Cordova Christmas

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.

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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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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?

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

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

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

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?

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

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

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

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

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

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.