Sharks embark on father-son trip

SAN JOSE, Calif. — As the San Jose Sharks prepared to embark on their father-son trip Friday morning, Ned Shelley tried to recall the last time he traveled with his son's team.

"I think it was Yarmouth, Nova Scotia, around 1990," he said. Jody Shelley, now the Sharks' enforcer, would have been about 14 then.

Brad Lukowich's dad, Bernie, played 79 games in the NHL during the mid-1970s, but he had one burning question about the trip: What's the dress code?

"I said, 'You aren't playing. Do whatever you want, like you're going golfing,'" Brad told him.

Normally, with a Sunday game in Chicago, the Sharks would have traveled on Saturday. But this is no ordinary trip. As such, the team left San Jose on Friday and will stay an extra night in Nashville rather than rushing home after Monday night's game.

The Sharks have done this only once before, in December 2006, and it didn't start so well. The team lost, 8-0, in Phoenix. The dads sat on the plane waiting while G.M. Doug Wilson gave the players an earful on the team bus. (The Sharks won the next night in Dallas.)

This time, 20 fathers are taking part, including those of the four coaches. Patrick Marleau's brother, Richard, is subbing for his father, who needed to stay on the family farm in Saskatchewan. Most of the fathers were planning to meet the team in Chicago, but six were on the Sharks' flight from San Jose.

All parties were looking forward to the next four days.

"Any time you can spend valuable time with your dad alone, it's special," Coach Todd McLellan said. "The hockey part of it is the icing on the cake."

McLellan's previous team, the Detroit Red Wings, did this the past three years, so this will be the fourth trip for him and his father, Bill.

"We're a very proud group and we like to see our sons succeed," said Bill McLellan, a retired member of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police.

Although it's nothing new for the McLellans, this is the first father-son trip for several Sharks, including Shelley and Lukowich.

"It's going to be fun to see him in the dressing room, at the pregame meal," Shelley said of his dad. "You might even see him behind the bench, who knows? He's that type of guy. He coached me when I was a kid and he still does."

Bernie Lukowich scored 13 goals and 28 points in stints with the Pittsburgh Penguins and St. Louis Blues, but he wasn't sure what to expect from life on the road three decades later.

"It's going to be very interesting to see how they operate now," he said.

For at least one dad, hanging out with the other fathers also is a memorable experience.

"I don't know for sure, but I think I'm rooming with Doug Murray's dad this time," said Wayne Thornton, Joe's father. "I see Doug's mom and dad quite a bit, so that'll be nice. And I hope Mr. Roenick's there. He's a character."