Monday, 25 July 2016

NHL - 2016 Entry Draft

Round: 1
RndPick Overall Team Player Pos Country Height Weight Amateur League Amateur Team
111TOR Auston Matthews CUSA6' 2"216SWISSZurich
122WPG Patrik Laine RWFIN6' 3"201FINLANDTappara
133CBJ Pierre-Luc Dubois LWCAN6' 2"205QMJHLCape Breton
144EDM Jesse Puljujarvi RWSWE6' 3"208FINLANDKarpat
155VAN Olli Juolevi DFIN6' 2"188OHLLondon
166CGY Matthew Tkachuk LWUSA6' 1"202OHLLondon
177ARI Clayton Keller CUSA5' 10"164USHLUSA U-18
188BUF Alexander Nylander LWCAN6' 0"178OHLMississauga
199MTL Mikhail Sergachev DRUS6' 2"221OHLWindsor
11010COL Tyson Jost CCAN5' 11"190BCHLPenticton
11111OTT Logan Brown CUSA6' 6"208OHLWindsor
11212NJD Michael McLeod CCAN6' 2"185OHLMississauga
11313CAR Jake Bean DCAN6' 0"168WHLCalgary
11414BOS Charles McAvoy DUSA6' 0"199H-EASTBoston University
11515MIN Luke Kunin CUSA5' 11"193BIG10U. of Wisconsin
11616ARI Jakob Chychrun DUSA6' 2"200OHLSarnia
11717NSH Dante Fabbro DCAN6' 0"192BCHLPenticton
11818WPG Logan Stanley DCAN6' 7"224OHLWindsor
11919NYI Kieffer Bellows LWUSA6' 0"197USHLUSA U-18
12020DET Dennis Cholowski DCAN6' 1"177BCHLChilliwack
12121CAR Julien Gauthier RWCAN6' 3"231QMJHLVal d'Or
12222PHI German Rubtsov CRUS6' 0"190RUSSIA-JR.Team Russia U18
12323FLA Henrik Borgstrom CFIN6' 3"182FINLAND-JR.HIFK Jr.
12424ANA Max Jones LWUSA6' 2"206OHLLondon
12525DAL Riley Tufte LWUSA6' 5"211HIGH-MNBlaine
12626STL Tage Thompson CUSA6' 5"195H-EASTU. of Connecticut
12727TBL Brett Howden CCAN6' 2"190WHLMoose Jaw
12828WSH Lucas Johansen DCAN6' 1"175WHLKelowna
12929BOS Trent Frederic CUSA6' 1"204USHLUSA U-18
13030ANA Sam Steel CCAN5' 11"178WHLRegina

Round: 2
RndPick Overall Team Player Pos Country Height Weight Amateur League Amateur Team
2131TOR Yegor Korshkov RWRUS6' 4"180RUSSIAYaroslavl
2232EDM Tyler Benson LWCAN5' 11"197WHLVancouver
2333BUF Rasmus Asplund CSWE5' 10"176SWEDENFarjestad
2434CBJ Andrew Peeke DUSA6' 2"196USHLGreen Bay
2535STL Jordan Kyrou CCAN6' 0"169OHLSarnia
2636PHI Pascal Laberge CCAN6' 1"174QMJHLVictoriaville
2737TBL Libor Hajek DCZE6' 1"205WHLSaskatoon
2838FLA Adam Mascherin LWCAN5' 9"193OHLKitchener
2939CHI Alexander Debrincat RWUSA5' 7"165OHLErie
21040COL Cameron Morrison LWCAN6' 2"209USHLYoungstown
21141NJD Nathan Bastian RWCAN6' 3"206OHLMississauga
21242OTT Jonathan Dahlen CSWE5' 10"183SWEDEN-2Timra
21343CAR Janne Kuokkanen C LWFIN6' 0"175FINLAND-JR.Karpat Jr.
21444TBL Boris Katchouk LWCAN6' 1"190OHLSault Ste. Marie
21545CHI Chad Krys DUSA5' 11"185USHLUSA U-18
21646DET Givani Smith RWCAN6' 1"205OHLGuelph
21747NSH Samuel Girard DCAN5' 9"160QMJHLShawinigan
21848PHI Carter Hart GCAN6' 1"176WHLEverett
21949BOS Ryan Lindgren DUSA5' 11"203USHLUSA U-18
22050CHI Artur Kayumov LW RWRUS5' 11"171RUSSIA-JR.Team Russia U18
22151LAK Kale Clague DCAN5' 11"184WHLBrandon
22252PHI Wade Allison RWCAN6' 1"204USHLTri-City
22353DET Filip Hronek DCZE6' 0"163CZREPHR. Kralove
22454CGY Tyler Parsons GUSA6' 1"185OHLLondon
22555PIT Filip Gustavsson GSWE6' 1"190SWEDEN-JR.Lulea Jr.
22656CGY Dillon Dube CCAN5' 10"183WHLKelowna
22757TOR Carl Grundstrom RWSWE5' 11"195SWEDENModo
22858TBL Taylor Raddysh RWCAN6' 1"203OHLErie
22959STL Evan Fitzpatrick GCAN6' 2"203QMJHLSherbrooke
23060SJS Dylan Gambrell CUSA5' 11"179NCHCU. of Denver
23161PIT Kasper Bjorkqvist RWFIN6' 1"198FINLAND-JR.Blues Jr.

Round: 3
RndPick Overall Team Player Pos Country Height Weight Amateur League Amateur Team
3162TOR Joseph Woll GUSA6' 2"202USHLUSA U-18
3263EDM Markus Niemelainen DFIN6' 4"198OHLSaginaw
3364VAN William Lockwood RWUSA5' 11"171USHLUSA U-18
3465CBJ Vitaly Abramov RWRUS5' 9"175QMJHLGatineau
3566CGY Adam Fox DUSA5' 10"181USHLUSA U-18
3667CAR Matt Filipe LWUSA6' 1"198USHLCedar Rapids
3768ARI Cam Dineen DUSA5' 11"185OHLNorth Bay
3869BUF Cliff Pu RWCAN6' 2"193OHLLondon
3970MTL William Bitten CCAN5' 10"164OHLFlint
31071COL Josh Anderson DCAN6' 2"228WHLPrince George
31172TOR James Greenway DUSA6' 5"204USHLUSA U-18
31273NJD Joseph Anderson RWUSA5' 11"202USHLUSA U-18
31374CAR Hudson Elynuik CCAN6' 4"201WHLSpokane
31475CAR Jack LaFontaine GCAN6' 3"197NAHLJanesville
31576NSH Rem Pitlick CCAN5' 9"196USHLMuskegon
31677PIT Connor Hall DCAN6' 2"190OHLKitchener
31778NSH Frederic Allard DCAN6' 0"183QMJHLChicoutimi
31879WPG Luke Green DCAN6' 0"186QMJHLSaint John
31980NJD Brandon Gignac CCAN5' 10"170QMJHLShawinigan
32081NYR Sean Day DBE6' 2"231OHLMississauga
32182PHI Carsen Twarynski LWCAN6' 2"196WHLCalgary
32283CHI Wouter Peeters GBE6' 4"205RBHS U20Ec Salzburg 2
32384EDM Matthew Cairns DCAN6' 2"200OJHLGeorgetown
32485ANA Joshua Mahura DCAN6' 0"184WHLRed Deer
32586BUF Casey Fitzgerald DUSA5' 10"186H-EASTBoston College
32687WSH Garrett Pilon CCAN5' 10"175WHLKamloops
32788TBL Connor Ingram GCAN6' 0"212WHLKamloops
32889FLA Linus Nassen DSWE5' 11"167SWEDEN-JR.Lulea Jr.
32990DAL Fredrik Karlstrom CSWE6' 2"185SWEDEN-JR.AIK Jr.
33091EDM Filip Berglund DSWE6' 3"209SWEDEN-JR.Skelleftea Jr.

Round: 4
RndPick Overall Team Player Pos Country Height Weight Amateur League Amateur Team
4192TOR Adam Brooks CCAN5' 10"174WHLRegina
4293ANA Jack Kopacka LWUSA6' 1"191OHLSault Ste. Marie
4394FLA Jonathan Ang CCAN5' 11"162OHLPeterborough
4495NYI Anatoli Golyshev LWRUS5' 8"178RUSSIAYekaterinburg
4596CGY Linus Lindstrom CSWE5' 11"165SWEDEN-JR.Skelleftea Jr.
4697WPG Jacob Cederholm DSWE6' 3"195SWEDEN-JR.HV 71 Jr.
4798NYR Tarmo Reunanen DFIN5' 11"178FINLAND-JR.TPS Jr.
4899BUF Brett Murray LWCAN6' 4"217CCHLCarleton Place
49100MTL Victor Mete DCAN5' 9"174OHLLondon
410101TOR Keaton Middleton DCAN6' 5"235OHLSaginaw
411102NJD Mikhail Maltsev LWRUS6' 3"198RUSSIA-JR.Team Russia U18
412103OTT Todd Burgess RWUSA6' 2"178NAHLFairbanks
413104CAR Max Zimmer LWUSA6' 0"189USHLChicago
414105NJD Evan Cormier GCAN6' 2"214OHLSaginaw
415106MIN Brandon Duhaime RWUSA6' 0"198USHLTri-City
416107DET Alfons Malmstrom DSWE6' 2"190SWEDEN-JR.Orebro Jr.
417108NSH Hardy Haman Aktell DSWE6' 3"198SWEDEN-JR. U18Skelleftea U18
418109PHI Connor Bunnaman CCAN6' 1"208OHLKitchener
419110CHI Lucas Carlsson DSWE6' 0"189SWEDENBrynas
420111SJS Noah Gregor CCAN5' 11"175WHLMoose Jaw
421112LAK Jacob Moverare DSWE6' 2"198SWEDEN-JR.HV 71 Jr.
422113CHI Nathan Noel CCAN5' 10"179QMJHLSaint John
423114FLA Riley Stillman DCAN6' 0"189OHLOshawa
424115ANA Alex Dostie CCAN5' 10"165QMJHLGatineau
425116DAL Rhett Gardner C LWCAN6' 2"200NCHCNorth Dakota
426117WSH Damien Riat LWCHE6' 0"172SWISSGeneve
427118TBL Ross Colton CUSA5' 11"190USHLCedar Rapids
428119STL Tanner Kaspick CCAN6' 0"203WHLBrandon
429120NYI Otto Koivula LWFIN6' 3"219FINLAND-JR.Ilves Jr.
430121PIT Ryan Jones DUSA6' 1"186USHLLincoln

Round: 5
RndPick Overall Team Player Pos Country Height Weight Amateur League Amateur Team
51122TOR Vladimir Bobylev RWRUS6' 2"202WHLVictoria
52123EDM Dylan Wells GCAN6' 1"182OHLPeterborough
53124MTL Casey Staum DUSA5' 11"174HIGH-MNHill-Murray
54125STL Nolan Stevens CCAN6' 2"183H-EASTNortheastern
55126CGY Mitchell Mattson CUSA6' 4"191HIGH-MNGrand Rapids
56127WPG Jordan Stallard CCAN6' 1"179WHLCalgary
57128DAL Colton Point GCAN6' 3"219CCHLCarleton Place
58129BUF Philip Nyberg DSWE6' 3"189SWEDEN-JR.Linkoping Jr.
59130BUF Vojtech Budik DCZE6' 1"202WHLPrince Albert
510131COL Adam Werner GSWE6' 4"198SWEDEN-JR.Farjestad Jr.
511132NJD Yegor Rykov DRUS6' 1"205RUSSIA-JR.SKA St. Petersburg 2
512133OTT Maxime Lajoie DCAN6' 0"180WHLSwift Current
513134CAR Jeremy Helvig GCAN6' 3"195OHLKingston
514135BOS Joona Koppanen LWFIN6' 4"192FINLAND-JR.Ilves Jr.
515136BOS Cameron Clarke DUSA6' 2"180NAHLLone Star
516137DET Jordan Sambrook DCAN6' 1"187OHLErie
517138NSH Patrick Harper CUSA5' 7"150HIGH-CTAvon Old Farms
518139PHI Linus Hogberg DSWE6' 1"176SWEDEN-JR.Vaxjo Jr.
519140VAN Cole Candella DCAN6' 1"189OHLHamilton
520141NYR Timothy Gettinger LWUSA6' 5"202OHLSault Ste. Marie
521142LAK Michael Eyssimont CUSA5' 11"180US WESTSt. Cloud State
522143CHI Mathias From LW RWDNK6' 1"187SWEDEN-JR.Rogle Jr.
523144STL Conner Bleackley CCAN6' 0"192WHLRed Deer
524145WSH Beck Malenstyn LWCAN6' 1"190WHLCalgary
525146DAL Nicholas Caamano RWCAN6' 1"185OHLFlint
526147WSH Axel Jonsson-Fjallby LWSWE6' 0"170SWEDEN-JR.Djurgarden Jr.
527148TBL Christopher Paquette CCAN6' 1"207OHLNiagara
528149EDM Graham McPhee LWUSA6' 0"173USHLUSA U-18
529150SJS Manuel Wiederer CDEU6' 0"171QMJHLMoncton
530151PIT Niclas Almari DFIN6' 1"167FINLAND-JR.Jokerit Jr.

Round: 6
RndPick Overall Team Player Pos Country Height Weight Amateur League Amateur Team
61152TOR Jonathan Walker DUSA5' 10"179WHLVictoria
62153EDM Aapeli Rasanen CFIN6' 0"196FINLAND-JR.Tappara Jr.
63154VAN Jakob Stukel LWCAN5' 11"182WHLCalgary
64155CBJ Peter Thome GUSA6' 3"194NAHLAberdeen
65156CGY Eetu Tuulola RWFIN6' 1"224FINLAND-JR.HPK Jr.
66157WPG Mikhail Berdin GRUS6' 1"163RUSSIA-JR.Team Russia U18
67158ARI Patrick Kudla DCAN6' 3"175OJHLOakville
68159BUF Brandon Hagel LWCAN5' 11"160WHLRed Deer
69160MTL Michael Pezzetta CCAN6' 1"204OHLSudbury
610161COL Nathan Clurman DUSA6' 1"190HIGH-INCulver Academy
611162NJD Jesper Bratt LW RWSWE5' 9"170SWEDEN-2AIK
612163OTT Markus Nurmi RWFIN6' 4"176FINLAND-JR.TPS Jr.
613164CAR Noah Carroll DCAN6' 1"178OHLGuelph
614165BOS Oskar Steen CSWE5' 9"188SWEDEN-JR.Farjestad Jr.
615166CGY Matthew Phillips CCAN5' 6"140WHLVictoria
616167DET Filip Larsson GSWE6' 1"180SWEDEN-JR.Djurgarden Jr.
617168NSH Konstantin Volkov GRUS6' 3"211RUSSIA-JR.SKA St. Petersburg 2
618169PHI Tanner Laczynski CUSA6' 0"190USHLLincoln
619170NYI Collin Adams LWUSA5' 8"172USHLMuskegon
620171NYR Gabriel Fontaine CCAN6' 1"179QMJHLRouyn-Noranda
621172PHI Anthony Salinitri CCAN5' 10"168OHLSarnia
622173CHI Blake Hillman DUSA6' 1"180NCHCU. of Denver
623174NYR Tyler Wall GCAN6' 3"202GOJHLLeamington
624175FLA Maxim Mamin C; RWRUS6' 1"191RUSSIACSKA
625176DAL Jakob Stenqvist DSWE6' 1"163SWEDEN-JR.Modo Jr.
626177WSH Chase Priskie DUSA6' 0"185ECACQuinnipiac
627178TBL Oleg Sosunov DRUS6' 8"230RUSSIA JR. 2LOKO-YUNIOR YAROSLAV
628179TOR Nicolas Mattinen DCAN6' 4"220OHLLondon
629180SJS Mark Shoemaker DCAN6' 2"208OHLNorth Bay
630181PIT Joseph Masonius DUSA6' 0"190H-EASTU. of Connecticut

Round: 7
RndPick Overall Team Player Pos Country Height Weight Amateur League Amateur Team
71182TOR Nikolai Chebykin LWRUS6' 0"183RUSSIAMVD Balashikha 2
72183EDM Vincent Desharnais DCAN6' 5"207H-EASTProvidence
73184VAN Rodrigo Abols CLVA6' 4"188WHLPortland
74185CBJ Calvin Thurkauf CCHE6' 1"197WHLKelowna
75186CGY Stepan Falkovsky DBLR6' 7"224OHLOttawa
76187MTL Arvid Henrikson DSWE6' 3"176SWEDEN-JR. U18AIK U18
77188ARI Dean Stewart DCAN6' 1"170MJHLPortage
78189BUF Austin Osmanski DUSA6' 3"196OHLMississauga
79190BUF Vasily Glotov CRUS5' 11"158RUSSIA-JR.Lvy St. Petersburg 2
710191COL Travis Barron LWCAN6' 1"195OHLOttawa
711192NJD Jeremy Davies DCAN5' 10"180USHLBloomington
712193NYI Nick Pastujov LWUSA6' 0"202USHLUSA U-18
713194VAN Brett McKenzie CCAN6' 1"190OHLNorth Bay
714195FLA Benjamin Finkelstein DUSA5' 9"180US EASTKimball Union
715196MIN Dmitry Sokolov RWRUS5' 11"220OHLSudbury
716197DET Mattias Elfstrom LWSWE6' 3"194SWEDENMalmo Jr.
717198NSH Adam Smith DCAN6' 1"195WCHABowning Green
718199PHI David Bernhardt DSWE6' 3"203SWEDEN-JR.Djurgarden Jr.
719200NYI David Quenneville DCAN5' 8"182WHLMedicine Hat
720201NYR Ty Ronning RWCAN5' 8"167WHLVancouver
721202LAK Jacob Friend DCAN6' 1"182OHLOwen Sound
722203CHI Jake Ryczek DUSA5' 10"181USHLWaterloo
723204MIN Brayden Chizen DCAN6' 7"191WHLKelowna
724205ANA Tyler Soy CCAN5' 11"174WHLVictoria
725206TBL Otto Somppi CFIN6' 0"189QMJHLHalifax
726207WSH Dmitriy Zaitsev DRUS6' 0"184NAHLWBS Knights
727208TBL Ryan Lohin CUSA5' 11"193USHLWaterloo
728209STL Nikolaj Krag Christensen C LWDNK6' 3"201DENMARKRodovre
729210SJS Joachim Blichfeld LW; RWDNK6' 2"176SWEDENMalmo Jr.
730211STL Filip Helt LWCZE6' 1"176CZREP-JR.Litvinov Jr.
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San Jose Sharks - Feeling The Pain

 
The end, no matter when it comes, is always sudden and always painful for the team on the losing side of the Stanley Cup Final.
"The playing, the traveling, playing every other day for a long time, you can't believe you're not still playing," San Jose Sharks captain Joe Pavelski said. "It doesn't feel like it should ever end and that you should keep playing."
But there are no more games for these Sharks. Their Stanley Cup dream was pronounced dead on Sunday at SAP Center after the Penguins ground out a 3-1 victory in Game 6 to win the fourth championship in franchise history.
"The end is like hitting a wall," said coach Pete DeBoer, who came up two wins short of a Cup triumph for the second time in five years. DeBoer coached the New Jersey Devils in 2012 when they lost to the Los Angeles Kings in six games. "You've been going since September; 106 games, how many hundreds of thousands of miles in the air. A special group. But only one team can win."
The Sharks, in the Final for the first time in the 25-year history of the franchise, had hoped to win and push the series to Game 7. Instead, they watched as the Penguins threw their gloves jubilantly towards the heavens, weaved deliriously through the discarded equipment to embrace in bear hugs and collapse into a pig pile in front of their net.

The San Jose players, their tanks suddenly empty, leaned on their sticks or slumped on their bench, watching helplessly and lethargically as the Pittsburgh celebration started to gain steam. They waited patiently for closure, for the traditional handshake line that signals the end of every playoff series.
"At the end of the day, you battled for two weeks for a dream you have had for so long," defenseman Brent Burns said, the din of the celebrating Pittsburgh fans leaking into the room and competing with the unbearable silence for control of the moment. "It was tight, it was hard hockey. On both sides of the handshake, it is just respect. It's one of the best things about hockey.
"You battle against a guy for two weeks. It's good to look him in the eye and congratulate him. Obviously, it is better to be on the other side."
The handshake line is always the cue for hockey teams to move on to the next task, be it the next series or the start of the offseason.
For the Penguins, it was the start of the pleasurable experience of accepting the Stanley Cup from NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman and beginning a party that will rage all summer.
For the Sharks, it was the most painful task of starting the autopsy of the 2015-16 season, the best in the history of the franchise, but still not good enough.
It [stinks], you know," said forward Joe Thornton, who has played in the NHL for 18 years but never gotten to the Cup Final until this spring. "That's the bottom line, it [stinks]. We thought we had the team by going through the teams we went through in the West [to get here]. It's just tough right now."

Each player in the dressing room understood almost immediately that the Sharks had let an opportunity slip away. Sure, all the focus heading into the series was on the Cup dreams held by the veterans of the group: Thornton, Pavelski, Logan Couture and Patrick Marleau. But each player had a dream about making history, about having his name inscribed on the trophy that makes hardened men go all weepy, about spraying champagne and forming a bond with his teammates that could never be broken.
"[Thornton]'s a guy that means so much to everyone in this room," Burns said. "He's done so much. It's tough not to climb the mountain all the way with him. To not get up there, it's tough."
At some point this summer, and it will likely be a different point for each player, the pain will ease and fonder memories will bubble to the surface. One day they will be able to remember all that they accomplished this season, the story they came together as brothers to write, the sound of the Shark Tank in full roar like it was Sunday, even after the battle had been lost.
"It's been such a great run," Burns said, pulling at his playoff beard as he searched for the words to describe a journey few can comprehend. "It's been fun.
"I don't even know what day it is. I know it is June. But whatever day it is, this a special group of guys. Sometimes, you lose in the first or second round and it feels hard, and then you get a group like this and you get a chance [to go all the way] and it has just been fun."
But now the fun is over. It ended abruptly at 7:46 p.m. local time. The pain, which follows the numbness, is right around the corner for the Sharks.
"It'll hit the body in a couple of days," Burns said, "and it won't feel good."

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San Jose Sharks - Brenden Dillon

 
San Jose defenseman Brenden Dillon kept his own blog throughout the course of the Stanley Cup Final. Dillon checked in after games and on some of the off days in between games.
Here is Dillon's final blog after a 3-1 loss to the Pittsburgh Penguins in Game 6 at SAP Center on Sunday that ended the Sharks' season:
It's hard to imagine that we won't be playing hockey again tomorrow. It stinks. All the battles we have gone through with these guys, to have it end like that; it hurts your soul. That's what you work for and to have 23 guys come together like we did, there's a lot of good in that. But right now, you can't help but feel the bad.
It's tough. I don't think that any of us can look back at the past six or seven weeks and say we didn't give it our all. Everybody was so committed, everybody was doing their part to be a piece of the puzzle. At the end of the day, we weren't able to defeat a good Pittsburgh team. Credit to those guys, they played well and brought it for six games.
For us, this is a special group of guys. I will always remember the brothers I fought with. It's going to be a tough couple weeks, but I'm sure at the end of it, we'll all be able to see some positives. For me, as a player and as a person, on and off the ice, I learned so much from this group, from the leaders and from the young players. We are going to have to try to use the positives to make that next step next season.
The atmosphere tonight at SAP Center was incredible. Even at the end of the game, the crowd was so loud and cheering us on. That is a credit to this city and this fan base. They've been behind us 1,000 percent from day one of training camp to Game 6 of the Stanley Cup Final. It stinks that we weren't able to take that final step.
I think we played well tonight. We had some chances. A power-play goal against for their first one tonight. That's how close it was, how close this whole series has been. It is the hardest trophy to win because you go through three tough teams just to get here. The mental grind is so hard. The Game 7s. Going into Consol Energy Center for a Game 5 and you see the atmosphere there. Then you come back here and have the fans be the way they were. It's unbelievable.
We wanted to do it; we thought we could get it done. This group was a special group. It took us 25 years to get to this point and we saw how hard it is to win the Stanley Cup. The bumps and bruises that the guys went through are unbelievable. Nobody can look back on this and hang their head. We've got to give credit to them, but we will come back stronger. It's a real emotional time right now.

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San Jose Sharks - Beginning Of A Dynasty?



One year after missing the Stanley Cup Playoffs, the San Jose Sharks made the Stanley Cup Final for the first time in their 25-year history.
The Sharks lost to the Pittsburgh Penguins in six games in the Cup Final, but under coach Peter DeBoer they proved to themselves and the rest of the NHL that they have the skill and mental toughness to go deep in the playoffs.
After playing a full regular season and four rounds in the playoffs under DeBoer, the Sharks won't have to spend training camp and the early part of next season learning new systems, as they did this season. That should make for a faster start and an easier path back to the playoffs for another potential run at the Cup.

WHAT THEY SAID: "It's a tough day because there's so many mixed emotions. The one that resonates though is how proud we are of them. We shared that with them as a group, what they've accomplished, the work they've done, taking care of each other to get to this point, players, coaching staff, trainers, everybody. And our fan support's been off the charts, as always. A lot of pride, a lot of proud feelings toward people, but it stings. It may lessen as the summer goes forward, but sitting here right now I'd lying if I said it didn't sting." -- General manager Doug Wilson
THE BURNING QUESTION: The Sharks have never before played this deep into the playoffs. After working so hard for so long yet denied of the ultimate prize, the question is how they'll respond physically and mentally after a short offseason. A number of Sharks, including Joe Thornton, Joe Pavelski, Brent Burns and Marc-Edouard Vlasic, will play in the World Cup of Hockey in September, making their offseason even shorter.
INJURIES: Forward Tomas Hertl missed the final four games in the Final with a right-knee injury. He said he was injured in a collision with Penguins forward Patric Hornqvist late in the third period of Game 2. Hertl is wearing a brace, but he said he won't have to undergo surgery. No other Sharks missed an entire game in the playoffs because of an injury.
WHO COULD GO: Forwards Dainius Zubrus, Nick Spaling and Micheal Haley, defensemen Roman Polak and Matt Tennyson, and backup goaltender James Reimer can become unrestricted free agents July 1. Reimer could attempt to find work as a starting goalie elsewhere, but available jobs are limited. Spaling had a solid playoffs and has the versatility to play center and wing. He could well have earned himself another contract. Polak's spot might go to one of San Jose's young defensemen in the organization. Hertl and speedy forward Matt Nieto are impending restricted free agents, as is defensemen Dylan DeMelo. Hertl did enough this season to earn a long-term contract, and the Sharks need all the speed they can get, and that works in Nieto's favor. Forward Patrick Marleau, the longest-tenured San Jose player, and Thornton each is approaching the final year of his contact. Thornton was one of the Sharks' top players, centering the top line. Marleau had an up-and-down season. Each has a no-trade clause.

BIGGEST NEED(S): Last summer, the Sharks traded for goaltender Martin Jones and signed two key free agents, defenseman Paul Martin and forward Joel Ward, as well as forward Joonas Donskoi, a rookie free agent from Finland. This year, they might fill most of their needs internally from a large crop of recent draft picks. Right wing Timo Meier, the ninth pick in the 2015 NHL Draft, could break through to the NHL at some point next season. Defensemen Jeremy Roy, the 31st pick in 2015, and Mirco Mueller, the 18th selection in 2013, should battle for jobs. So should defenseman Julius Bergman, chosen in the second round in 2014. If Reimer leaves as a free agent, the Sharks will need new a backup goaltender for Jones. Aaron Dell, an impending unrestricted free agent, was their top goaltender for the San Jose Barracuda of the American Hockey League. Dell's AHL teammate, Troy Grosenick, has another year on his contract. The Sharks also signed free agent goaltender Mantas Armalis, a Lithuanian who had been playing professionally in Sweden.
2016 DRAFT PICKS: The Sharks have six picks, but none in the first or third rounds. They traded their first-round pick to the Boston Bruins for Jones.
REASON FOR OPTIMISM: Reaching the Cup Final for the first time in their history was a huge step in the right direction. The majority of the core group should be intact for 2016-17, so the Sharks should be a formidable group again next season.

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San Jose Sharks 2016 - Ready To Go Again




Now that the San Jose Sharks have reached the Stanley Cup Final for the first time, they can't wait to get back and write a better ending.
One day after their season ended with a 3-1 loss to the Pittsburgh Penguins in Game 6 at SAP Center, the Sharks were still reeling from coming up short of winning the Stanley Cup. But they're also optimistic after making such a deep run.
"We were planning on getting on a flight to Pittsburgh," Sharks center Joe Thornton said. "We have such a good group. You just don't want this thing to end. We really thought we could get this thing to Game 7 and you never know what could happen. It's just a weird feeling that all of a sudden you're done with hockey. It just comes to an end. You're just disappointed that way.
"You know how much fun we had as a group. We just realized what kind of special group and special guys we had in this locker room. We just enjoyed the ride and the fans were a big part of that. We fed off their energy. You could feel this was a special year and it could have been even more special. It's going to sting for a little bit, but we'll be back."

Defenseman Brent Burns savored the long postseason run the Sharks went on and is hungry for another chance to win the Cup. Burns had seven goals and 17 assists in 24 playoff games.
"It's disappointing when you lose but this has just been a great journey," Burns said. "You earn the right to play for two months after the season, and it's just a special experience to be a part of that. Obviously you want to win. That's what we play for. You don't dream of losing when you're 3-years-old. You want to win. To earn a spot, to fight for that. There's 28 teams that would kill for it. It's hard to get there.
"We talk about it's hard to make the playoffs in this League, and it is. Every night is a battle. Then that first round is always hard, second round, third round. You get to that fourth round, and it's a pretty special group to be a part of. Just the way this team was together. Every day was fun. We enjoyed the work, we enjoyed being at the rink. Just a special year."
Most of the Sharks' core players are under contract for next season, and there's a large group of recent high draft picks pushing to earn a roster spot. Sharks general manager Doug Wilson said his team is well positioned to make another run at the Cup.

"There's lots of competition, lots of young players within our organization," Wilson said. "We expect, we all expect of ourselves to be a top team in this League. We got back to that level and we expect to stay there."
Wilson made one thing clear: coach Peter DeBoer and assistant coaches Bob Boughner, Steve Spott and Johan Hedberg will all be back next season.
"That's as good a job as I've ever seen coaches do, right across the board," Wilson said. "That's the thing about Pete, is he delegates. He built an outstanding staff. So yes, they'll be back."
In his first season with the Sharks, DeBoer led them to the Final. He's eager for another trip.
"You get that close, you want to get back there again," DeBoer said. "That's the taste that gets left in your mouth. That's the goal. Short summer, World Cup, fatigue, those kind of things we're going to have to manage.
"Then you you've got to start the marathon again in October, and it's never an easy hill to climb. The fact the guys got a taste of it this year I think will be helpful."









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KHL - Friendlies July 22-25 2016

Thursday, July 22
With the summer vacations over and the start of the 2016-17 Championship looming on the horizon, the time has come for the coaches to put their theories into practice and see how their new players, combinations, tactics and formations fare in the real world against determined opposition. In short, it is preseason friendly time, and on Thursday four of the League's teams were in action in three different countries across Europe.
* The sole all-KHL contest took place in Finland, where Traktor Chelyabinsk made the short trip from its camp in Pajulahti to meet Lokomotiv at the Yaroslavl men's base in Valkeakoski. The game was played in an unusual four-period format, with bosses Anvar Gatiyatulin and Alexei Kudashov both rotating three lines for the first half of the game and introducing a total change of personnel for the remainder. It was the Railwaymen who looked the sharper and they sealed a confidence-boosting 4-0 win, courtesy of goals from Stanislav Chistov, VladislavKartayev, Pavel Kraskovsky and Yegor Korshkov.
* Meanwhile, the men of Ugra Khanty-Mansiysk were at camp in Belarus, where a 3-1 defeat at the hands of local side Yunost-Minsk left coach Pavel Yezovskikh with plenty to ponder. Finally, in Moscow, the fourth KHL club in action was Amur Khabarovsk, who earlier in the week had suffered a surprise 3-2 loss to SKA Neva of the VHL. The teams met again on Thursday, but this time the Khabarovsk men exacted revenge with a 5-0 victory.


Sunday, July 25
There were four friendly games played on Sunday featuring teams from the KHL – one in Latvia, one in Italy, and two in Finland, and it was the little Finnish village of Vierumaki that hosted an historic hockey occasion: the first ever game played by HC Kunlun Red Star, the League's new club from Beijing.
* The opponents were the men of Traktor Chelyabinsk, still smarting from a 4-0 drubbing by Lokomotiv last week and eager to return to winning ways. Thus, the fact that Traktor emerged victorious surprised precisely no-one, but the result remained in doubt until the final few minutes: Maxim Yakutsenya broke the deadlock in the second period and Alexander Sharov's late strike sealed a modest 2-0 win, so while Vladimir Yurzinov's men must fight another day for their first goal and first victory, there were certainly plenty of positives to take from the day's events.
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In Vierumaki, fans of Janne Jalasvaara still proudly wear his old jerseys...


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... while the man himself shows off his latest attire.

* The optimism was even apparent on the face and in the words of Red Star sporting director Vladimir Krechin, who had made no secret of his yearning to triumph over Traktor, his former employers. “For a team which was put together in a mere two weeks, we gave a creditable performance. It will take time, but we'll soon have Sean Collins and Tobias Viklund arriving, and with them we'll just get better and better.”
His thoughts were echoed by Canadian forward Alexandre Picard, currently on a tryout with the Kunlun club. Picard is a disarmingly affable character who has obviously won the affections of his team-mates; if he impresses the coaches and becomes a full Red Star player, he is sure to be a firm favorite with the press.
“It was a good game," Alexandre said, "but I and some of the other guys only joined up a few days ago and we're still not fully acclimatized. Of course there's a lack of team understanding, but overall we're still playing well. We created scoring chances and we stayed in contention until the last few minutes, so we can hold our heads high.”
In modern hockey, of course, nearly every team is multi-national, but Picard concedes that his current collective celebrates diversity like no other: “Oh, yes, it's crazy! You could hear six different languages in the locker room. But it's fun and it's fascinating. We'll gradually learn one another's languages.”
He was similarly upbeat about adapting to the level of the KHL: “That's long ceased to be a mystery. I played for several years in Switzerland and often met KHL teams in the Spengler Cup or friendly matches, so I'm quite familiar with them.”
The Red Star ranks on Sunday boasted no fewer than six Chinese players, including Rudi Ying, who has considerable experience of the game in North America. He shared his impressions on this new experience: “Undoubtedly, there is a gap between Chinese players and those in the KHL, but today showed that it's not unbridgable. I am sure that withtime we can adapt and play at this level.”
Mr. Yurzinov agreed: ”The Chinese have laid good foundations,” said the head coach. “They are good physically, they skate well, and the technique is not bad. They sorely need more game practice, as the season in China is quite short with few games, and we won't progress without getting a few matches under our belts. With practice like this, the team will blossom.”
* The other encounter in Finland took place in Espoo, between Traktor's recent conquerors, Lokomotiv, and Spartak, and it was another win for Alexei Kudashov's Railwaymen, this time by a 3-1 margin. The Muscovites made the brighter start and Viktor Bobrov gave them an early lead, but the Yaroslavl men hit back with strikes from Vladislav Kartayev, Patrik Hersley and Roman Manukhov.
* The other two games went the way of Traktor vs. Red Star, in that they finished with 2-0 on the scoreboard. Evgeny Timkin and Evgeny Biryukov scored as Gagarin Cup champion Metallurg Magnitogorsk defeated the Italian national team in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Bavaria, while Salavat Yulaev triumphed over Toros in Riga, thanks to goals from Teemu Hartikainen and Sergei Soin.

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