Deep Blue Sea: Go Niners

It’s the bye week in San Jose, but the sports world certainly isn’t on hold. Whatever witch cursed the Bay Area to only have one good sports team at a time decided that this year the Sharks had to sacrifice themselves — but in exchange, the San Francisco 49ers are the NFC Champions and are heading to the Super Bowl.

Our sister site over at Niners Nation is doing an incredible job covering the lead up to the Super Bowl, so go give them a read while the Sharks are on a break.

Erik Karlsson and Timo Meier made sure to give us that #BayAreaUnite content before heading off to vacation:

News & Notes

• Wheeler’s 2020 NHL prospect pool rankings: No. 25 San Jose Sharks [The Athletic]
• Sharks mailbag: Is GM Doug Wilson’s job in jeopardy due to poor play? [NBC Sports]
• San Jose Sharks Looking To Acquire A First-Round Pick [Yardbarker]
• Mammal or fish, Sharks are dead in the water [Mercury News]

Blood in the Water

• The NHL uses women’s hockey players for a PR boost. It needs to fund a league instead. [For the Win/USA Today Sports]
• “We were sick and tired of faking it” — The PWHPA’s Quest for Professionalism Continues [The Victory Press]
• Women’s hockey players at NHL All-Star game is good, but still a long way to go [Boston Herald]
• Tocchet of Coyotes to coach Pacific Division at NHL All-Star Game [NHL.com]
• Pierre-Luc Dubois on fighting Sidney Crosby, Baby Yoda, Blue Jackets’ resilience and more [ESPN]
• Midseason NCAA men’s hockey takeaways: Cornell, North Dakota legit national title contenders [ESPN]
• NHL Seattle mailbag: When will we get a team name? What to expect in the expansion draft? [Seattle Times]
• Report: NHL warns Flames, Oilers; Parros expected to attend rematch [theScore]

Recaps & Scores

• Florida Panthers 5, Minnesota Wild 4 [Litter Box Cats recap, Hockey Wilderness recap]
• Detroit Red Wings 3, Colorado Avalanche 6 [Winging It In Motown recap, Mile High Hockey recap]

On the Schedule

• Vegas Golden Knights at Boston Bruins, 4 PT/7 ET on ESPN+, SN, TVAS, NESN, ATTSN-RM
• New York Islanders at New York Rangers, 4 PT/7 ET on MSG, MSG+
• Winnipeg Jets at Carolina Hurricanes, 4 PT/7 ET on FS-CR, TSN3
• Pittsburgh Penguins at Philadelphia Flyers, 4:30 PT/7:30 ET on NBCSN, ATTSN-PT
• Florida Panthers at Chicago Blackhawks, 5:30 PT/8:30 ET on ESPN+, NBCSCH, FS-F