Why Joe Pavelski is San Jose’s ‘captain serious’
LOS ANGELES – The difference in Joe Pavelski’s life as a hockey player has been minimal since he was named San Jose Sharks captain Monday.
“Just a few more interviews lately and stuff,” Pavelski said. “We have a good, strong group in here that has a lot of experience and has known each other for a while, that has definitely made the transition easier.”
The tag line with the Sharks has always revolved around the leadership group and the strong core in their dressing room. They have two former team captains in Joe Thornton and Patrick Marleau. Defenseman Marc-Edouard Vlasic has worn an alternate captain’s ‘A’ for the Sharks.
There’s now veterans Joel Ward and Paul Martin to add experience. But by naming Pavelski as captain the Sharks believe they have the right type of serious, deep-thinking voice to lead the group for the next several years.
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Last season, the Sharks stripped Thornton of his ‘C’ and went with all alternates. Naming Pavelski captain should be a ‘turn the page’ type moment for the franchise. Regardless of whether the team handled it the right way, this brings finality. Thornton and Logan Couture will be alternates this season.
“Great choice,” Thornton said. “After it was taken from me last year I think we all kind of expected Joe would get it, that was just the feeling amongst us. Just very happy for him. He has been here his whole career. He has been a great Shark and I’m truly happy for him.”
A season ago the Sharks missed the playoffs for the first time since 2002-03. While the captaincy situation wasn’t the entire reason, it made for a team-wide distraction at critical points during the year.
During the mess, Pavelski stayed consistent with 70 points, leading the Sharks. While we’re not completely privy to what always happens in locker rooms he came across as captain-worthy in a speech he gave during EPIX filming of San Jose’s road to the Stadium Series.
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Pavelski isn’t one of those types of hockey players who was given an opportunity based on a high draft position. He’s earned his spot in the NHL through hard work, which again aided in the choice to give him the ‘C’. Pavelski, 31, was a seventh-round pick in the 2003 draft.
“He plays an honest game,” coach Peter DeBoer said. “He’s worked for what he’s got. He wasn’t handed any jobs in the NHL. He’s earned the respect of everybody around him with how he plays and how he carries himself. There’s no … what you see is what you get with Joe and I think people appreciate that and people want to follow those types of leaders.”
Early in his captaincy, Pavelski has been challenged with somewhat of a crisis. Discussing Raffi Torres’ head shot of Anaheim Ducks forward Jakob Silfverberg and Torres’ subsequent 41-game suspension required some verbal maneuvering by Pavelski.
As the Sharks’ unofficial player media representative, he needed to hit the right tone when discussing it. Though Torres is liked in the room, his headshot was panned across the hockey world, and generally seen as the type of play the NHL was trying to weed out to guard against debilitating head injuries.
Pavelski was able to come across as sympathetic to Torres, while also understanding the seriousness of the hit.
“Obviously it’s unfortunate for the length of the suspension that happened,” Pavelski said. “We’re kind of disappointed. We’re excited to see what Raffi is going to bring, and we’ll have to wait a little bit longer now.”
Interestingly, the Sharks leadership calmness comes at a time when a team coached by former San Jose bench boss Todd McLellan experienced some upheaval. On Wednesday the Edmonton Oilers announced Andrew Ference had given up his ‘C’ and would go with alternate captains. McLellan was part of the decision to get rid of Thornton’s captaincy a year ago.
“I’m sure they’ll find one,” Thornton said. “They have plenty of good candidates I’m sure and I’m sure they’re just trying to figure out who is the leader of that team being the whole new coaching staff. They’ll take their time to choose the right guy.”
It’s unclear as to whether Pavelski is the type of leader who can finally get the Sharks over the hump and into the Stanley Cup Final. He’s been on all but one of the post 2004-05 NHL lockout Sharks teams that have fallen flat on major expectations.
Does a new captain make that much of a difference?
Said Couture, “It’s nice to not have to answer questions about it … “
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Josh Cooper is an editor for Puck Daddy on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter! Follow @joshuacooper
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