{"id":5226,"date":"2026-03-21T19:24:33","date_gmt":"2026-03-22T02:24:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/saguisag.com\/blogv4\/?p=5226"},"modified":"2026-03-23T08:36:50","modified_gmt":"2026-03-23T15:36:50","slug":"back-to-the-tank-03-21-2026","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/saguisag.com\/blogv4\/back-to-the-tank-03-21-2026\/","title":{"rendered":"Back to the Tank 03.21.2026"},"content":{"rendered":"

Today I went to my first Sharks game since 2009, along with family, some of whom had never seen a hockey game in person.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

It also happened to be Barbie Game Day, giving away a crossbody bag in blue, pink and hot pink.<\/p>\n

I opted for blue.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

It’s been too long since I saw this view in person.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Hello, boys!<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

And there’s the future of Team Teal.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a> \"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

And of course they’re playing one of the other teams that I used to root for, when Eric Lindros was Captain of the Flyers.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Game On!<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Odd angle to see the banners…<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

***<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

32 years ago, this guy became my all-time favorite Shark.<\/p>\n

#24 Sergei Makarov, one of the few players of who I own a sweater.<\/p>\n

He played on the Soviet hockey team (5 goals, 6 assists) who Team USA beat in the 1980 Olympic Games at Lake Merced.<\/p>\n

As a member of the Calgary Flames, he scored a goal and an assist in the first Sharks game I ever saw.<\/p>\n

He was a Sharks player from 1993-1995, the first Sharks playoff teams.<\/p>\n

The “OV” line (Makarov, Igor Larionov, Johan Garpenlov) was one of the best in the league at the time.<\/p>\n

I was sad when he left the Sharks and shortly retired afterwards.<\/p>\n

Flash forward to today:<\/p>\n

I was walking the concourse during second intermission, and saw a woman at the Upper Deck booth, chatting with one of the workers.\u00a0 She was wearing a teal #24 Makarov sweater.<\/p>\n

When she finished talking and turned around, I walked up, pointed to her sweater and said, “I left my #24 at home today.”<\/p>\n

She went wide-eyed and said,\u00a0 “Really? You have a #24 sweater?”<\/p>\n

“Yeah, Makarov #24,” I replied.<\/p>\n

And then she smiled and said, “That’s my Dad.”<\/p>\n

That’s when my eyes went wide, and I had to haul up my jaw, which had fallen to the ground.<\/p>\n

“Seriously?!?\u00a0 Sergei Makarov is your DAD?”<\/p>\n

“Yes, he is.”<\/p>\n

“Does he still live in the area?”<\/p>\n

“No.\u00a0 He’s in Moscow.\u00a0 Moved there as soon as he could.\u00a0 He’s like a God there.”<\/p>\n

“No doubt there.\u00a0 Can I get a selfie with you?\u00a0 My friends are never going to believe me.”<\/p>\n

“Sure.”<\/p>\n

“What’s your name?”<\/p>\n

“Kat, or Katya.\u00a0 I’m always at the games, and I like meeting people who I see wearing #24.<\/span>“<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

We chatted a bit more, she showed me some pics on her phone of a much younger Sergei holding her as a baby, and some pics I had seen online when he entered the NHL Hall of Fame in 2016.\u00a0 I think I babbled a bit about he was my favorite Sharks player and his ‘Like Freight Train’ moniker.<\/p>\n

“It was very nice meeting you,” I said as I left.<\/p>\n

“Take care,” she replied.<\/p>\n

And that was the highlight of the 4-1 Sharks loss to the Flyers.<\/p>\n

I’m sure she told her mother and brother that she met another of her Dad’s fans today.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Today I went to my first Sharks game since 2009, along with family, some of whom had never seen a hockey game in person.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_crdt_document":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[31,20],"tags":[212],"class_list":["post-5226","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-family","category-sports","tag-san-jose-sharks"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/saguisag.com\/blogv4\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5226","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/saguisag.com\/blogv4\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/saguisag.com\/blogv4\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/saguisag.com\/blogv4\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/saguisag.com\/blogv4\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5226"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/saguisag.com\/blogv4\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5226\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5241,"href":"https:\/\/saguisag.com\/blogv4\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5226\/revisions\/5241"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/saguisag.com\/blogv4\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5226"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/saguisag.com\/blogv4\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5226"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/saguisag.com\/blogv4\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5226"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}