Friday, September 21, 2007

Preseason 9/21 SHARKS 3, ducks 1





We winned. We beated the Ducks. We are the kings of the world.

Ok, maybe it was just preseason, but it's always nice to win, and it's ALWAYS nice to beat the Ducks. Nabby got his first preseason action, and looked pretty sharp, getting beat just once on 19 shots. Joe Pavelski picked up where he left off at the end of the season last year, recording a pair of goals, both on the powerplay. Rookie hopeful Devin Setoguchi added the other. Trivia answer Bobby Ryan had the lone goal for the Ducks, who dropped their second straight game to the Sharks (Ryan was picked second behind Sidney Crosby in the 2005 draft).


Preseason hockey games are not much unlike preseason football games. First and foremost, it's all about nobody getting hurt. The games don't mean anything, so it'd be in vain for anyone to go down with an injury. After that, it's making sure everything works. PP, PK, 5-3 PP, 5-3 PK, even strength, offense, defense, odd-man rushes, crashing the net, clearing the net, dumping and chasing, puck posession, passing, shooting, shot blocking, line changes, hits, etc.

Luckily for the Sharks, no one got hurt, and most of the above worked to perfection. Last season the Sharks were great on the powerplay, with much of that success stemming from their ability to draw penalties, much as they were tonight. 18 shots were produced on the powerplay, producing two goals in 18:50 of man and two man advantage time. The PK saw 9:34 of ice, and just one of eleven shots produced on the PP for the Ducks was converted into a goal.

Getting back to the arena is always nice, and tonight was no different. Walking around familiar territory, seeing familiar faces, saying hello to everyone, it was like the first day of school at Tank U.

The Sharks continue the preseason tomorrow night, when the Vancouver Canucks stroll into town (7:30 PDT). Plenty of seats should be available, no reason why you shouldn't be there if you can. It's fun, it's hockey, and it's hockey.

GO SHARKS (woo hockey)
-Jess





The new scoreboard in all it's multilayered glory.

0 Comments:

Post a Comment

<< Home