Nov. 26--Andrew Desjardins owns the prize that has eluded so many of his friends on the Sharks: a Stanley Cup ring.
After spending the first six-plus years of his professional hockey career in the Sharks organization, the center was dealt to the Blackhawks at the trade deadline last March for winger Ben Smith, a move that eventually led to his name being engraved on the Stanley Cup.
The Hawks' pit stop in San Jose on Wednesday night was Desjardins' first contest against his former squad since he hoisted hockey's coveted trophy in June.
"Obviously it was tough being here for the time that I was," said Desjardins, referring to last season's trade. "It was four or five years, good years and a good group of guys ... which made it difficult."
"I wasn't expecting it to happen, but obviously coming to another good team was an amazing feeling as well. After the dust settled about the trade, you know you're going to a good team and that was an awesome feeling."
During his tenure in San Jose, Desjardins made four trips to the playoffs, but the squad failed to advance beyond the Western Conference finals. He was also part of the team's infamous 3-0 collapse to the Los Angeles Kings during the 2014 playoffs.
But as the Blackhawks advanced in the playoffs last spring, Desjardins received several text messages from his former teammates.
"Just saying how good they thought I was playing or just being confidence boosts," Desjardins said. "There's a lasting relationship, obviously, where you have guys like that giving you those props."
While the Blackhawks circus trip provided Desjardins with an opportunity to catch up with his old friends, he kept his Stanley Cup ring stored away. It probably isn't something the guys want to see.
"That thing's in a bank vault," Desjardins joked. "I'm just going to put it in a safe and it's going to sit in there."
More homecomings: The trip to San Jose also marked the return to familiar stomping grounds for forwards Brandon Mashinter and Viktor Tikhonov.
Mashinter spent the first three-plus seasons of his professional hockey career in the Sharks organization, suiting up for 13 games with the NHL club in 2010-11 before getting traded to the Rangers organization in 2012-13.
"It's weird," Mashinter said, referring to his homecoming. "I was actually out here earlier this year with Rockford playing the Barracuda (in the AHL), so even that was a little bit weird."
Tikhonov spent part of his youth in Silicon Valley while his father was an assistant coach for the Sharks.
Toews on Smith: After the Hawks captured their third Stanley Cup in six years last June, captain Jonathan Toews sent a text message to Smith telling him he was a big part of the championship.
"He was a great teammate, a great friend, a really unselfish, positive guy," Toews said. "We felt destined to go where we ended up last year, and it's unfortunate that we couldn't have him along with us."
After picking up a goal and an assist in his debut with the Sharks on March 2, Smith wound up playing in the IIHF World Championships last spring instead of the Stanley Cup playoffs. While Smith is happy about his former teammates' success, he stayed away from the TV as they chased down another Stanley Cup.
Smith's bad luck continued in just his second game of this season on Oct. 17 when teammate Marc-Edouard Vlasic hit him in the right ear with a shot that resulted in a concussion.
Smith, 27, returned for two games on Oct. 28 and 31 before missing the Sharks' next 12 outings because of his recurring concussion symptoms.
The 27-year-old forward also missed 14 contests and three playoff games during the 2010-11 season because of a concussion and he sat out the first five weeks of the 2011-12 season after suffering a head injury during the preseason that year.
Smith, who started skating with the Sharks again last week, is considered day to day.
"There are enough studies out there and you hear about it enough in the news, you want to be careful," Smith said, referring to concussions. "You want to be able to later in life not look back and point back to the injuries you sustained while you were playing as the reason why you can't throw a ball or remember things or do your everyday activities."
Paul Gackle is a freelance reporter for the Chicago Tribune.
