We drove fifty miles last night to HP Pavilion in San Jose to watch the Canucks end their season in miserable fashion. They squandered three one-goal leads before the Sharks potted two in a row to go up 4-3, with the final goal being an empty netter to make it 5-3. With the loss, and with Edmonton’s win last night, Vancouver won’t be going to the playoffs. My hometown friends will be seeing some overpaid Canucks on the golf course in May.

Oddity that bothered me all evening: why is the giant shark head floating above the arena missing most of its lower jaw? (You can sort of it see it in the left picture.) And who thought it was a good idea to show pictures of sharks tearing apart bloody fish carcasses on the jumbotron? Susan pointed out none of the Canadian hockey teams have savage team names. Then again, she probably hasn’t seen Vancouver’s killer whale mascot, and obviously hasn’t met a Maple Leaf or a Canadien in a dark alley either.