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Hockey Odyssey - Los
Angeles
Win or lose, the Odyssey
continues
11/14/06 -
By Jess Knaster
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 it's 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 powerplay, 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 LA skyline. Entering through the back entrance, I saw the LA
Hall of Sports Fame Arch, complete with pictures of famous LA 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 LA, 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, and 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 mediocre effort 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. I'm not sure how anyone is
supposed to play hockey in such cold weather.
Go Sharks (go find a sweater)
-Jess
Contact Jess at
sharkshockeyodyssey@yahoo.com
Catch his
blog Sharks Hockey Odyssey
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