2013 Opening Day: San Jose Sharks Vs. Calgary Flames
By Ryan Bayer
CALGARY, CANADA – JANUARY 24: Andrew Desjardins #69 and Jason Demers #60 of the San Jose Sharks skate against the Calgary Flames on January 24, 2012 at the Scotiabank Saddledome in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. Mandatory credit: Gerry Thomas
San Jose Sharks fans have been waiting a long for this day to come, the start of the new NHL season. The Sharks start their season on the road against the Calgary Flames. When San Jose last played, they were eliminated by the St. Louis Blues in five games in the Western Conference Quarterfinals. In the offseason Doug Wilson made a series of moves on both sides of the team.
He made his first trade with the Detroit Red Wings since being the GM with San Jose on June 10, 2012. That trade sent forward Andrew Murray negotiating rights plus a conditional 7th round draft pick(2014) to Detroit in exchange for Brad Stuart contracting rights. Stuart was originally drafted by the Sharks in the 1998 NHL Draft as the third overall pick. On June 18, 2012 Stuart and San Jose agreed to a a three-year $10.8 Million deal. Doug Wilson made another roster move by signing UFA Adam Burish to a 4-year deal at $1.8 million per year, thus reuniting him with University of Wisconsin teammate Joe Pavelski.
The Sharks were not done making moves as they made the most prominent addition with the organization came behind their bench. Former Devils assistant and Hall of Fame defenseman Larry Robinson joined the staff. His primary task will be improving a penalty kill that ranked 29th last season. The offensive end shouldn’t be a problem for the Sharks, who last season ranked second in shots, face-offs and power-play percentage. San Jose also brought in assistant coach Jim Johnson to help out with the teams defense.
For the Flames, General Manager Jay Feaster elected not to re-sign Olli Jokinen. He decided to tap into the free agent market by signing former Red Wing’s forward Jiri Hudler to a four-year contract worth $16 million and traded for former Washington Capitals defenseman Dennis Wideman rights. In the Wideman trade, Feaster sent Jordan Hendry and a fifth round draft pick to the Capitals. Furthermore, he made another move by adding Czech Republic forward Roman Cervenka to his roster. Cervenka spent last season playing in the KHL with Avangard Omsk.
Injury report: For the Sharks, Brent Burns is questionable following hernia surgery. Justin Bruan (hand) and Jason Demers (wrist) are out. The Flames could be missing new additions Cervenka and Hudler. Cervenka is out with a blood clot, and Hudler was nursing an abdominal injury before returning to the Czech Republic to attend his father’s funeral. Anton Babchuk (shoulder) is out; Jarome Iginla (groin) is expected to play.
2011-2012 NHL Season Series Statistics: Calgary Flames tied San Jose Sharks 2-2.
Today’s contest has a 3:00p PST puck drop and can be seen on Comcast Sports Net California and can be heard on 98.5 KFOX.
LET’S GO SHARKS!!!!!!!!!!!
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