SAN JOSE -- When the Sharks take the ice Friday, it will mark their first training camp without Joe Pavelski, who signed with the Dallas Stars this offseason after 13 seasons in teal.
So, we asked his former Sharks teammates to finish this sentence: Joe Pavelski was …
Logan Couture
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“Heart and soul. Amazing person, not just a hockey player. He was very special to a lot of guys in the room, and he’ll be missed.”
Peter DeBoer
“A warrior. There’s a guy, not the biggest, not the fastest. But fearless. A leader, and he’ll be greatly missed in the room, on the ice but personally, too. Him and his family, just infectious personalities. We’ve got to find a way to replace some of that.”
Martin Jones
San Jose Sharks
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“A great leader, a great teammate. One of those guys that he’s real easy to follow going into the hard areas of the ice. You see the grit he plays with. He’s inspiring.”
Joe Thornton
“The best. I love the guy. He’s meant so much to this organization for over 10 years now. A big part of this group, and we’re going to miss him definitely.”
Brent Burns
“The ultimate professional. When you look at him, broke him down, he wasn’t the fastest skater, didn’t have the hardest shot, he was just smart. He just did everything right. A great guy off the ice, and [an] unbelievable hockey player.”
Timo Meier
“A huge impact for me. Learned a lot from him, not just on the ice but off the ice, too. He’s a guy that when I first came in, guided me and showed me the right attitude, the right habits. Just a guy you can rely on in every kind of moment.”
[RELATED: Couture named new Sharks captain]
Erik Karlsson
“An important character. During the period of time, he was the culture here. He knew what needed to be done, and he’d seen things that guys except Thornton and [Marc-Edouard] Vlasic hadn’t. He was vital to keeping things the right way.”
