Adventures through Photography: Tampa Bay Lightning @ Sharks 11/6/10...and a few other things...

Holla. Sitting here watching the Sharks apparently on their way to another loss, this time against the Oilers. *le sigh* Today was a good/bad day and appears to be ending on a down note with this game.

On the good note, Roman at Guitar Center in San Francisco is a gem. Actually a lot of the dudes there are pretty nice. Had a nice little drive with fairly light traffic except a couple spots on the Bridge and in Berkeley on the way back. Sonic tots are always a plus. And able to help my daughter out after she had a very, very bad day yesterday.

On the bad notes...why mention it? Alzheimer's is a bitch. Add in fairly acute hearing loss and life is pretty stressful and ALMOST unbearable. I really, really pray that she gets her audiology appointment soon and hearing aids soon thereafter. AND I really, really, really pray that once she can hear better, she will be more responsive and regain some of the independence she has lost over the last couple months.

Holy hello! Jumbo just scored on the PP after nice passes from Patty and Heater. Nice puck movement boys! Is there life in this team after all??? Oh...maybe not... Oil with a 5-3. This will be telling....please kill this boys! Oh. Killed it and then they scored. Wow.

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Alright, let's go back to when the Sharks were decent and we all had hope for a future filled with bright, beautiful, silver cups.

Once upon a time a fan drove to a Sharks game with a feeling of optimisim that the home team was badass and would overcome even an opponent who was playing as well as the Tampa Bay Lightning.
That day was November 6, 2010...

There was a lovely air of pissed-offedness amongst the fans since this was the first Free Jumbo game.

Joe Thornton was wrongly suspended by the NHL because David Perron received a suicide pass up the ice just as Jumbo came out of the penalty box. With his head turned to the right and down to see the puck, Perron skated up ice as Joe came cross ice from the box. Boom! Due to the difference in their height, Perron's head went right into Jumbo's shoulder.

Granted Joe did nothing to get out of Perron's way, but come the fuck on...
He established himself on the ice and did nothing to actually hit Perron.
No motion towards him, no lifting of the shoulder or elbow.

I guess in hockey, you're supposed to say pardon me (or pardonnez-moi if you're french canadian) and allow the player with the puck all the open ice he wants.

Okay.../rant
And, for the record, I'm very sorry that Perron has been out and was seriously injured. I hope he fully recovers as he is reputed to be a great guy and even said Jumbo didn't do anything wrong. I just think that the rule was not intended for a hit like this and that the suspension was unwarranted. Not to mention there have been several hits before and since that were worse than this and the player received no suspension.

In other news and notes that made this game fun,

Benn Ferriero (who does not know how to pronounce his own name (same can be said for several of the Woostah Sharks...what's in the water up there?) and pronounces it Ferry-O instead of Ferry-er-O) was recalled and this was to be his first game.

Exciting!

And Antero Niittymaki was facing his old team for the first and only time this season.

WARMUPS!

And now... Your San Jose SHHHAAAARRRRKKKKSSSSS!!!!

Due to the Free Jumbo movement, there were some interesting signs, including this Clo Fo Sho sign. ha ha

By a "first hand" account Clowie actually appreciated the sign and showed some love.

These were interesting signs. lol Marks for creativity - deductions for spelling. There's the infamous Ghetto Shark too. It's funny to watch this guy at games.

Get ready for some Lightning! And Ryan Malone whom I find deliciously yummy. Yes, I have weird taste

Hmmm...looks like Niitty might find Bugsy yummy too!

I can't remember who was in goal for Tampa. Maybe Fake Dan Ellis?

Vinny LeCavalier and Teddy Purcell

Martin St. Louis

Pavel Kubina

Steven Stamkos.

This kid is sooo talented! Glad I got to see him in person.

Teddy Purcell

And now for some ugly. U-G-L-Y You ain't got no alibi, you ugly...

Nate Thompson kept staring at me. It was a little disconcerting for both of us, I think. In my opinion he just wanted his picture taken. So I did. But I waiting until he turned away because I was embarrassed. lol

Here's an "artsy" pic I took/edited of the goalie.

And, to finish up the warmup pics...more Bugsy!

We had THE MOST AWESOME seats!! Wooooohoooo!

And we're sitting there again in April when the Kings come to town.

Lower level, center ice , row 12 behind the benches. I wish I could sit there more often, but that was definitely a splurge. The only problem was, there were several annoying people around us who acted like it was their first game and/or they were just there to be "seen". Lovely.

Dan Boyle was the interview from the locker room.

Just a few pics from the National Anthem

You were expecting someone else?? lol

Here's the opening faceoff as viewed from our awesome seats.

Because our seats were so good, I took a bunch of game pictures which I feel are worth posting. So I'm just going to start throwing them up here.

There were some interesting game moments captured by (digital) film, so I'll try to describe when I can.

At one point, Clowie's bucket came off. Played for quite awhile without it.

I mentioned that it was Benny's first game...

So Bugsy got a penalty...

And then he skated out and laid a big hit on Torrey Mitchell. It was a clean hit, but Ginner took exception and very quickly dropped the gloves and came at Malone. Bugsy has 4" and 40 lbs on Jamie but Ginner took him by surprise and landed a string of fast punches that rocked Malone's world.

A bit later, at the other end, the Tank tried to get some of Malone too. A stancheon fell off the glass onto the ice narrowly missing Bugsy. Everyone got a good laugh out of it.

One of his former Lightning teammates tried to kill Niitty by running his ass over. In the ensuing collision, Niitty's mask broke and came off. There was a delay while they repaired it.