SAN JOSE, CALIF. - Making an impact is something that Joe Pavelski has been doing for a long time.
Well before the captain of the San Jose Sharks was leading the 2016 Stanley Cup playoffs with 12 goals and was tied in points (21) with teammate Logan Couture, he was turning heads.
Mike Eaves, a longtime NHLer who was the head coach of the Wisconsin Badgers of the NCAA when Pavelski played two seasons there, remembers several things sticking out about the gifted forward before recruiting him.
“His skill level and understanding of the game were what helped make him successful and that's true to this day,” Eaves said in a telephone interview from Northfield, Minn.