Tag: San Jose Sharks

Wisconsin men’s hockey legend officially announces retirement from the NHL

Wisconsin men’s hockey legend officially announces retirement from the NHL

Former Wisconsin men’s hockey legend Joe Pavelski has officially announced his retirement, according to the NHL’s recent post on X.

After 18 illustrious seasons representing both the San Jose Sharks and Dallas Stars, Pavelski officially hung up his skates after 1,332 games in the NHL. The Plover, Wisconsin native orchestrated one of the more storied amateur and professional careers of any Badger in program history.

Before representing Wisconsin, an 18-year-old Pavelski earned United States Hockey League Rookie of the Year in 2002-03 with Waterloo on the junior ice hockey scene. The Sharks picked the Wisconsin product at No. 205 in the seventh round of the 2003 NHL draft before he starred in Madison.

During his 2004-05 freshman campaign at UW, Pavelski led NCAA first-years in points with 16 goals and 29 assists. He followed that up with an NCAA championship in 2006 and paced the team in both assists and points.

Pavelski made his professional debut with San Jose on Nov. 22, 2006 and registered his first 20-goal season in the NHL in 2008-09. He reached his peak during the 2013-14 season after recording career-bests in goals (41) and points (79). The output netted him NHL Second All-Star Team and Sharks Player of the Year nods.

As captain of the 2015-16 Sharks, Pavelski earned his first NHL All-Star Game bid and guided San Jose to its first Stanley Cup Final against the Pittsburgh Penguins. The Sharks would ultimately lose the series in six games.

The former Badger’s quest for a Stanley Cup, however, would not end there.

A year after signing with the Dallas Stars in July 2019, Pavelski’s Stars reached the Stanley Cup Finals but fell to the Tampa Bay Lightning in six games. Still, the Plover product led Dallas and was second among all players with 13 playoff goals at age 36.

Pavelski played four more seasons with the Stars and scored his 1,000th NHL point on April 10, 2023.

The Badger legend finished his career with 476 goals and 592 assists for 1,068 points in over 1,330 regular-season games for Dallas and San Jose. After the conclusion of the 2023-24 slate, Pavelski also ranked fifth in goals and games among active players.

Pavelski will now turn a chapter on his ice hockey career after cementing his legacy as one of the Badgers’ all-time greats. It’s safe to say the NHL and Badger faithful throughout the nation will miss watching him skate past defenders on a professional stage.

Who is Macklin Celebrini, the prospective No. 1 pick at the 2024 NHL Draft?

Who is Macklin Celebrini?

This weekend’s NHL Draft will send a host of new hockey prospects on a new journey for their careers, and most all of this class is waiting to hear where they’ll land.

The one outlier is former Boston University center Macklin Celebrini, who should be the first-overall pick in this year’s NHL Draft for the San Jose Sharks.

The left-handed offensive prospect might not come with the same ballyhoo as last year’s top pick, Connor Bedard, but Celebrini only played a year at Boston for a reason.

He’s a pro-ready scorer who brings tantalizing upside as a future star in the league. Let’s get to know Celebrini before he most likely joins the Sharks on Friday night in Las Vegas.

First, some quick facts about Macklin CelebriniĀ 

Date of birth: June 13, 2006
Place of birth:Ā North Vancouver, Canada
Height and weight: 6-foot-0, 190 pounds
Position:Ā Center
Shoots: Left
2023-24 team: Boston University (NCAA)
2023-24 stats: 32 goals and 64 points in 38 games

Celebrini hails from the same area as Bedard, and he’s just a bit bigger and taller than the Chicago Blackhawks star. He won the Hobey Baker and Tim Taylor awards in college and was named Hockey East’s Player of the Year and Rookie of the Year. Celebrini played for the USHL’s Chicago Steel in the 2022-23 season, scoring 46 goals and adding 40 assists in 50 games.

What is Macklin Celebrini’s playstyle like?

Celebrini scores a lot of goals. That’s not the only reason he will probably go first in this year’s draft, but it’s atop the list. San Jose desperately needs elite offensive players on its roster, and Celebrini would fill that gap for the Sharks.

However, his number of assists shows he’s just as good at creating scoring opportunities for his teammates. Bedard had similar success going into last year’s draft, which rounds out a prospect’s game outside of just finding the net. San Jose will get a player who has a knack for the puck in both notching goals and getting it to his fellow players.

That’s reason enough to draft someone like Celebrini, who should start as soon as he arrives.

Why is Macklin Celebrini the near-assured No. 1 pick at the 2024 NHL Draft?

Like Bedard before him, Celebrini offers the most upside as a top-six franchise scorer of any player in this class. His sole year at Boston was proof enough that Celebrini is ready for the NHL, meaning he can play right away for San Jose without having to spend any time in the AHL. There are some really good offensive players in this year’s draft, but none with the quite the promise of Celebrini. He just offers so much right away for a team.
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All-time great Wisconsin hockey player announces retirement from NHL

All-time great Wisconsin hockey player announces retirement from NHL

Former Wisconsin Badgers men’s hockey player Joe Pavelski announced that he is retiring from hockey on Tuesday after 18 seasons in the NHL. The 39-year-old and the Dallas Stars were just eliminated in the league’s West Final against the Oilers, dropping the series 4-2.

Out of high school, the Plover, Wisconsin, native was selected in the seventh round of the 2003 NHL Draft by the San Jose Sharks before he ever ended up being a Badger.

Pavelski spent three seasons in Madison as a member of Wisconsin’s men’s hockey program from 2004-2006, leading the team in overall points in their 2006 National Championship winning season.

He spent the first 13 years of his professional career with San Jose, appearing in many playoff games, including the team’s run to the Stanley Cup Final in 2016, ultimately losing to the Penguins.

Pavelski went on to join the Dallas Stars, his final team, in 2019. While with the Stars, he was able to make his back to the Stanley Cup Final in 2020, falling to the Tampa Bay Lightning.

In total, the center recorded many impressive stats over his career, most notably his 475 goals and 1,068 career points over 1,332 career NHL contests. His 74 postseason goals are the most all-time by an American-born player.

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The Flyers made embarrassing NHL history with loss to the winless Sharks

The Flyers are panacea for completely broken hockey teams.

If you’re a Philadelphia Flyers fan, this should be a familiar feeling.

On Tuesday, the Flyers lost 2-1 to the winless San Jose Sharks, breaking a 17-game losing streak dating back to last season. While bettors were surprised by the outcome — which gave the Sharks their first win of the season after back-to-back games allowing 10 goals — embarrassing themselves is nothing new for the Flyers.

Since Philadelphia bowed out of the 2010 Stanley Cup Final, the last decade-plus of Flyers hockey has been dotted with humiliating moments. Between big losses and incompetent front office management to trading for noted bigot Tony DeAngelo and allowing Ivan Provorov to decline wearing a Pride Jersey during warmups, the Flyers haven’t given fans a lot to feel good about in recent years.

And now, the Flyers will be immortalized in the NHL record books for their mortifying loss to the Sharks. With Tuesday’s defeat, the Flyers have now become the only team in NHL history to lose twice to a team that went winless in 10-plus games to begin a season. The first time the Flyers lost to a winless team? The 2017-18 season, where they lost to the Arizona Coyotes 4-3 in overtime to give the team its first win of the season.

It’s rough to allow that to happen once, but twice? That’s Flyers hockey, baby!

The Flyers also are used to helping other teams snap long losing streaks, as Philadelphia helped the Buffalo Sabres break their 18-game winless streak back in 2021.

This new low should not come as a surprise for Flyers fans. Anyone expecting the Flyers to pull out a victory against the winless Sharks hasn’t been paying attention to this team’s embarrassing track record over the last decade.

Former Michigan State hockey defenseman traded to Montreal Canadians

Former Spartan defenseman Jeff Petry was included in the NHL’s latest blockbuster trade

Jeff Petry spent 2007-2010 patrolling the blue line in East Lansing, being a leading player for Michigan State. Following his time in the green and white, Petry has gone on to have a 14 year career in the National Hockey League with the Edmonton Oilers, Montreal Canadians and Pittsburgh Penguins.

Petry’s career is headed back to Montreal for its 15th season, as he was a part of a blockbuster 3-team trade between the Penguins, Canadians and San Jose Sharks.

Contact/Follow usĀ @The SpartansWireĀ on Twitter, and like our page onĀ FacebookĀ to follow ongoing coverage of Michigan State news, notes, and opinion. You can also follow Cory Linsner on TwitterĀ @Cory_Linsner.

Erik Karlsson trade: Who won the Penguins, Sharks and Canadiens deal?

Erik Karlsson is on his way to Pittsburgh, so let’s grade this trade!

Talk about a mid-summer stunner!

On Sunday, the Pittsburgh Penguins traded for San Jose Sharks defenseman Erik Karlsson in an early August blockbuster. The Montreal Canadiens pitched in as well as the third team to help facilitate the trade.

The Penguins had been pursuing Karlsson for some time, with the Carolina Hurricanes the rumored other team in the hunt for the high-octane offensive defenseman. Karlsson is the reigning Norris Trophy winner after putting up a career-best 101 points in a full 82-game season last year.

It’s been awhile since we’ve had a major NHL trade of some kind, so let’s break down the particulars and hand out grades between the Penguins, Sharks and Canadiens!

Sharksā€™ NHL Draft pick Will Smith awkwardly ‘sang’ the Fresh Prince theme song after his selection

Sharks pick Will Smith honored the Fresh Prince during the 2023 NHL Draft.

The Fresh Prince made his way into the 2023 NHL Draft…kind of.

San Jose Sharks fourth-overall draft pick Will Smith honored his namesake by playing the theme song for the beloved sitcom The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air as he walked out during his selection.

As he talked with ESPN’s Emily Kaplan after the pick, the reporter got Smith to actually try his hand at singing along to the theme song’s opening stanzas.

Being a good sport, Smith jumped in and did a pretty fun (if definitely stilted) little rendition of the tune.

Y’know, for a draft that might not see a lot of these players get NHL minutes for the next few years, this is a good way to keep things entertaining.

We’re sure that once Smith gets called up to the NHL in San Jose, he’ll have plenty of opportunities to hear the Fresh Prince theme song.

Maybe that’ll be the song that plays when he scores a goal?

Timo Meier trade: Who won the Devils and Sharks deal?

The Devils made a big addition to their Stanley Cup push with the addition of Timo Meier.

We’re less than a week from the 2023 NHL trade deadline and the pieces are moving off the board quickly.

On Sunday, the New Jersey Devils traded with the San Jose Sharks for Timo Meier, one of the most sought-after names ahead of the deadline. After a weekend of activity, Meier is the latest domino to fall as the 3 p.m. ET deadline on Friday, March 3 continues to loom over the season.

The Sharks are one of the biggest sellers coming into the 2023 NHL trade deadline and the Devils have been the biggest rumored destination for Meier for some time now. While the asking price for Meier was quite high, the Devils paid the price to snag one of the top names on the market.

As the dust settles on this major NHL deal, letā€™s break down the details of the Meier trade and give out grades to both the Devils and Sharks!

Jakob Silfverberg scored an absolutely beautiful goal (on his own team) and helped out so many bettors

The easiest goal Timo Meier will be credited with all year

The Anaheim Ducks might be the worst team in the Western Conference to begin the NHL season. They’re 3-6-1 (7 points) through 10 games with the third-weakest offense (2.5 goals per game).

Though, to be fair, it’s not like the Ducks are making it any easier on themselves. Take Tuesday night’s game against the similarly bad San Jose Sharks (-125).

Anaheim lost 6-5 in a shootout, giving up the lead in the most painful way possibleā€”a horrific own-goal near the end of the second period.

With the Ducks up 4-3, Anaheim’s Jakob Silfverberg took a swipe at the puck hoping to knock it off the stick of San Jose’s Timo Meier as he drove towards the net. But instead of redirecting the puck away from his own goalie, Silfverberg rifled the puck straight past him.

All things considered, it was a pretty sweet goal. Silfverberg just happened to score for the wrong team.

The amazing thing for bettors is that the NHL doesn’t score this as a goal by Silfverberg. Obviously that would be silly for so many reasons. Instead, this counts as a goal for Meier, who was the last Sharks player to touch the puck. And after already scoring one goal earlier in the game, that meant Meier cashed his 2+ goals prop for +630 odds.

The fact that it tied the game was huge, too. The Sharks came back to win in the shootout and saved plenty of bettors. According to Action Network, 62 percent of all bets placed on the puckline were on San Jose.

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Jaelan Phillips had hilarious reaction to Mike Grier becoming Sharks GM

We’ve all been there.

On Tuesday, the NHL’s San Jose Sharks announced that Mike Grier, brother of Miami Dolphins general manager Chris Grier, would be taking named as their general manager.

By accepting the position, he became the first Black general manager in the history of the league.

When the news broke on social media, Dolphins linebacker Jaelan Phillips might’ve done something we’re all guilty of, and that’s looking at something a little too fast and jumping to an immediate reaction without fully understanding what’s going on.

Phillips tweeted that he originally believed that it was Chris Grier that was leaving the Dolphins for another job, and the former first-round pick was clearly upset.

At least we know that Phillips has an affinity for his general manager and would be upset if he were to find a job elsewhere. Luckily for him, that’s not the case.

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