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Hockey Odyssey -
Los Angeles
I Love LA
1/12/07 -
By Jess Knaster
I love L.A,* and the Sharks do too. The
Sharks made their final visit to the Staples Center this year, and left in
great fashion, coming away with an important victory just a night removed from
a heartbreaker at home. The Teal improved to 6-1 on the year in the second game
of a back-to-back, overcoming any possible fatigue to skate past their northern
most rivals from Southern California. Patrick Marleau used this final trip to
L.A. to become the Sharks all time goal scoring leader, notching the 207th of
his career. Doug Murray also recorded the first goal of his NHL career, but had
it taken away when it was credited to Ryane Clowe. Mark Bell got off the
schneid, Milan Michalek scored on the powerplay, and Patrick Rissmiller stuffed
one into the empty net to seal the victory for the Sharks. Vesa Toskala was
undertested two games in a row, making just 22 saves for his 18th victory this
year.
Making the final trip to Los Angeles for hockey this year had it's pros and
cons. For instance, it was a sad goodbye because it was nice to sit in the same
seat for all four games, as I happened to sit near four season ticket holders,
who were very nice people, and fun to talk to. It was also cool because I
happened to be near Jim, a fellow Shark fan and STH in San Jose, who had seats
just a section away from me. And last of all, it was nice to be in L.A. for
hockey because of it's large contingent of visiting Sharks fans, due to it's
relative proximity to San Jose, among other reasons.
However, it was nice to visit Staples for the final time, because, although it
is a nice building, Kings fans like to talk trash, and, although they are just
words, it can get more annoying than it is amusing (and sometimes it can get
really amusing, like the "gangstas" who drove past me, threatening to come back
and "mow me down" if I didn't take off my Sharks jersey. The major amusement,
at least for me, comes from the fact that they were riding around in a
"gangstamobile", also known as a white Toyota Prius.)
The Sharks move on from Los Angeles to the low deserts of Glendale, Arizona,
where they will find the Jobing.Com Arena and the Phoenix Coyotes (6:00 pst).
Site of the 8-0 drubbing just two weeks ago, you know that game will be on the
minds of the Sharks, the Coyotes, the visiting Sharks fans in attendance, and
the few hundred Coyotes fans in attendance as well (I kid, there'll be about
3,000 of 'em. [Kidding again, it's just nice to spread some of the attendance
smack talk the Sharks fans got a few years ago when we couldn't fill our
building every night.])
Tonight will be a success if two things happen, 1) The Sharks come out thinking
they are the better team and play like it, and 2) The only chalupa I eat
tomorrow will cost me $1.49.
Go Sharks (WE LOVE IT!!**)
-Jess
*= Randy Newman reference
**= another Randy Newman reference
Contact Jess at
sharkshockeyodyssey@yahoo.com
Catch his
blog Sharks Hockey Odyssey
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