Sharks Locker Room: Bonino or Reimer Traded?

The San Jose Sharks dropped their last game before the NHL’s Trade Deadline. In their 6-3 loss to the St. Louis Blues, the Sharks allowed four goals in the second period.

With the Deadline approaching, Steven Lorentz addressed the difficulties of playing on a team with frequent trade rumors. James Reimer commented on trade rumors as well, in addition to discussing the San Jose Sharks’ consistency so far this season. David Quinn talked about possibly losing players he’s become especially close with in his coaching career, such as Nick Bonino.

Between player and coach availability, some reporters saw Reimer and Bonino embrace in the hallway in front of the Sharks locker room. Are either — or both — headed out of town? After some hug analysis, Bonino is the consensus favorite for the player who got the bad (good?) news. We’ll see soon.

Steven Lorentz, on playing when constant trade rumors surround the team:

It’s definitely something that guys say, ‘It’s not really on their mind.’ They try to get distracted, not really think about it, but it’s on everyone’s mind. We’re only human. [With] the position we’re in, we obviously have some talent here, there’s a lot of question marks. We don’t know what’s gonna happen. This is my first time in this position, where there was this many moving pieces. Guys can tell that there’s already been a lot of movement around the league, so we’ll see tomorrow when it’s over. We’re just gonna have to deal with the squad we got and we’ve been happy with what we’ve had all year. It just comes down to looking yourself in the mirror and bringing your game. We’re all here for a reason; being able to contribute in this lineup night-in and night-out.

Lorentz, on how it feels to see teammates traded:

Our record is what it is, but at the end of the day, we’re a tight knit group. Nobody comes in here every single day slouching, upset, and mad at performances. We’re disappointed but we have such a tight knit group of guys. We have guys pulling the same rope. Like I said, it’s frustrating that we have the results that we have because guys aren’t coming in here and pointing fingers at each other, blaming. It’s a tight-knit group and we all want to win. It’s not that we don’t want to win. It’s just these little mistakes, whether they’re mental errors, or we get stuck out too long. You can point all the things you want. [But] we’re a tight knit group, we stick together and it’s just unfortunate.

James Reimer, on the team’s consistency throughout the season:

I think it’s just part of learning and growing and growing as a group. It’s unfortunate when you don’t have that consistency. As a pro, you pride yourself on having that consistency: To be able to bring it every night, shift after shift. Obviously you’re gonna have shifts, or games, or periods that don’t go your way. Unfortunately, as a group and as individuals, at times that consistency isn’t there. We’re all growing, all trying to get better, and tomorrow and Saturday is another day.

Reimer, on if the Trade Deadline passing will be a relief:

I think as a professional, you have to find a way to block it out. It sucks because we’re all competitors. The reason why we come to camp in September is to win. When you give that away, it’s tough. So when it comes down to the Trade Deadline, there’s no one to blame but yourself. The guy in the mirror is the person who is at fault. You look around the room and it’s unfortunate that, to a man, we didn’t we didn’t pull our weight. So, to me that’s the most disappointing thing. When it comes to the actual trade rumors themselves, that sucks. But as a pro, you can go through times in your career where, it’s gonna follow you around. As a group, it’s followed us this year a little bit. I feel like we’ve found a good way to block it out. But, there’ll be a little relief. [But then] it’ll be another day come Friday, another day come Saturday. Everyday has some challenges, so it won’t be a huge weight off our back.

David Quinn, on possibly losing players he’s become especially close with, such as Nick Bonino:

It’s tough, regardless. Some of these guys, I have only spent a short period of time with. Obviously, Nick and I go way back. It’s a hard part of sports. As a coach you get attached to players, and I think it’s one of the reasons all of us get into this profession. Not only do you want to help people professionally, but you become attached to them personally. Some of these guys getting moved, it’ll be hard.

Quinn, on a season of trade rumors coming to a head over the past week or so:

You could feel it, for sure. It was definitely a different feeling…It’s a hard time—and when you’re in our situation—maybe a little bit harder because we’re not a young team, we’re an older team. It makes it a little bit more difficult. You definitely feel it.