Get 'em Next Time

It seems that for once Ron Wilson is more unhappy with his team's performance than I am. After spending several weeks earlier this season grumbling through his insistence that we look at the positive side of a team that was clearly underachieving, I'm not going to complain.

Overall I thought the Sharks played a decent game last night against a Colorado team that is injury-depleted (Joe Sakic, Paul Stastny, and Ryan Smyth are all out) but still very tough. They didn't get out of the gate very well, and went on to lose 3-1 (the final margin being provided by an empty-netter with a fraction of a second to play), but in contrast to earlier losses that left me a bit gloomy, I'm still feeling optimistic about the way the team is playing right now. I saw effort and intensity last night--if there was something missing in the first period it was simple technical proficiency, possibly due to the three-day layoff since the shootout win against Chicago. And you have to hand it to the Avalanche...they played a very solid road game, and Jose Theodore was stellar, stopping all but one of San Jose's chances cold. (The one goal he did allow was created by a magnificent Sandis Ozolinsh pass to Patrick Marleau--Theodore had no shot at that one.)

It was just one of those nights last night when the Sharks couldn't finish. Some days you eat the bear, as The Stranger says, and some days the bear, well, he eats you. No, you can't really be satisfied with any loss, but there are losses and there are losses. The Sharks played a much better game last night than they did in, for instance, their 3-2 victory over Toronto in January. As long as they sustain the level of effort they showed last night, finishing checks and being a hard team to play against, they'll win more nights than not.


I Still Hate Losing to Colorado, Though...

You know I wouldn't be saying anything kind about the Avalanche if I didn't truly believe it was true, because I really can't stand them. First of all, no self-respecting sports franchise should have a singular nickname. Second of all, the Avalanche have standing second only to Dallas in my personal Hockey Hall of Karmic Infamy for abandoning Quebec City with an excellent team and promptly winning the Stanley Cup in their first #$%@!$!ing season in Denver. The hockey gods are truly fickle and cruel...