San Jose Sharks forward Ryan Reaves wasn’t brought in to score goals. He was brought in to help lift the spirits of the locker room.
Yes, Reaves’ first goal of the season was spectacular, and he followed it up with a fight. But the Sharks forward has brought a tradition to his new team: yelling his goalie’s name to “release us!” during pregame intros.
Unfortunately, there isn’t a clip of Reaves doing this with the Sharks yet, but the tradition really caught fire during his time with the New York Rangers and Igor Shesterkin.
Reaves told SHD that the tradition started while he played for the Vegas Golden Knights and his teammate, John Merrill.
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“It started in Vegas with me and Johnny Merrill, and then I just kind of kept doing it,” Reaves exclusively told SHD. “I don’t know exactly what started it, to be honest. I would yell, Johnny. He would yell, release us, and then we would go. Then Johnny wasn’t on the team the next year, so I just started saying, Release us.”
The San Jose Sharks forward said that he waited to bring out his iconic scream for the regular season. He told nobody on the team that he was going to do it, which made for some great reactions.
“I think everything I yell takes them off guard for a second, but they’re getting used to it now,” Reaves said. “[Shakir Mukhamadullin] just stares at me and doesn’t know what’s going on. So I think he looks surprised every time I yell.”
Reaves says that during his time in New York, there was more pushing and shoving before entering the ice, leading to some tunnel hype. He is trying to bring that same energy to the Sharks.
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“In New York, the boys got a little more hype for it,” Reaves said. “There was a lot of pushing and shoving in the line before, so I’m trying to get that going, but nobody pushes me back yet. I might just start throwing punches.”
Reaves is working on pregame handshakes
Yelling in the tunnel pregame isn’t the only tradition the Sharks veteran has done in his career. Special handshakes during warmups or in the tunnel are something Reaves wants to do with Macklin Celebrini and Will Smith.
“We’re still working on it. Mack, Smitty, and I had one, but we gassed it,” Reaves said. “We’re gonna do something else now.”
Hockey players love their traditions. Smith’s stick change during the 2024-25 season was well-reported by SHD. Celebrini has always remained one of the last Sharks players on the ice after warmups, giving many pucks to hopeful fans.
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Former Sharks winger Kevin Labanc would tap the same tooth on the Sharks’ head after every pregame introduction.
Tomas Hertl would shoot three backhand shots at the end of warmups, then bounce a puck off the boards and toss it to a fan before going to the dressing room.
For Reaves, his most iconic pregame handshake was with the St. Louis Blues and Vladimir Tarasenko.
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