My Thoughts on the Evander Kane Situation, Part 3

 More developments have been released regarding the Evander Kane off-ice saga. 

The NHL has confirmed from its recent investigation that they found no evidence that Evander Kane bet on his own games or threw any games that he played in. In addition, the NHL will perform a separate investigation involving Evander Kane after new sexual assault and domestic violence accusations were brought against him by his estranged wife. While the investigation is ongoing, the Sharks announced that Evander Kane won't be participating in training camp and preseason games, even though he is still listed on their roster for the time being. 

The Sharks made the right decision by excluding Evander Kane from training camp activities and preseason games as these new allegations against him sound pretty serious. Regardless of the latest and upcoming investigation results, I want the Sharks to terminate Evander Kane's contract and get him off their books as soon as possible. In addition, many of Evander's teammates don't want to deal with him anymore, and his production on offense can be replaced. This will and should help the Sharks improve their locker room atmosphere and paint less of a dark cloud around the organization.

In other news, the Sharks played their preseason opening doubleheader on the road in both Anaheim and Vegas last night. San Jose dropped their first game to the Ducks 6-3, while they defeated the Golden Knights 4-2, splitting the doubleheader. 

Sources: NBC Sports Bay Area/California, NHL App

Sharks News & Notes (9/20/21)

 It's been a minute since I last wrote one of these, so let's get you up to speed heading into the beginning of training camps: 

• The Sharks' last restricted free agent is off the board, agreeing to a one-year, league-minimum deal with forward Noah Gregor. Last season with the Sharks, Gregor recorded five goals and one assist for six points in 30 games. In addition, he recorded three goals and six assists for nine points in ten AHL games with the Barracuda last season. Noah Gregor is certainly not the Sharks' best forward, but he is up-and-coming with plenty of potential.
  

•  As of now, all but roughly ten players in the entire NHL will be fully vaccinated by the start of the 2021-22 regular season. This is amazing as the NHL leads the four North American major pro sports leagues in vaccination rates, and teams are much less likely to have to postpone games due to COVID outbreaks.

Stay tuned for more news and notes as the new NHL season starts in less than a month. 

Sources: Sharks + SAP Center App, NHL Discussion via Instagram 

Sharks News & Notes (9/9/21)

 Here's a new edition of Sharks News & Notes heading your way now: 

• Former Sharks forward and UFA Marcus Sorensen has signed a four-year contract with Djurgardens of the Swedish Hockey League. I don't see this as a big loss at all for the Sharks, especially since he didn't perform well and was tossed around the fourth line last season. Over five seasons with the Sharks from 2016-17 to 2021, Sorensen scored 31 goals and 33 assists for 64 points in 226 games. In addition, the Sharks are in reset mode, so it was best that they let Sorensen go in order to better the team for this coming season.
  

• The Sharks hired John MacLean to replace Rocky Thompson as assistant coach. Like Thompson, MacLean will be in charge of the power play, but will also be coaching the forwards. MacLean was previously an assistant coach with the New Jersey Devils from 2002-09, Carolina Hurricanes from 2011-14, and Arizona Coyotes from 2017-20. He was also a former NHL player who spent 18 seasons and played nearly 1200 games with four different teams over the course of his playing career, recording 842 points and 1,328 penalty minutes. Most of his playing seasons were with the Devils, having won the Stanley Cup with them in 1995. He also won the Cup as an assistant coach with the Devils in 2003 and had a brief tenure with the Sharks as a player during the 1997-98 season. Overall, this is a great hire for Team Teal due to his level of experience and great capability of getting the Sharks' power play back on track from last season, which was ranked one of the worst in the league.

Watch this space for more as headlines continue to develop and preseason games take place later this month. 

Sources: NBC Sports Bay Area/California, Hockey Reference 

Sharks News & Notes (9/5/21)

 Here are the latest headlines surrounding the San Jose Sharks and the NHL as a whole: 

• Starting September 20, the Sharks will require their fans to show proof of full vaccination in order to attend games at SAP Center this coming season until at least November 1. This follows a recent California state public health order for events and venues with over 1,000 people. I feel this is a necessary step for the time being to stem any further outbreaks in the community and prevent society from getting set back any further from returning to more of a sense of normalcy.
  

• The Sharks have waived forward Ivan Chekhovich for the purposes of buying out his contract. He had a roller coaster of a tenure with the Sharks organization, having primarily spent time with the Barracuda in the AHL. Chekhovich will now be departing for the KHL now that he and the Sharks have parted ways.
  

•  The NHL has confirmed that its players will be allowed to participate in the upcoming Winter Olympics in Beijing in February. There will be a break in the upcoming NHL season from February 3-22 to include the All-Star festivities in Vegas and to allow for NHL participation in the upcoming Winter Olympics. This will be the first Olympics to include NHL participation since the Sochi games in 2014 and the first best-on-best hockey tournament since the World Cup of Hockey back in 2016. Olympic hockey is much more entertaining when the best players in the world are included, and I will try to keep close tabs on Olympic hockey as much as possible this coming year.
  

• For the upcoming 2021-22 season, the NHL will have stricter policies and protocols for players and personnel who remain unvaccinated after the start of the season. Starting next season, unvaccinated individuals won't be allowed to interact with other players and hockey operations personnel within 12 feet of each other or travel with teams to and from away games. The good news is that roughly 95 percent of NHL players are fully vaccinated from what I've heard.
  

• Sharks assistant coach Rocky Thompson will step down from the team as he has a medical condition that prevents him from getting vaccinated against COVID-19. The NHL's new COVID protocols would prevent Thompson from doing his job properly, as he was in charge of coaching the defensemen and power play last season. The Sharks will announce Thompson's replacement at a later date.
  

• Reports have suggested that Tomas Hertl will wait and see how the 2021-22 season goes before discussing with the Sharks about a contract extension. Hertl becomes an unrestricted free agent after the 2021-22 season. Hopefully the Sharks and Tomas Hertl can eventually work out an extension because I would hate to see him go to another team, especially anytime soon.
  

Watch this space for more as headlines develop and preseason games take place later this month. 

Sources: NBC Sports Bay Area/California, NHL App

Sharks News & Notes (8/24/21)

 Here are a few of the latest headlines surrounding Team Teal as of this week: 

•  The newest Sharks' jersey numbers have been determined: Andrew Cogliano will wear no. 11, Nick Bonino, will wear no. 13, Adin Hill will wear no. 33, and James Reimer will wear no. 47. 

•  The Sharks signed 2018 4th round pick Jasper Weatherby to a two-year deal. Weatherby last played for the University of North Dakota, scoring 14 goals and 10 assists for 24 points in 29 games. 

• Adin Hill's goalie mask was unveiled earlier today, and it looks incredible. It is mostly teal with several sharks on it, including different species of sharks, with the one on the back of it having  tentacles hanging from its mouth. It also contains a large Sharks logo on the top, the number 33 on the chin area, some ships in the background on the bottom half of the sides of the mask, along with what appears to be a skull and a wooden goalie stick that a shark took a bite out of. Overall, Adin Hill's goalie mask has such a cool design to it, and I am looking forward to him wearing it on the ice and in net next season. 

•  The Evander Kane off-ice situation continues to get worse by the day, as a judge ruled that Evander must face discovery in abortion-for-pay lawsuit. This basically means that he owes money to a woman for her having an abortion. I will not get into any more details about this mess, other than he needs to step away from the game of hockey and get his personal life in order before anything else. 

•  Just a heads up in advance, I don't plan to write any individual game reviews for any of the Sharks' upcoming preseason games next month, as preseason games don't mean that much to me. I will probably wrap up all of their exhibition games in one post before the regular season starts. 

Be sure to return to CPF Hockey for more Sharks headlines coming soon. 

Sources: San Jose Sharks via Twitter, The Athletic

San Jose Sharks Jersey History Ranked from Worst to Best

 

Although there have been some recent headlines, we are at the point during the NHL offseason where free agency, trades, and other transactions have slowed down. As a result, this is the perfect time to get into some personal hockey rankings, starting with the San Jose Sharks jersey history. 

The Sharks have worn a total of 17 jerseys in their 30-year history, and each one will be ranked individually rather than by each jersey series. Each ranking will be provided with a photo of the jersey and a brief opinionated explanation as to why that jersey is ranked where it is. Without further ado, let's begin: 

17) 2021 Reverse Retro 

 

 

 I liked the Sharks' Reverse Retro jersey when it was first revealed, but after I saw the team wear them on the ice, it didn't look as good. This was due to names and numbers on the back of these becoming difficult to read while on the ice. On top of that, the Sharks didn't perform very well when they wore their Reverse Retro sweaters during games this past season. Don't get me wrong, this isn't a terrible jersey, but I'm glad these are being retired after this past season because they bring not-so-great memories with them.

16) 1998-2007 White 

 I don't like the look of white jerseys as much as jerseys with more color in them, and I am thankful that dark-colored jerseys are usually the home jerseys for NHL teams because that makes the most sense to me. Out of all the white jerseys that the Sharks have worn in their 30-year history, I like the one they wore from 1998 to 2007 the least. It isn't a bad jersey by any means, but I find its design less appealing than those of other Sharks white jerseys.

15) 2001-07 Alternate 

 The alternate jersey from 2001 to 2007 is my least favorite of all the alternate jerseys the Sharks have worn. Like nearly every jersey worn by the Sharks in their history, this isn't a bad jersey. However, it seems a bit bland and monotone compared to the others, especially the later alternate jerseys.

14) 2007-13 White 

 

 The white jersey the Sharks wore on the road from 2007 to 2013 is a solid jersey, but is a bit dated and inconsistent compared to the ones ranked higher on the list.

13) 1991-98 White 

 

 The Sharks' first-ever white jersey has a solid, clean look to it, but I don't like it as much as the teal version. In addition, I like the crew-neck collars on the more recent jerseys more than the V-neck collars on the older jerseys. I should also mention that the Sharks' current logo is better than their original logo in my opinion.

12) 2013-17 White 

 

 Another solid, clean look for a white jersey. The only gripe I have about this one is that the quality of Reebok jerseys in general aren't as good as that of the current Adidas jerseys.

11) 2018-Present White 

 

 Similar design to the previous jersey on this list, except optimized by Adidas.

10) 1998-2007 Teal 

 

 This jersey serves as the inspiration for the Reverse Retro jersey that the Sharks wore during select games last season. However, I like the jersey that served as inspiration better than the Reverse Retro but not as much as other Sharks dark jerseys.

9) 2007-13 Teal 

 

 The Sharks' primary home jersey from 2007 to 2013 is a great-looking jersey that takes fans back to some great seasons in franchise history. Like its away counterpart, this jersey's main downsides are its somewhat dated and not-as-consistent feel to it. Other than that, this is an all-around great jersey that I would like to add to my collection someday.

8) 1991-98 Teal 

 

 Another all-around incredible jersey, except later versions of it in the form of the 2015-16 and 2021 Heritage jerseys have improved on the original in terms of overall quality and certain design elements.

7) 2015 Stadium Series 

 

 The jersey that the Sharks wore at their first-ever outdoor game in 2015 versus the Kings at Levi's Stadium is a one-of-a-kind gem. Although the Sharks lost that game, this is another jersey I would love to own one day. However, I am well aware that the Sharks' Stadium Series jersey from 2015 is very difficult to find and likely carries a significant premium over most Sharks jerseys due to its exclusivity. Still, it would be amazing to eventually get my hands on one.

6) 2008-17 Alternate 

 

 We have yet another fantastic jersey from the Sharks in the form of a black alternate jersey worn by the team from 2008 to 2017. It also brings back great memories as it was my first Sharks jersey that I got from my first Sharks game in early February of the 2013-14 season. As you can tell from the first photo, my first Sharks jersey had Joe Thornton on the back of it. I'm grateful that this jersey is in my collection; however, there is a later Sharks alternate jersey that is cooler and more eye-popping that I  will cover later in this ranking.

5) 2015-16 Heritage 

 

 The first of two Sharks' Heritage jerseys, this one commemorating Team Teal's 25th anniversary and worn in a few games during the 2015-16 season. The main reason I have this one ranked lower than the Sharks' most recent heritage jersey is that the former jersey's collar isn't as nice, and Adidas jerseys are assembled better than Reebok jerseys.

4) 2021 Heritage 

 

 The Sharks' latest Heritage jersey commemorates their 30th anniversary and was worn during a handful of games this past season. Although the Sharks had a disappointing 2021 season, they had generally performed well in these jerseys. This is the best version of any Heritage jersey in Sharks history, and I want one in my jersey collection more than most other sports jerseys, preferably with a name and number on the back. Since the Sharks' latest Heritage jersey was only for this past season, stores and websites are running out of them, and I hope they go on clearance or are offered at a discount so it will be easier for me to get my hands on one.

3) 2013-17 Teal 

 

 A clean, simple, and unique design that works very well for the Sharks. It gets bonus points over many of San Jose's earlier jerseys because I prefer the Sharks' current logo over their original logo.

2) 2018-Present Stealth Alternate 

 

 This is the Sharks' current alternate jersey, and it is top-tier. It has such a slick, dope, and aggressive design with a glow-in-the-dark feel to it. The stick on the Stealth logo is completely teal, and the sleeves around the elbows have a circuit board pattern on them since San Jose is known for being a technology hub. Both of these elements add to the jersey's overall coolness. From the moment I saw it released and on the ice, I knew I had to have one in my possession, and I'm grateful to have one that I received as a Christmas gift with Erik Karlsson on the back of it.

1) 2017-Present Teal 

 

 The Sharks' current home jersey narrowly beats out their Stealth alternate as my favorite Sharks jersey of all time. Like their previous primary home jersey, the Sharks' current primary home jersey is solid, simple, consistent, and unique, except the latter is optimized by Adidas. Like the Stealth alternate, I am also proud to have the Sharks' current teal jersey in my collection with Joe Pavelski on the back of it. Both my Sharks teal and Stealth jerseys were produced by Fanatics, not Adidas, which is okay with me. I would love to add more of the Sharks' teal and Stealth jerseys to my jersey collection with different players' names and numbers on the back of them; that's how much I dig these jerseys.

Comment below what other Sharks/NHL/hockey aspects you want me to rank next. 

Source: sjsharks.com