SHARKSPAGE

WCQF Game 1: Fan photos from the playoff pre-game street rally

HOCKEY WEATHER, FANS HEAD DOWN W. SANTA CLARA STREET FOR SJ-LA GAME 1

STANLEY CUP PLAYOFF FASHION DE RIGUEUR, THE SHARK HAT

FAN SHOWS OFF THE VERTICAL SHARK HAT AT THE STREET RALLY

The Sharks held a playoff block party/street rally outside HP Pavilion before the start of the WCQF series with Los Angeles. There was music from a live DJ, a street drum performance, carnival games booths, and a highly trafficed EA NHL 11 video game booth with large flat screens. Families with younger fans in tow visited a slap shot pen with live goalie, then hit booths for playoff face painting and sign creation. Two contests were held by the Sharks. The first was for a prize package that included spending a day with broadcaster Dan Rusanowsky from morning skate to gametime. The second was a QR Code contest where fans had to scan in codes at each booth to unlock the winning phrase. CSN California broadcasted pre-game segments from the rally, and there was a better than expected contigent of Los Angeles fans who made the trip northward.

In the regular season finale against Phoenix, captain Joe Thornton said San Jose Sharks fans were good “but they could be better” in the playoffs. He took a page out of the Jeremy Roenick playbook and challenged them to make the building the most difficult to play in for the postseason. Outside of HP Pavilion, the Shark hat representation could improve. Inside the Tank, home fans chanted “beat LA, beat LA, beat LA” before, during, and after their team took the ice. At one point the chants were so loud it drowned out player introductions by announcer Danny Miller. A video camera set up on a table in the press box to capture the drop of the Shark head shook so violently the clip was unusable. The low ceiling and steep incline at HP Pavilion makes for good sight lines, but it also reflects the already loud crowd noise back towads the stands.

Right wing Dany Heatley opened the scoring for the Sharks 28 seconds into the first period. After a second scoring chance by Devin Setoguchi less than a minute later, the decibel reading inside HP Pavilion reached 108.5. During a series of third period scrambles in front of the Los Angeles net, the db meter topped 111.