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NOLLY'S NOTES - BLOG (VOL. 4, ED. 1)

NOLLY'S NOTES - BLOG (VOL. 4, ED. 1)

May 17, 2024

Happy off-season, Cuda Country! Barrracuda play-by-play broadcaster Nick Nollenberger here. With the season over, it's time to bring back the blog.

I hope you are doing well. It’s been about a month since the 2023-24 year ended for the Barracuda and I’m finally feeling like I’m beginning to settle into the summer. It can take a bit to decompress and adjust to a more normal lifestyle without constant travel and games, but man do I miss being a part of the playoffs. There’s just nothing like playoff hockey!

I do know my wife, Ange, and dog, Guava, have enjoyed having me around a bit more. Ange and I are expecting our first child in November, so just helping with little things around the house goes a long way. That’s right, a mini-Nolly is en route just in time for the upcoming season. My surfing schedule has increased quite a bit too, so I can’t complain about that either.

That’s enough about me, let’s get back to hockey. Every rebuild must hit rock bottom. The “R” word is easy to throw around, but going through it is a whole different story. It’s HARD to rebuild. There is no other way to put it. It doesn’t happen overnight and you’re depending on teenagers who have never played in the NHL to eventually develop into future cornerstones and help uplift a franchise from the doldrums back to prominence. But sometimes a rebuild is the only solution and you can’t half do it. You must commit, and the Sharks have. Rebuilds aren’t linear either but it certainly feels like the organization is a lot farther along right now than it was at this time a year ago, despite the lack of wins this past season.

While no one expected the degree of on-ice struggles for both the Sharks and Barracuda, winning last week’s NHL lottery makes a forgettable season feel like a distant memory. The excitement about the future is now palpable!

Mike Grier, Sharks’ general manager, mentioned Macklin Celebrini by name during his post-lottery presser last week which all but cements the Sharks will take the consensus first overall pick in next month’s NHL draft at the Vegas Sphere. Celebrini’s Bay Area and Jr. Sharks ties make for an incredible storyline. And while there is no such thing as a sure thing, Celebrini will likely be an elite player at the NHL level. His head coach at Boston University, former NHLer Jay Pandolfo, compared him to Jonathon Toews and Sidney Crosby in a recent podcast interview with Frank Seravalli. That’s lofty praise, but it tells you all you need to know about the ability and potential. He’s also just 17 years old and won’t turn 18 until June 13. That blows my mind. I was the youngest person I knew has a freshman in college, not turning 18 until November. He was 17 all year long and managed to win the Hobey Baker Award as the top collegiate player. That’s truly incredible.

On top of the first overall pick, the Sharks will also select 14th overall (via Pitt in the Erik Karlsson trade). Marking the second year in a row in which they will possess a pair of first-round picks. The last time the Sharks had two picks in the top 15 was 1992 when they selected Mike Rathje (third overall) and Andrei Nazarov (10th overall). It also marks just the second time and first since 1996/1997, in which the Sharks will have multiple first-rounders in consecutive drafts. With those four picks, they selected Andrei Zyuzin (2nd overall in ’96), Marco Sturm (21st overall in ’96), Patrick Marleau (2nd overall in ’97) and Scott Hannan (23rd overall in ’97).

Last year, the Sharks picked Will Smith (4th overall) and Quentin Musty (26th overall) in the first round. Smith was brilliant as a freshman this year at Boston College, pacing the NCAA in points (71) and assists (46). He also collected nine points (four goals, five assists) in seven games for Team USA at the U20 World Juniors in December/January. Smith is playing currently for Team USA at the World Championships. Musty finished top-five in the OHL in goals (43) and points (102). Those are just two picks by the Sharks that could be difference-makers in the future. Kasper Halttenen, the Sharks second-rounder in 2023, has been white-hot in the OHL playoffs, scoring a pair of hat tricks in the OHL finals, and has 26 points (17 goals, nine assists) in 18 games for the London Knights. Halttenen’s Knights are off to the Memorial Cup in Saginaw after a four-game sweep of the Oshawa Generals. That production from all three players gets you fired up. There are tons of other guys to get excited about too within the organization, like Shakir Mukhamadullin, Filip Bystedt, David Edstrom, Ethan Cardwell, Danil Gushchin, Jack Thompson, and so on.

Let’s shift our attention to the Calder Cup playoffs. In my opinion, the two best teams in the Pacific Division this season were the Coachella Valley Firebirds and Ontario Reign, so it’s only fitting the two are facing off in the Pacific Division Finals. The Barracuda went just 1-11-2-2 versus the two clubs during the regular season. On Wednesday, the Firebirds took a 1-0 series lead with 3-2 win at Acrisure Arena. Max McCormick and Devin Shore scored 62 seconds apart late in the first period to take a 2-1 advantage and CV didn’t look back. The winner of the series will faceoff with either the Ozzy Wiesblatt led Milwaukee Admirals (Nashville Predators) or Grand Rapids Griffins (Detroit Red Wings) in the Conference Finals. GR jumped out to a 1-0 series edge on Wednesday with a 4-2 win.

Coachella Valley has 16 players back from it’s Calder Cup Finals team from a year ago. Andrew Poturalski is only Firebird with a Calder Cup ring. In fact, he’s got a pair of them (’19 – Charlotte, ’22 – Chicago). The Reign have two Calder Cup Champions on their roster, T.J. Tynan (’16 – Lake Erie) and Joe Hickets (’17 – Grand Rapids). The series could also be a battle of future NHL coaches. Dan Bylsma (Firebirds), who has won a Stanley Cup as a head coach, has been linked to Seattle’s vacancy, while Marco Sturm (Reign) has been one of many names rumored to the Sharks.

In the Eastern Conference, the defending Calder Cup Champion Hershey Bears (Washington Capitals), the top team in the regular season, took a 1-0 lead in their best-of-five series with the Hartford Wolfpack (New York Rangers) in the Atlantic Division Finals on Thursday and the Cleveland Monsters (Columbus Blue Jackets) went up 1-0 on the Syracuse Crunch (Tampa Bay Lightning) in their best-of-five North Division Finals, also on Thursday.

In Cuda news, the club announced on Thursday the re-signing of forward Anthony Vincent for the 2024-25 season. The SJB’s winner of the Hard Hat Award, as voted on by his teammates, Vincent was a really great story this past year. As a 26-year-old rookie, you’re going to have to earn every second of ice time you get. In many respects, you’re fighting an uphill battle just to stay in the AHL. Despite suffering a broken collarbone in October that kept him out of the lineup for three and a half months, when he played, he was highly effective as a hard-working, hard-nosed, bottom-six forward. The type of player you love having on your team but hate playing against. A well-deserved contract for a player who has earned everything he’s gotten so far in his career. Welcome back, Vin!

We wrap up this edition of Nolly’s Notes by sending our heartfelt condolences to the family of legendary SportsCentre host Darren Dutchyshen who passed away at 57 on Thursday after a bout with cancer. When I’m up in Canada, there’s nothing I love more than popping on the TV and watching the various sports channels that are often loaded with hockey coverage. Dutch was iconic and one of my favorite Canadian broadcasters. His delivery, his wit, his voice, were all legendary. Gone way too soon. Rest in Peace, Dutch!

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