Fluency
This morning I woke up dreaming I was writing a very long tweet, one longer than Twitlonger permits, to a couple of the people I follow on Twitter. It was about hugs and a new town with an old church, the problems with delivering hugs by proxy, and my lack of familiarity with the broad spectrum of church-going etiquette. They say that you know you are becoming fluent in a language when you dream in it.
It’s like when I was in the Czech Republic, I dreamed that I had to take a chemistry test in Czech and I was sure I could do it if only they would translate the test into English for me.
Close, but no cigar. (more…)
Too Much Too Soon & Other Signs The End Is Nigh
(Originally published at Kukla’s Korner)
These dern kids nowadays don’t know how good they got it. That is, essentially, what Drew Remenda had to say in his blog about the big money contract Drew Doughty is likely to get when all is said and done. Also cast as horsemen of the NHL contract apocalypse are Steven Stamkos and possibly our very own Logan Couture.
Yes, 5 to 7 million dollars is a whopping big load of money to get in a year. Yes, it is a pretty large chunk of a team’s salary cap space. Yes, players used to not get so much on their first post-EL contract, not even the up and coming superstars. Oh the horror, the horror! (more…)
Less is More?
I’m sure I’ll have something to say about the Flyers once they start doing something again. I mean other than having failed to not drink back in February of 2010.
It is fairly quiet in the NHL. The arbitration hearings keep getting cancelled. DGS supposes that Jagr, not having played a full NHL season for a while, will not be quite up to it. He did a projection of many things for next season. (more…)
Brent Burns: Straight Up
(Originally published on Kuklas Korner)
Brent Burns is exactly the sort of player the Sharks needed to get: a big fancy D man. Now they have him, for one year. Will he stay? It’s a question that will be overplayed like Paula Abdul’s pop hit. We probably won’t get an answer for some time.
Google Brent Burns and you find a slew of articles saying he is wonderful and Doug Wilson is a shining champion for acquiring him. There’s not much noise about losing him, except from Minny. Wilson doesn’t want us worrying about that either:
“We will get to business when the time is right,” Wilson added later, “but we acquired this player with the plan for him being a long-term member of the Sharks.” -Working the Corners
Why in the world wouldn’t Brent Burns want to stay with us in our beautiful mild climate, with our nice shiny Shark Tank, on our fine strapping team that has been doing awfully well lately, cheered by a large noisy audience, for a big fat wad of money that Doug Wilson is bound to offer him? Why in the world wouldn’t he stay with us? (more…)
SJ Sharks and the Code of Quiet
I want to talk about concussions. I always want to talk about concussions, so I’ll do it early and get it out of the way.
We know head injuries are a danger, a thorny problem, a challenge and a conundrum for refs and trainers and GMs and players and medical researchers. Getting hit in the head is bad for you. It really is that simple. But I don’t want to talk about what concussions are, I want to talk about talking about them, and about the Sharks talking about them. (more…)
New Shark Michal Handzus
I keep wanting to say something about Martin Havlat. I’m a Czechophile and all, but every time I try to figure out what I expect from him I find my thoughts drifting to Michal Handzus. Not the same thing at all, I know. Maybe I feel guilty about never visiting Slovakia or knowing whether Czech and Slovak are really different languages or more like dialects of the same. Or maybe it’s because Handzus has a reputation devoid of the uncertainty I find in opinions about Havlat. (more…)
Out With the Old, In (a New Place) With the Other Old
So, aside from a vacancy on the lower lines, the question Sharks fans were asking about the 2011-12 Sharks was: who will replace Trent Yawney as the Assistant Coach in charge of defense? Sorry I’m slow to jump on this but I was busy contemplating head injuries.
We have our answer:
*Matt Shaw will take over Yawney’s role as the assistant working with the defensemen.
*Woodcroft will work more closely with the forwards, concentrating on line match-ups during each game. He will be behind the bench full-time rather than concentrating on video work as he has been to this point.
*Staff assistant Brett Heimlich will have an expanded role in the video department and be given other coaching opportunities.” –Working the Corners
petshark 