Joe Thornton may be 36 years old, but that doesn't mean he doesn't have something to offer Team Canada.
The San Jose Sharks forward nabbed one of the final roster spots on Canada's World Cup of Hockey roster, and while he may be the oldest member of the team - by nearly four years - general manager Doug Armstrong believes he brings a couple of obvious skills to the table.
"He doesn’t play as much down low in his own zone, so he’s gone to a three-quarter ice game, which allows him to play with more speed in the neutral zone," Armstrong said Friday, according to Postmedia's Michael Traikos. "He’s still one of the best power-play players, and in my opinion he’s one of the top three passers - if not the best - in the world."
Thornton finished second to Ottawa Senators captain Erik Karlsson with 63 assists during the regular season and sits tied for 13th on the all-time assists list.
After earning a gold medal with Canada at the 2010 Olympics, Thornton will make his seventh international appearance in September and will surely be looked upon to continue threading the needle.
Muhammad Ali has apparently touched almost everybody in the sports world - including San Jose Sharks head coach Peter DeBoer.
At the end of his press conference Saturday, unprompted, DeBoer shared the story of when he met the boxing legend, who died Friday at 74.
It was at his prom, of all places, where he met "The Greatest."
"I just want to end with a quick thing on Muhammad Ali," DeBoer said. "Lost a great person. The reason I want to speak about him, I'm not a collector of sports memorabilia, but I have three things in my basement: I have a Wayne Gretzky stick, a Bobby Orr print, a Mike Weir Masters print, and I have a Quran signed by Muhammad Ali.
"I wouldn't normally share this with you, but I think considering the circumstances today. I got it 30 years ago. I was at my prom at the Royal Connaught Hotel in Hamilton. I was a 17-year-old kid. Had my tux on. I was in the lobby.
"Muhammad Ali walked in with his entourage. He was there for some type of appearance. I asked one of the entourage if I could meet him with my friends. He said to give him a minute. He came back to me and he said, 'Muhammad Ali is up in this room. Meet him up in his room in five minutes.'
"Me and three or four of my buddies went up to the room. He got out a Quran for each of us. He wasn't preaching or trying to convert us, he just personalized each one for us, asked us some questions about what we were doing.
"It was an unbelievable life experience for me. I think, considering the circumstances, how this guy transcended not just boxing and sport, but how many people he's touched, it's an appropriate story to tell."
When the puck is dropped for Game 3 on Saturday night, history will be made.
For the first time in franchise history, the San Jose Sharks will host a Stanley Cup Final game, and despite facing a 2-0 hole, the team is looking forward to relishing home ice.
The Sharks and their fans endured a rough patch after squandering a 3-0 series lead to their in-state rival Los Angeles Kings in 2014, then missing the playoffs in 2015.
The only California-based team to not win a Cup, San Jose is happy to be where they are after all the past adversity.
"(Losing that way to the Kings) was as low as you can get as a professional athlete, individually and team-wise, and then last year obviously tough times missing the playoffs, going through some stuff as a team," said leading scorer Logan Couture. "But I really think everything we've gone through has made us a lot stronger as a group."
"I think we're just excited to be home and an opportunity to play in front of our fans who have been waiting 25 years for this game," Couture added.
Sharks forward Joe Thornton expects the home crowd to be ready.
"I think once you get into the Shark Tank, you'll know why (home ice has been an advantage)," Thornton said. "It's extremely loud, extremely intimidating."
The Sharks own a 7-2 record at home in the postseason thus far.
The news comes a day after Hertl was absent from practice, only taking the ice briefly in a tracksuit before leaving.
The 22-year-old was the Sharks' best player through the first two games of the Stanley Cup Final, according to DeBoer. He netted one of the club's only three goals.
He finished third in ice time among all Sharks forwards in Game 2 - behind only captain Joe Pavelski and Joe Thornton - with 20:20 logged in the club's overtime loss.
Likely that Zubrus takes Hertl's spot in the lineup. Could be Zubrus or Karlsson taking Hertl's spot on the line with Thornton and Pavelski.
Few players fit into a team's persona like Brad Marchand does with the Boston Bruins, and general manager Don Sweeney wants to make sure the alluring winger stays put.
Marchand's contract doesn't expire until 2017, but Sweeney wants to make an extension a priority this summer, along with the pressing issue of re-signing key players Loui Eriksson and Torey Krug, who become unrestricted and restricted free agents respectively July 1.
"We're going to look at Brad right away ... early on here in the process once we get past that first wave in July," Sweeney said, according to Joe Haggerty of CSNNE.com. "We'll have some good discussions. We'd prefer that we're tracking on the earlier side of things. He's a big part of our hockey club."
Both sides can officially begin discussing an extension beginning July 1 as well.
Marchand has long been a integral member of the Bruins, winning the Stanley Cup in 2011 and chipping in at least 20 goals in every non-lockout season since.
The 28-year-old has developed outstanding chemistry playing with Bruins' franchise centerman Patrice Bergeron, and scored a career-high 37 goals this season, earning him a spot on Team Canada's World Championship and World Cup of Hockey roster.
Marchand has previously stated he'd be happy to remain in Boston, and with his production continuing to rise, he'll be due a raise from his current cap hit of $4.5 million.
There's something in the air in San Jose ... sharks.
The T-shirts that will be given out to fans at the SAP Center for Game 3 on Saturday are ready to go and they pay homage to the terribly amazing movie series "Sharknado."
Ty Ronning is quickly making a name for himself at the NHL Combine.
The son of former NHLer Cliff Ronning was on hand for the fitness testing on Saturday where he turned heads, most notably with a very peculiar motivational quote.
"I enjoy playing with my heart and my passion; a little bit with my head; little bit with my balls down there," Ronning said, according to Ryan Dixon of Sportsnet Magazine.
According to Ronning that sort of thing is just who he is.
Ty Ronning enjoyed the interview process: "I'm a talkative guy; I like cracking jokes." #NHLCombine#MeetTheFuture
Cliff spent five of his 17 years in the league under the late Pat Quinn who appears to have had a real impact on the Ronning family as Ty honored the coach by writing his name on his shoes Saturday.
Ronning is coming off his third season with the Vancouver Giants of the Western Hockey League where he finished with 31 goals and 59 points in 67 games.
No athlete in the history of sport has had a deeper impact on the world than Muhammad Ali, and in the wake of his death late Friday, the world is paying homage to the greatest of all time.
Several NHLers took to social media to honor Ali.
Sad to hear about the passing of Muhammad Ali. Greatest boxer of all time and always fighting to help others.
Property of the London Knights, Juolevi is ranked one spot behind Sarnia Sting rearguard Jakob Chychrun, but he's built an impressive resume leading up to the draft, winning a gold medal for Finland at the World Junior Championships and the Memorial Cup with London.
Both players are expected to be top 10 picks come June 24th.
Though the Stanley Cup Final is just two games old, it already feels like the Pittsburgh Penguins have the San Jose Sharks against the ropes.
The Penguins stormed out of the gate with two wins in front of their home crowd and pressure now rests on the Sharks. The series will now shift to San Jose for Games 3 and 4 where the Sharks will need to reload.
Here is what the Sharks need to do to win Saturday night's Game 3 and start to turn the tide:
Start peppering Murray
While the scoreboard might indicate the Sharks have only lost by one goal in each game, that doesn't mean they've been an even two contests.
The Sharks have been outshot 71-48 through two games, while challenging Matt Murray very little. In fact, the Penguins goaltender has only been peppered with double-digit shots in one period so far - the second frame of Game 1 - and conceded two of his three goals against in the series during that period.
Heading into the Final, Murray had averaged 29 shots against per game, but he's now seeing five fewer shots per game on average. While the 22-year-old's had an incredible first playoffs, things aren't supposed to get easier in the Stanley Cup Final.
If the Sharks want to start putting pucks past Murray, they need to start making him work. Fewer than 10 shots a period is not going to cut it.
Get under the Penguins' skin
Entering the final round of the postseason, the Sharks' bread and butter appeared to be their incendiary power play.
However, through two games, the Sharks have had just three power plays to work with. That's not a product of being in the referees' bad graces, but rather not doing enough to warrant a penalty against.
The Sharks have struggled to take the puck to the Penguins' goal, and as the shot totals suggest, they have not possessed the puck enough to push the Penguins into attacking and in turn taking a penalty.
The Sharks still own the second-best power play in the postseason, firing at 27.3 percent, and in order to take advantage of the club's strong special teams, they need to get under the Penguins' skin.
Forcing Pittsburgh into penalties and pushing back against the Eastern giants will allow San Jose to start getting back to what's made it so successful all playoffs.
Don't change too much
While having their backs against the wall might have the Sharks questioning what they have to do to get back into the series, the answer could very well be not much at all.
Game 2 saw Tomas Hertl hit the post on three occasions, and Chris Tierney fired a wicked wrister off the crossbar in the third period on a solo rush.
If one or two of those chances had gone off the post and in instead of out, then heading into Game 3 the mood might be very different. While the Sharks were heavily outshot in the first two games, the hockey gods - and Martin Jones - have still kept them in games.
The Sharks need to start shooting more and need to force their opponents' hand, but these are things we saw them accomplish in their previous series en route to the Cup Final.
The Sharks don't necessarily have to change much of their game, just get back to what made them successful and stay the course.
