Sommer on What Happened in Henderson, Merkley’s Progress, How Wiesblatt & Robins Look in AHL

Roy Sommer has never seen a road trip like this.

That’s in 32 years as a coach, in the IHL, WHL, RHI, ECHL, AHL, and NHL.

The San Jose Sharks, of course, have just returned home from a continuous 32-day road trip. That’s long, but pales in comparison to the San Jose Barracuda, still on the road until their Feb. 21 match-up against Tucson. By the time they’re back, it’ll be 60-plus days away from San Jose for some of the Barracuda, if you count pre-training camp skates.

“Yeah,” Sommer laughed, “definitely the longest one for me.”

Days before the Barracuda drop the puck on their season on Feb. 7 in Tucson, San Jose Hockey Now caught up with Sommer for an exclusive interview. Sommer talks about the challenges of this upcoming campaign, what happened on Saturday night in Henderson, Ryan Merkley’s progress, how Ozzy Wiesblatt and Tristen Robins look in the AHL, and Joachim Blichfeld’s less-than-great practice habits last year.