[Editor's Note]: DownRUPLYB has a great piece about his experience attending a Worcester Sharks game. Be sure to check it out.

Hey everyone, just thought I'd chime in on my recent trip to see the Baby Sharks. I apologize for the essay ahead of time. I also won't go too much into the details of the game itself - Darryl Hunt's got that avenue covered. I'm here more to relate the vibe that I got from the whole experience.

Before I go into it though, I just want to send a shout-out to Darryl, Rich and Josie who were nice enough to welcome us San Jose Sharks fans in Worcester. Rich and Josie are husband and wife who lead the Worcester Sharks Booster Club (see also www.worcestersharks.org) and were instrumental in bringing the AHL back to Worcester after the IceCats left. And as some of you may know, Darryl is the beat writer for Worcester on Sharkspage. Rich was even nice enough to provide us complimentary tickets to the game which was greatly appreciated. They went above and beyond in welcoming us to Worcester and they deserve a great amount of thanks.

I happened to be in Boston for a convention, which was a good enough excuse for me to check out the WorSharks. Took the Commuter Rail train which took my friend and I to Worcester in a little over an hour from Boston. A short walk from the train station and we were at the DCU Center.

We ended up sitting with Rich, Josie, and Darryl who have a whole row blocked off for all the "Regulars." Being a Wednesday night, they explained that attendance tends to be low on weekdays and that it gets a lot more packed on weekends. That being said, the people who were there on Wednesday were the more dedicated Sharks fans, which showed - they were all enthusiastic and really supported their team. Many of the fans in attendance were also sporting all kinds of Sharks merchandise. I had the pleasure of seeing the wide variety of looks that Worcester has worn in its relatively short history (including the jerseys that mirrored ours pre-Rbk, the black jersey with the W-fin Shield, their current-gen Rbk jerseys, the infamous gray "SHARKS" third jersey, and even All-Star jerseys [Vesce and Joslin]).

Being my first minor league sporting event (of any kind), it was definitely a different atmosphere - there was a closer-knit, family-friendly vibe that you really don't get with the commercialization of major league sports. During the intermissions, our hosts were walking on the concourse and greeting everyone. And when I had trouble looking for shield logo merch, Rich and Darryl knew exactly who was in charge that could answer my questions. I was looking for a t-shirt, but they were out, so I settled on a beanie instead.

Watching the game presentation, there was definitely similarities to our Sharks games, albeit at a smaller scale. They skate through an inflatable Sharks head, use the same Gary Glitter Hey goal celebration song, and of course, rock the classic logo. There are also a couple of differences too of course. When Vesce scored the first goal, my friend and I were cheering like we normally do, but at the end, the Worcester folks mix up their own variation of the "HEY!" chant which I wasn't used to, but it actually sounds pretty cool. When Worcester went on the power play, they noticed me doing the chomp, which they apparently do sideways instead of vertical. They also use seamless glass here, and there was noticeably less give on the boards. There was even one play where the puck was rimmed around the glass and bounced inexplicably in the opposite direction - until Rich explained that after the transition, one of the doors jutted out more which led to those weird bounces.

One nice thing about the game not being packed, we were able to get really close to the action. We moved around and I even sat behind the Sharks bench for a little bit. Actually harder to see the game, but I can honestly say my eyeballs witnessed Torrey Mitchell on the ice (albeit there are still a few non-believers out there >=J  ). Mike Ricci was also in the house behind the bench so that made me all kid-in-a-candy-store.

Brad Mashinter, Coach Roy Sommer,  Torrey Mitchell, Andrew Desjardins, and Mike Ricci behind the Sharks bench. The Asian guy behind them would be me.

It was good to see Petrecki, Stalock, Michael Moore, and Danny Groulx (who bears a resemblance to 2005 WSOP winner Joe Hachem), who outside of camp and preseason, haven't played in SJ yet. I thought Moore was especially solid on D - made smart decisions, good passes, kept the puck in the zone. I also see why Stalock is compared to Brodeur - He really loves to play the puck, and he does it well. I was hoping to see a big hit by Petrecki but alas wasn't that lucky. Captain Vesce looked good out there too. There were also some unexpected faces (to me at least, since I hadn't checked WTC or FTF) in Couture and McGinn who had just played in Nashville the night before. McGinn was impressive and he actually laid out the biggest hit on the boards which got an appreciative response from the crowd.

Unfortunately, after opening a 2-0 lead, the Portland Pirates hung around and eventually took the lead late in the 3rd. Stalock looked good and there was only one that he could really be faulted for. It was 3-3 when Portland scored a really sweet looking backbreaker - a tic-tac-toe power play goal that Stalock had no chance on. Stalock was pulled and Portland scored an empty-netter to make it 5-3.

Even though the result wasn't ideal (it was more like a kick in the nuts because it extended the losing streak to 6 games), I still had a a lot of fun. It was really exciting to talk hockey coming from different perspectives. Especially this year, with the Worcester Shuttle in full effect, we had a good time comparing notes on a lot of players. I spoke to one of the Regulars (whose name escapes me, so I apologize) who asked me how Jason Demers was doing in San Jose. When I told him he was fitting in nicely and even had success on the power play, he smiled wistfully and told me how they loved him there, but at the same time it sounded like he wouldn't be back in Worcester any time soon. That's when the whole "development" aspect of the minors hit me - the fans all want their teams and players to succeed, but that means they may be moving on as well. As NHL fans watching at the highest level, I think it's an aspect of the game we tend to overlook (at least I did). On a happier note, they mentioned that they are planning on organizing a trip to see a game in San Jose for the first time this season (March 6, 2010 against the Blue Jackets), so hopefully they'll be able to catch up with the kids again. Regardless, it was great to meet other fans and see another facet of our team working strong in a totally different part of the country.

Go Sharks.