Just like the last time that I went to a NHL hockey game, particularly a San Jose Sharks game, I went to go see the other team play. In this case, I went to go see the visiting Washington Capitals who happen to be in first place in their division and have a future Hall of Famer player in their ranks: Alexander Ovechkin. Two years ago, the Capitals finally got over the hump by winning the Stanley Cup thus breaking the championship drought. It was thought that “Ovi” or “the Great Eight” (his nicknames) was only missing one thing in his resume: a Stanley Cup.

This Capitals team won the Stanley Cup just 2 years ago so they still some firepower as shown by leading their conference in points this season so far. Another reason why to show up early: to watch the players warm up.

Well, he finally did it. I actually saw Ovechkin play in his younger days as a rookie but at the time, I didn’t know who he was at the time despite him being highly regarded. So this time around, I can rectify my memory of him playing in front of me. And even though Ovechkin didn’t score, his teammates did all the damage to the Sharks.

Alexander Ovechkin, one of the best players in the NHL, looked to score but mostly made great passes to his teammates in this game. They ended up doing all of the damage against the Sharks.

The Sharks most of the face-offs but couldn’t win the most important aspect of all: the score. However, here, the Capitals win the face-off.

One interesting thing about the Sharks is that I’ve never seen so many opposing team fans at the arena. I think because the team is doing so badly compared to the earlier years that tickets are more readily available. Another thing that I’ve noticed is the sheer number of open seats in the arena meaning fans (when their home team is getting blown out) are heading out the door much earlier than the game’s end. Couple this with more opposing fans being more prevalent and it looks like the home fans are outnumbered due to the empty seats.

I’ve been to a few San Jose Sharks hockey games before but generally when I go, I usually go to see the other team play because they are far better than the always-choking-in-the-playoffs-San Jose Sharks. All the Sharks fans, especially the local ones, always go crazy about their “team” doing well during the regular season but in the end during the playoffs, the team can never get the final job done. There are many, many records, stories, and tales of how they had the best regular season record only to lose in the first round! The best memory that I have of the “Sharks” was when the team was up 3 games to none in a playoffs series against the Los Angeles Kings… only to lose the next 4 games and get reverse-swept! Oh, and by the way, that Kings team went on to win the Stanley Cup! That showed what kind of team the Kings were!

This is what the SAP Center looks like outside during game night.

And this is what the SAP Center looks like inside. It’s primarily a hockey arena but it does concerts and a long time ago, there was some basketball played there as well.

I have a feeling that these Sharks won’t win a title anytime soon (or even possibly forever?) as they are cursed. And don’t think that the Sharks is a bad name for a team because it’s not. There is another Sharks team, the Cologne Sharks (Kölner Haie) of the German Hockey League (Deutsche Eishockey Liga) that is also a hockey team but on the European continent and they’ve WON championships before! The name is not cursed, just the San Jose Sharks…

So off to the so-called “Shark Tank” as they call the SAP Center in San Jose which I went in order to watch the visiting Edmonton Oilers. People might be wondering why did I go to an Oilers game? It was because they have an ultra-talent in Connor McDavid, a top flight center-forward for the Oilers. That’s right! I went to the Sharks game just to watch the OTHER TEAM play as I’ve stated previously before.

I had front row seats to an Oilers-Sharks game meaning that I had great views of the Oilers players. The view was great during the warm-ups but during the game, the players and coaches will block your view…. a LOT.

With the exception of Nygaal, both Leon Draisaitl and Connor McDavid are the superstars on the Oilers team. They both play together and are extremely talented which will likely make them a long-lasting duo for years to come.

Connor McDavid getting ready to play once the referee drops the puck.

Even though at the time, the Oilers were in first place of the division, the Sharks came out blasting away goals by scoring the first four! The Oilers did score one eventually but in the end, the lead built up was too much. And that’s one thing that I’ve noticed about the Sharks – they have to have a lead or a nice sizeable one otherwise, the other team will come back to win it like a lot of teams have done in the playoffs to beat the Sharks.

There was a fight that broke out during the game after Connor McDavid got hit in the knee to which one of the Oilers players (Brandon Manning) got into a huge fight and then penalized big time. That’s what happens when a teammate believes that their superstar player was “targeted” so he’s trying to protect him by fighting the aggressor.

So if you’re in the SF Bay Area, this is one of the things that you can do easily if you want to watch ice hockey. And when the San Jose Sharks aren’t doing well like they are in this season, Sharks tickets are not hard to obtain particularly (even at the box office, not from ticket resellers) when they’re playing a team that is not considered that great i.e. the Oilers (even with an ultra talent like Conor McDavid).