SI’s Labanc set to skate home with San Jose
Kevin Labanc is ready for a homecoming tour.
The Staten Island native is coming back to his roots this weekend with the Sharks to play three games in four days against the Devils, Islanders and Rangers.
Labanc, who has tallied three goals and two assists through the first five games of the year, will return to familiar territory starting Friday night against the Devils at the Prudential Center.
The former Richmondtown Prep student and New Jersey Rockets and Colonials left winger is beginning his second year in the NHL and is playing on the Sharks’ top line alongside Joe Thornton and Joe Pavelski.
The 21-year old is in good company with his linemates. Thornton is in his 20th year in the league with six AllStar games, two Olympics, an MVP award and 1,394 career points on his résumé. Pavelski, meanwhile, is a 12-year NHL veteran who has played on two Olympic teams for the United States.
“With them, you just work hard,” Labanc told reporters after a recent game. “You get them the puck and they’ll give it back to you and you just kind of open yourself up in those tiny little areas around the net. They’ll find a way to get it to you. They’re great players. [Pavelski] is a goal scorer, [Thornton] is a playmaker. So you just kind of find the both of them and they’ll find a way to get the puck to you. They’ll find a way to score a goal as well.”
After growing up in New Dorp Beach, Labanc played with the U.S. Development team and then passed up a scholarship to Notre Dame to go play with the Barrie Colts in the Ontario Hockey League.
The Sharks selected Labanc in the sixth round of the 2014 draft and signed him to an entry-level contract in 2016.
“It’s been good,” Labanc said. “I’m trying to do the best that I can to create as much opportunity for myself on the ice and in the offensive zones. I want to try to get pucks to the net and keep that momentum going and help the team as much as I can.”