Sharks Locker Room: Karlsson Says San Jose Doing Best They Can in ‘S****y Situation’

CALGARY — It looked like the San Jose Sharks might get blown out early in Saturday afternoon’s game versus the Calgary Flames, as they found themselves down two less than eight minutes into the opening period. Instead, they were able to fight their way back, and even held a very brief 3-2 lead in the second frame, before falling 5-3.

Erik Karlsson continued his historic season, as he registered two assists, the second of which gave him 68 on the year to pass Brent Burns for most assists by a defenseman in a single season in franchise history. His assists came on Logan Couture and Nico Sturm goals, while Martin Kaut was also able to put one by Jacob Markstrom for his third of the year.

After the game, Karlsson, Couture and David Quinn gave their thoughts on a few different topics, including Karlsson’s historic season.

Karlsson talked about what it means that his teammates want him to get to 100 points, Couture shared that he and Andrew Agozzino played against each other in the OHL, and Quinn talked about the newest San Jose Sharks signing Henry Thrun.

See Erik Karlsson’s interview here

Erik Karlsson, on his teammates wanting him to reach the 100-point marker:

That’s the group we have here. It’s been a rough year. There hasn’t been much celebration, but we play for each other and try to help each other out the best way we can. Guys are playing hard in a tough situation for small things. It’s nice to come to the rink every day and feel like we support each other and try to do the best out of a shitty situation.

Couture tells @BretHedican, about one of his goals to close #SJSharks season: "Personally, I want to see Erik get 100 points…For him, we're going to try as hard as we can to get him there."

— Sheng Peng (@Sheng_Peng) March 25, 2023

Karlsson, on being used on a pairing with Marc-Edouard Vlasic:

He’s a veteran guy that knows his role out there. He works hard too. We try to help each other out and complement each other the best way we think we can. We’ve been trying pretty much everything this year, and now we are where we are.

Karlsson, on what it would mean to reach 100 points: 

Obviously it would be nice, I’m not going to lie. It’s going to be a tough ask, it has been for a while [to achieve that mark]. We’re just going to try and do the best we can. Guys come to the rink every day and show up for each other, and we find enjoyment in smaller things these days. We don’t have much left now, so hopefully we can empty the tanks and everybody can end on a better foot than the previous 72 games.

See Logan Couture’s interview here

Logan Couture, on Karlsson’s season:

Tremendous. I really hope he can get 100. That would mean a lot to him, it would mean a lot to every guy in this room. He’s had an incredible year. It’s made coming to the rink fun, to watch him play and be apart of his year that he’s having. That would be a highlight to finish the year.

Couture, on the atmosphere in the room despite the losing season:

I think it’s a tight group under the circumstances that we’re under. We’ve moved out so many bodies and there’s so many new bodies that have come in. You feel like you’re meeting a new guy almost every single day, but every guy that’s come into this locker room has gotten along with everyone. So in that sense it’s been a fun year. It’s still fun to come to the rink with the group, although it sucks losing. I think the coaching staff has tried to keep us as positive as [best] they can. It’s a really foreign situation to a lot of them as well. This is probably the first time they’ve gone through a season like this. First time that a lot of us have gone through a season with this many losses. It’s not fun losing hockey games, but I guess you can say that it’s been a good group of guys in the room.

Couture, on Andrew Agozzino getting an opportunity at the NHL level:

It’s always nice to see guys get a chance. I played against Andrew in the OHL probably 16, 17 years ago, so I knew him as a player when we signed him. I obviously followed his career a little bit when he played 40 or 60 NHL games. He’s been an incredible American League player, so you know he has that skill. It’s fun to see a guy like that contribute when they get the opportunity.

See David Quinn’s interview here

David Quinn, on what it would mean to see Karlsson hit 100 points:

I think it would mean a lot. Can you imagine if our power play was going at an average rate, what he would have? I think he leads the NHL, or is close to it, in 5-on-5 points. Our power play has been abysmal for two months. If our power play could ever get going here for the last nine games, he might get there by Wednesday. It would be a lot of fun to watch him get to 100 points. I know our players feel that way, they want to see it happen for him.

Quinn, on the Sharks signing defenseman Henry Thrun: 

I do know Henry, I’ve known him for a long time. We’ve got a really good player. Looking forward to seeing him when he gets to town.