The Teal Report 03/17/2026

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The San Jose Sharks Audio Network presents

The Teal Report.

Here's Dan Ruzinowski.

From Rogers Place in Edmonton,

the San Jose Sharks expect tense action on the ice

as there's a lot of stake between the sharks

and the oiders tonight in the Pacific Division.

San Jose currently stands in 10th place

in the Western Conference with 70 points.

Just one point behind the last wild card holder

this Seattle Kraken and only five points

behind the Edmonton oiders

who sit in third place in the Pacific Division.

Edmonton for their parts only one point behind Vegas

and two points behind first place Anaheim

so you can understand the implications of everything

that's about to happen.

The sharks are excited about that.

McLean Set-Abrini wants to forget about the game in Ottawa

and he says that being in the race

and being in this situation in Edmonton

is something to really look forward to.

Yeah, I mean, this is fun.

This is our first time through it

and I think a lot of us are excited to be in this spot

and kind of go through it for the first time

and I think we're just, I mean obviously grateful

but we want to keep pushing here.

From the oiders point of view,

head coach Chris Knoblock understands the urgency of this game.

Absolutely, it's a four point game.

I believe we're, if we can win tonight,

we're up seven if they win and it's three.

It's a quite a difference in the standings

and you know, if we're up seven with, you know,

only half of our book, you know,

whether it's 13 or 16 games for them,

you know, it's a nice cushion for us

and I think it's important that, you know,

this is a team for us to make playoffs.

We have to keep them behind us.

So yes, tonight is an important game.

But the other big news surrounding this game

and others in the NHL is the decision making process

at the NHL Department of Player Safety.

George Parros, who runs that department for the NHL,

actually met with the media today after some comments

on supplemental discipline by the oiders

Conor McDavid, the leading scorer in the NHL.

You know, I think the player safety has done their best.

It's not an easy thing to do.

You know, with that being said,

I think that there is reason to take a look

at how the whole process works.

You know, every time there's a suspension,

everybody complains about it,

well, why don't we take a look at the process

and figure out if there's a better way

to make sure that both parties are happy

because it seems like there's a lot of frustration there.

McDavid added in comments yesterday

that he thinks that there might be a change

that needs to be made in the process

by which the Department of Player Safety arrives at decisions.

I'm not an owner. I'm not a GM.

I'm a player.

And I can say that from the player perspective,

I think every time there is a suspension.

Most times there's a suspension.

There's a lot of frustration from the player side.

So why don't we take a look at the process

and figure out a way that works for everybody?

Parros, meeting with the media today,

talked about McDavid's comments

and applied them to the job that his department does.

We have a process in place that we feel confident in

and have been doing it for a long time.

You know, we sweat over these decisions

and pour over these decisions every night all season long.

We have a process in place that's consistent

and we have a team that works for me

and together with me that evaluates all these plays.

A very experienced team, a veteran team,

guys that have been here since the beginning of the department.

Not to mention all the former players

that have a large set

of experiences of playing the NHL games,

accolades, some of the best guys that have played the game,

worked for this department, helped make these decisions.

So our process, I feel very confident in.

We've got great guys who make these decisions

and I think the players should be confident in this team to do so.

Of course, the big spotlight recently

surrounds the five games suspension

of Anaheim Captain Rontco Goudes

who ended, Maple Leaf Superstar Austin Matthews season

with a neon knee hit.

Paris was asked if he had second thoughts

about the way that his team arrived at that decision.

No, I feel confident in this decision.

We came to it, you know, for a good reason.

You know, when we evaluate these plays,

we look at the play and not the players.

All right, and then we look at,

if we determine that play was worthy of supplemental discipline,

we then look at the history of the players involved

and if there's an injury or not.

This is how we come to make all of our decisions.

We did this and made this decision

under those circumstances.

It felt that this was the appropriate response.

And, you know, and so I stand by it.

Paros also addressed the idea that he settled on five games

to avoid the automatic appeal that was allowed by the Goudes camp.

It's a good question.

But no, I don't make decisions based on the threat of appeal

or the fear of an appeal.

You know, we have to stand by our decisions.

It's just like, yes, earlier.

Like, I stand by the decision and if a feel is something, you know,

is close to that threshold where it can go to a neutral arbitrator

or not, that's not going to affect my decision at the end of the day.

So, you know, whether or not there's an appeal,

I can't really worry about that.

I have to make what I think is the right decision,

the decision that I can defend,

and the decision I can sleep with at night.

But the bottom line is that George Paros says

the Department of Player Safety has total confidence

in the decision-making process they currently have.

Yeah, absolutely.

I mean, listen, we uphold the rulebook

and how it's enforced, those rules are written,

and how they're enforced on the ice.

And the biggest part of that is ensuring these rules

create a safe environment for these players to play the game.

So, absolutely, it's our main focus

is why this department was started to have that consistency

to have people who are dedicated to this every night

worried about enforcing the rules,

worried about how this game was played,

and keeping the integrity of the game.

Switching over to the Sharks game against Edmonton,

another injury has ended another star player season.

Leon Drysaddle was body-checked relatively cleanly

by former Sharks' first round pick Ozzy Wiseblatt

in an Edmonton 3-1 win against the Nashville Predators

on Sunday at Rogers Place.

And so, Edmonton is going to be without the services

of one of their best players,

and they will rely a lot more on the aforementioned

Connor McDavid for the rest of the regular campaign.

Ryan Nujan Hopkins, a former first overall pick,

will have more opportunity to showcase his abilities,

but the question is, will he play center or wing?

For the time being, Coach Noblok says he stays on the wing,

but he might see some time at center too

because of the face-off situation.

Nujan is definitely an opportunity or a guy that can do that,

but we feel Samansky can play some center.

He's been doing a great job at that.

His role will get a little bit bigger right now,

and yeah, we have a lot of options,

but right now we'll keep our centermen as McDavid,

Dickinson, Samansky, and Henry.

That teal report will continue in just a moment

after this time out on the San Jose Sharks on to your network.

Bay Area Sports Legends take center stage May 14th

in San Francisco at the Bay Area Sports Hall of Fame

and Trineman Ceremony for the class of 2026.

Two-time World Series Champion with the Giants, Brandon Crawford

joins four-time Super Bowl Champion with the 49ers Jesse Sapolu

plus a trio of Cal Bears, Missy Franklin, Eddie Hart

and celebrated Rugby coach Jack Clark as they're all honored

at the Hyatt Regency Embarcadero on Thursday May 14th.

Get tickets now at B-A-S-H-O-F dot org.

8 stars!

The San Jose Sharks Audio Network is on 24 hours a day!

Whether you're in the office or on the co,

make sure that you download the Sharks SAP Center app

and hit listen anytime.

You can also find us on your computer

by going to sjsharks.com slash listen.

If it's a game broadcast, breaking news or a player feature,

the place to find it is right here.

On the San Jose Sharks Audio Network.

Alex Newdelkiewicz will start for the Sharks and Dole

while Conor Ingram begins in net for the Edmonton Oilers.

Certainly getting pucks at each goal tender is going to be important

for both teams, but dealing with a superstar

on each side of the rank is also going to be critical.

Edmonton area native Zach O. Stopchuk talked about the awareness

you have to have when Conor McDavid is on the ice.

You gotta be aware, that's for saying you're kind of

light bulb in your mind turns on a little bit.

You gotta kind of play him a little differently, I guess.

You gotta make sure you're skating.

You gotta make sure you're always above him.

So I think it's just more of a heightened sense of awareness

that happens when he jumps the boards.

For the Sharks head coach Ryan Worcowski,

getting numbers around the puck is going to be critical.

Yeah, we need numbers especially tonight, this team.

We can't give these guys extra time in the offensive zone.

That's what they feed off of, feed off that and the rush.

So SmartF3, making sure we're getting above them.

Those things that we did against Boston and Montreal,

almost identical keys for tonight.

It's the Sharks and the Edmonton Oilers,

and it's going to be an exciting matchup.

You don't want to miss it, do you?

Of course you don't.

Tune in to the Sharks Plus SAP Center app,

online at stsharks.com slash listen,

and of course on one of our terrestrial radio affiliates.

You can find the Sharks at 530 Pacific time.

James Shepard is with me on the broadcast,

providing in-science of color commentary.

Hope you enjoy it, and I hope you enjoy today's Teal Report.

For the complete Teal Report,

and more great Sharks content, go to sjsharks.com slash listen.