How Sharks scout pushed team to draft Hertl a decade ago

Share
0:00
0:00 / 0:50

Tomas Hertl, playing in his hometown of Prague, scored the Sharks’ first goal of the season on Friday against the Predators.

PRAGUE – Tomas Hertl thought the Dallas Stars were going to draft him.

“I was actually thinking Dallas at 13 because [their Czech scout] Jiri Hrdina was going on the stage,” Hertl recalled about sitting in then-Consol Energy Center in Pittsburgh during the 2012 Draft. “But they took [Radek] Faksa.”

Not surprisingly, that can be an actual tell for who an organization is selecting in the first round, the area scout who comes up with the contingent making the selection.

“There’s a lot of little tells,” then-San Jose Sharks director of scouting Tim Burke laughed. So many, you even toss out red herrings during the Draft.

“Sometimes we have somebody go to talk to somebody that we think it might throw somebody else off.”

But Hertl felt good when he saw Sharks’ Czech scout Karel Masopust headed to the stage with GM Doug Wilson, Burke, scout Shin Larsson, and company. San Jose was picking 17th.

San Jose Sharks

Find the latest San Jose Sharks news, highlights, analysis and more with NBC Sports Bay Area and California.

Sharks' strong effort vs. Jets shows how far they are from the top

Warsofsky breaks down Sharks' tough overtime loss to Jets

“I see Karel, so it must be the next Czech guy. It was probably me, there weren’t [any other Czechs] around,” Hertl said of that spot in the Draft. “When I heard my name, I was so excited to walk on the stage.”

For the late Masopust, who passed away in 2019 at 76, selecting Hertl was a moment two years in the making.

Read more on San Jose Hockey Now

Contact Us