I hate the Flames. I hate the Flames. I hate the Flames. I hate the Flames. I hate the Flames. I hate the Flames. I hate the Flames. I hate the Flames. I hate the Flames. I hate the Flames. I hate the Flames. I hate the Flames. I hate the Flames. I hate the Flames. I hate the Flames. I hate the Flames. I hate the Flames. I hate the Flames. I hate the Flames. I hate the Flames. I hate the Flames. I hate the Flames. I hate the Flames.

There's nothing more that needs to be said.

Well, maybe a little...

I still am emotional about the 2008 Quarterfinals and how the Flames manhandled Patty. The 7 game series was good, yes, like really good. And JR (Happy 40th!) was awesome, and CLOWEVERFIELD was awesome. But still. I really really really hate the Flames.

I would say that my animosity dates back to 2004, but I wasn't watching hockey then.

They just annoy me by playing well against us. grah!

He's mad because he was supposed to be posted yesterday, but wasn't.

Now his gets his moment in the spot light.

Talking to some Bruins fans on Twitter last night, I was amazed to find that they all shared the same sentiment. "The Sharks are going to crush us." Being able to gain one point by forcing OT was amazing. "We thought the Sharks were going to crush us." Then came the shoot out. It was at this point I was told that at least we have real shooters. My response was "You haven't been watching the Sharks lately have you?"

The shoot out is, after all, a crap shoot on skates.

Unlike Desmond, the Sharks hockey skills/sense are not constant. The flit about in time, sometimes present, sometimes located far away in either the past or future. Sometimes they only stay for the first, and sometimes they don't come until the third. And while most of their skills were indeed in tact last night, they couldn't solve the mystery of Tim Thomas, Cylon at large.

Try as they might, the Sharks could not crack his AT field*. Chara, taken down earlier by Scott Nichol (a foot smaller and nearly 100 lighter than Chara) found a way to get the puck around Nabby, and skated away with the win.

Last night was the game were we all discovered the Scott Nichol> The World. Can't be too upset about that.

*did you seriously just make an EVA reference, Gray? That's like sooo 1998.

Sign: Leo

Birth year: 1975

Home Town: Kamenogorsk, Kazakhstan (also a Russian citizen.)

Nickname: Nabby

Drafted: 1994, 9th round

(April 29, 2008- Photo by Ronald Martinez/Getty Images North America)

The Goalie formerly known as "John."

Much like the Klingon Empire treatment of their amazing facial transformations, he doesn't like to talk about that period of his life.

He hates stupid after game questions, has been known to call out team members who he feels are underperforming (hai Pickles!), and until recently, he avoided the press like the plague. He is a ping pong master. He sports a gold chain at all times, so far as I can tell. This is to remind you that he is awesome. His name is mentioned in a Sting song.

Even though it was in reference to the author Nabokov, and not Nabby himself, that has to count for something.

He won the Calder in 2001, was named to the NHL All-Rookie Team in 2001, was the first NHL goalie to score a power play goal in 2002, was the shut out master of the 2008 All-Star Game, names best goalie of the world Championships in 2008, and a Veznia finalist in 2008. (some of us would argue that he should have won)

In other words, he's pretty damn good.

Odds are good he'll be battling with Byrzgalov for the starting spot on Russia's Olympic team. If it were up to me, I'd give the job to Nabby. I've seen him on bad nights, I've seen him on good ones, and I've seen him when he was trading the #1 spot with Vesa. He's come quite far since then.

His stats since taking the goalie reigns in the 2000 season:

1999-00  San Jose Sharks             NHL    11   414   15   2  1  2.17   2   2   1   166  0.910
2000-01  San Jose Sharks             NHL    66  3700  135   3  6  2.19  32  21   7  1582  0.915
2001-02  San Jose Sharks             NHL    67  3901  149   5  7  2.29  37  24   5  1818  0.918
2002-03  San Jose Sharks             NHL    55  3227  146   5  3  2.71  19  28   8  1415  0.906
2003-04  San Jose Sharks             NHL    59  3455  127   0  9  2.21  31  19   8  1483  0.921
2005-06  San Jose Sharks             NHL    45  2575  133   2  1  3.10  16  19   7  1027  0.885
2006-07  San Jose Sharks             NHL    50  2778  106   4  7  2.29  25  16   4  1121  0.914
2007-08  San Jose Sharks             NHL    77  4561  163   6  6  2.14  46  21   8  1639  0.910
2008-09  San Jose Sharks             NHL    62  3686  150   0  7  2.44  41  12   8  1513  0.910

*care of hockeydb.com

Ignoring that one less then stellar run we were witness to in 05-06, this guy has potential Olympic champion written all over him.

Assuming he can keep that 5 hole of his shut.

Tonight @ 6pm CSN-CA and KFOX

The Sharks got a much needed win last night against the LA Kings, though it wasn't a full 60 minute performance. Things started to get really iffy in the third, and after the Kings peppered Nabby with shots and had some sustained pressure in the Sharks zone, I think the majority of us had at least some specter of dread about going to OT lurking in the back of our collective minds.

There was something in the intermission period with DW saying the Sharks weren't dependant on their goalie...yeah. About that...did you uh, did you watch the game last night?

Now I did only catch PART of the interview with Doug Wilson, so I can't be entirely certain what context that comment was given in, but if Wilson has any trade deadline plans that involve Nabby (and I'm not saying he does.) I'll be pretty pissed. I need to see if I can find the interview on YouTube so I can get better context.

I also noticed DW and Randy Hahn have very similar tans. Do you think they tan in the same place? Do you think DW gets a 2fer1 discount when he brings a friend? Does everyone on air have to tan? How ridiculous would someone with my skin tone look with a tan? (I believe it is oft described as "porcelain", which is a polite way of saying "damn girl, you pale!") Why does Brett Hedican have such huge hands? Does he have to tan them separately?

Mysteries we may never solve.

Tonight @ 7:30pm CSN-CA & KFOX

This is the fifth time we'll face the Kings this season. Lucky for them, they've done pretty well against the Sharks all season so they could get that elusive first home win on their current homestand.

Uhm, whoo?

Not so much.

It isn't even so much that I'm worried because of the Sharks home loss on Saturday against the Wings. Or that other home loss last week against the Kings. Teams lose, whatever. Sometimes they lose really badly. It happens. I'm not even sure I'm worried at all. Maybe that is what's throwing me off. I don't know. I still want to watch the game, I'm still looking forward to the (potential) for being entertained by it. I'd obviously love to see a Sharks win, I guess I'm just not willing to stress about it right now.

Had a chat with folks on the way back from the way too crowded downtown scene after the game on Saturday and at least two of us decided that we'd start to really worry about the Sharks play if they're still doing less than stellar AFTER the Olympic break.