Smith Asks Musty To Fight, Wiesblatt Talks Mental Growth After Sharks Prospects Scrimmage

The birthday boy put on a show last night.

Quentin Musty, celebrating his 18th birthday and being picked in the first round by the San Jose Sharks last week, was the consensus No. 1 star in Team White’s 7-4 Prospects Scrimmage victory over Team Teal.

There were four play formats, 5-on-5, 4-on-4, 3-on-3, and shootout, and Musty scored in three of them, leading all Sharks prospects with three goals.

Musty opened scoring during the 5-on-5 “first” period.

Happy birthday Quentin Musty. Makes it 1-0 team white with a 5-hole finish. #SJSharks @TheHockeyNews pic.twitter.com/nSpq2CXyXk

— Max Miller (@Real_Max_Miller) July 7, 2023

This was during the 4-on-4 “second” period, after Will Smith slashed him:

Musty got slashed by I think Smith? Then… https://t.co/2CCJluek0V

— Sheng Peng (@Sheng_Peng) July 7, 2023

After the 3-on-3 “third” period, Musty capped off his night with a shootout strike:

3rd goal for birthday boy Musty pic.twitter.com/ifQLnF6khc

— Sheng Peng (@Sheng_Peng) July 7, 2023

2023 third-round pick Brandon Svoboda also made himself known in his San Jose Sharks debut, adding a 5-on-5 deflection.

Brandon Svoboda makes it 2-0 Team White pic.twitter.com/bY4DZuTAlu

— JD Young (@MyFryHole) July 7, 2023

2020 first-round pick Ozzy Wiesblatt added a 3-on-3 goal:

Ozzy Wiesblatt makes it 4-3 team white! pic.twitter.com/83Vqium0f6

— JD Young (@MyFryHole) July 7, 2023

Finally for Team White, 2020 seventh-rounder Alex Young and 2023 seventh-rounder David Klee scored pretty shootout goals.

Young snaps it home pic.twitter.com/RGiDPLJyVU

— Sheng Peng (@Sheng_Peng) July 7, 2023

David Klee in the shootout. pic.twitter.com/GH06dbJECk

— JD Young (@MyFryHole) July 7, 2023

As for Team Teal, 2023 fourth-overall Smith headlined that squad, and the Boston College commit scored an impressive introductory goal at 4-on-4:

Smith beats Beaupit for his first goal with #SJSharks pic.twitter.com/jmy63WRLQ8

— Sheng Peng (@Sheng_Peng) July 7, 2023

Cam Thiesing, Joey Muldowney, and Cam Lund finished the scoring for Teal, all at 3-on-3.

Teal ties it off Guryev forecheck on Musty, Muldowney capitalizes. But minutes later, Wiesblatt gave White back the 4-3 lead pic.twitter.com/zSWd72SVCr

— Sheng Peng (@Sheng_Peng) July 7, 2023

Cam Lund gets on the board. 4-4 pic.twitter.com/XFERZydQg4

— JD Young (@MyFryHole) July 7, 2023

After the Prospects Scrimmage, Wiesblatt, Musty, and Smith talked.

Wiesblatt discussed how he’s grown mentally stronger in the last year. Musty noticed the birthday serenade that the Tech CU crowd gave him after the final horn. And Smith and Musty had a fun interaction around the Smith slash that led to the birthday boy’s second goal.

Ozzy Wiesblatt

Wiesblatt, on being a leader this week at camp:

It’s weird, [I’m] just used to being the younger guy around here. That’s also been a really big learning curve for me. Just stepping up and maturity is a big thing. And it was lots of fun to get to know them and teach them the ways. I’ve been through it a couple of years now. It was cool to answer their questions and things like that.

Wiesblatt, on how he and the rest of the San Jose Sharks approached this scrimmage:

The one thing I hear the organization preach a lot is “compete” and those types of things. I think the guys brought it today and everybody wants to win. Even if you don’t say it, you always have that fire inside of you that burns and you always want to win.

Wiesblatt, on his mental growth:

It’s been awesome. You go through some adversity last year and you learn how to block some things out. Sometimes you look at yourself in the mirror and answer some of the hard questions. Once you can do that and be honest with yourself, I think you’re on the right path. I feel awesome and just happy to be back in San Jose.

It’s not easy. I think as a hockey player you have a little bit of an ego sometimes. Once you’ve learned how to shut that off and block out all the noise and just focus on yourself, put your head down, and get to work. I think that’s where it all starts. So once again, I feel in an awesome place in my head. I’m really confident coming in [to training camp].

Quentin Musty

Musty on starting his game with a hit:

I think the player I am is a big, power forward with skill. So, if I have a chance to hit someone like that, I’m gonna do it. It just happened to be the first shift. It’s a good way to get myself in the game. That’s part of my game and it was nice to just be able to play that game out there.

Musty on impressing David Quinn so far:

I’m doing all I can in these practices, the game, workouts, just everywhere around the city. At the rink and the hotel, to show him that I could be an NHL player one day. It’s good to hear that.

Didn’t get it all but here’s the TechCU crowd singing Happy Birthday to Quentin Musty pic.twitter.com/fprkO4vUzU

— Bryan Del Fava (@notthefakeBDF) July 7, 2023

Musty on his first experience with Sharks fans and them singing “Happy birthday” to him:

It’s been great. That’s my first taste of the fans. I’ve seen some videos, when I got drafted and stuff and just thought, “This is awesome.” But [it’s] the same in-person and to have that, meant a lot to me. Especially my first time being here, just shows what’s for the future, hopefully. Great to have a lot of people here, being loud during the game brings a lot of energy. It was great.

Will Smith

Smith, on slashing Musty:

He embellished that call.

Smith, on his favorite thing he saw in the Bay Area:

Probably Santana Row, just kind of walking around the shops and checking out the mall.

Smith, on Musty asking, “Is slashing people and being a dirty player a big part of your game? Or no?”:

Musty asked Smith if slashing players and being dirty is part of his game — Smith slash led to 2nd Musty goal pic.twitter.com/lbSVeiaaad

— Sheng Peng (@Sheng_Peng) July 7, 2023