Tough Loss for Sharks Forces Game 5 in San Jose

While a four-game sweep against the Detroit Red Wings dynasty would have been an awesome victory for the San Jose Sharks, the Red Wings' efforts alongside their energetic home crowd in Game Four have given them the opportunity to stay alive. Although the Red Wings completely dominated the scoreboard, winning the game with a mind-blowing 7-1, one win is only one win, and the Sharks still lead the series three games to one. Fortunately, the next game will be played in front of the San Jose crowd at the HP Pavilion this Saturday at 7:00 pm, all anxious to see their beloved hockey team advance to the Conference finals for only the second time in franchise history.

Tonight's game proved to be simply a down moment in the series. The Red Wings had a terrific game; in particular Johan Franzen (affectionately known as “The Mule” in Detroit after famed captain Steve Yzerman gave him that nickname), who managed a hat trick in just over three minutes of play, finishing the game with four goals and two assists. Additionally, Red Wings netminder Jimmy Howard played a phenomenal game, turning away 28 out of 29 shots, most of them difficult to block. The Sharks, however, did not have an “on” game, for example, as goaltender Evgeni Nabokov, who performed brilliantly on Tuesday's Game Three, allowed half the shots on him to go into the net. What the Sharks need is effective rest for the next day and a half before focusing and attacking Game Five with a vengeance to put the Red Wings away in front of the home San Jose crowd.

The only obstacle between now and then is to continue to persevere and finish off the Red Wings with another win. Even though the Sharks managed a 3-0 series lead, each game had been a tough battle. Last year, the Red Wings (then the defending Stanley Cup champions) unsurprisingly advanced to the finals, pushing the Pittsburgh Penguins all the way to Game Seven before the Penguins, arguably, barely pushed through to win the game with a 2-1 victory. This year, the Red Wings are even better, and to be able to advance past them this year in the playoffs will turn the San Jose Sharks into the new favorite to win the coveted Stanley Cup. The Sharks fans have a lot to believe in this year. Believe in your Sharks. Support your Sharks. It's the playoffs, so although there undoubtedly will be some down moments in the series, what matters is if, in the end, the Sharks persevere and emerge victorious.

GO SHARKS!

Game Four will be in San Jose's HP Pavilion arena at 7:00 pm this Saturday.
Tickets available tomorrow.

Little Italy San Jose - Walking Tour

Our New Sports Blogger - Jarrod Wells!!!

It's with great pleasure that I would like to introduce a new contributor to The San Jose Blog! Jarrod Wells is an accomplished hockey player--even playing internationally--and I'm thrilled that he'll be blogging about the Sharks' quest towards the Stanley Cup this season! I really think this will finally be our year. Please check out his first couple posts below!

Ultimate Comeback Grants Sharks a 3-0 Series Lead

Today, the Sharks knew they were going to enter a serious and painful battle. Long has the Detroit Red Wings’ Joe Louis Arena been host to the San Jose Sharks’ misery. Of the forty-four total away games the Sharks have played in Detroit, only eight have been victorious. In addition, the Red Wings have been a great team this year to boot. As the game progressed, the Sharks looked as if they were playing an average game. Unfortunately, when your opponent is the Red Wings, average does not cut it.

Within the first period, the Red Wings’ Henrik Zetterberg had been able to sneak a puck past Sharks netminder Evgeni Nabokov, although the “shot” was later ruled a “kick in,” disallowing the goal to a torrent of boos from the emotional Joe Louis crowd. Shortly thereafter, Red Wings’ goalie screening expert Tomas Holmstrom snuck one by Nabokov with a tip in for a 1-0 Detroit lead, calming the crowd from the disallowed goal.

As Sharks fans were likely disappointed by the Red Wings’ first period domination, some hopes were rekindled when Nabokov brilliantly gloved the shot of Zetterberg, who had been awarded an unhindered penalty shot when a Sharks player covered the puck in the crease with his hand. The Red Wings shortly extended the lead to 2-0 with a snap shot from forward Daniel Cleary. As the first period winded down to its end, Sharks forward Devin Setoguchi slid the puck past Red Wings goaltender Jimmy Howard to make the score 2-1, with less than three seconds remaining in the period.

During the second period, Red Wings again extended their lead to two goals after Zetterberg finally put the puck past Nabokov, making the score 3-1. Due to the Sharks’ disappointing history in Detroit and the Red Wings’ brilliant play, it was clear to some that the Sharks were not going to be able to win. The Red Wings’ defensive lineup, primarily the Brian Rafalski-Nicklas Lidstrom pair, had been blocking numerous shots and clearing out potential Sharks scoring opportunities. It was then the Sharks knew they had to carry out nothing short of a miracle to come back against the dominant Red Wings team.

The third period started out with a bang in the Sharks’ favor, as they rose to the occasion and stepped up their performance pace. Railing Red Wings goaltender Howard with many shots on net, the Sharks knew they would eventually wear him down and start putting the pucks past him. Fortunately, the Sharks were right. Almost seven minutes into the third period, power forward Joe Thornton executes an unassisted goal, and seven minutes after that, rookie Logan Couture of the Sharks’ third line rallies to score as well, placing the Sharks and Red Wings at a dead-even tie. The fans of the Joe Louis Arena could not believe it. It was their home, their arena, their domain, and the Sharks were supposed to lose.

Although the Sharks gained an upper hand with a late game power play, they failed to take advantage, and the game was sent into overtime. Both teams played very well in the overtime period, although it was not until a fluke shot by a Red Wings defenseman when the Sharks finally took advantage. The shot missed the net and wrapped around the boards to a patiently waiting Joe Thornton, who quickly broke out of the Sharks’ defensive zone and into the Red Wings’ zone on a two on two. With incredible speed, Sharks’ star forward Patrick Marleau broke past two Red Wings players, where we had been able to receive a pass from Thornton, underneath an outstretched Brian Rafalski, and into the net left open by an over-aggressive Howard, sealing the Sharks’ victory and 3-0 series lead.

May the Sharks continue to play well on Thursday to sweep the Red Wings!

San Jose Sharks to Continue Momentum versus Detroit in Game Three

After two impressive games on home ice, the Sharks are up two games to zero on the Detroit Red Wings as they head to Detroit’s Joe Louis Arena for the next two contests of the Western Conference Semifinals.

The Sharks’ recent victories over the Red Wings are nothing short of spectacular. As many hockey fans understand, the Detroit Red Wings is widely known as a strong hockey franchise, with this year being no exception. Although they had only been the fifth seed entering the 2010 Playoffs, a lot of it had to do with their injury-marred season, leaving some of their stars, namely Tomas Holmstrom and Henrik Zetterberg, on the injured-reserve list for parts of the season. In the current stage of the playoffs, however, the Red Wings are pulling no punches, pairing up dynamic forwards Pavel Datsyuk and Henrik Zetterberg, and strong, experienced defensemen Brian Rafalski and captain Nicklas Lidstrom.

Given the Sharks have demonstrated their ability to play a terrific game and win, the next two games must be played with a discerning focus, especially against a strong team like the Red Wings. Detroit does not plan to make the next games easy for the Sharks, now they have home ice advantage, and with coach Mike Babcock making it known to a few sources of his plans to shut down the Sharks’ offense and keep them from scoring.

Fortunately for the Sharks, they too have enough dynamic players to continue their momentum against the Red Wings this series. With the surprising star, 25-year old Joe Pavelski, currently atop the NHL Playoff leader board for goals (and second in points), power player Devon Setoguchi, rising star Manny Malhotra, and the first forward line of Joe Thornton, Patrick Marleau, and Dany Heatley, the Sharks have arguably the strongest offense in the current playoffs. In addition, the Sharks have seen flashes of brilliance from defenseman Dan Boyle, despite the fluke “own goal” in Denver from Game Three of the Western Conference Quarterfinals. Since the widely-reported error, Boyle has come through tremendously with great playmaking, and in addition, notching three assists in Game 1 versus Detroit and scoring against the Avalanche. To win, the Sharks must keep up their offensive front, while at the same time stepping up their defense with better breakouts and coverage of Red Wings players in the defensive zone. If the Sharks can pull off a series victory versus Detroit, their chances of winning the Cup will be much more likely.

Catch the game tonight at 4:30pm Pacific Time.

GO SHARKS!

I Heart San Jose - Syndicated Facebook Posts

There are a lot of great Facebook pages popping up centered around San Jose and I've posted links to the best ones over on the right hand side of this blog. Out of all these groups, the one that has far and away gained the most traction this year is "I Heart San Jose." It has over 4,000 followers and the missions is simple: "For people who love San Jose!" Needless to say, there is a lot of synergy between their goals and the goal of this blog!

A lot of great content is being posted over at I Heart San Jose daily, so if you haven't done so already you can check them out here. I also think I've figured out a way to syndicate their posts, so every 1-2 weeks I'll post their latest updates over here as well. See below for last week's content from I Heart San Jose!

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UPDATE: Sorry guys, this didn't work out quite as planned. The HTML from Facebook ended up killing the rest of the page. I'll have to better understand the code to make this work properly. Will try to get this back up ASAP!

$28m Residential Project in Japantown!

In Last week's San Jose / Silicon Valley Business Journal, there is a great article about a new Japantown residential project called Cornerstone.  Here is the brief summary:

• 53-unit affordable housing project, 3-stories, no retail
• Corner of N 10th and Hedding
• Made possible due to a $2m federal grant
• Being designed by LPMD Architects, based in Sunnyvale
• Residents should be able to move in summer 2011

Click here to read the full article (warning, you may need to be a subscriber to read this one).

Photo: Courtesy Illustration

Bike Sharing *IS* Coming to San Jose

On Earth Day I posted about an innovative bike-share program taking shape in Denver. The quick summary is that citizens can pick up one of 400 bikes at solar-powered stations throughout the city, use it for their daily commute or maybe just for a joyride (bike party anyone?), and then return it to any station they want. I thought this was a killer idea and one we should implement right here in Silicon Valley. Great news, it looks like that is EXACTLY what we're going to do. Thanks to an astute reader, below is VTA's press release for a half million dollar bike share program for Santa Clara County!

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VTA Awarded $500,000 for Valley Bike Share Pilot Project

Agency to Begin Distinctive Program

Release Number:	nr 09 12 14
Release Date:	Dec 21, 2009

San Jose, Calif. –The Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority (VTA) recently secured a $500,000 Safe Routes to Transit (SR2T) grant to fund a Bike Share Pilot Project. With the approval of the grant by the Metropolitan Transportation Commission (MTC) last week, VTA can now jump start bike sharing in Santa Clara County.
          
Bike sharing provides users 24/7 access to public bicycles to commute to work, run errands or even ride for fun, without the worry of bicycle theft or lack of bicycle parking. With self-service stations that allow users to access a fleet of bicycles anytime, bike sharing offers a convenient option for making short trips when walking is too far and transit options are not available.

The concept of Bike Sharing, while not new, was championed locally on several fronts including the Silicon Valley Bicycle Coalition (SVBC), elected officials, and VTA.  VTA’s bike sharing pilot project is expected to begin in Spring 2010. 

“I’m thrilled to see the many months of hard work by VTA staff and our bicycling advocates come to fruition with this MTC grant,“ said Sam Liccardo, VTA Board of Directors interim chair and San Jose City Councilmember, who publicly launched an initiative for a bike share pilot project in San José in 2008. “This effort combines an innovative way to enable people to use an old-fashioned, low-tech solution: the bicycle.  It boosts transit by helping eliminate the chronic “bumping” of riders trying to board bicycle-laden Caltrain cars, and it provides a much needed bridge for transit riders seeking to reach their office or ultimate destination.”

Bicycle & Pedestrian Advisory Committee (BPAC) Chair Joe Walton is excited about the opportunity to explore bike sharing locally. “Bike sharing will reduce the use of private automobiles while also promote active transportation,” said Walton.

The transit-based bike sharing program is centered on VTA’s transit centers in San Jose, Palo Alto and Mountain View, and the surrounding 3-mile radius for potential bike sharing stations or pods. The three transit centers were chosen because they have the highest ridership and experience serious bike overcrowding and bumping problems. Bike sharing presents an opportunity to address these obstacles and expand the existing transportation system without additional infrastructure or new transit service.

VTA is currently conducting a study to assess feasibility of a bike sharing program in Santa Clara County. VTA is working with a consultant team and a working group comprised of representatives from the three cities, Caltrain, private businesses, SVBC, and the Silicon Valley Leadership Group (SVLG) to conduct the necessary market research, technology review and develop a business and finance model. Based on promising initial results, over half of the people surveyed indicated they would use the bike sharing program if it were available. The study is slated for completion by March 2010, and based on its findings, VTA staff will develop the pilot project and use the SR2T grant to purchase the initial set of bicycles and bike share pods.

The SR2T grant program funds projects that facilitate safe walking and biking to regional transit. The program is funded by Regional Measure 2, the $1 bridge toll increase for transit. The SR2T Committee’s recommendation that the VTA Pilot Bike Sharing project receive the requested $500,000 in funding was approved by MTC at its December 16, 2009 meeting.