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October 10, 2002
"Trip of a Lifetime" Begins with Sharks Loss
By Matt Petersen
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SAN JOSE -- We made it up to the Bay Area for game one
in pretty good time as we just stopped for the
essentials (Denny’s Grand Slam breakfast) and kept
motoring as much as possible.
As we set up our gear outside of the Compaq Center at
around 5:00 p.m. (two hours before game time), fans
were either already making their way into the building
or amusing themselves with the myriad of attractions
in the fan appreciation center outside of the arena.
There was a Caucasian funk band playing the hits of
the 70s, and the smell of barbeque was all over the
place. I have to say that it had a pretty warm opening
night feel to it.
Waiting for us at the will call window were our
tickets (great seats in the lower bowl), and to our
total surprise, media passes. Yes, we would have full
access to the whole building. I was geeked that we’d
have full reign of the press room buffet, but Jeff
read the fine print on the pass that gave us access to
the locker rooms. In mere minutes, we’d be standing
face-off distance to many of the San Jose Sharks.
The Sharks ended up losing in pretty awful fashion to
the Wings 6-3, and were noticeably missing some key
players from their line-up. Oh well, the loss didn’t
bother that much since we had weaseled our way down to
the locker room tunnel before game time and watched
the Sharks shuffle onto the ice for pre-game
introductions. We were in a state of disbelief for
most of the game from the great accommodations given
to us by the Sharks front office. After the loss, we
made it into the Sharks’ locker room and watched
post-game interviews.
The Shark Tank, as usual was loud and packed. Being a
Bay Area native and a Shark faithful since their
inaugural 1990-91 season, I can’t remember going to a
game that wasn’t sold out and that was the case here
on opening night. The Tank is an intimate arena (seats
12,000-plus, two levels of luxury boxes), and even if
you have tickets up in the nose-bleeds, you still feel
like you’re on top of the action. The food was just
okay -- a light beer and some stale nachos for $11.25
-- but we had access to the lower club level (stocked
with bars, restaurants and lots of food stands), and
the lines were relatively shallow, so we didn’t have
to miss too much action.
After the game, the loss didn’t dwell for too long. We
were about to make our way further north to the
motherland of hockey, Vancouver B.C. to see Sharks
again, and the three of us were really looking forward
to how the Canadians would receive Jeff and I in our
California jerseys. We had no idea what we were in
store for.
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as they embark on their quest to set a World Record
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