|
|
Hockey Odyssey -
Anaheim
Not the best performance
11/22/06 -
By Jess Knaster
My Father said it best to me, while we were
walking out of the Tank on Saturday, "I'd be very surprised if you don't have
to sit through one of those sometime this season". Well, Dad, thanks a whole
bunch. You said you'd be surprised if I didn't have to? Well, you no longer
have to worry about being surprised, because, last night, from start to finish,
was a stinker. The ice stunk, the Sharks stunk, the game, on a whole, stunk.
When you put out alot of effort, you get the bounces, when you get those
bounces, you gotta take advantage of them, when you take advantage of them, you
score, and when you score, well, it makes it a whole lot easier to win.
Last night, the Ducks outworked the Sharks, plain and simple, they got the
bounces and scored, and they won. If anything, the one positive to take from
last night's shellacking was just that. The Sharks lost because they were
outworked, not outskilled. As ready as they were or weren't last night, they
now know, for their seven remaining contests, how much harder they have to
work. All five Duck goals were, as they are referred to in hockey, garbage
goals (because they are ugly goals, i.e. rebounds, deflections). That is good
to know, as just as easily next time around, the Sharks, with a stronger
effort, could be the recipient of said bounces, and subsequent garbage goals.
The Honda Center (formerly the Arrowhead Pond of Anaheim, would be better
suited to be the Honda Garage of Anaheim), is one of the older arenas in the
NHL, at a wrinkly 13 years old. As one of the older "new" buildings in the
league, the "Hond" is one of the more basic arenas, built pretty much as a
shell to house the oval shaped seating area, and not much else, unlike the
newer behemoths around the league.
The concourses are similar to the width seen at the Tank. The store is
accessible from the concourse, with all the normal concourse stands (programs,
beer, popcorn, credit card/promotion booths). The concession stands are the
standard fare (hot dogs, polish, italian, pretzels, popcorn) with the exception
of a pizza stand who's brandname escapes me right now, and a Rubio's mexican
food stand. The beer (6 dollars for a 16 oz, 8 for a 24 oz) selection is pretty
sparse, Bud at some stands, MIller at others. A couple cocktail stands round
out the concession portion of the Honda Ponda.
The seating area is pretty normal. A symmetrical, three tiered bowl that seats
a relatively average 17,000 screaming Duck fans (sorry, a bad joke, I know.
It's a well known fact that there aren't 17,000 Duck fans.). For whatever
reason, there is no 100 level. The lower level is the 200's, the club level is
the 300's, and the nosebleeders are 400's. The view from the ninth row of the
400s is not all that awesome, as the top level is not nearly as steep as it
needs to be to allow awesome sightlines.
The majority of the first
period, before I changed seats, gave me a great view of the back of a dude's
skicap covered noggin. Before the game, I was greeted by many Shark fans, only
one knowing who I was. A shout-out (in cyber-space, no one can hear you scream,
or shout, rather) goes to Craig, a reader of the Odyssey, who made the trek
down to Anaheim for this gem of a contest.
Tonight is the second half of the Sharks third back-to-back games this season,
when they take on the other Southern California team, the Los Angeles Kings.
The Sharks and Kings have split two games this season, both played at Staples
in L.A. With the effort produced by the Sharks last night, expect the Teal to
be angry. My post will come in sometime tonight, as early tomorrow (7:00 a.m.
to be exact) I will be going back down to Anaheim for some Disneyland action
and a 30 person Thanksgiving dinner.
Go Sharks (Go work real hard tonight boys)
-Jess
Contact Jess at
sharkshockeyodyssey@yahoo.com
Catch his
blog Sharks Hockey Odyssey
 |
| What did you think of
this article? Post your comments on the
Feeder
Forums |
|
|
|
| |
|
