SAN JOSE, Calif. – Joonas Donskoi had been dreaming about this moment almost as long as San Jose Sharks fans.
You see, basically from the minute he was born back on April 13, 1992 – days before the end of the Sharks’ inaugural season – he’s been obsessed with the NHL. The youngest of three boys, he had a hockey stick in his hand much earlier than most.
“I’ve always been crazy about hockey,” Donskoi told Sportsnet a couple days before scoring the biggest goal in Sharks history.
“It’s my No. 1 passion. Right away when I learned to speak I was speaking about the NHL. I’ve been playing all the time hockey. It’s just a passion for me. It’s been a lot of hard work and I never thought it would become a reality for me.”
He’s hardly alone there.
After being drafted by Florida in the fourth round six years ago, he was never signed. Heck, it barely made a ripple when the Sharks emerged from a couple interested NHL teams to get his signature on a free agent contract in May 2015.
Even they figured he would spend time in the American Hockey League this season. Wrong.
“Our guys, everyone, felt that he had a chance to play down the road,” said Sharks coach Peter DeBoer. “I think everyone first saw him starting in the American League. He was our best player in development camp (last summer). We went on to the main camp, he was the best player in the main camp, exhibitions.
“He just kept jumping over hurdles.”
Donskoi was a key contributor in consecutive Finnish league championships with Karpat the last two years and quickly turned heads after moving to North America.
Logan Couture recalls seeing the new guy on the ice during a few summer skates and wondering who he was. The Sharks’ alternate captain even went home and started punching his name into Google afterwards.
“It’s kind of like you had to look at the number on the back of his helmet and then look up online to see who he was because he was gifted with the puck,” said Couture. “I saw a lot of shootout goals. He’s got some real nice ones.”
His teammates had figured out he was for real long before Donskoi scored the overtime winner here in Game 3 of the Stanley Cup final on Saturday, but the wider hockey community now has the chance to do so as well.
He’s been a nice secondary contributor during this Sharks playoff run and now has a goal that will be remembered in these parts for a long, long time. Already trailing the Pittsburgh Penguins 2-0 in the series and battling through a nervy overtime period, Donskoi stopped the clock at 12:18 of overtime by swinging out from behind the net and banking a shot in off the side of Matt Murray’s head.
This was the first Stanley Cup Final game ever played at SAP Center – and the 2,023rd overall in the organization’s history – and it restored hope that San Jose still has a chance in this championship series.
“I think I’ve had a lot of scoring chances through the whole final,” said Donskoi. “It was a good time to get it in.”
“It’s great for him,” added teammate Brent Burns. “I mean what a special moment. You score an overtime winner in the Stanley Cup Final, it’s pretty bad ass.”
Donskoi is a quiet presence inside the Sharks dressing room, but let it be known that he didn’t like the first nickname his teammates came up for him this season: “Donkey.” Burns has since taken to calling him “Dusty Crophopper” after the character in the movie “Planes.”
If he keeps finding big goals – he also had the series-clincher against Los Angeles in Round 1 – they’ll eventually call him whatever he wants.
But it’s clear the 24-year-old Finn has already earned the respect of those he’s playing with.
“He came in and nothing was given to him from the start,” said Couture. “He worked for everything. He’s on the bike as soon as the game ends, every day at practice. He was someone who was drafted and not signed, so he kind of has that chip on his shoulder.”
Donskoi admits now that he wasn’t ready for the NHL life he long dreamed of after being taken by the Panthers in 2010. It’s been a process to get to this point.
He wound up spending six full seasons playing in his domestic league, wanting to make sure that he would be ready to give his best shot when a serious NHL opportunity arrived. He made the jump after winning the Jari Kurri Award as playoff MVP in Finland last season.
“I wasn’t physically ready (after being drafted), I wasn’t mentally ready to come, I wasn’t a good enough player to come over,” said Donskoi. “I’ve grown up a lot.”
He’s arrived at a perfect time for the Sharks.
“I think you’re going to see this often,” said teammate Chris Tierney. “He’s a big-time player.”
One with a big-time goal now on his resume.
