DETROIT - The San Jose Sharks bus was late, so Tomas Hertl had to wait. [url=http://www.islanderssale.com/authentic-anders-lee-i

DETROIT - The San Jose Sharks bus was late, so Tomas Hertl had to wait. Anders Lee Islanders Jersey . That gave fans outside Joe Louis Arena another chance to ask for autographs from the 19-year-old whose stardom in the NHL has arrived earlier than most expected. Hertl has seven goals and three assists in his first eight games and is an early front-runner for the Calder Trophy as the rookie of the year. That production even caught coach Todd McLellan a little off-guard. "Id be lying if I said I wasnt (surprised)," he said after San Joses morning skate Monday in Detroit. "We expected him to be able to come in and make an impact on our team, but not to the extent that he has to this point." Hertls four-goal game Oct. 8 against the New York Rangers put him in the spotlight, spurring plenty of talk about showmanship because he shot between his legs and scored. Washington Capitals coach Adam Oates caused a stir by saying its important for young players like Hertl not to "disrespect the league," while an off-colour locker-room comment by captain Joe Thornton spun the attention in a different direction for a little while. The 2012 first-round pick has cooled off slightly since that breakout performance, but its not like the Sharks expect multi-goal games out of him that often. Given the ups and downs rookies tend to face, he might not finish the season with 20. Thats OK, because as general manager Doug Wilson puts it, "Tomas is not a one dimensional player." "Its not just the offensive numbers," Wilson said in a phone interview. "This kid is very poised in his own zone, he makes really smart plays protecting the puck, and to us hes a three-zone player that just fits in with how we want to play and where were going with our team." Where the Sharks are going is back on the rise, thanks in large part to the next generation of offensive players, including Hertl, potential Canadian Olympian Logan Couture and likely U.S. Olympian Joe Pavelski. And Wilson sees parallels between Hertls growth and what Couture and Pavelski went through as they blossomed into established NHL players. "We just think hes got a great combination of skill-sets: Obviously the size and the hands, but his vision and just how he can play all three zones," Wilson said. "Weve gone through this before and even though its a very different physical dynamic than Logan Couture and Joe Pavelski, but he has the vision and the ability to do things, I think, that high-end players have." Having just moved to North America after two full seasons in the Czech Extraliga in his native Czech Republic, Hertls English is limited. On the night he scored four goals, he kept saying how much of a dream it felt like. Monday he credited linemates Thornton and Brent Burns for his play and fellow Czech Martin Havlat for tutelage off the ice. "Our team is very good," he said. Wilson does believe playing alongside Thornton and Burns has helped Hertl, but the rookie gets points for thinking the game at a high enough level to click with such skilled veterans. The Sharks saw that in him dating to his time at the world junior championships. Of course the NHL is a long way from the junior level, and McLellan expects Hertl to hit a rough patch. "As a 19-year-old and all the emotions of starting the year and scoring seven goals early, its going to catch up to him at some point," he said. "Then well have to work him through those down times as well." The Sharks are prepared for that. Wilson said the organization doesnt go out of its way to promote young players — "we never have and we never will." So if the hype that surrounded Hertl after his four-goal game fades away or picks up, theres a strategy for getting the most out of him. "The most important thing is that theyre a trusted teammate and a trusted player by the coach, who can put them out on the ice in many different situations," Wilson said. "The other stuff, obviously the attention is he scored four goals or hes done this. The respect and equity he earns within our dressing room is how he plays the game shift-to-shift, day-to-day and hes earned that." As for Hertl being a reliable three-zone player, Thornton figures hell find out eventually. "With him and Burnsie, they just forecheck so hard, so I really havent seen him play too much defence all year," Thornton said with a smile. "I think weve only been playing in the offensive zone, to be honest with you." Thats not a bad place to be for a player with Hertls abilities. Brock Nelson Jersey . -- The Oakland Athletics and free agent right-hander Bartolo Colon have agreed to terms on a US$2 million, one-year contract, bolstering their depleted starting rotation. Josh Bailey Jersey . No, the San Antonio star didnt announce retirement plans during an off day at the NBA Finals on Wednesday. http://www.islanderssale.com/authentic-billy-smith-islanders-jersey/ . On Thursday, they signed former Browns linebacker DQwell Jackson. Terms of the deal were not immediately available.VANCOUVER - Jordon Cooke stopped 22 shots as the Kelowna Rockets extended their win streak by downing the host Vancouver Giants 4-2 on Saturday in Western Hockey League action. Cooke improved his season record to 22-1-2 as Kelowna earned its 14th straight victory. Tyson Baillie had a goal and an assist for the Rockets (30-3-2) while Cole Linaker, Colton Heffley and Madison Bowey each scored once. Jackson Houck and Anthony Ast scored for the Giants (17-14-7) as Jared Rathjen turned away 28-of-32 shots in a losing cause. Kelowna went 3 for 6 on the power play while Vancouver failed to score on four chances with the man advantage. Giants defenceman Shaun Dosanjh was given a game misconduct in the third period for an illegal check to the head. --- BRONCOS 4 WARRIORS 1 MOOSE JAW, Sask. — Landon Bow made 35 saves, including 15 in the third period, as Swift Current downed the Warriors. Brett Lernout, Colby Cave, Jake DeBrusk and Zac Mackay scored for the Broncos (21-13-6) and Andrew Johnson chipped in with two assists. Bryson Gore scored the lone goal for Moose Jaw (11-22-6), which is 3-6-1 in its last 10 games. Justin Paulic turned away 22-of-26 shots for the Warriors. --- PATS 8 WHEAT KINGS 4 REGINA — Chandler Stephenson had two goals and an assist and Boston Leier scored once and set up three more as the Pats doubled Brandon. Connor Gay had a goal and two assists for Regina (19-15-4), which halted a four-game slide, while Geordie Maguire, Carter Hansen, Adam Brooks and Dmitry Sinitsyn added a goal each. Tim McGauley scored twice for the Wheat Kings (19-15-3) and Ryley Lindgren and John Quenneville had the others. Dawson MacAuley made 22 saves for the Pats as Curtis Honey turned away 43-of-51 shots for Brandon. --- RAIDERS 4 BLADES 2 SASKATOON — Prince Albert opened up a four-goal lead en route to handing the Blades their 13th straight defeat. Gage Quinney, Darcy Zaharichuk, Jayden Hart and Ryan Coghlan supplied the offence for the Raiders (19-16-2). Nathan Burns and Graham Millar scored for Saskatoon (10-27-3), which hasnt won a game since Nov. 22 when it beat the Lethbridge Hurricanes 5-2. Cole Cheveldave made 31 saves for Prince Albert while Alex Moodie turned aside 34-of-38 shots for the Blades. --- HITMEN 6 OIL KINGS 2 CALGARY — Elliott Peterson registered his first-career hat trick and Chris Driedger made 34 saves as the Hitmen toppled Edmonton. Chase Lang, Pavel Padakin and Jake Virtanen also scored for Calgary (23-8-5), which remains atop the Eastern Conference standings. Mads Eller and Brett Pollock registered goals for the Oil Kings (23-11-1) and Henrik Samuelsson assiisted on both. Thomas Greiss Islanders Jersey. Edmontons Tristan Jarry gave up five goals on 15 shots. --- TIGERS 4 HURRICANES 2 MEDICINE HAT, Alta. — Kyle Becker and Chad Labelle each had a goal and an assist as the Tigers doubled up Lethbridge. Curtis Valk and Logan McVeigh also scored for Medicine Hat (22-12-3) while Blake Penner received a charging major and game misconduct 5:45 into the first period. Russell Maxwell and Brady Ramsay had a goal apiece for the Hurricanes (7-28-5), who failed to earn their third straight victory. Zac Robidoux made 21 saves for the Tigers. Lethbridges Teagan Sacher started in net but left the game less than six minutes into the first period. Corbin Boes took over and stopped 38-of-41 shots in relief. --- WINTERHAWKS 4 AMERICANS 1 PORTLAND, Ore. — Brendan Burke stopped 30 shots as the Winterhawks beat Tri-City to improve to 13-3-1 on home ice. Adam De Champlain and Dominic Turgeon each had a goal and an assist for Portland (25-8-4) while Oliver Bjorkstrand and Tyson Predinchuk added the others. The Americans (17-17-4) got their lone goal from Brian Williams. Eric Comrie started in net for Tri-City and allowed four goals on 26 shots before giving way to Evan Sarthou, who stopped all 12 shots he faced in 20 minutes of action. --- SILVERTIPS 4 THUNDERBIRDS 3 (OT) KENT, Wash. — Brayden Low scored 3:26 into extra time and Daniel Cotton made 39 saves as Everett edged Seattle. Carson Stadnyk had a pair of goals for the Silvertips (23-11-4) and Jujhar Khaira scored once. Branden Troock, Ryan Gropp and Roberts Lipsbergs scored for the Thunderbirds (22-10-5) and Shea Theodore chipped in with two assists. Seattles Danny Mumaugh stopped 37 shots in a losing cause. --- ICE 2 CHIEFS 1 SPOKANE, Wash. — Mackenzie Skapski turned away 36-of-37 shots as Kootenay halted the Chiefs four-game win streak. Levi Cable and Zach McPhee scored in the first period for the Ice (19-17-3), with McPhees coming by way of the man advantage. Dominic Zwerger responded in the second period for Spokane (22-13-2). Eric Williams made 20 saves for the Chiefs, who fell to 11-7-1 on home ice. --- ROYALS 5 COUGARS 2 VICTORIA — Brandon Magee scored once and set up two more as the Royals defeated Prince George. Austin Carroll and Axel Blomqvist each had a goal and an assist for Victoria (25-13-2) while Ben Walker and Jack Palmer scored a goal apiece. Todd Fiddler and Klarc Wilson scored for the Cougars (14-20-5) and Jordan Tkatch assisted on both of his clubs goals. Coleman Vollrath made 33 saves for the Royals. Prince Georges Ty Edmonds turned away 24-of-29 shots in defeat. --- ' ' '