Sheng Peng
Kevin Labanc is used to being discounted.
When he was 15, he was the last player picked for the USA Hockey National Team Development Program. When he was 18, 170 players were picked ahead of him in the 2014 NHL Draft, until the San Jose Sharks called his name in the sixth round. Last summer, it was Labanc who gave the team a discount, signing a one-year, $1 million dollar contract after a 56-point campaign.
But overlook Labanc at your own peril: “It’s my biggest attribute, it’s my work ethic. That hunger to strive for better, that’s the one thing that kept me going.”
That attitude hasn’t changed after four improbable years in the NHL. According to Jokke Nevalainen, only about eight percent of all sixth-round picks play over 100 NHL games. At 284 games and counting, Labanc has played more games than any fifth, sixth, or seventh-round pick from his draft year.
“Even for me now, it’s never-ending. You have to keep developing yourself,” Labanc said. “Because there’s always somebody else who’s doing it.”
San Jose Hockey Now caught up with Labanc, who’s back in his native Staten Island, this morning. The 24-year-winger talked about being one of the smallest guys in the USA Hockey room as a teenager, his favorite Dale Hawerchuk saying, why the San Jose Sharks season went south, and if he has any regrets about his below-market contract.
Sheng Peng: Nick Fohr, who coached you with USA Hockey, said you were a player who came in “really behind his group” but that you developed so much. What are your memories of where you started out, compared to your peers, as a 15-year-old in 2011?
Kevin Labanc: I was definitely a late bloomer. Guys had that extra weight and height.
I didn’t have as much talent as all the other guys, but one thing that I had, and it’s my biggest attribute, it’s my work ethic. That hunger to strive for better, that’s the one thing that kept me going.
I made sure that I was working out in the weight room, stayed on the ice extra, that’s how you catch up.
SP: How small were you, compared to everybody else, in 2011? Those were stacked teams too: Seth Jones, Will Butcher, Brady Skjei, Jacob Trouba, J.T. Compher, and Andrew Copp, to name just a few future NHL’ers.
KL: Everyone was like 6-foot, I was 5-foot-8, 5-foot-9. Everyone was physically developed too.
Even for me now, it’s never-ending. You have to keep developing yourself. Because there’s always somebody else who’s doing it.
SP: I’m 5-foot-8 myself. Imagining you back then, that would be like me walking into a high school football locker room and telling them I’m playing.
KL: When I was playing for USA Hockey, they were picking the best 22 or 23 players in the country for that age group. I was the last pick. Somebody optioned out of it, they went to the CHL. That left a spot open for me.
I wasn’t even on their radar. But they saw me at a tournament. Caught me at a couple of games, next thing you know, they’re calling me, asking me to come.
It’s great playing for your country, playing for the USA, being able to wear the USA jersey. It’s something that everyone dreams of.
SP: Moving on, you were supposed to play at Notre Dame. Was Dale Hawerchuk a big reason why you chose instead to go to the Barrie Colts?
KL: He’s a Hall of Famer. So it’s hard to say no to an apprenticeship under a player of that caliber.
I thought my best bet was going to the OHL. It obviously worked out.
To give up an offer from Notre Dame, it’s a hard decision to make. But I wouldn’t have been able to make it without my family too.
SP: You’ve said Dale brought out “the Canadian in you.” Can you explain that?
KL: One memory of him that I have, after practice, he’d always just be cracking jokes, have a smile on his face. But after practice, he would say, “Do your homework. Watch the game tonight. It’s a free education.”
It always puts a smile on my face, whenever I think about that.
Up in Canada, hockey’s a religion, right?
He instilled that in me, always be thinking about hockey, always be surrounded by hockey.
SP: Did you ever play in “The Breakfast Club” with him?
KL: Yeah. Aww man. (laughs) Those were so much fun.
I’d always skate. You’d play three-on-three, four-on-four. Stay on the ice, break a good sweat, have fun with the guys. Losers would have to buy lunch or something like that.
Boy, he still had it. He scored like he was 18 years old and in the NHL. He still had that touch.
He just loved coming to the rink. He was a rink rat.
SP: Fair to say that Dale’s Breakfast Club team would usually be the one that had lunch bought for them?
KL: Yeah. (laughs) They always won. He always wanted to play too. It’s not like he was sitting out. Great memories.
SP: I wanted to ask you about another big influence in your life, your Mom. She’s a receptionist at a doctor’s office in New York. How were the early months of the pandemic for her? She’s doing OK now?
KL: Yeah, she goes to both buildings and she manages patients and people and everything. So it was hard. She was non-stop, constantly working. She wouldn’t get home until later and then up early in the morning again and then back at it.
She’s a frontline worker. She’s done everything to help everybody in this pandemic. And she’s done an awesome job.
She’s a great woman. That’s why we love her. She’ll do anything not just for me, but for other people. She’s my mom, and I love her.
SP: I read also that some family members of yours tested COVID-19 positive. Everything okay on that front for your family?
KL: Yeah, my family is doing well. My uncle, a couple other cousins, but they’re all good. It wasn’t very bad for them. Some cases you hear, they’re horror stories. People are sick, they can’t move. Thank God, they didn’t get bad cases.
SP: Thanks so much for your time, Kevin. I just wanted to close off with a few Sharks questions. Now you have some distance, can you assess what happened with the team this year?
KL: It just started at the beginning.
It was like a butterfly effect. We didn’t have a good preseason, I think. Then it kind of rippled down.
We had a good stretch, won 11 games, next thing you know, we’re losing every other game.
We just didn’t really click, we didn’t get the right bounces. That was a big thing for us.
Then we started getting frustrated at one another. It’s hard in the battle of the season’s grind, nothing is going for you. Everyone’s mad at each other, mad at themselves.
We just have to find ways to get out of the funk and get going.
It was a good learning experience for myself as well. I’ve never had a season where it went that poorly.
The job for us right now is to make sure that we’re healed, that we’re working out, giving it our all and skating. When next season starts, we’re going to be ready.
Every time we step onto the ice, whether it’s main camp or preseason games, we’re gonna give it our all, set the tempo for ourselves and have a good start for next season.
SP: You said last summer that you had done “a big favor” for the Sharks, signing that one-year, $1 million dollar contract. Do you regret signing that deal now?
KL: My biggest thing is winning the Stanley Cup. I want to win the Stanley Cup with the Sharks.
I got drafted there, I love the city of San Jose. There’s no place where I’d rather win the Stanley Cup.
At the time, the best thing for me was to take a discount, do the best that I can to help the team get to the playoffs. Obviously, it didn’t happen.
But that’s the goal. We all want to see Jumbo win the Stanley Cup.
It starts right now for all of us, while we’re training and working out.
I don’t like to think about contract negotiations because that takes away from your ability to work out. You don’t want to have that hanging over your head. I just keep putting my nose to the grindstone, working hard.
SP: You’re a restricted free agent again this off-season, fair to say that there’s mutual interest from both sides for you to come back?
KL: Yeah. I definitely want to come back to San Jose. I’ve been here long enough. I know the system. I know the way things work around there. I know the guys. We all got good chemistry. It would be the best scenario for me to come back and be with all those guys.
SP: Finally, perhaps the biggest San Jose Sharks story this summer was Evander Kane and Joel Ward helping to form the Hockey Diversity Alliance. Can you talk about that and the importance of white hockey players speaking up about racism?
KL: I’m proud that Evander and Joel, they’re the ones who stepped up and started it.
It’s awesome seeing them voice their opinion and act. A lot of guys, not just on our team, are on board.
Racism is a scary thing. It’s crazy to think it’s still out there. But it is. There’s no room in any sport or society for racism to still exist.
The Hockey Diversity Alliance is a great start.
Anything he’s going to be doing in season, I’m going to be with him on it. That’s the main thing for me, making sure that my actions are speaking louder than words.