Preview/Lines #66: Even Bordeleau’s Mom Was Wondering About the Smelling Salts

COLUMBUS – Even Thomas Bordeleau’s mom Chantal was wondering what was up with her son.

Bordeleau going next level with the smelling salts. #SJSharks pic.twitter.com/Z1uYjlUYhK

— TEAL TOWN USA – A San Jose Sharks Podcast (@TEALTOWNUSA) March 13, 2024

“I saw that. I saw that. Unfortunately,” Bordeleau told San Jose Hockey Now this afternoon, laughing. “My mom texted me about it. She was like, what’s going on?”

Smelling salts, of course, are a hockey staple.

“Just wakes me up before the period. I just do it once a period, so I’m not too crazy,” Bordeleau said.

But why the eyes?

“My eyes, it burns a little bit. I don’t do it too much. As soon as I feel it, I stop doing it,” he said. “It looks intense, but they’re not really strong, so you really got to like get ’em close.”

The 22-year-old prospect, who’s been around high-level hockey his entire life – his father Sebastian Bordeleau played in the NHL and other professional leagues from 1995 to 2012 and is now a development coach for the Nashville Predators – swears he’s seen other players attack the salts with just as much ferocity.

“I didn’t pull that out of nowhere,” he said.

Maybe Bordeleau has just has some bad luck getting caught on candid camera. Like a few months, when he was with the San Jose Barracuda?

I have questions pic.twitter.com/jNqXeFz67B

— JD Young (@MyFryHole) November 18, 2023

“I run hot [sometimes],” Bordeleau explained. “The water’s real cold. So I usually just pour it down everywhere.”

So what’s Bordeleau’s next viral hockey habit?

He thinks that about covers it.

“Good timing, I guess, with the camera,” he laughed.

San Jose Sharks (16-42-7)

Quinn confirms Chrona will start tonight.

MacDonald will play, so #SJSharks will go 12-6 tonight.

He’s undecided on the forwards, but one guy that has impressed him is Kostin, so expect him to continue on top-9 and power play

— Sheng Peng (@Sheng_Peng) March 16, 2024

Smith is still on the ice, so Labanc should be in.

Hoffman and Rutta are skating, but neither will play tonight.

— Sheng Peng (@Sheng_Peng) March 16, 2024

Quinn said he might shuffle the lines a little from the last game, so we’ll get a better sense of that later tonight.

Columbus Blue Jackets (22-33-11)

#CBJ lines in morning skate:
Gaudreau-Jenner-Nylander
Texier-Sillinger-Marchenko
Pyyhtia-Voronkov-TFW
Olivier-Gaunce-Meyer
Provorov-Werenski
Christiansen-Severson
Bean-Gudbranson
Tarasov
Merzlikins

— Jeff Svoboda (@JacketsInsider) March 16, 2024

Where to Watch

Puck drop between the San Jose Sharks and Columbus Blue Jackets is 4 PM at Nationwide Arena. Watch it live on NBC Sports California. Listen to it on the Sharks Audio Network.