11/18 SHARKS 6, philadelphia 1

As I say every time I come to a home game after being on the road, it's very nice to be home. After seeing road games where I'm part of the minority, it always gives me a better appreciation for the "home ice advantage". The Tank was happy to see the Teal back in the building, and the Teal were obviously happy to be back in the Tank. Six different goal scorers were able to chase Philly starter Robert Esche midway through the second period in a game that saw little action after that point. Mark Bell had two fights, and Vesa Toskala faced a Philadelphia season-low 18 shots, stopping 17 of them for his tenth win of the season.
In addition to seeing an abundance of teal last night, it was a very welcome sight to see the curved orange shoulders and winged P on many shirts throughout the building. I'm not sure if I had ever seen the Flyers before, the second such team that I have been able to say that for this season. As a lifelong hockey fan, it was very cool to see a uniform and logo that has such history behind it play against my team.

All the fun last night wasn't had just on the ice, but in the stands as well. There were plenty of Flyer fans in attendance, which meant plenty of razzing of those Flyer fans when the game turned sour for the orange and black Philly fans. There were plenty of funny things to be said because of this, and many of them were indeed said (not trying to offend Flyer fans by mentioning this, but I'm sure there was plenty of Flyer fan razzing of the Ducks last week).

In addition to this, SJ Sharkie paid a visit to the luxury box above my seats, section 213, during the Round Table Delivery of the Game. With some pizza left over, Sharkie decided to have a bit of fun with the guys sitting next to my father and me. First, with a slice of pizza in hand, he decided to tease the really tall guy standing next to my dad, by lowering the slice just enough to get the guy to reach high and jump up and reach for the slice. Just in time, Sharkie would pull it up enough to safety. This went on for a minute or so, and then eventually he gave the slice to the guy, and went to hand the rest of the box of pizza to the guy standing next to the really tall guy. Thinking the box was empty, the guy grabbed the box, and turned it horizontally, dumping out about 5 slices of pizza onto the floor, much to the vocal dismay of everyone paying attention.

Lastly, while walking home, my father and I, along with a few other people, happened to be crossing over the light rail tracks, when, as a routine happening that happens quite a few times a day, a train was ready to cross, and the signal was triggered, dropping the arms. Well, the arms drop quick, REAL quick. So quick, in fact, that the seven of us pretty much had to run to duck under the quickly falling crossing arm. I almost would have rather stayed on the track (the one that wasn't about to be used, of course) than try to get past the trolley arm of death.

Between the pizza man-fishing (fishing for a man, done by a shark, go figure), the funny Flyer insults, the death-by-a-stick crossing arm, and even the game itself (I think the Sharks won the game, not sure of the score or anything), last night was fun, and quite memorable.

Speaking of memorable, Tuesday, the Sharks next match-up, is the first in the series of eight that hockey analysts all around the league are drooling over. A match-up that can be summed up in a couple different ways, but is done easiest with one description: Sharks vs. Ducks. Thornton and Cheechoo vs. S. Niedermayer and Pronger. San Jose offense vs. Anaheim defense. Any way you slice it (or dangle that slice, for that matter), this game is shaping up to be the first of eight NorCal/SoCal battles. 7:00 PST, be there (in Anniehighm), or be square (square as in the shape of a TV).

Go Sharks (go not get hit by a crossing arm or a dangling piece of pizza)
-Jess