Exit Interview: Ferraro Wants To Control His Emotions Better Next Year

From the first time that Mario Ferraro stepped on the ice for the San Jose Sharks, he’s been a leader.

So it was no surprise when Bob Boughner tapped the then third-year defenseman as an alternate captain last season.

It doesn’t mean, of course, that the 24-year-old doesn’t have a lot to learn as a leader.

Ferraro touched on that in his exit interview, stressing that he has to better control his emotions. He also had a lot of good things to say about rookie blueliner Henry Thrun.

See Mario Ferraro’s full interview here

Ferraro evaluates his leadership in the San Jose Sharks room:

I hope the rest of the group can agree with me on this, it’s hard to speak for myself, but I think that I’m a good teammate. I get along with guys real well, especially off the ice. I have good relationships with guys.

I do want to be a verbal leader, but I want to also lead by example, and in terms of my hard work and my compete, I like to sacrifice out there. I like to block shots. I like to play hard, and I hope that’s had an impact.

Moving forward, I want to be better at controlling my emotions. I think this year, it got frustrating, for sure. It’s a frustrating season. You know, nobody likes to lose, and we don’t accept losing. I think I let my emotions get the best of me a little bit out there, and that’s something I want to do a better job at controlling. I believe in myself to be able to do it.

I love every guy in this room, genuinely. We do have a really solid group of players that give it their 100 percent effort out there. It’s easy to be excited about learning and becoming a better leader around a group of guys like this, that I have a lot of respect for and that have respect for me.

Ferraro on what Henry Thrun got to experience with his short time in the NHL:

Those [end-of-seas0n] games mean a lot to these younger guys, especially like Henry. I thought he did a great job coming in. He showed a lot of confidence. Played well. He played very well with Karlsson. He can move the puck. He’s got poise.

We’ve had some get-togethers here as of late, and he’s gotten along real well with the guys. I see him being a future leader. I like to say everybody in the team can lead regardless of whether they have a letter on their jersey or not, and he’s obviously no exception. So I’m excited for him and his offseason to see what he can do for us next year. He’s a solid player and a solid person to have in your locker room by your side, for sure.

Ferraro, on Ryan Warsofsky coming back next year and the San Jose Sharks finally have stability with their defensemen coach:

It’s definitely not easy, I’ve gone through a lot of coaching changes.

I have a good relationship with [Warsofsky]. We get along really well. He’s a coach that I can really talk to. I can talk to all of these guys. Quinn, he’s very respectful in that manner and off the ice and around the locker room, greeting the guys. How you doing? How’s your day going? That comfort level is really good. It just builds that relationship with us, from players to coaches.

Warso is the kinda guy who’s gonna challenge me to be better, even in some moments where I might challenge him back a little bit. He’s been really, really solid this year, and I’m excited to have another opportunity to be able to play on the defensive end with him right over my shoulder. I think the rest of the D corps could definitely agree with that.

Ferraro, on how he can better control his emotions next year:

I think a good one is focusing on the next shift. I sometimes think, with our group as a whole, when one thing happened, it was kind of a domino effect in games. I think we got better at it as the year went on. I think that every individual can have an impact on that, and I want to do a better job at controlling that for us as a team and helping us balance that out and helping us realize, hey, other teams are gonna make good plays too. Things are gonna happen throughout the game. They’re gonna get bounces. They’re gonna get chances. We can level, we can weather the storm, and we can come back and use it to our advantage and stay positive throughout the game. So that’s a big area of it, for sure.