The San Jose Sharks take on the Buffalo Sabres in their annual pride celebration game, and Shakir Mukhamadullin will make his NHL debut.
The San Jose Sharks take on the Buffalo Sabres in their annual pride celebration game, and Shakir Mukhamadullin will make his NHL debut.
The San Jose Sharks (13-31-4) take on the Buffalo Sabres (21-23-4) in their annual pride celebration game, and Shakir Mukhamadullin will make his NHL debut.
Controversy surrounded last season's pride game for the Sharks as former goalie James Reimer did not participate in warmups due to the pride jersey. The NHL now has banned the use of any specialty warmup jersey.
Anthony Duclair told reporters yesterday that he will use the rainbow pride tape during warmups.
It will be interesting to see how many players participate in that gesture. William Eklund told SJHN that everyone deserves to be included, no matter who they are.
"It's important because hockey is for everyone. That's important, that hockey is for everyone," Eklund told SJHN yesterday. "We want to be there to show support like they show support for us."
Sharks head coach David Quinn made his position known last year and continued supporting the LGBTQIA+ community this season.
"It's a special day for everybody. I think I've made my feelings clear on it. I think our organization has as well. I had so much fun last year doing it, and it's gonna be a lot of fun seeing everybody again tomorrow," Quinn said. "We're in America, the land of inclusion and accepting people, and it puts a smile on all our faces for acknowledging it and letting people be who they want to be."
As for the lineup today, Quinn told the media that he hasn't announced the lineup to the team, so the changes on defense are not yet known. One d-man must come out of the lineup with Ty Emberson back in. Mukhamadullin is taking Henry Thrun's place. Thrun is missing today's game with an upper-body injury.
Kaapo Kahkonen will start in goal.
"We needed to clean up our neutral zone a little bit, which we addressed yesterday," Quinn said about the team's play during its three-game winning streak. "I just think we're playing with a little bit more swagger. A little more confidence. With more conviction and being more aggressive."
Sharks projected line combinations:
Zetterlund-Hertl-Hoffman
Barabanov-Couture-Duclair
Eklund-Sturm-Kunin
Bailey-Carpenter-Zadina
Vlasic-Emberson
Mukh-Rutta
Okhotiuk-Burroughs
Kahkonen
Blackwood
Puck drop is at 1 p.m. PST and can be seen on NBC Sports California or the Sharks Audio Netowork.
Make sure you bookmark THN's San Jose Sharks site for the latest news, exclusive interviews, breakdowns, and so much more.
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