Sheng Peng
TAMPA, Fla. – William Eklund and Mario Ferraro got into it at practice on Monday.
There was cussing, and you could hear the two young San Jose Sharks hacking away at each other’s shinpads, even a section away, up in the Amerant Bank Arena lounge.
Head coach David Quinn laughed: “It was Mario getting after Eklund.”
But that’s not quite how Ferraro and Eklund tell it.
The San Jose Sharks, reeling after a 5-1 loss to the Nashville Predators on Saturday, were in the middle of one of the longest, toughest practices that I’ve ever seen in the David Quinn era, a good hour-plus.
There was an emphasis on battle drills, speaking to a lack of consistent compete that Quinn has harped on throughout San Jose’s 0-5-1 start.
It was during one of those drills, where Ferraro and Eklund were competing for space around the slot, when they clashed.
“He had a little fight there,” Ferraro said. “We were battling on the boards, then he kind of turned and gave me a shot. Create some space for himself because he was pissed off. He wanted the puck on his stick and I was kind of in his grill. Gave me a cross-check. Trying to get on the puck. So then I hacked back and then we were face to face.”
That wasn’t the end of it. After the drill, Ferraro followed Eklund to center ice, hacking away at the 21-year-old winger. But it was a happy hacking.
“I was just trying to tell him, that’s good stuff. I like it. Bring it on. Let’s go,” Ferraro said. “He, in that moment right there, it was almost like he was surprised. Didn’t know what we were doing because we were like going pretty hard. He’s maybe like is [this good]?”
It was. Ferraro tossed in a loud expletive or two of positive reinforcement.
“What he was actually telling him, you just did that here. Fucking you’re good. Do it every time,” Quinn reported. “It was a compliment. In an enthusiastic leadership way.”
“That’s what we need,” Ferraro said. “You want the puck that bad? Have the physicality. That’s what I saw from him. That’s what I like.
“Just trying to motivate him and make him feel good.”
The 25-year-old alternate captain added, “I just see him, a young guy, and I was in his position at one point. I just don’t want him to think that we don’t need to do that in practice.
“Yeah, it’s practice. We need that intensity. It’ll translate. Good practices lead into good games.”
Speaking of good games, we’ll talk about that in another story, Eklund’s performance against the Panthers. Eklund shared what he saw on some of his best plays with San Jose Hockey Now.
It was a losing effort, but between Eklund and Fabian Zetterlund and Mackenzie Blackwood’s efforts, it was also a building block that the San Jose Sharks hope will lead to more victories, eventually.
“I want to go at him and he wants to go at me, make each other better out there,” Eklund said. “We know what situation we’re in. So we got to get out it.”
Ferraro laughed, “I thought it was a good interaction between the two of us.”