San Francisco Sports News

SAN JOSE – The 2023-2024 San Jose Sharks reconvened for one last time Saturday, hoping they would never have to experience another season like the one they just endured.

“If this isn’t (rock bottom),” Sharks general manager Mike Grier said, “I don’t know what is.”

After missing the playoffs for a fifth consecutive season, minor and possibly major changes will be in store for a Sharks team that won less than 20 games and finished last in the NHL standings with a paltry 47 points.

Along with the expected adjustments in personnel, with a handful of unrestricted free agents allowed to walk, Grier would not completely rule out a coaching change, saying he and owner Hasso Plattner would review everything after the Sharks finished the season at 19-54-9.

Asked if Sharks coach David Quinn will be back for a third season, Grier said, “I’m still kind of getting all the information I can and we’ll kind of go from there.”

Expectations were modest for the Sharks this season as they were not believed to be anywhere near a playoff team, especially after they traded high-scoring winger Timo Meier and three-time Norris Trophy winner Erik Karlsson in 2023.

Compounding the issue for the Sharks were injuries to key players, particularly captain Logan Couture and defenseman Matt Benning. The Sharks also traded Tomas Hertl on March 8, and after the deal, finished the final few weeks with a 4-14-3 record.

For the season, the Sharks allowed a league-worst 326 goals.

Asked specifically about Quinn and his assistants, Grier said, “I think they did a good job communicating and motivating the players throughout the year. (It) would have been easy to throw your hands up and not put in the effort and go through extra video sessions and talk with the players and try and get the players better.

“So I think they did a really good job with that in this situation. It was something that was needed and that they should be proud of.”

Quinn, hired by Grier in July 2022, has a 41-98-25 record with the Sharks as the organization fully committed to a rebuild.

Since Grier was named GM, just weeks before he hired Quinn, the Sharks have turned over most of their roster, and besides trading Meier, Karlsson and Hertl, also dealt Norris Trophy winner Brent Burns in 2022.

Throughout the season, the Sharks were never able to dress centermen Couture, Hertl, Mikael Granlund, and Nico Sturm in the same game. With three of those players in the lineup simultaneously, the Sharks were 11-8-2 this season.

Quinn said this was his most challenging year as a coach at any level. Asked to evaluate his own performance this season, Quinn said, “It was really morale, managing the morale when you’re in the situation we’re in. You’ve got to coach the team you have, you’ve got to coach the situation you have, and It was morale-driven.

“In the meetings we’ve had, the guys felt good about coming here every day, regardless of the circumstances. That was that was our job.”

Asked about the circumstances he dealt with, including the injuries, Quinn said, “I didn’t spend a lot of time thinking about it, but I do know what our record is when we only had three of our centers. It was a decent sample size so I do wonder what it would have been like if our centers had stayed healthy.

“Not saying we’d be in the Stanley Cup Finals, but I think the pain would have been a lot less severe. .,. I feel good about the job we’ve done.”

Grier said pending UFAs Alexander Barabanov, Mike Hoffman, and Kevin Labanc will not return.

Labanc’s nameplate had actually been removed from his locker – the only one that was removed — and as interviews with players were going on inside the Sharks’ dressing room, Labanc came in and grabbed his equipment, which had already been packed, and abruptly left, ending his Sharks tenure after eight years with 225 points in 478 games.

Other changes are likely forthcoming as the Sharks hope to take a step forward next season. The Sharks have close to $38 million in cap space right now, per CapFriendly, but Grier said he will likely not sign anyone to pricey, long-term contracts this summer.

Instead, with the Sharks wanting to become a harder team to play against, he wants to add certain types of players that fit that identity.

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“We definitely need to get faster and be harder to play against,” Grier said. “On my side, that’s through free agency or trades, looking at adding players that fit the bill.

“We have roster space and cap flexibility to be able to try and add and target some guys. So hopefully, whether that’s through free agency or a trade, we’ll be able to add some guys that fit that profile.”

Whatever happens, the Sharks hope they’ll never have another season like this for a long time.

“I mean, we need a lot of change,” Sturm said. “If you come back with 90% the same constellation, I don’t see how you would expect much different results.”

BERKELEY — The Cal football spring showcase turned out to be a showcase for the Bears’ top two quarterbacks and a handful of starters mixed in with lesser-known players.

Cal held out 25 players, including star running back Jadyn Ott, from its spring game on a sunny Saturday afternoon in front of an estimated crowd of 2,500 fans at Memorial Stadium. Others kept on the sidelines for cautionary reasons included defensive starters Cade Uluave, Craig Woodson, Marcus Harris, David Reese and Xavier Carlton.

The two-hour event, televised by Pac-12 Network, was a fan experience as much as anything. Cal accepted children’s book donations to its summer reading program and players signed autographs afterward.

Recruits, including those in the transfer portal, watched from the sidelines.

The Bears, headed to the Atlantic Coast Conference next fall after more than a century in the Pac-12, expect to add several more players, including perhaps help at outside linebacker and offensive line. A third scholarship quarterback may also be on the transfer portal shopping list.

The quarterback competition this spring has involved redshirt sophomore incumbent Fernando Mendoza dueling newcomer Chandler Rogers. Mendoza is listed as the starter and nothing that happened in 15 spring practices changed that.

“Both of those guys have done a really good job this spring,” said Cal coach Justin Wilcox, who declined to provide a timetable for firming up the pecking order. “Fernando is a better player now than he was and that’s exactly what we’re looking for. Chandler’s done a really good job as well. They’re different styles of player but both of those guys can play. We just want to continue to grow those guys.”

On Saturday, Mendoza was 6-for-9 for 92 yards, including a 60-yard completion to Trond Grizzell on the first snap of the scrimmage and a 15-yard touchdown pass to Notre Dame transfer Tobias Merriweather.

Rogers, who passed for 3,382 yards with 29 touchdowns last fall at North Texas, was 4-for-10 for 29 yards with an interception.

Mendoza, who took over as Cal’s starter at midseason last year, said he’s a different player since spring ball began. “You watch the Day 1 tape for myself and then today’s tape, my footwork was a lot better, my accuracy is a lot better, I’m bigger and stronger so I feel really confident going into the summer.

“The competition has been great for me. I think it’s always good to have someone to push you. But I want to play to my ceiling, to my potential.”

Rogers said he believes both quarterbacks have made progress, especially digesting new offensive coordinator Mike Bloesch’s scheme.

Asked if he anticipates being here in the fall, regardless of how the competition shakes out, Rogers said, “I plan to be here. I plan to be the guy.”

MORE CHANGE COMING

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Spring football is over but there’s no rest for the coaching staff, thanks to the transfer portal.

“There will be activity, both ways. That’s just the era we live in in college football,” said Wilcox, who will hold meetings with players next week to conduct post-spring evaluations. “Then we evaluate our roster, the needs we have and the areas we can improve in the transfer portal.”

Wilcox said other than placekicker, there isn’t an area on the team where the Bears wouldn’t explore a potential newcomer. “I don’t think there’s a position that’s off limits,” he said.

EXTRA POINTS

Redshirt junior and East Bay native Nate Rutchena, a linebacker his first three seasons, has been moved to tight end and he caught a touchdown pass Saturday from reserve quarterback Belay Brummel . . . Coaches praised redshirt freshman Nick Morrow, who has taken over the starting left tackle job. Bloesch called the 6-foot-8, 305-pounder biggest surprise among offensive players this spring . . . The Bears open their season on Aug. 31 at home vs. UC Davis. Their ACC debut is Sept. 21 at Florida State.

By BRIAN DULIK (Associated Press)

CLEVELAND (AP) — Josh Naylor hit a two-run homer and celebrated by striking himself on the helmet with his bat, providing the Cleveland Guardians with the go-ahead run in a 6-3 victory over the Oakland Athletics on Saturday night.

Naylor’s drive in the fifth off Alex Wood drove in Steven Kwan, giving Cleveland a 4-2 lead. The animated slugger delivered a two-handed smack to his head as the ball cleared the fence in right-center, then spiked the lumber onto the grass.

“I always just try to be your best self in any situation,” a much calmer Naylor said after the game. “It was a cool moment, but it was for the boys and that’s all I really play for. When we get punched, we punch back.”

Two innings later, Naylor again drove in Kwan, with an RBI single off Austin Adams. He is hitting .429 with five homers, 11 RBIs and eight runs in eight home games this season.

“In moments like that, he becomes Josh Naylor,” Kwan said. “That’s the inner competitor. And off the field, he’s the stereotypical Canadian, the nicest guy ever who takes care of his people.”

Kwan doubled twice and had two singles — his MLB-high sixth three-hit game — and José Ramírez and Ramón Laureano had RBI doubles for the Guardians, who have the best record in the American League at 15-6.

Cleveland and rookie manager Stephen Vogt have won six of their last seven and are off to their best start through 21 games since 1999.

“That’s Josh Naylor, man, he’s emotional and charismatic,” Vogt said. “As long as he didn’t concuss himself, I’m all right with the celebration.”

Guardians starter Logan Allen (3-0) pitched five innings, allowing three runs on five hits. Emmanuel Clase worked the ninth for his sixth save in eight chances.

Max Schuemann tied the score at 2-2 in the fifth with his first big league hit, a homer, prompting an emotional celebration by his family in the stands. Schuemann, a 26-year-old who made his debut on April 12, also stole a base.

Ryan Noda had a solo homer in the fifth and Shea Langeliers added a sixth-inning sacrifice fly for Oakland.

Wood (0-2) gave up four runs in five innings, lowering his ERA to 7.89 through five starts.

Ramírez and Laureano opened the scoring in the first with sharp RBI doubles just inside the third base line. Laureano spent 5 1/2 years with the Athletics before being claimed off waivers by Cleveland last Aug. 7.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Athletics: 3B J.D. Davis (right groin strain) has not resumed baseball activities, but was cleared to walk on a treadmill Friday. Davis is eligible to come off the 10-day IL on April 25.

Guardians: LHP Sam Hentges (left middle finger inflammation) worked one scoreless inning, throwing 10 strikes in 14 pitches, in his initial rehab outing for Double-A Akron on Friday.

UP NEXT

Athletics RHP Ross Stripling (0-4, 5.32 ERA) takes on Guardians RHP Tanner Bibee (1-0, 4.82 ERA) in the three-game series finale. Stripling is tied for the major league lead in losses, while Bibee has averaged 4.7 innings and 4.5 strikeouts in his first four starts.

___

AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb

SAN FRANCISCO — With Alex Cobb suffering a second setback in his recovery from offseason surgery, the Giants began shifting the eggs in their starting rotation to another basket. On Saturday, they struck a deal with the Toronto Blue Jays to acquire Mitch White and transferred Cobb to the 60-day injured list.

White, 29, gives the Giants additional depth in their bullpen and rotation. He has appeared in 62 career games between the Blue Jays and Dodgers, starting 22 of them, with a 4.99 ERA, but was designated for assignment by Toronto this week when the Blue Jays activated two pitchers from the IL.

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Cobb, 36, is now no longer eligible to return any sooner than May 27.

After breezing through the first stages of his return from hip surgery, Cobb has been slowed by ailments in his throwing arm as he attempts to build up his workload for the season. He felt tightness in his shoulder once he was cleared to resume throwing following a flexor strain in his elbow.

There was some hope he could join the Giants rotation around the start of May but now will be delayed at least an extra few weeks.

White, the 65th overall selection in the 2016 draft, starred for Bellarmine Prep before going on to play collegiately at Santa Clara.

The Cal women’s gymnastics team capped the best season in program history with a runner-up finish at the NCAA Championships on Saturday in Fort Worth, Texas.

Second-ranked LSU edged the No. 3 Bears 198.225-197.8500. Top-ranked and two-time defending champion Oklahoma was eliminated in the semifinals on Thursday.

Utah was third with a 197.800 and Florida was fourth at 197.4375.

“Our expectation now is to certainly compete with the very best on the final night of the national championships,” co-head coach Justin Howell said. “This experience will be invaluable to everyone returning on the team. They know what it takes and what it feels like. I think as a program we have learned a lot. This is the expectation moving forward.”

Sophomore eMjae Frazier helped lead the Bears by scoring at least 9.9 on each of the four rotations. Cal junior Mya Lauzon tied for first in the vault with a 9.95.

The Bears began the meet with a strong balance beam score of 49.4750, led by Frazier’s 9.95. After a 49.3750 on the floor exercise dropped them to third, the Bears began to fight their way back with team scores of 49.500 on the vault and the uneven bars. Frazier (9.9375) and freshman Kyen Mayhew (9.9) led the way on vault while Frazier (9.9125), senior Gabby Perea (9.9125) and junior Maddie Williams (9.90).

Cal moved past Utah and into second place with its final bars scores.

LSU, which finished fourth last year, trailed Utah by 0.037 points and led Cal by 0.113 after three rotations but senior Sierra Ballard kicked off the fourth and final rotation with a career-high 9.950 — her only routine of the day. Savannah Schoenherr followed with a 9.3875 before Konnor McClain posted the best score of the day on the beam (9.9624). Kiya Johnson, Haleigh Bryant and Aleah Finnegan each scored 9.950 to help the Tigers to a program record on the beam with a with a 49.7625 and seal the Tigers’ first NCAA title in program history.

Bryant, who won the individual all-around title on Thursday with a score of 39.7125, and Cal’s eMjae Frazier matched that total on Saturday to tie for best individual score in the team finals.

Bryant posting a team-leading 9.9375 on the floor as LSU finished with 49.6125 to take the lead after Rotation 1. The Golden Bears were 0.1375 behind, led by Frazier’s 9.9500 on the beam.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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MORAGA – Mario Storti easily handled BYU’s drop kick, something akin to a punt, and began to glide along the grass at Saint Mary’s College. 

Instead of trying to make four or five opponents miss, he offloaded the ball to playmaking fly-half Inoke Waqavesi, who faked one pass as he hopped in the air, and then accelerated through a gap. 

The Gael senior deked one more time to unsettle BYU’s already shaky defense, and then finally popped a quick pass to Mario’s older brother Erich on his left, who motored into the try zone for another Saint Mary’s five-pointer. 

In a game that was closer than the final score indicated, the Gaels took down BYU 48-31. SMC will travel to Houston to play against defending national champion Navy for the Division I title on May 4.  

“When stuff doesn’t go our way, we stick to our game plan and don’t play as individuals,” Erich Storti said. “We did a good job of persevering today.”

De La Salle alumni Dom Besag and Erich Storti each scored two tries, and Iosefa Toiaivao, Kaipono Kayoshi, Hunter Modlin and Sosaia Pongi each scored once as the Gaels pulled away from the Cougars late. 

“We know that Navy is going to give us everything we can handle.” said SMC coach Tim O’Brien, who has won three 15-man national titles and also guided the Gaels to the 2022 final, a loss to Army.

Saint Mary’s beat BYU 38-21 in Provo a month ago, and an even bigger rout seemed to be in the cards early on. The Gaels showcased the same quick-hitting passing attack that befuddled Cal the week before, carving up the Cougars in every area of the pitch.

Besag started the scoring 10 minutes into the game when he shrugged off a tackler and scored on the left flank. 

Menlo-Atherton’s own Pongi made it 10-0 when he used his speed to race in from the right wing, and then Toiaivao helped make it 17-0 at the 20-minute mark when he used a couple of nasty jukes to get into the try zone up the middle. 

MORAGA – Saint Mary’s fly-half Inoke Waqavesi (holding gatorade bottle) leads the team in postgame celebration. Saint Mary’s College rugby team defeated BYU 48-31 in the 2024 College Rugby Division I-A national semifinal playoff game at Saint Mary’s College in Moraga, Calif. on April 20, 2024 (Joseph Dycus/Bay Area News Group) 

Down by three scores, BYU finally showed why it was in the national semifinal. Using its brawn, plus a few unforced SMC errors and turnovers that had O’Brien fuming under the trees on the Gael sideline, the Cougars rolled off 17 straight points of their own. 

“We really hurt ourselves massively, and we didn’t take advantage of some of the gaps in their defense we could have,” O’Brien said. “We tried to move some balls to places they shouldn’t be, and we’re lucky they didn’t pick off a few of our passes.”

BYU scored the first 10 points after halftime to tie the game at 17. Storti then responded with a quick try off a scrum that had Besag raising his hands in celebration before his teammate had even touched down with 27 minutes left to play. 

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Three minutes later, Kayoshi’s long run saw him dragging a couple of BYU defenders into the try zone to give the Gaels some breathing room and provide the 3,000 or so fans a reason to breathe easy. 

The backs got to score the tries and bask in the adulation of the Moraga crowd, but the Saint Mary’s forwards also held their own against BYU’s big and burly players. 

Hunter Chuhlantseff, Nate Deegan, John Wilson, San Francisco’s Cathal Coakley, Lleyton Delzell and Matthew Abbes were stalwarts as tacklers and in scrums. The versatile King Matu, who went to Deer Valley High in Antioch, also set the tone not just as a bruising ball-carrier, but as a willing tackler who pushed runners back. 

BYU cut the lead to 29-24 with 17 minutes left, but Saint Mary’s scored three of the final four tries to salt the game away. Besag put a bow on SMC’s 18th victory of the season when he broke through a demoralized Cougar line and jumped into the zone for the final five points. 

“We were far from perfect today,” Besag said. “But we’re super-pumped (to go to Houston), because it’s everything we’ve ever been working for.”

MORAGA – Saint Mary’s College openside flanker Kaipono Kayoshi (7) scores a try with 24 minutes left in the second half. Saint Mary’s College rugby team defeated BYU 48-31 in the 2024 College Rugby Division I-A national semifinal playoff game at Saint Mary’s College in Moraga, Calif. on April 20, 2024 (Joseph Dycus/Bay Area News Group) 

SAN JOSE – San Jose Sharks captain Logan Couture is hopeful he’ll be able to play again this fall but admitted he still has some lingering concerns that his nagging groin injury will never completely go away.

“With injuries, that’s the way it always goes,” said Couture, who played in just six of 82 games this season. “The mind is always going to doubt that things are going to be back to normal or feel good. But myself, the doctors, we all believe that I can get back to playing and not being in pain, which is where I’m at right now.

“My day-to-day life has been back to normal, so I’m thankful for that. But we’ll see.”

Couture missed all of training camp and the first 45 games of the regular season with an often painful and debilitating condition called osteitis pubis, described as inflammation in the joint between a person’s left and right pubic bones.

After some setbacks earlier in the season, Couture began working with a San Francisco-based physiotherapist in December and started to see some improvement. He rejoined the Sharks’ lineup on Jan. 20, but his symptoms soon returned, and he was able to play just six games before he was shelved again in February.

Couture said after his last game of the season, on Jan. 31 in Anaheim against the Ducks, it was about another seven to eight weeks “to not be in pain every day.”

Getting past the injury is so difficult, Couture said, because the inflammation in that joint is “so tough for it to go away because you’re continuously using that joint.

“When you take a step or get out of bed, you’re using that joint,” Couture said, “so I think it’s just because it lingers for so long and the impact that it can have on your life. If you broke a bone, you know it’s going to be better in six weeks or whatever.

“But this thing is so unknown and the pain and what happens to your body is so severe. it’s just a tough injury.”

Couture said he’s spoken with a few NHL players who have had osteitis pubis about getting past the injury.

“Guys are going through it right now around the league,” Couture said. “Some guys are doing a little bit better. Some guys (symptoms) aren’t as severe as mine (were) and they’re a little bit younger.

“Another guy who’s a little bit older than me was able to get through it and he told me, ‘The hardest thing you’re going to do is get over this injury.’ He had an injury where he broke his fibula, and he said, ‘I’d take that 100 times over osteitis pubis.’ So it’s tough. But it can be done.”

With his offseason, Couture said his routine might not change that much. He’ll train a bit differently with his rehabilitation in mind and continue to do the exercises he was doing in San Francisco.

He wants to begin skating in July and after visiting with friends and family in Canada, Couture will return to San Jose in August and resume skating and training with the Sharks strength and conditioning coaches.

As of now, Couture feels he can start training camp in September as a full participant.

“That’s my plan right now,” Couture said. “I met with the doctor just 20 minutes ago, and that’s their belief. That’s what I’m hoping for. I miss playing hockey so much, so I hope so.”

The Sharks this season were 4-1-1 with Couture in the lineup. But they never had a game in which all four of their centermen — Couture, Tomas Hertl, Mikael Granlund, and Nico Sturm — all dressed on the same night and were 19-54-9 for the season.

“Losing sucks,” Couture said. “Losing sucks for the players, it sucks for the coaches, it sucks for the fans, people that spend their money to come watch us play. I was fortunate to be here through many, many great years when that building was full every night, continuously. The team was good.

“I hope that we can get back there and I hope I’m around this team when we get back to that point.”

“It would be everything,” to get Couture back, Sharks defenseman Mario Ferraro said. “He’s our captain and he’s the biggest part of this team, really. I feel really bad for him with how the year went for him. He’s a competitor he wants to be out there. I know he’s dying to be out there.”

Couture has three years to go after this season on an eight-year, $64 million contract. He’s seen Brent Burns, Tomas Hertl, and Erik Karlsson all move onto teams that are in a more competitive window, although Karlsson and the Pittsburgh Penguins missed the playoffs by three points.

Trading Couture at this point would be next to impossible for Sharks general manager Mike Grier. Besides Couture’s uncertain future considering his injury, the Sharks have used up their three salary retention spots through the 2024-2025 season in the Burns, Karlsson and Hertl deals.

Not many teams would be able to absorb Couture’s $8 million cap hit — or would want to considering his age. Any Couture deal would have to wait until the summer of 2025 when Burns’ salary comes off the Sharks’ books and after the Guelph, Ontario native shows he can still be a productive player.

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Couture has 701 points in 933 career regular-season NHL games, all with the Sharks. When San Jose regularly made the playoffs, Couture was one of the team’s most valuable players, with 101 points in 116 postseason games.

“I have a history of being a productive player in this league,” Couture said, “but I’m going to have to come back and show it for teams to have interest in me and that’s just the way it is.

“I love San Jose, I believe in what they’re doing here. Obviously a terrible, terrible season, but I think this is rock bottom. They’re growing this organization in the proper way, even though you may not see it right now with how tough this season was.

“But we’ll see. I just turned 35, so the clock for me playing in this league is probably on the back nine. But I want to win. I miss playing in the playoffs. I’m going to try and get back playing. Obviously, I see guys that were here the last couple of years have gone on. Some are in the playoffs and some aren’t.”