Last season, the San Jose Sharks managed to find considerable joy and fun in the game of hockey despite a bad record. This season, they’re continuing that trend, and at the center of it is an unlikely suspect — veteran forward Ryan Reaves. After arriving in San Jose in a small trade during the offseason, he has welcomed his role as a culture setter and a locker room presence and proved the importance of having players who are willing to do so.
Reaves Influencing Sharks’ Chemistry in Multiple Ways
When Reaves came to the Sharks in exchange for Henry Thrun, he wasn’t seen as some major addition. He felt almost like a filler return, as though the Sharks took him partially in order to get something for Thrun rather than letting Thrun go for nothing.
In the early stages of the season, Reaves has proven that assumption to be patently false. Yes, he surprised a lot of people with two goals in his first eight games in San Jose, but his real contributions have come off the ice. The Sharks’ main hope for him was that he would help protect their young players like Macklin Celebrini, and he has already become one of Celebrini’s biggest cheerleaders. Most notably, after Celebrini scored a hat trick in a road game against the New York Rangers, Reaves threw his helmet on the ice to celebrate and maintain the hats-on-the-ice tradition with the Sharks away from SAP Center.
“I was just making sure there was something on the ice for him,” Reaves said. “Because we were away, so I didn’t know how far up the Sharks fans were, if they have good arms or not.”
Reaves has also taken the lead on postgame celebrations. After the team’s original player of the game award got lost, the team used a wide variety of household items as replacements with Reaves’ encouragement. Eventually, he took the initiative of purchasing a massive shark-tooth necklace as the new permanent award. In an effort to add to the fun, he also instituted a rule that whoever receives it must give their postgame interview while wearing it and shirtless.
“I was looking for something with shark teeth on it,” Reaves explained. “I figured a nice necklace, put it around somebody’s neck, [and I] got this made.”
The Sharks will face good times and bad times this season, but they’re finding a lot of ways to have fun with their surprisingly strong start. Reaves is right at the center of it, and he’s diving into the role in a way that not every veteran would.
Reaves Showing Value of Embracing Circumstances
Joining a developing team can be a tough ask for an experienced player, particularly one who has played most of his career on playoff teams like Reaves has. It would have been easy for him to simply view this season as something to get through rather than actively participate in, and just coast in the background for 82 games. Instead, he’s stepped up and shown the benefit that his situation can provide to both the team and himself.
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In the case of the former, he’s making sure that the Sharks have fun, but he’s also providing an example for the rest of the roster. He’s showing the veterans how they can lead the team regardless of their play, and he’s reminding the young players to never forget the happiness they get out of playing hockey. He provides yet another example of what San Jose can do for players who need a jolt to their careers. And it could even translate to the ice — evidence from a variety of sports suggests that having players who set a tone in the locker room can positively impact a team’s performance.
On a personal level, he’s finding a purpose as he approaches the final stages of his time in the NHL. He’s primarily known as an enforcer, and he’s still doing some of that, but he’s leaving behind an additional legacy as a player and teammate, perhaps a reward for accepting his situation. But maybe his greatest accomplishment this season is the least expected: he’s made Sharks fans come to like Ryan Reaves.
The Sharks need players who serve as leaders behind the scenes, and they’ve turned to a variety of sources over the last few seasons. Reaves may not be the best player to take on that role, but he’s certainly the least expected.
