Sharks Gameday: Thanksgiving Edition!

Real Thanksgiving is tomorrow and it's the greatest holiday to exist. It's a whole day dedicated to eating, napping and attempting to avoid obnoxious humans; I like to think it's the one day a year where we get to know what it's like to be a cat. One of the Real Thanksgiving traditions is that we are to say what we are thankful for. We at Battle of California have a lot to be thankful for, considering we live in the greatest state in the world, and the fact that it is late November and it is 84 degrees out. There's many more things to be thankful for, and I would like to share these things with you.

What I'm Thankful For:

• Patrick Marleau
• Joe Thornton
• The San Jose Sharks are not Edmonton-bad
• Tomas Hertl
• Tommy Wingels
• Brent Burns' body hair
• The Upcoming Outdoor Game
• Minnesota's lack of Outdoor Game
• Marc Edouard Vlasic
• The San Jose Sharks haven't lost to Edmonton yet
• Our regular season banners
• Marc Edouard Vlasic's twitter presence
• Sharks didn't acquire Daniel Carcillo
• Patrick Marleau
• Logan Couture did not get a letter
• Corey Perry's mumps outbreak
• Florida Panthers, Phoenix Coyotes, and other various small market teams that make Canadian hockey fans cry
• I don't live in Minnesota
• Patrick Marleau
• St. Louis Blues' cup drought
• Toronto Maple Leafs' cup drought
• Real Winnipeg Jets/Phoenix Coyotes' cup drought
• Buffalo Sabres' cup drought
• Vancouver Canucks' cup drought
• Basically any team with a longer cup drought than the Sharks
• AHL stats
• Patrick Marleau
• Getting paid by SB Nation to write about fart jokes
• Whiskey

What Jer Is Thankful For:

• The mumps vaccine
• OT/SO loss standings points
• Happy hour
• Brian Hayward (he didn't really say it but probably)
• Bro Hymn (this is what happens when you don't give me enough answers, Jer)
• Brian Hayward (Jer actually is thankful for Brian Hayward)
• SB Nation higher-ups have forgotten Battle of California exists, but are still signing our paychecks
• Corey Perry's smile (I don't think that's a thing that has actually happened) (Edit: it does exist)

  

What Dunn is Thankful For:

• Not Stace (hey fuck you, Ryan)
• Two Stanley Cups (you're the worst)
• Alec Martinez (future Shark, Alec Martinez)
• Outdoor games
• Alcohol
• Mostly alcohol
• Dustin Brown's knee (duh)
• No one reads Battle of California so he doesn't have to try

Gameday!

San Jose Sharks vs. Calgary Flames

7:30pm PST

Sad Asshole Patrol Center

CSN-CA

Prediction:

It's been so long since the last Sharks' game, I need to check and see what happ-yeah let's not talk about it. The Calgary Flames huffed some paint and they've been riding a PDO high since the beginning of the season. They have a lot of young guys who are pretty good at hockey, a great defensive system run by Captain Mark Giordano and TJ Brodie, and Anaheim Ducks' hater, Jonas Hiller in net. Hopefully the fact that they're on the second half of a back-to-back will prove to be fruitful for San Jose. Father Real Thanksgiving wants me to be happy so San Jose wins, 2-1. Goals from Patrick Marleau and Brenden Dillon (hey why not).

Setting the Tone:

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Tweet of the Day:

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p>Flames season about to start. Do you have your rearview mirrors dusted off, Oilers fans?</p>&mdash; Dan Tencer (@dantencer) <a href="https://twitter.com/dantencer/status/293133460988645378">January 20, 2013</a></blockquote>

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This tweet will never stop being funny.

Awful Hockey Tattoo of the Day:

Make it stop.