There were a couple interesting sights after San Jose Sharks practice today.
As the Sharks were wrapping up, and here’s how they lined up today, by the way…
… Nico Sturm, Logan Couture, Ryan Carpenter, and Oskar Lindblom jumped on.
Sturm, conspicuously, skated in full gear but without a stick. His teammates got a kick out of that, and later, he actually shadowed Couture during some drills. For example, when Couture would go in on a breakaway, Sturm would be right behind him, pretending to shoot too.
Sturm was hurt in the third period during Tuesday’s win over the Winnipeg Jets.
San Jose Sharks head coach David Quinn termed it a “mid-body injury”, but it’s a good guess to say it’s some sort of hand/wrist ailment.
Quinn had no timeline for Sturm’s return, saying they were still evaluating. But…
“Probably not,” he admitted, when asked if Sturm would be available to play in this upcoming two-game road trip.
However, Quinn appeared to hold out hope that Sturm could make a surprise appearance on this road trip, so we’ll see tomorrow in Arizona.
Meanwhile, it’s all eyes on Logan Couture, as he makes his way back from a lower-body injury that’s sidelined him all season.
Good news, Couture is skating hard, he was out there for 45-plus minutes today. The San Jose Sharks captain was joined by a very interesting cast and crew.
San Jose Sharks development coach Mike Ricci and unofficial skills coach Artem Nekorov were also on the ice.
Quinn wasn’t sure, at the moment, if Couture would travel to Arizona or not.
As for Carpenter, he’s close, but not so much so that he’s necessarily expected to play on this road trip. Quinn says Carpenter’s “mid-body” situation is a lot like Luke Kunin’s recent return from a finger injury, it’s a matter of pain tolerance.
So we could well see him as soon as tomorrow, or not.
Lindblom continues to skate, we’ll have to check his timeline to return from his lower-body injury. He’s expected to be returned to the San Jose Barracuda when he’s healthy.
Finally, Ty Emberson did not hit the ice, but he’s on the way to.
“He’s doing a lot better,” Quinn said. “Getting closer to skating.”
Emberson suffered a lower-body injury on Dec. 3 with a two-to-four weeks timeline given for his return.
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