(San Jose, CA) The Press today lifts the veil on one of its greatest secrets: the allocation of trips, within its dynamic team assigned to the coverage of the Canadian, is done in the manner of a pool hockey.
During the summer, after the schedule for the following season has been published, a draw determines the order of selection. Road matches are then awarded in a serpentine-style draft session (1-2-3-3-2-1).
Everyone has their preferences. A colleague, whom we will randomly call Guillaume, has a strong weakness for the cities of the North-East. This of course includes New York and Boston, but also Buffalo. Don’t ask questions.
Another, let’s call him Richard, worships the sun. As soon as he has the chance, he puts on his loafers and his cream suit to follow the Flannel in Sunrise and Tampa.
This year, I inherited an enviable draft position, which allowed me to land the winter trip to California and Vegas. The US West Coast in late February and early March? Yes please.
As this journey approached, it was immediately certain that no one among the journalistic brotherhood would return to Montreal tanned. Four games in six days, including the trade deadline, means a lot of hours in the arena and a lot of hours of frantic writing at the hotel, in addition to the time spent traveling.
Now, as long as we stick to it, as good as it goes in the Golden State as in Buffalo, we said to ourselves (sorry, Guillaume).
Who’s laughing now? ask the finest linguists today.
PHOTO SIMON-OLIVIER LORANGE, THE PRESS
The city of San Jose has been plagued by gray weather and rain for the past few days. In our photo: the SAP Center, arena where the Sharks play their local games.
Our visit to California coincides with the end of a historic winter storm. The mountainous areas received more than a meter of snow in a few hours. The south of the state, where it is hottest, also received a broadside, certainly more moderate, but which marked the imagination of those who had never seen a white carpet in their life. San Bernardino County, east of Los Angeles, has even declared a state of emergency. Tens of thousands of people were without electricity.
A series of meteorological precedents have been established. These are certainly not records that the local population wanted to see broken.
Further north, where we have been since Sunday evening, we avoided the snow. But the rain and cold were not going to be intimidated. “I’ve never seen this,” testified an Uber driver to the representative of The Pressen route to the refrigerated Sharks training center.
Monday morning in San Jose, the mercury was near freezing. Parenthesis here to point out that the municipality tops the 100 largest American cities for the number of homeless young adults per capita, according to a study published a few weeks ago. Shelters have therefore been set up in disaster all over Santa Clara County so that these people can warm up.
Flood warnings are still in progress. The average of a few centimeters of rain to which the city is accustomed in February is already largely exceeded.
Admittedly, the temperature is always relatively cool in the greater San Francisco area, all year round. From January to March, the maxima fluctuate between 15 and 20°C. This Tuesday morning, the drizzle, the wind and the approximately 5°C encouraged rather to hurry the step.
No one, of course, will cry over our fate. Let’s just say that we won’t be asked to leave Wednesday for Los Angeles. Where, apparently, the sun has regained its rights.