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The Re-Watch: Road to the NHL Stadium Series, Episode 4

Welcome the The Re-Watch, a series where I revisit video of the San Jose Sharks of the past.

The 2019-20 season has been a weird and bad one for Sharks fans. What better way to kick off this series than to take a journey back to another season of heartache and pain: 2015. Jump in to the wayback machine with me and let’s double down on feeling bad together by re-watching EPIX’s Road to the NHL Stadium Series. It’s also Rivalry Week here at SB Nation, so finishing this off now feels fitting.

First, here’s coverage of the series right here on Fear the Fin back from when it originally aired, if you want a true stroll down memory lane. Next, I’ll be watching the series on [popular video streaming platform here], but since the upload doesn’t seem to be all too official, I’ll let you work out watching along at home on your own (it’s not hard to find, I promise).

Episode 4 — original airdate: February 26, 2015

03:09: Tanner Pearson is wearing a Lacoste crocodile hat and the lil croc is so cute.

07:53: The broadcaster just called him “sniper” Jordan Nolan and I forgot where he ended up, so I went down a Google rabbit hole. Do you know his Wikipedia page introduction calls him “a member of the St. Louis Blues Stanley Cup winning team of 2019”? That feels a little generous, right? He played 14 regular season games for them and that’s it. Bold to open with a technicality.

But you know what, he’s still got more Cup rings than I do, so I guess I can’t really say too much.

10:36: “Feel good about defending.” God, I love listening to Todd McLellan. He just has a way with words.

13:30: The Kings just went up against Andrei Vasilevskiy and now the Sharks can’t get past Pekka Rinne. I can’t help but wonder what it would be like to have a reliable franchise goaltender.

15:56: Matt Greene just told Trevor Lewis that he stole someone’s copy of USA Today to read over breakfast. Kind of a dick move.

24:47: The Sharks played the Dallas Stars prior to the Stadium Series and this is a Stars roster I’m pretty familiar with (and includes my first favorite hockey player and thus first favorite Shark, Jason Demers).

25:47: Marc-Edouard Vlasic: “Easy, f*ckface.”

Some Stars player off-screen: “Did you call me f*ckface?”

Vlasic: “I don’t know, I call a lot of people that.”

This feels like a very French Canadian interaction and I love it so much.

31:10: The players being blown away by the locker room at Levi’s Stadium is objectively very funny.

“This is wicked, man,” said Logan Couture. “This is … yeah this is show time.”

32:31: Ahhhhh, all the Sharks families!! I love how much we get to see their kids, not all teams have that kind of culture. I’ve always appreciated that about the Sharks.

35:37: Oh no, they’re talking about the heat!!!

39:55: Trevor Lewis took a puck to the face during warm-ups. Having gotten stitches around my eye area before, that shit freaks me out so badly now. He could’ve lost an eye if it hit him just a bit higher!

An ECHL player I used to cover actually almost lost an eye that way and had to wear a specially tinted face shield because of it. It’s scary stuff.

42:05: Yeah, I’ve decided I hate Antti Niemi’s pads. That shade of tan just looks terrible with the teal and black.

44:29: I love Todd, but he pronounces the word “offensive” in a way that feels like a crime.

44:54: Oh, I do enjoy seeing how the different coaches are viewing the same game side by side. Darryl Sutter’s criticisms feel more concrete and actionable.

47:46: I think hockey players should wear eye black just cause it looks kind of cool. I know it serves a purpose in outdoor games, but also consider: the aesthetics.

48:10: Kinda into this beanie Martin Jones is wearing:

49:54: Imagine saying, “Hey, f*ck off, John!” to giant John Scott. How do you not pee your pants while doing so?

50:12: The broadcaster referred to the “pro-San Jose crowd,” as if they’re in some neutral location and not the Sharks’ backyard and a half day of travel from Southern California.

52:00: “It’s been that kind of year for both teams — the kind where just about anything can happen.” I mean, doubtful? But I guess.

This turned out to not be a very fun trip down memory lane. Let next season be an even better rebound year than 2016, I am begging.

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