Couture, Vlasic Reminisce About Hertl

It was a day to remember and a day to forget at Sharks Ice yesterday.

Not only was it the Trade Deadline — always a day of saying good-byes — the San Jose Sharks sent franchise icon Tomas Hertl to the hated Vegas Golden Knights.

News of the shocker started leaking out before the noon Trade Deadline.

This didn’t just stun the hockey world, it stunned the Sharks locker room at the same time.

The Sharks were supposed to take the ice at 12:30 PM for an optional practice.

12:30. 12:35. 12:40. No one came out.

Usually, for an optional practice, you’d see about a dozen players participate, the younger ones trying to make an impression and a few veterans.

Then, Justin Bailey came out…in shorts. He walked out on the ice, gloves on, handled the puck a little bit, then went back into the room.

Sharks Ice was empty again, appropriate for a day when the heart of the Sharks was ripped out.

“I gave the guys the option if they wanted to skate because tomorrow’s a 4 o’clock game–I said, ‘How many guys want to skate today?’ And not one hand was raised,” San Jose Sharks head coach David Quinn revealed later. “It kind of gave me an indication of where we’re at mentally. It was a pretty somber locker room.”

Tomas Hertl was in the building, saying his good-byes.

“I told him good luck. I said ‘Hopefully, you have a long run in the playoffs and win the Cup.’ I sent him a video text of the pass I gave him in the second overtime shorthanded [against the Vegas Golden Knights in 2019], the one he scored, and said ‘Remember this?’ Now he’s got to play for Vegas,” Marc-Edouard Vlasic shared.

San Jose Sharks captain Logan Couture knew that the ground was about to move under the feet of the organization — Hertl had sought the captain’s counsel about the possible move in the days leading up to the Deadline — but even he couldn’t believe it.

“Driving to the rink this morning, I had the feeling of numbness–it’s hard to explain, just didn’t feel real. But yeah, it happened.”

Here’s everything that Quinn, Couture, and Vlasic said about Hertl yesterday.

David Quinn

Quinn, on his reaction when he heard about the trade:

A lot of mixed emotions. For him personally, excited for him–a chance to be in a situation where you get a chance to win a Stanley Cup, but sorry for him to go. We’ve only been here for two years, but as I’ve told everybody, he’s a great player, he’s a better person. It’s going to hurt.

Quinn, to the fans who are reacting to the news:

We knew this was going to happen. Maybe not to this extent, but we’re in a situation where we’ve been paying the price for winning, and I’ve said this repeatedly for a long time here. It’s been a tough go the last four or five years. Unfortunately, you’re going to get to this point  where you have to make hard decisions and see people go who are really good players and great people. There’s no better person and player than Tommy. As you’ve touched on, he’s been the face of the franchise here for a little while now. It hurts. There’s a lot of emotional people.

Quinn, on the players’ reactions and emotions:

It happened so late that we had our meeting at 12:15 and I actually pushed it back to 12:30 because I was up there and knew what was going to happen. It was pretty raw for everybody because it had just gotten out, we were just finding out. It was a pretty quiet room. We weren’t going to skate today anyway. I gave the guys the option if they wanted to skate because tomorrow’s a 4 o’clock game–I said “how many guys want to skate today?” and not one hand was raised. It kind of gave me an indication of where we’re at mentally. It was a pretty somber locker room.

Logan Couture

Couture, on his reaction when he heard about the trade:

No, I knew. Tommy kept me in the loop a little bit the last few days. He kept it pretty secret, I don’t think many people knew what was going on. Still shocked. Driving to the rink this morning, I had the feeling of numbness–it’s hard to explain, just didn’t feel real. But yeah, it happened.

Couture, on losing Hertl:

I’m sad for losing Tommy Hertl. Tommy’s been one of my best friends that I’ve met through this game of hockey, someone I’m going to miss. We sat beside each other, we go out for dinner all the time on the road, we live near each other. That’s kind of where my mind’s at.

Couture, on Hertl going to Vegas specifically:

I talked to him through this process a little bit, just said whatever’s going to make you happy–give yourself a chance to win. Careers are so short in this league, and it’s a business. When a player has an opportunity to control what he wants to do and give himself an opportunity to win, he deserves it. I wish it would be here with me, but that’s the team it ended up being, and I think they have a good team with a chance to win. As much as it sucks that it’s our rival and a team we have history with, at the end of the day, it’s another hockey team, and he has a chance to chase a Stanley Cup.

Couture, on losing the leadership figure in Hertl:

It hurts. There’s no other way around it. It’s emotional.

Marc-Edouard Vlasic

Vlasic, on his reaction when he heard about the trade:

I didn’t expect Hertl to leave–well, to be traded. The guy was very loved by his teammates, coaches, fans. Played with him for 11 years, we got along really, really well–too well. Sad to see him leave.

Vlasic, on when he found out:

I found out today, I had no idea. I don’t know if it was in the works for a while, I had no idea. I was in the gym and heard about it today.

Vlasic, on what he told Hertl when he found out:

I told him good luck. I said “Hopefully, you have a long run in the playoffs and win the cup.” I sent him a video text of the pass I gave him in the second overtime shorthanded [against the Vegas Golden Knights in 2019], the one he scored, and said “Remember this?” Now he’s got to play for Vegas, but I wish him all the best. He has a chance to win and it’s good for him.

Vlasic, on being one of the last “veterans” on the team:

The three of us have played together for 11 years. I’m sure there’ll be a lot of memories we have together, but at the same time, hockey’s a business. Some guys leave, some guys stay. If you haven’t won and want to win, you go to a team that has a chance to do that. The three of us got along really well, played fantasy sports together, joked around on social media or at the rink. We had a lot of fun. Hertl’s a guy who brings a lot of joy to the rink, that guy who always has a smile on his face. It’s tough to see him go. He’ll be missed, I’ll miss him. I hope he thrives in Vegas.

Vlasic, on his favorite Hertl memory:

He came into this league at 18 or 19, he scored four goals, scored a nice fourth goal against the Rangers. Honestly, the favorite memories are just hanging out with him at the rink, making fun of each other, talking F1, talking soccer, talking The Office as well. My favorite memories are those ones. Not necessarily on the ice, but in the locker room, on the bus, on road trips, at dinner on the road. He was a fun guy to have around.