In a locker room, the word “culture” is all-important, but sometimes, difficult to define.

It’s a sports cliché to associate “culture” with wins and losses. In a bad culture, perhaps players are more selfish, and you lose more. In a good culture, perhaps players are more team-oriented, and you win more. And so on.

The San Jose Sharks lost 4-1 to the Philadelphia Flyers on Saturday, but you saw two significant instances of “good” culture, that didn’t lead to winning today, but may in the future.

In the first period, Ryan Reaves dislocated his finger, fighting Garret Wilson. Reaves skated another shift, then went into the locker room.

Ryan Reaves got into a scrap with Garrett Wilson, dislocated his finger, and went to the bench to have one of the Sharks trainers pop it back into place 😩🤢 pic.twitter.com/EabWrPx6Nh

— Gino Hard (@GinoHard_) March 21, 2026

Reaves joined the bench in the second period, and for the rest of the game, but never left it.

After the game, Barclay Goodrow started crying when asked about his “great, great friend”. Reaves and Goodrow were previously teammates on the New York Rangers for two seasons.

“Sorry, guys,” an overcome Goodrow said. “Even when he’s not playing, he’s there for everyone. He works his butt off everyday. I think everyone in the room can learn a lot from a guy like that.”

This caught the entire media corps by surprise, first, because Goodrow is usually serious with the media. Second, because athletes don’t often cry on camera. And third, because we’re not aware of any major Reaves news yet.

But there’s no doubt, Goodrow cares a lot for Reaves, and you aspire for every player in your locker room to care for each other like that.

Then, early in the third period, score tied at one apiece, Garnet Hathaway caught an unaware Macklin Celebrini with a thunderous hit.

The 19-year-old franchise face, typically, has a gift for avoiding the brunt of contact.

Mario Ferraro flipped, and jumped Hathaway, even though the hit was clean.

Hathaway popped Celebrini and then Ferraro IMMEDIATELY went after him taking a penalty 😳💥 pic.twitter.com/KqQCx39Vps

— B/R Open Ice (@BR_OpenIce) March 21, 2026

Ferraro got called for a penalty, the Flyers scored the GWG on the ensuing power play and added a couple empty netters later to seal their victory.

Ferraro had no regrets: “That’s Mack. I didn’t think in that moment. I’ll do that 10 times out of 10.”

Judging by the result, Ferraro made a losing mistake at a terrible time. But it was absolutely a winning mindset. Should Ferraro wait to see if Celebrini is okay? Should he go to the bench and watch the replay to assess whether the hit was clean? Of course not. Hockey is a sport of split-second decisions, he made a split-second decision, and the spirit of it was right.

Big picture?

Of course, it has to be more than Goodrow for Reaves, and Ferraro for Celebrini, but you want to build a team around your superstar who will fight for him and for each other, and yes, who will cry for each other, too.

That’s everybody on the same page, pulling the same rope, and yes, risking an occasional ill-timed penalty.

Ultimately, only culture doesn’t win a championship. You still need talent, and lots of it, which the Sharks don’t have throughout their line-up just yet.

But your chances of winning, I think, are better if your locker room genuinely cares for each other and will fight for each other “10 times out of 10”.

Barclay Goodrow

John Klingberg

Mario Ferraro

Ryan Warsofsky

Warsofsky, on Reaves:

That’s who he is, what a great teammate he is, and lays it on the line every shift. He’s done it all year for us. He’s been a big reason why that place has got energy back. Yeah, I know 71 and 2 and our young guys, but Ryan Reaves has been a big part of this whole thing.