San Jose Sharks
Preview/Lines #32: Why Dickinson Grew Up Canadiens Fan, Askarov Back, Reaves Says Leafs “Stepping Stone” to San Jose
TORONTO — Sam Dickinson grew up in Toronto, but he was not a Toronto Maple Leafs fan.
He can thank his father, Steve, for sparing him.
“I grew up in the 70’s. My parents wanted me to have a nice childhood,” Steve laughed, “so it was pretty easy to be a Montreal Canadiens fan.”
The Canadiens, led by the likes of Guy Lafleur, Larry Robinson, and Ken Dryden dominated the decade, hoisting six Stanley Cups. The Leafs reached the Semi-Finals, the equivalent of the Conference Finals, once in the 70’s, getting swept by the Canadiens.
Sam Dickinson didn't like hockey when he was a kid.
Once an unplayable back-up goalie and the worst forward on his team, how did the Toronto native blossom into a top young #SJSharks defenseman?
Steve Dickinson, Sam's dad, shared great stories: https://t.co/oVx17CTHyn
— Sheng Peng (@Sheng_Peng) December 11, 2025
So the Dickinson family was, until the San Jose Sharks made their middle child the No. 11 pick of the 2024 Draft, fans of the Habs.
“I loved Price and Subban, Pacioretty, their best players,” Sam recalled.
He admitted, when the San Jose Sharks traded for Price’s contract over the summer, that the thought crossed his mind, how cool it would be to play with one of his childhood favorites.
“Maybe the little kid in me was like, yeah, maybe,” Dickinson smiled.
Told Dickinson will have over 80 family/friends at Scotiabank Arena for his homecoming game tonight https://t.co/3Uy109Y2lE
— Sheng Peng (@Sheng_Peng) December 11, 2025
San Jose Sharks (14-14-3)
Alex Nedeljkovic will start. Yaroslav Askarov, who was too sick to back up at the Philadelphia Flyers on Tuesday, is feeling better, and will be able to back up.
Askarov on the ice for morning skate, great to see, after sickness took him out of even backing up in the Philly game. He immediately does a little dance when he gets out on the ice lol
— Sheng Peng (@Sheng_Peng) December 11, 2025
Askarov was set to start against the Flyers, but he started feeling ill on Monday. He says it was the flu.
Askarov just made me feel very old.
He did a little dance when he hit the ice, he said it was because it's been a long 3 days away from it.
I told him it was like a Snoopy-like dance. He was like, "Who?"
I showed him a picture. He says he knows Snoop Dogg, not Snoopy 🤣
— Sheng Peng (@Sheng_Peng) December 11, 2025
These are the Sharks’ projected lines, Warsofsky confirmed that Zack Ostapchuk, Nick Leddy, and Vincent Iorio will sit out:
Graf-Celebrini-Smith
Eklund-Wennberg-Toffoli
Skinner-Dellandrea-Kurashev
Goodrow-Gaudette-Reaves
Ferraro-Mukhamadullin
Orlov-Klingberg
Dickinson-Liljegren
Nedeljkovic
Ryan Reaves says he holds no grudges against the #leafs, but would have appreciated a little more "honesty and communication" while in limbo last season:
"They basically said that I couldn't play in this league anymore. And I'm back."
— Chris Johnston (@reporterchris) December 11, 2025
Ex-Leaf Ryan Reaves called Toronto “a stepping stone” to San Jose.
Toronto Maple Leafs (14-11-4)
Definitely a lot more cameras than Thrun was used to in San Jose pic.twitter.com/pAniN2y2EP
— Sheng Peng (@Sheng_Peng) December 11, 2025
Henry Thrun will make his Maple Leafs debut tonight. The San Jose Sharks traded Thrun to Toronto over the summer for Ryan Reaves.
Thrun says he had dinner with Graf last night
— Sheng Peng (@Sheng_Peng) December 11, 2025
Dennis Hildeby is in the home net and is the projected starter against the Sharks tonight.
@BodogCA pic.twitter.com/swji94e5Gf
— David Alter (@dalter) December 11, 2025
Where To Watch
Puck drop between the San Jose Sharks and Toronto Maple Leafs is at 4 PM PT at Scotiabank Arena. Watch it live on NBC Sports California. Listen to it on the Sharks Audio Network.
