SAN JOSE — Joe Pavelski didn’t hesitate when requested if he wish to take part within the Sharks’ celebration this weekend of longtime former teammate Joe Thornton, and he was hit with a flood of reminiscences when he returned to San Jose earlier this week.
“This is awesome. It really is,” Pavelski stated Friday of being in San Jose to see Thornton’s No. 19 raised into the rafters at SAP Middle on Saturday. “Flying in the other day, and then getting here and being here for a day or two, and seeing all the faces, you forget how much you miss it, and miss the place and miss the people. It’s fun.”
Maybe now it’s a query of whether or not Pavelski, who was one in all 35 or so former Sharks to play within the group’s alumni sport Friday at Tech CU Area, may in the future think about returning to the group in some capability.
The lately retired Pavelski, 40, stated in July that he had conversations with Sharks normal supervisor Mike Grier a few potential return to the group’s lineup. That didn’t occur, in fact, however the door seems open for Pavelski to return to the group — effectively down the road — in some vogue.
Pavelski stated he’s not dashing into something with any NHL group proper now, and the Sharks are keen to let him take pleasure in his post-retirement life. Pavelski performed the primary 13 years of his NHL profession with the Sharks, adopted by 5 seasons with the Dallas Stars.
“I like the game. We talk,” Pavelski stated Friday when requested about returning to the Sharks. “Dallas, there’s been a few teams that call and always offer something. But these first few years, it’s going to be all about the family, being around, and taking a step back a little bit.”
The Sharks have a number of alumni of their entrance workplace, together with assistant normal supervisor Ryane Clowe, director of goaltending Evgeni Nabokov, and improvement coaches Patrick Marleau, Tommy Wingels, and Mike Ricci.
“If there’s conversations to be had, then they’ll happen,” stated Pavelski, who captained the Sharks from 2015 to 2019. “But no strings attached right now. Not too worried about that.”
Pavelski’s final NHL sport was on June 2, when the Stars misplaced 2-1 to the Edmonton Oilers in a series-clinching Sport 6 of the Western Convention Closing. Pavelski hinted at his retirement shortly after the sequence ended and made it official in mid-July.
Pavelski stated he’s “skated once or twice with the beer leagues” since his retirement, however nonetheless watches the Sharks, who enter Saturday’s sport with the Buffalo Sabres with a 6-11-5 file after their 3-2 shootout loss to the St. Louis Blues on Thursday. San Jose has gone 6-4-3 since a 0-7-2 begin.
Whereas promising younger ahead Will Smith was given a improvement day Thursday, fellow rookie Macklin Celebrini assisted on each of Alexander Wennberg’s targets and now had seven factors in 10 video games this season.
“Very exciting team. Young, obviously, and it’s good to see them kind of get going now and play,” Pavelski stated of the Sharks. “You’ve got some of those young kids you’re watching, and you’re cheering for them.
“You’ve been a part of it. You always feel it. It’s a great organization. You want to see them keep having that success and keep growing.”
Pavelski stated he missed taking part in a extra vital half in Patrick Marleau’s No. 12 jersey retirement ceremony in Feb. 2023. Pavelski was halfway via his fourth season with the Stars and couldn’t be in San Jose.
Nonetheless, Pavelski shortly credited Marleau and Thornton for serving to him grow to be a greater participant.
“When you look back to then, you don’t realize how fortunate you are as a young kid to come into the locker room you did with the people, the characters and just how much fun we had and how much you can learn,” stated Pavelski, who was 22 when he made his Sharks debut in Nov. 2006.
“It was definitely a huge building block for me. Coming in there and being around these guys was awesome.”
MARLEAU ON THORNTON: The one different participant extra synonymous with the Sharks than Thornton is Marleau, who, in fact, is delighted that his former teammate’s quantity shall be beside his contained in the Shark Tank.
“It’s unbelievable. It’s going to be great to be able to look up in the rafters and see a 12 and a 19 side by side,” Marleau stated Friday. “It’s going to be really special.”
Thornton and Marleau have been taken first and second total, respectively, within the 1997 NHL Draft in Pittsburgh. Thornton went to the Boston Bruins, and Marleau to the Sharks.
They turned teammates on November 30, 2005, when the Sharks acquired Thornton from the Bruins for forwards Marco Sturm, Wayne Primeau, and defenseman Brad Stuart.
“When you’re 18 and getting drafted, you don’t think something like that’s going to happen,” Marleau stated of getting a quantity retired within the NHL. “But when that trade happened, and he came here, it was just unbelievable. I was so excited to have him here.
“But now that both our numbers are going up and they’re going to be there side by side, that’s something pretty special. And I’m very honored to look up there and see his number with mine.”
Initially Revealed: November 22, 2024 at 8:11 PM PST
