Author: philliptorres2013

Bulls End Season Early

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By: Phillip Torres and Kahlil Najar

SAN FRANCISCO-The San Francisco Bulls, ECHL affiliate of the NHL San Jose Sharks, ended their season early after just 40 games. The franchise called it quits after a season and a half in San Francisco, playing their home games at the legendary Cow Palace.

The San Francisco Bulls sent out an email to its season ticket holders and loyal fans about the unfortunate news that the Bulls are ceasing operations. In the email, President and Head Coach of the Bulls Pat Curcio stated the following:

“We want to thank all of our fans for your support and loyalty over the last two seasons, It’s been such a memorable time here with you in San Francisco, and we’ve especially appreciated all of your positive feedback over the past week.”

Th Bulls were hoping to gain new ownership that would either keep them in San Francisco, or either move the team to Fresno or even Oakland. Once the deal could not be worked out, the Bulls had to cease operations on January 27, 2014.

With the season ending after just 40 games for the Bulls, the Sharks affiliate finished the season with a 15-20-5 record. The Bulls had made the playoffs in their inaugural season last season, and were on pace to doing so again this season. But, the team simply did not have the financial stability to keep things going.

Pat Curcio also said in the email, “At this point, the best thing to do financially is to reluctantly end the season. We will miss playing here, miss our fans, and miss this city.”

Curcio was the person responsible for bringing hockey back to the city of San Francisco, unfortunately, it only lasted for a season and a half. 

 

 

Sharks rally to beat Wild at home

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By: Phillip Torres

SAN JOSE-The San Jose Sharks (34-12-6) hosted the Minnesota Wild (28-20-6) at the SAP Center in San Jose on Saturday night. The Sharks rallied from a 2-0 deficit to defeat the Wild 3-2 in Overtime. Joe Thornton scored two goals, including the game winner in Overtime at 3:30. The sellout crowd of 17,562 witnessed a great game in the Overtime thriller.

Matt Cooke gave Minnesota the early 1-0 lead when he scored his eighth goal of the season.  Brad Stuart missed a pass and the puck deflected off the boards and Cooke scooped up the loose puck and put it past Annti Niemi at 9:33 for the unassisted score.

Keith Ballard scored his first goal of the season and his first score in 115 games to extend the Wild’s lead to 2-0 at 4:16 in the second period. The assists were earned by Mikael Granlund and Jason Pominville.

The Sharks got on the board midway through the second period with a goal from Joe Thornton. Thornton scored his seventh goal of the season on a check shot that flew in the upper right corner of the net.  Joe Pavelski and Matt Irwin assisted at 11:12 to cut the lead in half at 2-1.

Less than one minute later San Jose tied the game after Patrick Marleau knocked a wrist shot into the net at 12:01 Tommy Wingels and Irwin earned the assists on the game tying goal.

The third period was a defensive struggle as both teams were held scoreless and the score remained tied 2-2 at the end of regulation.

Thornton hit the game winning shot at 3:30 to carry the Sharks to a victory, their 34th victory of the season. Pavelski passed the puck to Thornton in the left circle where slapped a bullet into the net for the game clinching goal.

The Sharks will be back on the ice on Monday when they host the Los Angeles Kings. The puck will drop at 7:00 PM. 

Sharks top Lightning 5-4 in Tampa

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By: Phillip Torres

TAMPA BAY-The San Jose Sharks (31-12-6) defeated the Tampa Bay Lightning (28-16-5) 5-4 on Saturday in Florida. The Lightning were up 4-2 at one point but could not hold off a late Sharks rally to hang on for the victory. San Jose rallied behind Joe Pavelski and his three goals to complete the come-from behind win.

Martin St. Louis was outstanding for Tampa Bay. St. Louis scored four goals in a game for the first time in his career and was the first Lightning player to do so since 1992. Pavelski stole the show from St. Louis and the home crowd in Tampa with his three goals in a span of 6:12 that happened late in the second period.

The Sharks opened up the scoring in the first period with a goal from Matt Nieto, who scored on a wrist shot at 9:46. The goal was assisted by Patrick Marleau and Tommy Wingles. St. Louis scored all three goals for the Lightning in the opening frame, completing his eighth career hat trick in less than 20 minutes.  Marleau also scored on wrist shot for the only other San Jose goal in the first period.  Nieto and Wingles assisted on the goal to earn another point on the night.

St. Louis scored his fourth goal of the game at 2:07 in the second period to extend the lead to 4-2 for Tampa Bay. The slapshot goal from the eventual first star of the game was assisted by Teddy Purcell and Tyler Johnson. The goal was the last score for the Lightning as the game was controlled by Pavelski late in the same frame.

Pavelski scored his first goal at 12:48 on a wrist shot that found the net. Tyler Kennedy and Jason Demers both contributed an assist on the play. Less than 30 seconds later Pavelski scored on another wrist shot to tie the game at 4-4 on his 24th goal of the season. This time it was Dan Boyle and Marleau getting appointed the assists. With exactly one minute remaining in the period, Pavelski’s last goal was made with his third wrist shot. The score made it 5-4 San Jose, and the score remained that way throughout the contest.

The Sharks played great defense in the third and final period, as Antti Niemi pitched a shutout in the last period. The win gave the Sharks their 31st win on the season. San Jose will be back on the ice on Monday January 20, 2014 to take on the Calgary Flames at the SAP Center in San Jose. The puck will drop at 7:30 P.M.

Bulls fall 4-2 to Condors

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By: Phillip Torres

BAKERSFIELD-The San Francisco Bulls (14-20-4-1) fell to the Bakersfield Condors (15-17-1-1) Friday night in Bakersfield. Ryan Garlock played his first game with the Bulls on Wednesday, and now played his first game against his former team in Bakersfield just two days later. Garlock earned a point with an assist on the night.

The Bulls held the early lead as Brett Findlay scored the first goal at 6:42 in the opening period. Jordan Morrison earned the assist on the play. Findlay knocked in the puck following a Jordan Morrison pass that helped set up the early advantage. 

Chase Schaber evened up the score at 1-1  at 14:07. Joel Broda earned the assist as Schaber was able to control the rebound after a missed shot by Broda. Schaber was able to get the puck past Bulls goaltender Tyler Beskorowany. 

Dean Ouellet gave San Francisco its second lead of the game with an early goal in the second. Garlock earned the assist against his former team with an excellent past to Ouellet on a three on two advantage to take the 2-1 lead. Andrew Caroll tied the game yet again for the Condors to make it 2-2. 

Bakersfield scored three unanswered goals after trailing 2-1. Broda gave them their first lead of the game with a power play goal. The goal made it 3-2 Condors, and ultimately was the winning goal. Cameron Abney made it 4-2 shortly after and that remained the score throughout the game.

The third period was scoreless for both teams. Laurent Brossoit held the Bulls scoreless for over 35 minutes and that cost the Bulls the victory.The Bulls will play in Stockton on Sunday as they will be hosted by the Stockton Thunder. The puck will drop at 4 P.M. 

 

 

Bulls win 5-4 in overtime against Eagles

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By: Phillip Torres and Kahlil Najar

DALY CITY-The San Francisco Bulls (14-19-4-1) hosted the Colorado Eagles (19-10-3-2) on Wednesday night at the legendary Cow Palace. The Bulls defeated the Eagles 5-4 in overtime on Dean Ouellet Bobble head night. It was a big win for the Bulls as they defeated a Colorado team that currently sits in second place in a very tough Mountain Western Division, only behind the Alaska Aces.

San Francisco started off hot as they put the first two goals on the board first to jump out to the 2-0 advantage in the first period. Ryan Garlock put the first puck in the net at 7:06 on a power play goal. Dylan King and Kalvin Sagert earned the assists on the power play goal. Garlock received the puck by he boards on the Eagles side of the ice. A quick slap shot got past the stick side of Colorado goaltender Adam Brown for the goal.

Luke Judson made it a 2-0 game with a backhand goal in front of the net at 10:47. Riley Brace and Scott Langdon earned the assists on the play.

 The second period was dominated by the Eagles as they scored three unanswered goals to open up the period. At 6:22 in the period Alex Hudson cut the deficit to 2-1 with a power play goal. Riley Nelson and Brock Nixon recorded the assists on the play. Nixon got the puck to Hudson, who missed on his first shot but snuck the puck into the net with a great second effort.

At 12:30 Mark Nemec  tied the game. Kyle Ostrow and Kevin Ulanski assisted on the play that seemed to have changed the momentum into the Eagles favor. Colorado took its first lead of the night with a goal by Ulanski at 16:23. Ostrow picked up the lone assist and Colorado held the 3-2 advantage until the wining seconds of the second period.

Jordan Morrison scored the “goal that changed the game,” according to head coach Pat Curcio with just 15 seconds remaining before the second intermission.

“It was a huge goal for us,” said Curcio.

“It was the goal that changed the game.”

Morrison’s goal tied the game at three and really gave the momentum back to the Bulls.

The third period consisted of both teams trading goals. Ostrow scored his 17th goal of the season, assisted by Dylan Hood, and Riley Brace scored on an unassisted goal 10:02 to tie the game at 4-4. The second half of the third period was a defensive struggle and the score at the end of regulation remained tied, 4-4.

The overtime period lasted a little over three minutes as Dale Mitchell sent the Bulls home happy with a game winning shot from Brett Findlay and Ouellet to send the Bulls off the ice with a 5-4 victory.

Ryan Garlock made his San Francisco Bulls debut Wednesday as he got into the city Wednesday morning. Curcio praised his new star player who scored a goal his first night on the job in a Bulls uniform.

“We’re extremely lucky to have Garlock,” Curcio said. “We haven’t had a player as talented as this guy ever play for us. He’s a star in this league”

The Bulls will be back on the ice on Friday January 17, 2014 as they will be hosted by the Bakersfield Condors. The puck will drop at 7:00 PM.

Sharks fall at home to Bruins

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By: Phillip Torres

SAN JOSE-The San Jose Sharks (28-12-6) hosted the Boston Bruins (29-14-2) at the SAP Center in San Jose on Saturday night. San Jose was handed a rare loss at home as they fell 1-0 to Boston. The loss dropped the Sharks home record to 16-2-3. San Jose had not lost at home December 10, 2013 against the New York Islanders. That loss came via a shootout. Bruins goaltender, Tuukka Rask, pitched a shutout and recorded 26 saves on the night.

Antti Niemi played stellar all night recording 22 saves on the night, but one got past him in the third and final period, the lone goal of the game. Niemi played well throughout the entire game and kept Boston off of the board until Carl Soderberg scored a goal at 12:25 in the final period.

The first two periods of the game were a defensive showcase as both teams played extremely well and held the offenses scoreless for a little over the first 47 minutes of the contest.

Both teams had opportunities to put the puck in the net but great play from both goaltenders prevented that from happening. The Sharks seemed to play better in the first period, and the Bruins seems to have outplayed the Sharks in the second period. Either way both teams failed to get the goose egg off of the scoreboard until the third period.

Ultimately, Rask played slightly better than Niemi as Soderberg was able to push across the lone goal of the game   midway through the third and final period. It was Soderberg’s sixth goal of the season. Soderberg knocked in the wrist shot with assists from Loui Eriksson and Ryan Spooner.

The Sharks will be back on the ice on Tuesday as they will travel to Washington to take on the Capitals.

Bulls win in overtime thriller

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By: Phillip Torres and Kahlil Najar

DAY CITY-The San Francisco Bulls (13-18-4-1) hosted the Alaska Aces (20-10-1-1) on Friday night at the Cow Palace. The Bulls rallied from an early 3-0 deficit to beat the Aces 6-5 in overtime. The victory evened up the three game weekend series at one win a piece and gave the Bulls a chance to win the series on Sunday.

Alaska started of hot as they opened up the scoring just 18 seconds into the contest. Eli Zuck scored his second goal of the season. The assists were earned by Tommy Mele and Peter Sivak. Sivak, the former San Francisco Bull had a huge game against his old team as he racked up four points on the night. He scored his tenth goal in an Alaska uniform at 13:37 in the first period to make it 2-0 Aces. Drew MacKenzie made it a 3-0 advantage with a goal of his own with assists from Ross Ring-Jarvi and Sivak.

The Bulls got red hot in the second period as they scored four goals within a span of 1:31. Jordan Morrison put the Bulls on the board first with his eighth goal of the season at 8:49. Brett Findlay and Dale Mitchell assisted on the play. Forty-two seconds later Mitchell scored a goal of his own on a power play. Mitchell put the puck right in the corner of the net on the glove side of goaltender Oliver Roy. The goal was assisted by Dean Ouellet and Eriks Sevcenko.

With the Bulls down just 3-2, Mitchell scored his second of the game seventeen seconds later to tie the game at three goals each. The play was assisted by Findlay. Findlay broke away with the puck and passed it to Mitchell at the last second as the defender could not get to the puck on time.

Ouellet scored the fourth goal within the span to give San Francisco its first lead of the night, making it 4-3 Bulls. Ouellet scored at 10:20 with assists from Sebastian Stalberg and Riley Brace.

Beskorowany appreciated the offensive explosion by his team in the second period.

“It was great,” the goaltender said.

“It was great to play with lead. We haven’t played with the lead for a while now and it was great to create some offense tonight,” Beskorowany said with a laugh.

Alaska tied the game with a goal from Tim Coffman past starting goaltender Tyler Beskorowany. Brad Richard slipped Coffman a nice past to earn the assist on the play.

Morrison capped the combined six goal second period with his second goal on the night and in the period. Beskorowany shot the puck back in after making a save to Mitchell deep down the ice and Mitchell flicked it quickly to Morrison as he put the puck on the net to give the Bull the 5-4 lead heading into the third period.  

The third period contained only one goal, and it came early as Sivak struck again to tie the game at five. Mele assisted Sivak on the play. The Bulls played stout defense as they defended the penalty kill great in this period.  Alaska threatened to score on a five on three power play late in the frame. The Bulls killed the penalty with Beskorowany making a couple of tremendous saves to save the game for San Francisco.

“That’s what won us the game,” head coach Pat Curcio said after the game.

“I don’t remember the last time having to kill a five on three power play two nights in a row.”

The score at the end of regulation was notched at five and the game went into overtime. Dean Ouellet put in the game winner exactly one minute into the overtime period with a put back goal into an empty net.

Morrison went in for the score but got tripped up with Roy on the side on the net. With a great second effort Morrison got the puck to Ouellet who tapped in the game winner and sent the Bulls off of the ice as 6-5 winners over Alaska.

“I really didn’t do much on the goal,” Ouellet said after the game.

“It was Morrison’s second effort that got me the puck and I had empty net right in front of me.”

The Bulls and Aces will finish the weekend series on Saturday. The puck will drop at 7:30 Pm at the Cow Palace.

Bulls lose big at home against Thunder

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By: Phillip Torres and Kahlil Najar

DALY CITY-The San Francisco Bulls (12-17-3-1) hosted the Stockton Thunder (17-11-0-4) on Saturday night at the Cow Palace. Stockton defeated the Bulls 5-0 as goaltender Parker Milner pitched a shutout in the net. Saturday nights contest with the Thunder ended the five game consecutive game set between the two Pacific division rivals. The loss on Saturday was the third out of the five game set for the Bulls.

San Francisco was down early as James Henry scored at 7:58 in the first period to give Stockton the 1-0 advantage, and what figured to be the only goal they needed on the night. The Bulls could not get anything going offensively as key players Dean Ouellet and Jordan Morrison went down with injuries early.

When asked about how the team can bounce back and get a victory tomorrow night in Ontario coach Pat Curcio said jokingly, “We need five new players. “At this point we just need healthy bodies.”

Stockton would score two goals apiece in the next two periods to make it a comfortable win. Greg Miller and Lee Baldwin would score in the second period with assists form Mitch Bruijsten, Greg Miller, and Joey Martin, who assisted on both goals.

In the third period Bruijsten scored with less than one minute in to extend the lead to 4-0. Baldwin and Miller earned the assists on the score. The final goal was scored by Nathan Deck at 9:36 to put the icing on the cake. Garet Hunt earned the lone assist and Stockton sealed the game with a 5-0 victory to give them three in their past five games, all against the Bulls.

The Bulls will be back on the ice as they will face off with the Ontario Reign on Sunday at 3:00 PM in Ontario.

 

Bulls win with explosive third period

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By: Phillip Torres and Kahlil Najar

DALY CITY-The San Francisco Bulls (11-15-2-1) hosted the Stockton Thunder (14-10-0-4) on Friday night at the Cow Palace. The paid crowd of 3,238 witnessed a very heated game between the two rivals from the Pacific West, as the game consisted of three brutal fights with two Thunder players being ejected from the game. Friday night’s contest was the first of five consecutive meetings between the San Francisco Bulls and the Stockton Thunder, and the Bulls took the early advantage in the five game set with a 5-2 victory on Friday night.The two teams will face off Saturday, Sunday and next Friday in Stockton, and then the fifth game will be played at the Cow Palace next Saturday January 4th.

The Bulls took the early lead with a first period goal from Adrian Foster at 14:56. Dean Ouellet and Steven Tarasuk earned the assists on the goal. The score was the lone goal by both teams as the score heading into the first intermission was 1-0 San Francisco.

Stockton scored the next two goals, one coming in the second and one in the third to take the 2-1 lead. Shawn Boutin and Corey Trivino were the two goal scorers for the Thunder.

San Francisco’s offensive surge started midway through the third period. Tyler Gron tied the game at two goals apiece with a at 11:27. Less than one minute later Jordan Morrison gave the Bulls the lead for good with a goal passed the glove side of goaltender Brian Foster as he skated behind the net. Brett Findlay and Gron assisted on the goal.

Luke Judson extended the Bulls lead with a slapshot to make it a 4-2 lead late. Foster and Kalvin Sagert assisted on the score. The final goal was scored by Morrison as he scored on an empty netter 19:22. Findlay and Ouellet earned the assists on the insurance goal.

Head coach Pat Curcio was very pleased with the performance of his team after the big victory against the Thunder. The head coach talked about it after the game.

“I’m very pleased with how the guys played. We’ve been talking about playing good five on five hockey and that’s what we did today,” Curcio said.

The Bulls will need to play great five in five hockey against Stockton in the remaining four games of the five game stretch. If the Bulls can win the remaining four games they would pull ahead of the Thunder in the standings and have sole possession of second place in the Pacific West Division.

The two rivals will meet again on Saturday night in Stockton. The puck will drop at 7:30 P.M.

Sharks beat Stars in shootout

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SAN JOSE, CA - DECEMBER 21: Joe Thornton #19 of the San Jose Sharks is congratulated by teammages after he scored the winning goal in an overtime shoot-out against the Dallas Stars at SAP Center on December 21, 2013 in San Jose, California. The Sharks won the game 3-2. (Photo by Thearon W. Henderson/Getty Images)
SAN JOSE, CA – DECEMBER 21: Joe Thornton #19 of the San Jose Sharks is congratulated by teammages after he scored the winning goal in an overtime shoot-out against the Dallas Stars at SAP Center on December 21, 2013 in San Jose, California. The Sharks won the game 3-2. (Photo by Thearon W. Henderson/Getty Images)

By: Phillip Torres

SAN JOSE-The San Jose Sharks (22-8-6) hosted the Dallas Stars (17-12-6) on Saturday night at the SAP Center in San Jose. This exciting thriller was worth the price of admission as it took a Joe Thornton goal in the fifth round of a shootout to decide the winner. The Sharks came away with the 3-2 victory as they rallied late to earn the W.

San Jose fell behind early as Ray Whitney and Antoine Roussel scored the first two goals in the game to take the early 2-0 advantage. Jason Demers put San Jose on the board at 11 :47 in the second period. Demers slapshot goal was his first goal of the season with assists from Tyler Kennedy and Andrew Desjardins.

Joe Pavelski tied the game up at 2-2 with his 14th foal of the season at 4:24 in the third and final period. Pavelski scored on a nice backhand shot. Thornton and Marc Edouard Vlasic.

Thornton scored the lone goal in the shootout and gave San Jose just its fourth win in December. The Sharks will be back on the ice Monday as they will host the Colorado Avalanche. The puck will drop at 7:30 P.M.