Sherwood chirps former Canucks teammates in incredible mic’d up video
Kiefer Sherwood was an immensely popular player in Vancouver when he was with the Canucks.
The winger’s consistent effort and willingness to play the body were much appreciated, both by Canucks fans and his Canucks teammates.
Turns out, he’s a lot less fun when he’s on the opposing team.
The San Jose Sharks acquired Sherwood from the Canucks for two second-round picks and AHL defenceman Cole Clayton earlier this year, and he subsequently signed a five-year contract extension.
While Sherwood has been relatively quiet offensively this season, with just 8 points through 21 games, he’s actually been anything but quiet on the ice.
The Sharks released a six-minute mic’d-up video of Sherwood from the Sharks’ game against the Canucks on Oct. 29, which unsurprisingly reveals that the former Canuck is a preeminent motormouth.
Sherwood dropped several aggressive lines early to pump up his teammates: “Let’s pepper this f***ing tendy,” “Hunt him,” and “Hunt these D, boys.”
The camera also caught a couple of chirps aimed at his former teammates.
At 2:27, Sherwood gets in Filip Hronek’s ear, “Still the same, always barking,” and Hronek just laughs.
At 2:52, he has words for Max Sasson, specifically aimed at his flow: “Free haircut, eh Sass?”
Then things get a little more testy.
At 3:15, he gets into it with an unseen Canuck, shouting, “Do something about it! Do something about it!”
When that unseen Canuck shouts back, “I’ll do whatever the f*** I want,” Sherwood chirps back, “You won’t do s***!”
Sherwood vs. Pettersson
The moments that stand out the most, however, are when he goes after defenceman Elias “Junior” Pettersson.
First, a bit of context. The Canucks went up 2-0 in this game, so the Sharks were frustrated. The Canucks had landed some solid hits on the Sharks, with Pettersson leading the way with a team-high four hits.
So, when Sherwood and Pettersson bump together at 3:12, Sherwood is trying to get under Pettersson’s skin when he says, “You don’t f***ing want it.”
As the Sharks are still down 2-0 and pushing for a comeback, Sherwood gets in Pettersson’s kitchen again at 4:20, prior to a faceoff.
“You better f***ing watch it, Junior,” he says, looking cold as ice.
What that is, is respect. Sherwood wouldn’t be trying to get under the skin of a player he didn’t respect, or anyone he felt was inconsequential on the ice.
In that moment, Sherwood isn’t treating Pettersson as a young kid trying to break into the NHL, but as a top-four defenceman whom he needs to try to rattle in order to help his team.
The Sharks did, in fact, complete the comeback, with Sherwood providing the primary assist on the game-winning goal.