That was quick

A little more than a week after starting my annual playoff beard, I had to shave it off this morning. My beloved Sharks continued their tradition of bowing out of the Stanley Cup playoffs earlier than expected, except this time they decided waiting until the second round was too long. A record-setting season that saw the most wins and points in franchise history, as well as the team’s first Presidents Trophy for best record in the NHL, San Jose will be hitting the golf course earlier than usual this summer.

This was supposed to be the season the Sharks put to rest the notion Sana Jose is a team that does well in the regular season but doesn’t have what it takes in the postseason. Ron Wilson lost his job over this last year and Todd McClellan was supposed to have the answer. It looked like he did early in the year, but that might have been the problem. The Sharks built such a lead over every other team in the league that they seemed to ease up the last few weeks of the regular season. When the playoffs started, San Jose looked flat and uninspired. They never seemed to have any answers on beating Anaheim and embarrassed themselves yet again.

There is clearly something wrong with this team. Last year, it was believed there was a lack of playoff experience on the roster, so almost every move this year brought in someone with Stanley Cup experience. Now it seems the pendulum has swung the other way: the Sharks are weighed down by too many old guys and have no hot young players like Jonas Hiller. Now that appears Ron Wilson has been vindicated, I think Doug Wilson (the GM) needs to go. I thought he was one of the better GMs in the league and he clearly has an eye for talent, but perhaps not for building a team. It seems like a good time to bring in someone else to blow up this nucleus of players and start from scratch.

Photo: This series was hard to watch

It's that time of year again

No, I’m not referring to my birthday this week, but rather the start of the NHL playoffs (although it’s a pretty cool present). It’s been six months since the regular season began back in October and 82 games later, we are ready for the postseason. Loyal readers of this blog know that this also means this is the one time I year I attempt to grow facial hair in support of the Sharks. This will be my fourth straight season showing my solidarity with the playoff beard and I think it’s a pretty cool tradition I’ve created. Over the years, I have tried a new style every year and I thought I would again try something new this year (I was thinking just the chin goat). But Tracy said that she wouldn’t tolerate anything but the standard goatee, so it makes its triumphant return from last year.

This looks to be defining postseason for the Sharks. After consecutive years of second-round exits, there has been a strong push to make a statement this year and really push hard for the Cup. They made a conscious effort this offseason to bring in guys that have won in the past, so there shouldn’t be any complaints about lack of experience this time around. While it was nice to see San Jose win its first Presidents Trophy for the best regular-season record, it really means nothing in the postseason, aside from home ice the rest of the way. I am little worried about the opening series against Anaheim, as the Ducks have been playing well down the stretch while the Sharks have been in .500 cruise control since mid-March. Plus add in the animosity of a division foe and the emerging rivalry between these two clubs and we should see at least six games of hard-nose hockey. The Sharks should get through this round, but I’m worried if Anaheim’s physical play will come back to haunt them in later rounds.

End of Michigan as we know it

It is with a heavy heart that I must report to you that the state of Michigan no longer exists. It has been reduced to a barren economic wasteland in light of yesterday’s basketball game. The Michigan State Spartans lost the NCAA championship game and therefore the automotive industry will never recover. The hopes of entire state were placed squarely on Tom Izzo’s small shoulders, and he failed to deliver the championship that Michiganders so desperately needed. Numerous columnists in the local media market have written that the Spartans’ run in the tournament is the only recovery packed we need to survive this recession.

It was said that every citizen of our fair state was to support the Spartans in their noble quest, and anyone who does not wants the auto industry to fail. Roy Williams will now go down in the annals of state history as the one who stood in the way of our economic recovery. Forever will North Carolina be the state that took our livelihood away from us. I hope Izzo can sleep at night knowing his blowout loss last night has forced our state to be the place where D-level movies are made.

On the move

It’s been almost three years, but it’s time for me to move on from my current apartment and look for a new place. There’s really nothing wrong with my current place (aside from small increases in rent every year), but I’ve decided to take on a roommate and I just don’t think we’ll have enough space in my current place. No, it’s not another cat; Tracy and I decided to move in together.

It was around the same time three years ago I was looking for my current apartment, and it didn’t take long to find one I liked. This time around, I think it will take a little more effort, as we have two sets of almost everything and will need a fair amount of space. I also have a cat this time around, which should reduce a few places as well. We both agreed that we wanted an in-unit washer and dryer and central air, but we’re open on location. I was open to moving as far away as Canton (about half way to our respective jobs), but Tracy has said she likes Ann Arbor and wouldn’t mind living around here. We’ll still look out there, but the focus will be in Ann Arbor and Ypsilanti.

So over the next few weekends, we’ll be looking at numerous apartment complexes with generic-sounding names in hopes of finding the perfect place. This will be the first time we both have lived with a significant other, so this will be a learning experience for both of us going forward. But I think the perk of having someone make dinner every other night is a a big win for both of us.