Sharks News Flash: Owen Nolan Sounds Off, Logan Couture On Hockey Moms

San Jose Sharks’ great Owen Nolan was inducted into the Bay Area Sports Hall of Fame last week, and while he was there, provided his opinions on the Sharks’ disappointing playoff exit.

“I am surprised,” he told the San Jose Mercury News. “I really thought this year we were going to make a really solid run at it, especially when they get up three-games-to-none. To lose four straight, it was disheartening.”

Nolan has been on the other side of the situation. As captain of the 1999-2000 Sharks’ team, he led the way when an eight-seeded San Jose team upset the one-seed St. Louis Blues in the first round.

“You just watched the way LA played and it’s almost the same scenario as when we played St. Louis,” said Nolan. “It was desperation and pure desire to find a way to win. LA found a way to do that.”

Couture On Hockey Moms

Logan Couture wrote a nice piece for USA Today on Mothers’ Day, talking about his special relationship with his own mom.

If you played hockey — or any sport, for that matter — growing up, you’ll understand (and sometimes underestimate) the amount of time, money, and energy your parents spend to keep on top of things.

Here’s an excerpt, and I urge you to read the rest:

My parents were so giving with their time and with the money they spent to put me through hockey. We had very few vacations. Instead, my mom would take me from one hockey town to another, from one city to another, and all of her free time and extra money was spent on that. A lot of weekends were spent driving me around to cities that weren’t too close to my hometown.

Speaking of Couture, the Sharks’ forward is one of eight players being considered to be on the cover of EA Sports’ video game NHL 15. He is matched up against Drew Doughty of the Kings in round one, and fans can vote on who advances.