today i took my dog storm for a walk out back and realized that he has been a really good friend for me for a really long time and that i should give credit where credit is due. He has been friendly to everyone and is a great watch dog. I have used him in pretty much all of my years of 4-H where he has gone on to win lots or ribbons that were mostly blue and red. He even got a grand champion reserve ribbon once. It was a long time ago but it happened. Some of my highlights with storm would be watching him run and eat snow at the same time. Him not being able to catch anything ever (literally a piece of cookie will hit him in the face before he opens his mouth to catch it). He is also very photo getic and here are some photos of my dog for the past 10 or so years.

My predictions where 7/8 for round one

2009-04-29T15:25:00.000-07:00

So i made all the correct predictions in round one except for my San Jose Sharks. I thought that they would win in 6. Instead they lose in six. Aside from that amazing upset the rest of the teams i thought that would advance to round two did. So the match ups are as follows: Detriot vs Anahiem and Vancouver vs Chicago in the west. Boston vs Carolina and Washington vs Pittsburgh back east.

This round is going to be harder for me to make predictions because with the exception of Chicago and Carolina the remaining teams have made a case for winning the stanley cup this year. Boston, Vancouver and Detriot swept their first sereis respectively. Anahiem beat the top seeded sharks and made it look easy. Washington now has excellent goaltending (another prediction that i made correctly about Jose Thedore a while back). Any team can go deep when it has sidney crosby and evgeny malkin. Add in to the fact that this team made in to the stanley cup finals last year and Pittsburgh really does look good.

So enough talk here are my difficlut predictions:
Detriot will win in 7. The i am soooo tempted to say that the ducks will win because fact of Jonas hiller. Here are the most mouth watering stats a rookie goalie can give you: 2 shutouts in 6 games. 4 wins in 6 games. 10 goals against in 6 games. 230 saves and a 1.64 goals against average. This guy was the only reason that the ducks won round one. I doubt that he can keep it up though because Detriot has been scoring at least 4 goals a game in round one. What is really amazing though is the fact that Detriot has 8 players averaging a point a game with 2 players averaging over a point a game.

Vancouver will win in 6. Again you have the best goalie left in the playoffs with probably the best all round defence corp. The only problem is that these Blackhawks can score. They are very offencive, with the most noticable gund being Jonathan Towes and Patrick Kane. It will be a great series but i can only see the canucks advancing.

Out east I have the bruins winning in 6. The canes were fantastic in round one against the devils with the all star Eric Stall putting in the most timely goals ever. But the bruins are simply the better team. What really helps the bruins is there defence with the likes of Zdeno Chara, Denis Wideman. It will be a pretty good series but the Bruins will win.

I have the Penguins winning in 6. My reasoning is simple. These two teams match up very evenly in all aspects but the edge goes to the penguins because they dont have the pressure of home ice in this series. As long as they win one of the two first games they will be golden. The capitals are still new to this thing called the playoffs having only one their first round in a decade.

Losing in round two doesn't seem that bad anymore

2009-04-28T17:53:00.000-07:00

Well the sharks season is over and this is by far the worst ending that they have been ever since i can rember (about 5-6 years). The sharks lost in the first round. Numero Uno. They are out and now the only thing to do is get ready for next year. For the past four years they have always been able to shake hands with the opposition knowing that they still had some hockey in very near future. This year losing in round two doesnt seem that bad at all.
Its really a shame when a team is eliminated, there are about 23 or more guys on each team who have been working hard since training camp to win the stanley cup. And then 8 months later they get sent home with nothing. The sharks have it worse then the other 14 teams that will be elimated from the playoffs this year, because they won the presidents trophy. When the sharks put up their presidents trophy banner they will look at it with dissapiontment and lilkely disgust. Knowing that trophy pales in comparsion to the one that they are just getting further and further away from.However the last presidents trophy winner to lose in round one made it to the western confrence finals the following year. And then won the stanley cup the next. Todd McLellen was there for all three of those years as an assistant coach to Mike Babcock and the detriot redwings. Maybe he can repeat those results again for the Sharks. I will gladly wait 2 years to see my sharks hoist the Stanley Cup. I still think that firing Ron Wilson was the right thing to do and that Todd McLellen has his best coaching years ahead of him, particularly in the post season.

What the sharks must do to force a game 7

2009-04-27T18:39:00.000-07:00

In the San Jose Sharks past five playoff games where they have faced elimination they have won four times. Tonight they need to keep that streak going and win in the ducks territory to force what would be an amazing game 7. I dont think that the sharks will be able to do it simply because of the statistics. But if they are to win this crucial game here is what must happen: #1 Nabokov must play his best game of the series and steal some saves. So far he has just been average on serval of the goals scored against him and that will not do tonight. #2 The sharks must win the specail teams battle. After failing to score on their first 12 powerplay chances in the first two games they have scored 3 powerplay goals in the next three games. Also every time the sharks have converted on the man advantage they have gone on to win the game. It would be ever so nice if that trend could continue. #3 They still need to continue to get trafic in front of the net. The sharks did a great job of that in game 2 but ever since they have been doing it to a lesser degree. Hiller has stopped about 99% of the pucks he has seen this series and only about 75% of the ones he hasnt seen.

I also think that getting the lead would be wonderful for the sharks as everytime that they lead in the game they go on to win it. To get the win these sharks are just taking it one shift at a time. I must say that the addition of Torrey Mitchel has been great for the sharks. Ever since he joined the line up they have gone 2-1 and he is great at throwing his body around and doesnt shy away from the physical play that some sharks players do.

So there you have it the keys to a succesful game 6 and i dearly hope that my beloved sharks can prove me wrong and beat these ducks despite the odds.

Big Joe has a big night

2009-04-25T23:06:00.001-07:00

Lets face it, the San Jose sharks have been the team with the most preassure to get results in this years playoffs. They have won the presidents trophy for the first time in franchise history and their home record had only 5 regulation loses on it. And because every time a team doesnt win someone has to be blamed the spotlight has been put on many of the sharks. But the one person that has been on the spot light the most is deffinatly Joe Thornton. Mr.Thornton has been under so much preasure to preform this post season that it would have broken many lesser men. But Joe came through when he needed it most. With his team facing elimination he came through with a 3 point night. All three goals that the sharks scored were because of him and because of him the sharks live to fight another day.

Joe Thornton has been hearing all of the critisim for the past four games. Like the fact that he is losing over half of his faceoffs. He has only managed 5 goals in 41 playoff games as a shark and untill tonight that number would have been even worse.

The thing is Joe is about as important to this team as Nabby, when they are both playing a dominate game the sharks win. When one of them plays a dominate game the sharks still manage to win and when niether of them play a great game the sharks still manage to squez out some wins.

So tonight Nabby did not have a dominate game (he did untill the third period but alas that is part of the game and so his game was not dominate) but Joe did. He won his faceoffs. He was a human battering ram for some shifts. He contributed sever quality shots on net (including the assist to the game winning goal in OT1) and simply did the right thing every time he could. And now the sharks will take on the ducks in game 6 and again will face elimination. But I think that they will prevail because of several reasons. #1 Nabby is over due to have a dominate game #2 The ducks played a game that they have been playing all series and the sharks still beat them and so their confidence is great right now #3 With the sharks facing elimation they will be a desperate hocky club and when they play desperate hockey they can beat anyone in the league.

So now that Big Joe has checked in, and patty Marleau has both of the game winning goals for the sharks in this series it is time that the rest of the team follows suit and plays a dominate game because ladies and gentlemen these sharks are just starting to look good again. Expect a game 7.

Childish or competative?

2009-04-22T19:18:00.000-07:00

Around the NHL right now there is much to talk about (as is the case early in the playoffs with 16 teams still fighting for a stanley cup). For starters, the Vancouver Canucks and Boston Bruins have sweept their series and are now sitting at home awaiting round two. Tough luck for St.Louis as they tried ever so hard to get into the playoffs and battled hard to get the sixth seed. For Montreal on the other hand, they got the eight seed because no one else did and the Bruins indeed swept them as i predicted. The red wings are a win away from sweeping the blue jackets and i wouldnt be suprised to see them do so. I am surprised by Chris Osgoods play, he truly does look as good as (if not better) himself last years at this time.

The New York Rangers are the most surprising team this year as they have held Alexander Ovechkin to a single goal in four games. It mind boggeling really but that is the case and now they lead the series 3-1 and are more or less a lock to go on to round two. So far my predictions i am off by one.

Pittsburgh is also a very likely team to see in round two as they lead their series by a solid 3-1. From goaltending out they have been nothing short of great and really could threaten the Bruins bid for the eastern confrence championship. The flyers havent done anything wrong in this series, they are just playing a better team and can not win.
Here is what I have been waiting to talk about ever since i saw it last night in the highlight real; Martin Brouder (the winnigest goaltender in league history) allowed a goal in with two tenths of a second and now the series is tied 2-2. Well he went to argue his case to the refs that there was goaltender interference. True Mr.Brouder was bumped by a screening hurricane but he was about 1 foot out of his crease. In my humble opinion not goaltender interference. The refs agreed with me. Martin however was so upset by this call (some might use a word that ryhmes with hissed) that he threw his stick against the boards as he stormed off (and after getting in the refs faces and telling them that they werent doing their jobs). Well Martin everyone in New Jersey is happy that you are a competative man who wants to win every game and stop every puck, in fact i would think less of you if you didnt. But when you fail to do those things you have no right to make the scene that you did. There is a time and place for everything and on national T.V. is not the place.

How many people think that Martin is a classy guy? Well i have never seen Trevor Linden throw a hissy fit like that. And that last time i checked Jerome Iginla shakes everyones hand when the playoff series is over, even if he does lose (obviously he is too high to shake Sean Avery's hand). The fact of the matter is that being a leader and some one that hundreds upon thousands of young goalies try to be like you should act better when the camera is rolling because those little things are just childish.

Now onto my beloved sharks. Last night they scored on 2 of 3 powerplay opportunites and got the game winning goal from their captain Patrick Marleau and now trail by one game. They are still in a horrid position (one more loss and they face elimination) but they are without question looking and playing better. It really starts from the defencemen though as Dan Boyle played one of his best ever as a shark in all zones. He shut players down, battled, passed and scored. Thats what he was brought in here to do and i for one am glad that we have him for another 5 years.

So now if the sharks can win game 4 this series will really be in there favour. If they lose i expect them to lose the series simply because the ducks are too good a team to win 3 straight against. So no preasure sharks but if you can win tommorow night that would be great.

The last stand for the president trophy winners is tonight

2009-04-21T16:01:00.000-07:00

All right the sharks are in the worst possible position that they can be right now. They are behind by two games after playing two games. They will make a stand tonight, they will win and i have a good feeling that this series is headed to the wonderful game 7. These sharks lost two games that they should have won but have nothing to show for it. This time they will make sure they have something to show for it. They realize that they have no choice but to win this game. If anything these sharks havent pushed the panick button (which recently i recommended) because they have had a chance to win both of these games.

Powerplay. It must start clicking for the sharks, if they could have scored on maybe one of thier six powerplays each game then each game would have likely gone into over time. If they could have scored more then once on each of their six chances a game then they could have likely won both of those games. Tonight the sharks will have a clicking powerplay thanks to a powerplay guru by the name of Todd McLellan. They have had long enough to work out getting into the ducks zone and creating quality chances. The real issue i think is that they have to get out of their own zone, spending 20-40 seconds in your own zone with the man advantage is just to much.

Nabokov. I think that Nabby has been great and we cant blame the lose on him for game one at all. Game two he gave the sharks a chance to win but he let in a very weak goal that changed momentum. Tonight he must be the better goaltender. He must be nearly perfect because the ducks are just playing that well. Ideally Nabby needs to post a shutout tonight maybe allow one goal if that isnt possible. But what it really boils down to is that Nabby isnt making those key/timely saves when its been needed of him. Tonight must be a differant story.

So to a splended game seven we go and the road there will be bumpy so have sun watching the next five games in this series.

These sharks dont want a stanley cup

2009-04-19T21:53:00.000-07:00

The bottom line is that while watching the game tonight the ducks were the better team. I must give an honorable mention to Jonathan Cheechoo who next to Hiller was the best player on the ice. Aside from Cheechoo however the sharks had no passion and no desire to win the battles. The ducks played the game knowing that they were going to win and the sharks played hoping just hoping that they could squize out a win. They couldnt and now there season is pretty much over. Not only have the sharks never in their franchise history recovered from a 0-2 hole but the ducks now only have to win two of their next five games with three of them being on home ice.

If the sharks really wanted to win the stanley cup they would have won tonight. Some how they would have won the game, because that is what champions do. Thats what the ducks did. And look at where they stand in the series. They have only given up 2 goals in 2 games and there powerplay has click 2 out of 6 times and they have killed off 12 striaght penalties. Get real teal. You cant expect to win the Stanley cup without a powerplay goal. You cant win a stanley cup by giving up 1 out of 3 power plays. If you really wanted the stanley cup you would have found a way to reverse this trend tonight. Instead it just became worse.

Right now no one is safe for the sharks. Doug Wilson, Todd McLellan, and any player without a no trade clause can be seen wearing a differant jersey next year because this year the men wearing teal cant do it. Despite the fact that they did an amazing job in the regular season when it really counts they cant win the games. It may be a strech to mentoin that Doug Wilson and Todd McLellan could be out of this organization but lets look at the facts: Doug Wilson as the GM has never made it past the 2nd round and Todd McLellan will have finished one of the best rookie head coaching years with maybe one win in the "real season".

Now clearly my emotions have done a lot of the talking tonight so i will stop now but the bottom line is that these sharks dont want a stanley cup.

Season rests on one game

2009-04-18T20:12:00.000-07:00

Okay lets face the facts, if the sharks dont win game number 2 they will all but be eliminated. Sweet and simple. The numbers suggest that when a team takes a 2-0 lead they win 87% of the time. But its worse for the sharks because they will have to conquare this 87% with three of the five on the road. So if the sharks dont win on sunday they can be offically counted out. But thats the thing, if the dont win. If they do win then it becomes a brand new series with the sharks owning the winning streak. A lot of the players and coaches use the saying "we arent going to push the panick button yet" when things go poorly in the playoffs.

The sharks shouldnt push the panick button yet because they dont have anything to really panick about yet. If they lose game 2 then they all better start pushing the panick button, the desperation button and the "play the best hockey of my life button" while they are at it. Enough said the sharks win and they stand a chance in this series. They lose and we will have to wait another year for the holy grail of hockey to come to the shark tank.

Around the leauge i am shocked at the fact that New York leads with that deadly 2-0 in the series. The reasons behind it would be as follows, #1 Henrick Lundquist stopped all 35 shots from the capitals. #2 John Torterella is showing to be the better coach by making the best match ups for his rangers. He has shut out Alexander Ovechkin for two games and thats amazing because AO has been on the ice for approximently 25 minutes a game. #3 New York is just playing as a team. They are all working together perfectly while the capitals (who are surely confused and upset) arent relying on their teammates. They are trying to do too much individually. If they were to make an extra pass before several of their shot on goal it would likely improve their chances of getting by Henrick.

Detriot is as domminate as it comes. They have given up one goal in 2 games and scored 8 goals in that span. They have scored 4 powerplay goals already. They just have too much fire power. I am almost wishing that we could have faced the blue jackets instead of the ducks. Chris Osgood has been brilliant, and now that the redwings have the 2-0 edge you can expect them to move on to round 2.

Boston is the second most dominate team in the league right now, they will win the eastern confrence with little to no resistence along the way. They have scored 9 goals in their last 2 games have allowed only 3 and their powerplay is also impressive having capitalized 4 times already. They have an impossibly good system going for them right now. They are tough and montreal is not. They are scoring and montreal is not. They are going to win this series and montreal will be lucky to get a game and if their luck stretches they can get two.

How much faith do I have in the sharks?

2009-04-17T12:25:00.001-07:00

How much faith do I have in the sharks? Zero. After losing in the home opener I am certain that they will lose the series. Not only did they lose they were shutout by a rookie goalie, on home ice. Good going San Jose, i put so much time and money into you guys and your repay me with what was one of the most depressing games i have ever seen in my life. This is what i should have expected though, a team that just cant win when it matters most. It matters most right now guys. The ducks are leading the series and not only that they stole the game at home. The sharks won their first 11 games at home (they went the next 8 or so without a regulation loss) during the regular season and then come playoffs they can't even score a goal.

That was actually how i felt last night when the game ended. The playoffs have a tendancy to make you overly excited. The sharks were booed off the ice and i just had some anti-depressants before my head cleared. Okay we lost game one, we need to win 4 of the next 6. The sharks can do that. The powerplay was 0-7 but we all know that trend wont last very long given the talent the sharks carry. We out shot the ducks 35-17 during the game, (We even hit some posts which dont count in the shot total department) we had the puck in their zone very often and mantained pressure. Nabokov was perfect in net in my books, the powerplay goal he gave up was the penalty killing units mis-read and Ryan Getzlafs goal was so perfectly shot that even if you put a 6 x 4 brick wall in front of the net it would have gone in.

The defence were very offencive led by rob blake and christian ehrhoff who combined for 10 shots on net. I liked the majority of what i saw from those two, with some minor exceptions they played a perfect game. Unfortunatly even though the sharks played a game that was mighty close to how they are suppose to play it they lost.

So after looking at the facts, its just the playoffs getting to me. And even though right now i am sure that the sharks are goners, that they will lose to the ducks the numbers say other wise. Oh well sharks you always have next year.

Canucks do exactly what was expeted of them, sharks to follow suit

2009-04-16T16:14:00.000-07:00

Well done Mr. Loungo, you and your canucks are now three wins away from the second round of the Stanley cup playoffs. That game was exactly how i though it to be with about two exceptions. Number one, the canucks werent nearly aggressive until the second half of the game but by then they didnt need to because they had a 2-0 lead. Number Two, both teams played the game like marching to the penalty box was a good thing (prehaps they were thinking shorthanded goals).

Well if those teams played the game without a penalty there would have been no scoring (daniel sedins goal was with the goalie pulled for the extra attacker on a delayed penalty). It would have gone on to over time and then anything goes. I thought that the best player that night was roberto simply because he was as cool as ice, even after giving up a goal that wasnt his fault at all he stayed huge in net and his team won because of it.

If the Blues want to win this series (and trust me they do) they have to take more shots with trafic in front of the net, and aiming for deflections and rebounds. No goalie can make saves on those on a regular basis. The blues did a superb job blocking shots though and that is why the game was so close.

The sharks game starts in about 3 hours and i am so excited. So excited that i cant use words to describe it to you. The sharks will win this game 3-1 and its going to be much more disiplined then you probably think. Both of those teams watched the games last night and see that the refs arn't going to let them get away with anything after the whistle is blown. ToddMclellan has surely told his players that you can have a strong physical game and stay out of the penalty box at the same time. Unfortuneatly if Chris Pronger stays out of the penalty box all night this game will be much more difficult for my beloved sharks but they can still prevail.

I saw a highlight from the New York Rangers VS Washington Capitals and saw Sean Avery do what he does best. Walk and cross the gray line of fair and not fair, he "accidently" tripped up defenceman Mike Green which resulted in an easy rush goal for his team Scott Goemez and they tie the game up. It was something that in my humble opinion should have been a penalty but it wasnt. Not that important though i still feel like the Capitals can win this series.

my prediction for the other 14 teams left in round 1

2009-04-13T16:14:00.000-07:00

Red Wings vs Blue Jackets will have the Red Wings victorious in 5. This may seem like a no brainer because the red wings are the defending stanley cup champions, they have home ice advantage, they signed the top unrestricted free agent this summer in Marian Hossa for dirt cheep, there powerplay is the best in the league at 25.5% they have absolutely destroyed teams this year with the man advatage. But the x-factor is Chris Mason, the blue Jacket net minder is nothing short of a phenom and can make this series close and maybe even an upset.

Canucks vs St.Louis with have the Canucks finished on top in six. This will be a good series but the bottom line is you have one of the best goalies of all time in Roberto who is supported by possiably the best defence corp in the NHL right now (could you imagine how good they would have been if they got Jay Bouwmeester from florida?). St.Louis just wont be able to score and that is a problem when you are trying to win games. you could make the arguement that the Blues have been oh so hot recently and heading into the playoffs. But the canucks themselves have been on a decent tear and in the best of seven the best team normally comes out on top and in this case it is going to be the Canucks.

Calgary vs Chicago will have Calgary losing in the first round for the fourth consecutive year. Its really a shame though because i want them to win. They have not made it out of the first round in what must seem like an enternity for their fans (it feels that long for us shark fans getting out of round two but at least we get to go to round two). The thing is at the trade deadline Calgary made the best moves and are a way better team for it. They haven't been the same since and cruising along at about .500 Chicago on the other hand has been great pretty much all year, have the home ice advantage and the way i see it will win in six games. Sorry Mr.Iginla but your team isnt likely to move on but i hope you can prove me wrong. I really really hope that you do.

On to the eastern confrence

Boston vs Montreal wont really be a series as boston will sweep the habs. its a shame that for the canadiens 100th year of exsitence the wont have anything to show for it in the post season. But Boston is the better team by way too much. From the goalies to the defence to the forward Boston is better, way better. So boston is a lock to win this series and go to round two mark my words.

Washington vs New York will have washigton winning their first playoff series since 1998. They will have an easy time winning this series because of fire power. And lack of fire power from the rangers. Even though i think that the rangers have a the better goalie, and washington will bench their number one net minder at the first sign of trouble (detriot did that last year and it turned out pretty good for them and washingtons back up is a very respectable 12-6-2 with a .908 save percentage) the sheer number of pucks that the capital will be putting into the back of the net will win them this series.

New Jersey vs Carolina will be a terrific series in round one. Possibly the best because these teams probably see eye to eye better then any other team. They have similar home records at 28-12-1 for the devils and 26-14-1 (they are the only teams this year to lose only once in over time at home). Also New Jersey went on a six game slide just prior to the start of the playoffs and are 4-5-1 in their last ten while the canes have won ten straight at home and have an 8-2 record in there past ten games. I whish that i didnt have to chose a winner here but i am going to go with the canes because they have been the better team as of late and have an amazing center in Eric Staal who has been chomping at the bit to get back into the playoffs.

Pittsburgh vs Philadelphia will be the other very close series in the first round and also be the most physical. We all know that the flyers hit everything that moves on the ice, and that strategy worked wonders last year going all the way to the eastern confrence finals where they lost to...the penguins. This year they dont have to wait as long before they are eliminated as Sidney Crosby lead his team to victory in six. It will be a very tough series on both teams but the flyers wont win. They also will not be able to stop the sheer fire power this team owns. And ever since the coaching change the penguins have been approximently 17-4-2. They went from tenth in the eastern confrence (wouldnt the NHL be upset to see these guys out of the playoffs) to fourth in as little as two months and will continue the surge untill at least round two.

So there you have it my predictions and reasons for making said predictions.

California bragging rights are on the table in round one

2009-04-12T19:32:00.000-07:00

So round one for the sharks in the past four years has always been something that they can do. last year the calgary flames did a great job and pushed them to seven games but alas the sharks (powered by an all star performance with Jermey Roenick) prevailed. This year will be no differant for San Jose. The season series between these two teams was 4-2 for the sharks and i beieve that is what the playoff series is going to be.

There are some really really good parts about a round one with Anahiem. Number one, less travel then any other team to make the playoffs (364 miles is a breeze after 41 games all over north america). Vancouver and St.Louis will be travelling 3,658 km between the two of them and Calgary and Chicago will be traveling 2,564km. Detriot and Columbus have it really good at only 337km they could practically drvie themselves there. Number two, the sharks powerplay is amazing against these ducks having scored 5 powerplay goals in those six games. and its not like the ducks are really good at staying out of the penalty box. in the playoffs powerplay goals are like cash, you just cant have enough of it. Number three, at the trade deadline the ducks were sellers and the sharks bought. Travis Moen and Kent Huskins were regulars for these ducks but now they are going to help the sharks defeat their old team and they have plenty of motivation. When a team trades you away for something good (Joe Thornton) you can take it as a compliment. When a team trades you for some conditional draft picks then you can hold a grudge. I am hopeing thats how these guys will take it anyways.

This is also the first time that two of the three california based team have meet in the playoffs since 1969 when the sharks were actually known as the california golden seals. This means unlike any other playoff series in the first round (exception going to columbus congradulations on making it to the playoffs for the first time) there is going to be history in the making. Now California hockey fans can watch and know that for a fact california is going to have a team represented in round two of the stanley cup playoffs. Isnt that a nice thought cali?My prediction sharks 4 ducks 2, it will also be one of the top three series in the first round thanks to a defenceman that the sharks fans (who happen to be the best in sport) really really hate. Its not Scott Niedermayer (who is a legend in the game of hockey and has won the stanley cup four times), its not Ryan Whitney. This man is 6 foot 6 and i think rather ugly. For some reason i am glad to see this childish brute in round one (this man has been given over 7 suspensions since joining the league for giving elbows, stomping on people when they were down and cross checking opponents in the face), welcome to San Jose Chris Pronger. I hope that you enjoy your stay here because I know for a fact that the sharks will be trying to send you home as soon as possiable.

Let the real season begin

2009-04-11T15:49:00.000-07:00

Congratulations my beloved San Jose Sharks, you have won the presidents trophy. This trophy is given to the team with the best regular season record in the NHL. You have become the first west coast team to win the trophy and now you have secured the ever important home ice advantage for the entire playoffs. The playoffs by the way will begin on April 13, and it is what we have all been waiting for. It is the "real season". I looked back at how far the past three president trophy winners have gone into the playoffs to get an idea on what happens when a team enters the playoffs with the target of #1 is on their backs and the results were quiet interesting. In the 05-06 season Detriot was elimanted in six games in the first round, in the 06-07 season Buffalo made it to the eastern confrence finals but lost in five guick games that included no wins on home ice. Just last year (07-08) Detriot won the presidents trophy and went on to win the Stanley Cup.

So the bottom line is that the presidents trophy doesnt mean that you will go far in the playoffs, but if you make it to the finals it does pretty much gaurntee you the win because the past five years when it came down to the Stanley cup finals the team with the home ice advantage won. Not to mention that the sharks have an amazing 12-3-3 record against teams that reside in the eastern confrence. That record includes a 5-2 victory over the Boston Bruins in boston who are the top team in the east and the most likely candidate to make it to the stanley cup finals.

One thing that all of the previous five stanley cup champions have in common is an amazing home record, the sharks this year have an even more impressive record then Detriot from last year, Anahiem the previous year and Carolina before that. In fact the last time any hockey team was able to put up a record that was equal or better to the sharks this year was back in the 95-96 season when detriot was pretty much invinceable going 36-3-2. They made it to the western confrence finals and fell to the eventual stanley cup champion Colorado Avalanche.

So my prediction when looking at the presidents trophy and the great home record for the San Jose Sharks is this, they will make it to the western confrence finals. Now in hockey unlike in any other sport upsets are a regular thing and seeing them lose in round one would be an unpleasent surprise but not a shock by any stretch of the imagination.

In the very near future i will be writing down my predictions on all of the playoff rounds including my own preview and recaps for some of the most in depth hockey material you will find on the internet so check back every now and then.

the dogs of Monroe

2009-04-09T16:29:00.000-07:00

These dogs that i am taking care of are for the most part pretty good. they are also annoying at times jumping up on you when they are excited. They are down right horrible when i get out of the shower because they are all over me with there hair, lickng me with their toungues (we all know where those have been used) and rubbing their noses all over. Cody is the big black and white one and Cassie is the small brown and white one. Cody loves to chew things untill there is nothing left to chew and Cassie throws up after eating and drinking within the same 10 minutes. They play with eachother really well which is good because i know a lot of sibllings who don't and sometimes its just ugly. I would say that Cassie is my favorite between the two because she is soooo much more gentel and understanding then Cody. Cody is really fun to play ball with, not to play nintendo with.