11/13 LOS ANGELES 4, sharks 2

For this one, I had to convince myself, that, just because it wasn't the best of games, that not writing it up would not make it go away, so, in all its glory, here's the recap.

Monday night represented the Sharks' first return visit to any building beyond their own this season, and, this time, they weren't as welcome. The Kings broke a funk on the power play, and broke that funk all over the Sharks season-high four-game winning streak. With goals from Dustin Brown, Alexander Frolov, and Lubomir Visnovsky, the Kings answered back for Thursday's loss to the Sharks at Staples Center.

Staples was the same big, silver, tilted-roof building that it was when I left it last week. Lit up by purple lights, one could not mistake this unique building from the L.A. skyline. Entering through the back entrance, I saw the L.A. Hall of Sports Fame Arch, complete with pictures of famous L.A. teams and players. Behind was a poorly-lit statue of former King Wayne Gretzky, that, in daylight, I'm sure, is very nice. The game was why I was in L.A., but the major highlight of the night happened before I got to Staples.

Unbeknownst to me, November 12-14 was a major Jewish Federation convention in Los Angeles, with Jews from all over the world in attendance. With the Holiday Inn right down the street from the convention center, it was a popular place for those attending the conference. After riding a SuperShuttle from the airport with a rabbi, I stepped into the lobby to check in. While asking the woman at the front about the Jewish conference, I was answered by Steve, a man attending the conference, that happened to be part of that evening's entertainment. Anyway, we got to talking, him being a Kings fan and all, and eventually, it led to me providing a dressing room for Steve and Becky, two members of the choir that were to sing at the Disney Hall that evening in front of, among various other important people (if not to the world, then to their mommies), the Prime Minister of Israel, Ehud Olmert. That's right, I was hospitable to entertainers of the PM of Israel. It was cool, even though they are Kings fans. (To Steve and Becky, if you read this, hello. I hope your show went well.)

Monday night was (hopefully) the culmination of a string of mediocre efforts by the boys. A third straight game where the Sharks were heavily outshot, they only mustered 18 shots in this one, while allowing a season-high 39. Post game, Mike Grier stepped up and offered some words of advice to his teammates. We'll see tonight if they pay off.

The Sharks finish a 4 game road trip tonight (Wednesday) in Denver with a 6:00 PST date with the Colorado Avalanche. Regardless of the result, I'll see you all tomorrow.

On a side note, it's really really cold here (in Denver). I'm not sure how anyone is supposed to play hockey in such cold weather.

Go Sharks (go find a sweater)
-Jess




"Kings Hockey, Play Hard" One of the few nights they did, actually.