Your guide to San Jose festivities during the Stanley Cup Final Series

Sharks Themed Festivities in San Jose Encourage Fans to #TurnUpInTeal

SAN JOSE, Calif. – For the first time ever, the Stanley Cup Final Series comes to San Jose and the city has planned several events and activities for Sharks supporters and traveling fans. There are a variety of ways to cheer on the Sharks and the list below is your guide to celebrating the Final in San Jose:

It's Happening! Sharks at Plaza de Cesar Chavez in Downtown San Jose (June 4, 6, 9, 12 and 15 from Noon – 6:00 p.m.)
During home and away Stanley Cup games Plaza de Cesar Chavez will host a Sharks Rally with food trucks, a dessert truck, SJ Boom Box, a beer/wine garden, and games including Cornhole, Ping-Pong, giant Jenga, and more.

San Pedro Square Market Viewing Party (June 6 from 5:00 – 9:00 p.m.)
San Pedro Square Market is the official Sharks viewing party for game 4. Fans will be treated to a Sharks game production and entertainment.

SubZERO Festival in the SoFA District (June 3 and 4 from 6:00 p.m. – Midnight)
SubZERO Festival is a mash-up of street-meets-geek with outdoor stages and entertainment from over 300 artists, musicians, performers, plus food trucks and craft beer tasting. The festival takes place along South First St. between San Carlos and Reed Streets.

SHARKS PROMOTIONS:

#TurnUpinTeal and win Sharks prizes
When you "turn up in teal" at participating locations throughout San José, you have a chance to win San Jose Sharks prizes and Final tickets. For a list of times and locations visit: http://sharks.nhl.com/.

20 Percent Off at the San Jose Museum of Art
The San Jose Museum of Art will offer 20 percent off museum admission to anyone wearing their Sharks gear. The museum’s “Art and Science” exhibition that opened on June 1, prominently features “Shark’s Tooth” by Catherine Wagner.

Lick Observatory Declares Itself Sharks Territory
Sharks territory extends to the top of Mount Hamilton at the iconic Lick Observatory, where visitors can enjoy stunning views from 4,200 feet above the valley and see one of the largest refracting telescopes in the world. Discover how physicist Stephen Hawking is working with Lick Observatory on the biggest scientific search for intelligent life in the universe.

Stanley Cup Cocktail Crawl – On your way to the game be sure to stop by the following restaurants and bars for Sharks themed cocktails:

• Peggy Sue's (29 N San Pedro St #100): Shark Tank (32oz. margarita) – three shots of Tequila, two shots of triple sec, lime juice, premium blue curacao, and sweet and sour mix.
• AFK Gaming Lounge (163 W Santa Clara St.): Shark Bowl cocktail – Smirnoff Sour Berry Vodka, special teal sauce and lemon lime soda.
• Nomikai (48 S 1st St.): Shark Tank Punch Bowl – Coconut rum, blue curacao, pineapple, lemon juice and gummy sharks.
• O'Flaherty's Irish Pub (25 N San Pedro St.): Shark Attack – a Great White Beer paired with a shot of Jameson.

Happy hour at Stanley’s Sports Bar
Stanley’s Sports Bar located inside Sharks Ice and the home of the San Jose practice facility is offering happy hour pricing for every Stanley Cup Final game.

“Jumbo Joe” Burger at the Fairmont San Jose
The Fairmont San Jose’s Lobby Lounge is offering Sharks themed menus including: Shark Attack Burger & Brew Special, which comes with a “Jumbo Joe” Burger (Niman Ranch Burger, Braised Short Ribs, Point Reyes Blue Cheese, Applewood Smoked Bacon, Onion Rings and Chipotle Ranch) and Local Draft Beer; and The Power Play Special, which comes with a “Jumbo Joe” Burger, Local Draft Beer and Decadent Chocolate Brownie.

Sharks themed sandwiches at Ike's Love & Sandwiches
Ike’s Love & Sandwiches in San Jose is serving up Sharks themed sandwiches including: a Patrick Marleau Sandwich with Roast beef, bacon, creamy horseradish, Sriracha and jack cheese; a Go Sharks Sandwich with Vegan Chicken, Honey Mustard, Buffalo Wing Sauce and Gouda; and a Randy Hahn with ham, dirty sauce and cheddar.

For the latest information on San Jose Sharks festivities and events, visit http://www.sanjoseca.gov/SJSharks.



In addition, here is a bonus release disclosing a wager between Team San Jose and VisitPITTSBURGH...



Team San Jose and VisitPittsburg Make Stanley Cup Final Series Wager

San Jose, Calif. – Team San Jose CEO Karolyn Kirchgesler and VisitPITTSBURGH President and CEO Craig Davis made a friendly wager for the Stanley Cup Final Series between the San Jose Sharks and the Pittsburgh Penguins.

VisitPITTSBURGH will send Primanti’s Bros. sandwiches, a burnt almond torte (one of Pittsburgh’s most famous desserts) from Prantl’s Bakery and traditional pierogies from Pierogies Plus to San Jose if the Penguins lose. Team San Jose will send tacos and orange sauce from La Victoria, J. Lohr wine and manju from San Jose’s Japantown to Pittsburgh, if the Sharks lose.

“San Jose has been waiting a long time for the Sharks to go to the finals we couldn’t be happier for our team and our city,” said Karolyn Kirchgesler. “We are grateful to share the spotlight with a major sports destination in Pittsburgh and look forward to showing Pittsburgh Penguins fans all that San Jose has to offer leisure travelers. It will be a great series and we’re glad to be part of the action with this wager against VisitPITTSBURGH.”

The city of San Jose will colored in teal in support of the Sharks throughout the Stanley Cup Final Series. Visitors can look forward to discounts at local attractions and enjoy viewing parties and street rally’s throughout Downtown San Jose.

“We are excited to make this wager with our colleagues from the beautiful city of San Jose, so we can show our tremendous pride in our Pittsburgh Penguins who have helped make Pittsburgh a legendary sports town and a major sports destination,” said Craig Davis, President and CEO. “Both of our teams have put our cities in the national spotlight, and that exposure will help drive tourism well into the future. We invite the great sports fans from San Jose to come and visit Pittsburgh and experience our great restaurants, hotels, sports events, attractions, theaters, museums and attractions.”

In 2015 Pittsburgh was named one of the top 10 destinations on the rise by Trip Advisor and the No. 1 Food City in the U.S. by Zagat. Prantl’s Bakery is a Pittsburgh institution and the Huffington Post recently named their Burnt Almond Torte the “best cake America has ever made.”

Primanti's Bros is a Pittsburgh original, known for topping its sandwiches with coleslaw and French fries. The Penguins' third line of Carl Hagelin, Nick Bonino and Phil Kessel — the HBK line — has grown in such popularity that it has its own Primanti's sandwich

Pierogies Plus is the go-to place for homemade authentic pierogies, a crescent-shaped, tender dumpling filled with a variety of fillings – potato and cheese is most popular.

SubZERO 2016 kicks off tonight and continues tomorrow!

One of my favorite arts festivals in the Bay Area kicks off tonight and continues all the way to tomorrow night in Downtown San Jose's SoFA District. Below is the description straight from the SubZERO website:

"Focused on emerging and present subcultures thriving in our region, SubZERO is a DIY, artistically bent, hi/lo-techno mashup where street meets geek. Come downtown on June 3rd & 4th to San Jose's SoFA District from 6pm 'til midnight for an inspired evening of arts & culture. In addition to the South FIRST FRIDAYS monthly art walk you'll find outdoor stages of entertainment plus artists, performers & musicians celebrating the indie creative spirit!"

There are hundreds of art exhibits and live performances spanning multiple blocks, all of them free. Three different stages will be playing live music. Food Trucks will keep you nourished and a beer garden focusing on local craft beers will help your brain absorb all of that art and culture.

Hope to see you guys there! To see the full list of galleries, artists, vendors, and musicians, head over to the SubZERO website! 

San Jose's Viptela raises $75 million

Viptela is a software-defined computer networking startup that is based in North San Jose. The company has just announced a $75 million funding round to help it ramp up globally. This will bring its total funding to nearly $110 million and its valuation to around $900 million.

The new dollars will be used to scale up sales, marketing, support, and R&D. Viptela has already grown its workforce to 150 in the past year and is planning to hit 200 employees by the end of the year and 300 employees by then end of 2017. With all of the downsizing happening in the Valley right now, it is nice to see some companies bucking the trend (especially in San Jose).

Viptela is located at 1732 N. 1st Street, Suite #600.

Source: SVBJ

The Sharks' Key to Game Two: Adaptation

We saw this play out on May 15^th, the first game of the Western Conference Finals.  The Sharks, playing an opponent on the road, faced a team that appeared stronger and faster, tested goaltender Martin Jones early, scored the first goal, and handed the Sharks a first game loss by a one goal margin.  On May 30^th, we saw a similar series starting game.  If recent history is to repeat itself, the Sharks’ penchant this season for adapting to their opponent’s style will be key in taking advantage this series.

Arguably, the Sharks have faced stronger opposition in reaching the 2016 Stanley Cup Finals than the Pittsburgh Penguins did, eliminating the playoff powerhouse Los Angeles Kings, a gritty Nashville Predators that had beaten a strong Anaheim Ducks team, and the resilient St. Louis Blues, who had eliminated the defending Stanley Cup Champions and a fast Dallas Stars team.  While the Penguins did best the Presidents Trophy winning Washington Capitals, the Capitals’ fortunes had been on the decline in the latter half of the season and had to rely on early season success to maintain their regular season point total.

Any serious analyst would tell you that both the Sharks and the Penguins are equally capable of winning with no team having any significant advantage from the get-go, but what makes the Sharks so particularly deadly this post-season, as mentioned earlier, is their ability to adapt.  While much can be made of the amazing offense and shut-down defense of the Sharks this year, the key ingredient the team has now that was missing in prior seasons is the “adaptation angle” Todd McLellan’s system never could learn.  During the Sharks’ last trip to the post-season, it was evident the team’s strategy stayed the same as the ever-adapting Kings learned the Sharks’ system to take advantage and execute a successful reverse sweep to win the first round series, eventually winning the Stanley Cup.

Even during the Penguins’ dominant first period during Game 1, the Sharks countered in the second period, evening up the score, and turning the third period into a toss-up into who would score the next game-winning goal.  The more the Sharks play against a team, the more they can learn and understand the opposing team’s habits.  (How will the Penguins set up in the opposing zone so that I can eliminate shots to the net?  Is it necessary to forecheck Kris Letang if he has Sidney Crosby zipping up the middle?  Should I be hesitant to pinch in on Phil Kessel if I know he is always going to shoot a low blocker wrist shot from the top right circle?)

“Old habits die hard,” as it is always said.  That is why adaptation works.

The Sharks, as demonstrated this post-season, has continually dominated with puck possession abilities, something that has continued from season’s past.  What makes this season different, however, is the team’s ability to overcome one of my greatest criticisms: the penchant to be “too cute” with the puck with too much passing in the offensive zone, allowing the other team to gain the zone and set up a fortified defense before lethal scoring opportunities could be executed.  Likely spurred on by new head coach Peter DeBoer, we are seeing a far more aggressive offense, which even includes shots on net by perpetual assist maker Joe Thornton, who many felt would score more if he was less hesitant to shoot pucks.  While Thornton’s scoring still has a roughly 3:1 assist-to-goal ratio, many of those came from shots on net with favorable rebounds instead of attempted passes.

Clearly, the more aggressive solution has worked, but in order to beat the Penguins, adapting to their setup strategies to fortify the defense, and to gain the zone aggressively on the offense, is what it will take.  We saw how the Sharks responded after the first period in Game 1, and we saw how the Sharks responded after losing in all games from earlier series.  It is in these responses where we saw the team was willing to take the time to learn and successfully counter.

We are going to see more of that in Game 2, tonight, at 5:00PM PST.

(I will go more into the art of adaptation in my next piece, rather than generalize like I have done here, which will include bits from Game 2.)

#SplitPitt

Din Tai Fung now open at Valley Fair

The world-famous Taiwanese restaurant Din Tai Fung has just opened their eagerly anticipated San Jose location. Now that it has been open for a couple weeks, you might not have to wait 4-5 hours to get a seat.

What's the big deal? This restaurant has some of the best soup dumplings you'll find anywhere around the globe. The Pork XLB dumpling is a mandatory order--thousands are sold every day, maybe tens of thousands in some locations. Each dumpling is made by hand and is filled with a hearty broth and savory treat.

The restaurant has been around since 1972 and has several locations throughout Asia. There are only four Din Tai Fung dumpling houses in the US: two in LA, one in Seattle, and now one in San Jose. It is a huge win that we scored this in the South Bay, they could have easily set up shop north of us.

The 8,200 SQFT restaurant is located on the main floor of Valley Fair underneath the Dining Terrace and can seat up to 200 people. If you are willing to brave the wait times, it is well worth experiencing.

Sources: SJ Economy News, FoodGal

New residential tower may replace Ross Downtown

Another day, another tower. Nathan Donato-Weinstein broke the news of yet another high-rise proposal in Downtown San Jose. First, the bad news. Ross--currently Downtown's largest clothing store--is shutting down at the end of the summer. This will leave a 30,000 SQFT retail gap in a key location. Instead of replacing it with another store, the property owners are instead seeking to build a 24-story apartment tower.

The modern glass tower would have 324 units and 5,000 SQFT of retail on the ground floor. It looks like amenities will be on the sixth floor and include a small swimming pool. I'm sure a gym would be there as well. Parking will be available on eight floors, four under ground and four above ground.

The design and scale will be highly contested I'm sure since it is in the middle of the historic district. However, adding around 700 new residents to this area will no doubt be a huge benefit to the businesses in the immediate area and breathe new life into the district. Light-rail is also quite literally in front of the building, encouraging the use of transit instead of driving.

Personally, I really like the mixing of old and new architectural styles--the San Jose Museum of Art is a great example which incorporated a historic post office. Also, I hate to say this but I also don't think there is enough character in the historic district today to justify blocking development that will add value to the whole Downtown area. There is huge value in maintaining the character and aesthetics of certain areas (especially when walking down the street transports you to a different era), but I don't think the historic district merits that today. We certainly shouldn't be tearing down any more historic buildings and repeat mistakes that were made decades ago, but it's time to move forward and evolve the Downtown area with greater density, amenities, and housing options.

If the tower below moves forward, construction could begin by January 2017.

Source: SVBJ

Think Bigger San Jose's blog post on what the Stanley Cup means for San Jose

Check out this great post on "Think Bigger San Jose" about the implications of the Stanley Cup on our city's brand. I couldn't agree more!

Google Fiber is one big step closer to coming to San Jose

There is a good chance that San Jose will be the first city in California to get Google Fiber, as well as be the largest city ever to be fully served by Google's 1,000 Mbps internet connection.

Fiber is many times faster than most broadband services that Comcast and AT&T offer, at the same cost or less. You can also add 150 TV channels for about $60/mo. Even those that for some crazy reason do not select Google's service will benefit--competing internet providers will be forced to offer faster services and/or drop prices in order to compete with Google. Oh, and Google is also known to give away 5 Mbps internet access for free (besides the cost of the box) as well as provide elementary schools complimentary access to gigabit internet service.

So just how likely are we to get this amazing service in San Jose? It's pretty damn near certain at this point. Last week the city council unanimously approved Google's construction plan for running 2,300 miles of residential fiber in our city. The official announcement from Google is expected by the end of the summer and may include some neighboring cities like Santa Clara, Palo Alto, and Mountain View. Construction will take around three years to fully build out, with 60% of the fiber cables going underground and 40% hung from utility poles.

When the service does arrive, it will be another great perk of living in San Jose.

Source: SiliconBeat