San Jose Barracuda podcast with Marko Ukalovic: Aaron Dell looking forward to helping younger goaltenders in camp

San Jose Barracuda goaltender Aaron Dell will be in camp helping some of the younger goaltenders, Dell will be between the pipes for the Barracuda for this 2024-25 season (Mercury News file photo)

On the San Jose Barracuda podcast with Marko Ukalovic:

#1 Marko, the SJ Barracuda have announced their bringing back goaltender Aaron Dell for the 2024-25 season. Dell has experience in both at the San Jose Sharks and with the Barracuda how important do you see him being between the pipes?

#2 Barracuda general manager Joe Will said that Dell bring leadership and depth and will be a big plus in helping the goaltending group.

#3 Dell played for the Ontario Reign last season in 12 games. Dell signed with Ontario in January and went 7-4-1 with 2.57 goals against and had a .914 save average.

#4 Marko, over Dell’s 12 year career he has played in 130 NHL games with the Sharks, New Jersey Devils, and Buffalo Sabres with a 50-50-13 record. and a 2.92 goals against average with a record like that Dell has had a great long career in the NHL.

#5 All that said Marko, Dell is 35 and will be helping out the younger goaltenders and when he gets in the games that would give those younger players an idea how it’s done.

Marko Ukalovic does the San Jose Barracuda podcasts Mondays at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

San Jose Sharks podcast with Mary Lisa Walsh: Sharks Eklund, Granlund, and Benning listed day to day with injuries; plus more news

San Jose Sharks William Eklund (72) seen here scoring against the St Louis Blues on Sat Apr 6, 2024 at SAP Center in San Jose. Eklund is one of three Sharks players in camp that are day to day as reported on Fri Sep 27, 2024 (AP file photo)

On the San Jose Sharks podcast with Mary Lisa:

#1 The San Jose Sharks have some minor injuries they incurred after their pre season game against the Anaheim last Tuesday in San Jose. William Eklund, Mikael Granlund, and Matt Benning are all day to day.

#2 Sharks rookie Macklin Celebrini’s words ring like it was spoken by a veteran said that the Sharks should hate to lose games even if it’s pre season and that losing is not acceptable.

#3 Celebrini it should be noted that he’s the last player off the off after a practice. One of the reasons why he’s the number one NHL draft pick. Celebrini comes to work even in practice as the old saying goes practice makes perfect and he puts in the extra work.

#4 Mikael Gralund who is nursing an injury is day to day talked about what it’s been like in camp saying he could feel the energy and see the Sharks going somewhere this season. Granlund said having someone like Celebrini around is exciting and he brings a positive dimension to the team.

#5 The Sharks Barclay Goodrow said it’s exciting to be back in San Jose and he had a lot of good memories. Goodrow said he’s also excited about the new season coming up. Goodrow broke in with the Sharks in the 2014-15 season and left in 2019-20 and returned for this 2024-25 season and said he’s happy to be back in San Jose.

Join Mary Lisa for the San Jose Sharks podcasts Saturdays at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

NHL podcast with Len Shapiro: Bruins Swayman looking for long term contract; Sens Ullmark will be a UFA after this season; plus more news

Boston Bruins are hoping to have restricted free agent goaltender Jeremy Swayman in the line up by opening night. Both sides are still negotiating financial terms of Swayman’s contract. Swayman is seeking an eight year deal. (AP News photo)

On NHL podcast with Len Shapiro:

#1 The Boston Bruins goaltender Jeremy Swayman is a restricted free agent. Swayman is seeking a eight year contract. The Bruins are seeking a long term deal with Swayman as well. The only hang up is agreeing on the value price of the contract. The Bruins are hoping to get Swayman signed before opening night.

#2 The Ottawa Senators Linus Ullmark is about to become a unrestricted free agent at the end of this season. Ullmark has had a great pre season and had his best game against the Buffalo Sabres last Thursday night stopping 28 out 29 shots.

#3 The Los Angeles Kings defenseman Drew Doughty is going through more testing after sustaining a lower body injury in pre season action against the Vegas Golden Knights on Wednesday. Doughty hurt his leg when he was slammed against the boards by the Knights forward Tanner Pearson in the first period.

#4 Matvei Michkov the Philadelphia Flyers top prospect performed as expected getting an assist and scoring an empty net goals against the New York Islanders. Michkov 19, had his best game of the three pre season game on Thursday. So far Michkov has two goals and three assists.

#5 The Edmonton Oilers goalies going into camp last season that of Jack Campbell and Stuart Skinner battled for the starting job that was up for grabs. Campbell started opening night. Both Campbell and Stuart struggled that first month but later Stuart got on track and later became on of the NHL’s top five starting goaltenders. This season Stuart is the clear starting goaltender and that’s partly awarded after Stuart and Oilers had a successful post season.

Join Len Shapiro for the NHL podcasts each Saturday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Sharks drop second exhibition game lose to Ducks 4-3 at SAP

The San Jose Sharks and Anaheim Ducks battled at the SAP Center in San Jose in the second exhibition game for the Sharks Tue Sep 24, 2024. The Sharks face off against the Ducks once more this Thu Sep 26, 2024 (photo from The Hockey News)

San Jose started strong but could not keep the lead throughout the game.

By Fernando Abarca

The San Jose Sharks were back in action this Tuesday night after losing 4-2 over the Golden Knights. The Sharks hosted the Anaheim Ducks, the teal team was ready to brush things off and move on. During a horrendous 2nd period the Sharks could not find answers and added another loss at home and now go on the road for revenge at Honda Center next Thursday night.

San Jose and Anaheim shared the same experiences from last year as both teams ranked worst in the Western Conference. Both teams are undergoing a series of changes, and the team is being rebuilt around young talent. The significance of the game was to see whose team is doing better and has the best chance to do well in the regular season.

The Sharks scored two PowerPlay goals and a wrist shot during the first period. 

During the first period, the game started plagued with penalties as Anaheim’s Tyson Hinds slashed F. Zetterlund and Urho Vaakanainen received a penalty against Scott Sabourin for high-sticking. The Sharks did not fall behind as Colin White received a high-sticking penalty against Scott Sabourin.

During the periods, mitts were dropped on the ice as Travis Howe and Scott Sabourin got in a tilt on the ice receiving a penalty. 

The first period seemed like a dream for San Jose scoring two goals, the first coming when the clock ticked 11:59, Alexander Wennberg scored the first of the night assisted by F. Zetterlund and J. Walman.

San Jose’s second goal did not take too long as Danil Gushchin netted the second one making a margin of 2-0 for San Jose. The Teal team seemed to take care of business heading to the 1st intermission and relieving the pressure.

During the second period, San Jose netted the final of the night when, on a powerplay, San Jose scored less than a minute at the start of the second period when Jack Thompson sealed the 3-0 for the home team.

The night turned upside down and became a nightmare. Anaheim came in full strength and I took advantage of all the advantages to be able to come back epically and forcefully over San Jose

The 3-0 result seemed like something that did not bother the visitors. The mentality played a significant factor and they knew how to overcome adversity.

Anaheim’s Carson Meyer, Yegor Sidorov, Brett Leason, and Mark Pysyk were the ones who orchestrated the comeback against San Jose. Anaheim scored two power plays leaving San Jose’s penalty kill very frowned upon

The mood in the SAP center was very fleeting.

Entering the third period, the result was 4-2, a result in which San Jose could tie but the 20 minutes were not enough, and without much action, the Anaheim team maintained the victory and San Jose could not find the answers.

With this game, the team adds its second loss, and questions begin to arise about how the team will be looking as the regular season approaches. The Sharks will be on the road for their back-to-back games with Anaheim this Thursday night.

San Jose returns to home ice on Tuesday, Oct. 1st against the newly relocated Utah Hockey Club.

Utah edges LA 3-2 in exhibition game for new NHL franchise

Utah Hockey Team celebrate a win over the Los Angeles Kings in NHL exhibition at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City on Mon Sep 23, 2024 (@utahhockeyclub photo)

By Tom Walker

SALT LAKE CITY–Five months ago the National Hockey League announced that the personnel of the Arizona Coyotes had been purchased by the Smith Entertainment Group and would operate as a new NHL franchise in Salt Lake City beginning with the 2024-2025 season. The Coyotes brand was retained by owner Alex Meruelo in the event Arizona is awarded a future expansion team.

For those who wondered whether or not Utah could support an NHL team in addition to the NBA Utah Jazz and MLS Real Salt Lake, both also owned by SEG, all doubt was immediately cast aside as more than 34,000 season ticket deposits were received in a matter of days.

Since that time, anticipation has continued to build as team colors were announced and fans began online voting to name the team for its eventual sophomore season. Though all manner of shirts, hats, and hoodies have made their way onto store shelves throughout the state, even at Costco, fans are looking forward to the arrival of inaugural season jerseys which are being expedited to potentially arrive in November.

On Monday, a packed Delta Center welcomed their new hometown team for its first-ever pre-season game with a loud standing ovation as they took to the ice to square off against the visiting Los Angeles Kings. Prior to dropping the puck, an emotional tribute video honored the lives of Johnny and Matthew Gaudreau who were tragically killed by a suspected drunk driver on August 29. Following a 13-second moment of silence, fans were invited to remain standing for the national anthem, immediately followed by the moment everyone had been waiting for.

At 15:04 of the first period, Lawson Crouse gave Utah HC the lead on a power play goal, assisted by Sean Durzi and Matias Maccelli. At the ensuing faceoff, Utah’s Liam O’Brien and the Kings’ Jeff Malott immediately dropped their gloves, much to the delight of a roaring crowd. Moments later, Alex Kerfoot put Utah up 2-0 on another power play goal, assisted again by Durzi and Maccelli, which was the score heading into the locker room at the end of the first period.

The Kings came back in the 2nd period with goals from Jeff Malott and Alex Turcotte to even things up heading into what became a scoreless 3rd.

With the crowd standing and cheering the beginning of overtime, it took only 19 seconds for Clayton Keller to put the puck in the back of the Kings net for the unassisted game winner.

After the game, head coach Andre Tourigny noted that there’s still a lot of rust from the offseason to shake off, and that video from Monday’s game will immediately be used to determine the focus of the next practice.

Utah will now hit the road for their next four pre-season games against Las Vegas, Colorado, San Jose, and Anaheim. They will kick off the regular season with their home opener against the Chicago Blackhawks on October 8.

Hertl Scores in Hometown, Sharks Lose Opener 4-1

San Jose Sharks Tomas Hertl is exuberant after scoring in front of his hometown crowd in Prague but it would end up being San Jose’s only goal of the game. As the Sharks drop game one to the Nashville Predators in the NHL Global Series on Fri Oct 7, 2022 (AP News photo)

By Matthew Harrington

There was a storybook moment but no happy ending for the San Jose Sharks Friday in Prague with the Sharks losing the season opener 4-1 to the Nashville Predators. Tomáš Hertl scored playing in front of his hometown crowd at O2 Arena, but San Jose couldn’t pick up a win in the first game under new general manager Mike Grier and head coach David Quinn.

Nashville took an early lead with Kiefer Sherwood 8:36 deflecting a puck past Sharks netminder James Reimer 1:01 into play. Hertl responded just by beating Nashville goalie Juuse Saros on a scrambling play 8:36 into the first period. Hertl, Timo Meier and former Pred-turned-Shark Luke Kunin (an assist apiece on the play) all put in yeoman’s work at around the crease and in the corners on the shift, fighting for and winning the loose puck battles to create the chaos for hometown Hertl.

Eeli Tolvanen scored the game-winner on another early strike, this time 1:24 into the 2nd period and Nino Niederreiter lit the lamp with 4:46 left in the period to give Nashville a 3-1 lead. Matt Duchene potted the empty netter with 32 seconds left to finish of the scoring.

The Predators outshot the Sharks by a slim 32-31 margin and neither team capitalized on the four power play opportunities each team received. The Sharks did however score in the seconds after a penalty.

The Sharks have a chance at leaving Prague with a happy (long) flight as they wrap up the 2022 Global Challenge Series with another showdown with Nashville Saturday night. San Jose is expected to tap Kaapo Kähkönen in net while the Predators will most likely choose between one of Connor Ingram or Kevin Lankinen.

Notes: The Sharks won the faceoff battle 36-30 with Nico Sturm winning 7 of 9 faceoffs…Newcomer Luke Kunin was the Sharks leader among forwards in TOI, playing 21:23 including a whopping 3:52 on the penalty kill…As expected, youngsters William Eklund and Thomas Bordeleau were not in Quinn’s Sharks lineup… Marc-Edouard Vlasic played 20 minutes in the season opener after playing 20+ minutes only three times last season…Jonah Gadjovich picked up the Sharks first fighting major of the year, dropping the gloves with Mark Borowiecki in the second period… Alex Barabanov was not in the lineup as he continues to recover from an injury, while Sturm drew in after missing out on playing in his home country against Eisbären Berlin on Wednesday…Markus Nutivaara also remained out.

Headline Sports podcast with Mary Lisa Walsh: Panthers-Isles hope to put on a decent show in playoffs; Oilers suck it up to play in qualifiers; plus more

nhl.com file photo: The Florida Panthers hosting the New York Islanders earlier this season will be meeting each other for the Extended Qualifying Rounds of the Stanley Cup Playoffs

On Headline Sports podcast with Mary Lisa:

#1 Florida Panthers and New York Islanders are scheduled to face off in a five game qualifying series round. Both teams struggled towards the end of the regular season with the Panther losing 12 of their last 18 games and the Isles losing nine of their last 11. Given the numbers and two months off from the shutdown will you see rusty play or will both teams be able to salvage some fire in their bellies and make it an interesting post season?

#2 How strange is it that the Edmonton Oilers are the only team that is in the qualifier division. The Oilers finished second in the Pacific Division but under the Return to Play plan the Oilers are seeded fifth and will play the 12th seeded Chicago Blackhawks. Oilers team captain Conner McDavid said the Oilers have to look it as a sacrifice to be in the play in round although the team had a good record. They are not only taking it for the team but for the league as well.

#3 The Phoenix Coyotes are looking to wearing their throwback jerseys once the qualifying rounds start. The Yotes are wearing their 1996-97 through 2003-04 jerseys something the fans look forward to seeing. The Coyotes are schedule to play the Nashville Predators in the qualifying round.

#4 The Montreal Canadiens look at being in the qualifying round against the Pittsburgh Penguins as a second chance. The Habs were 10 games out of a playoff position when play was suspended March 12th the Canadiens had the lowest points percentage and 31-31-9 record.

#5 The San Jose Sharks Evander Kane says that white athletes need to speak out against systematic racism in the US. Kane said high profile players in different sports like the Tampa Bay Bucs quarterback Tom Brady and the Pittsburgh Penguins Sydney Crosby need to join in to support the fight.

Join Mary Lisa every other Sunday for Headline Sports at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

NHL orders players to limit contact with fans; Sens CEO fired domestic abuse; plus more

nationalpost.com photo: Former Ottawa Senators CEO Jim Little said he swore at Senators owner Eugene Melnyk on Valentines Day which led to his firing Friday

NHL podcast with Daniel:

1 Coronavirus concerns: NHL urges players to limit fan contact; Report – NHL settling on date for draft lottery

2 Senators uncover domestic abuse claims against recently fired CEO

3 Rangers’ Mika Zibanejad pops in 5 goals vs. Capitals

4 Sharks help fan live out her Make-A-Wish dream

5 RIP Henri Richard, Pocket Rocket dies at 84

Daniel Dullum does the NHL podcasts each Sunday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

 

 

San Jose Sharks podcast with Len Shapiro: Sharks on two-game win streak, take on a successful Canes team tonight at SAP Center

Photo credit: nhl.com/sharks

On the Sharks podcast with Len:

#1 The San Jose Sharks coming back from a three-game road trip that went 1-2 and after going 0-4 in the first four games got their legs and beat the Chicago Blackhawks for their first win of the season on Thursday, October 10th, but it was the addition of Patrick Marleau that seemed to change the mood in the dressing room.

#2 What were some of the vast improvements you saw after Marleau’s return to the Sharks?

#3 In the game against the Calgary Flames on Sunday night, the Sharks got goals from Timo Meier, Kevin Labanc, and Tomas Hertl and got some great goaltending from Martin Jones, who stopped 30 out of 31 shots for the win.

#4 It’s been only two wins, but in those two wins, the Sharks looked like a different team after losing their first four games.

#5 The Sharks host the Carolina Hurricanes (6-1-0) Wednesday night at SAP Center. How much of a test would you say this game will be as the Sharks take on a very talented Canes team?

Len Shapiro does the San Jose Sharks podcasts each Wednesday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

San Jose Sharks podcast with Mary Lisa Walsh & Len Shapiro: Sharks’ Jumbo Joe at 40, but wants to stay in San Jose, willing to re-up

photo by nhl.com: San Jose Sharks Joe Thornton stated that he would like to stay with the Sharks for at least one to five more years.

On the SJ Sharks podcast with Mary Lisa:

#1 Joe Thornton plans to resign with the Sharks for the 2019-20 season he’s almost 40 had some injuries in past season can you see him entering September and keeping up with the younger players?

#2 Thornton’s plans are to stay with San Jose and he hopes to keep this up for at least five more years if he could he stay healthy.

#3 Thornton has had knee injuries he tore his ALC and MLC in his left knee in 2017 and last season tore his MCL in his right knee in 2018. Thornton in confident he’s back and there are no issues going into next season.

#4 The Philadelphia Flyers will absorb the $3.8 million that former San Jose Shark defenseman Justin Braun had remaining on his contract. Braun was dealt for draft picks Mary talks about how Braun will fit into the Flyers system.

#5 The biggest move was on Tuesday when the Sharks signed Erik Karlsson for a $92 million eight year deal. Karlsson after the post season was expected to go shopping for a team most likely the Ottawa Senators his former team. The Sharks were determined to keep him and got him to the table for a long term deal.

Mary Lisa is a beat writer for the San Jose Sharks and podcasts on the Sharks during the Sharks season at http://www.sportsradioservice.com