You may have been wondering what happened to all of my hockey talk considering that the first month of the 2009-2010 season is almost finished. I was horribly excited about the start of the new season. A time to forget about the awful early exit last year and focus on a new beginning. With great additions like Dany Heatley, Manny Malhotra, Jed Ortmeyer, Scott Nichol, and Kent Huskins. Plus the new rookies Jason Demers and Ben Ferriero as well as a few call-ups from Frazer McLaren and Logan Couture. Plus a few rookies from last year finding a more permanent home at the Tank including Brad Staubitz, Jamie McGinn, and Ryan Vesce - this Sharks team looks drastically different from last year. They still have the big guys in Thornton and Marleau but that's about the only that's the same. Marleau isn't the captain anymore, now the "C" belongs to Rob Blake with Dan Boyle and Joe Thornton wearing the "A". Fan favorites Jonathan Cheechoo and Milan Michalek are gone as well as Brad Lukowich, Christian Ehrhoff, Brian Boucher, Marcel Goc, Mike Grier, Travis Moen plus a few of the prospects. There have been so many trades that I actually had to look up who was all gone and who was new. It's hard enough just trying to remember all the new guys' numbers so I can find them on the ice . . . which brings me back to the question on why I haven't done any serious hockey blogs for the new season.
I had originally planned to do a full write up on what I thought about the new Sharks team after I watched four or five games. The season opener was against Colorado on a night when they retired long time captain Joe Sakic's number 19. A team written off from the beginning, the Avs had something to prove and proved it that night with a 5-2 win. Ironically, they are number 1 in the Western Conference, after almost every major sports writer said they would be the worst team in the league. As for the Sharks, they looked pretty bad in that game. Chasing the puck all the time, the defense didn't know which way they where going and Nabokov let a few pucks go by that he should have had. It was a bad start but the Sharks seem to always start the new season with a loss. So I was hopeful that the next game, they would look better and be more prepared . . . that is until I realized I wouldn't be able to see the next game or the rest of the 81 games left to play. That's right, no hockey, none whatsoever because they decided to change the channel that the games are aired on. Originally, the games were shown on Comcast SportsNet Bay Area, the channel I get. This year, because of the high demand of hockey games, they increased the coverage by almost 50% more games. Showing almost the entire season except they had to move what channel they show the games on to Comcast SportsNet California. Yes, I do live in California but for some reason I don't get CSN California . . . does that make any sense? Not to me it doesn't and I was devastated . . . seriously no hockey for nine months. That's almost an entire year ruined for me. So I checked with Direct TV and Dish Network to see if I can change because there is only one cable company here. Direct TV charges a premium because of the area I'm in and Dish Network doesn't even cover my area. So I tried NHL's Center Ice Live, a streaming service that shows up to ten games a day. I thought, "this is great, I can watch the Sharks now!" I was wrong . . . you see Center Ice Live is designed for people who live outside the normal broadcasting area for a team. If you're a Flyers fan and live in New York, you can see the Flyers play. If you're a Kings fan and live in Tampa, you can see the Kings play. If you are a Sharks fan and live in California . . . you cannot see the Sharks play because you are in the broadcasting area for that team and they block you out. So, after I got my $160 refund, I examined my other options and found that I'm left with the radio coverage.
The radio coverage is not what I call ideal for hockey. I love the announcers and the quality you get, but trying to visualize a game like hockey is hard and not as enjoyable as watching it live. My only salvation is Versus, which is a national channel that covers a wide range of hockey games, four of which are Sharks games and two I have already seen. I'm also going down for in December and March to watch the games at the Tank. Originally, I was only going to see two games, but the March date ended up having a back-to-back game so I'll be able to see three live now. Five games . . . that's it . . . when last year I saw 82. Ah, the cruelty.
As for the Sharks progress in the first month of the new season, it's been good, not great but good. They are sort of in the middle of the pack for standings with 7-4-1 record. While some of those losses were really bad some good things did come out of them. Like Dany Heatley finding his scoring groove and Patrick Maleau proving that he doesn't need the "C" to keep scoring. The Sharks have also shown that they can come back from almost any deficit, winning a great game against the Rangers after going down 0-2 early in the game. Their win against the Flyers also proved that they can rely on rookie back-up goalie Thomas Greiss who stopped 37 shots to get the 4-1 win, finishing out a six game road trip with four wins and two losses. As the season progresses, you can see the Sharks start to build up some momentum and I have no doubts that they will make the playoffs once again. Once they are in the playoffs, now that's a different story. I'm just disappointed that I won't be able watch their journey live.