Shark Life: Fan Fest
by Ann Frazier / sjsharks.com
This past weekend featured one of the favorite (pre-)season events: Sharks Fan Fest presented by Bay Area BMW!
Featuring autographs, photo ops, kids activities, player panels, and an absolutely legendary Legends Game, there was tons to do for fans of all ages.
One of the new additions this year was the player panels, which provided some absolutely priceless moments.
Fans also got a chance to meet some of their favorite players, take photos in front of the incredibly iconic Shark Head, and shoot the puck on the SAP Center ice.
Obviously, no Fan Fest is complete without the Sharks' biggest acquisition of the summer: Finn! Finn was at Fan Fest to help lead a panel on Canine Companions for Independence, the organization that's helping him on his journey towards becoming an assistance dog.
And he was totally adorable doing it.
Eventually, it became time for one of the marquee events: the Legends Game presented by Skyline Construction. The game was changed up this year; previously it had featured two teams full of Sharks Alumni, while this year's version pitted the Sharks Alumni against the women hockey players of the PWHPA.
It was such a big game, Joe Thornton and family decided to stick around to watch (and catch up with former teammate Joel Ward).
The PWHPA ended up defeating the Sharks Alumni 3-2 in a hard-fought game. The crowd was treated to a surprise at the end: broadcasters Jamie Baker and Bret Hedican, who played in the game, presented new Sharks broadcaster and PWHPA player Kendall Coyne Schofield with her own Sharks jersey.
All in all, it was a pretty legendary day.