October 8 morning skate quotes: San Jose

Todd McLellan, on whether Antti Niemi will start:
Yep, Nemo will start tonight. Nemo has a proven track record, we’d like to show him that we have the confidence in him this year, it’s a fresh year, everybody gets a fresh start, and Nemo starts tonight. Now, Alex will play, he’ll play a lot, and so will Nemo.

McLellan, on challenges presented by the pre-game ceremony:
There’s emotions that exist in this game for both teams. There’s excitement on their behalf, there’s probably a little frustration on our behalf, and that’s a good way to start the season but it’s going to have to be controlled emotion. Obviously they’ll have their event, it will delay things a bit, those are some of the obstacles that are in our way, and we’ll have to overcome them. I don’t want us to be uptight, I don’t want us to play grabbing our sticks, I want us to be loose and get out there and play the way we can.

McLellan, on naming a captain:
We’re still working on it. [Reporter: Should we get out the binoculars in warm ups?] Sure, you guys can pull ‘em out; did you guys bring them? Pull ‘em out, we’re ready to go, we’re ready to play. Pull out the binoculars.

McLellan, on what the team will do during the pre-game ceremony:
We’ll be getting ready, guys will be staying loose, they’ll be focusing on the game. As for the event, I don’t know how long it’s going to go and it really doesn’t matter. Whenever the puck drops we better be prepared to play, as I’m sure they will be.

McLellan, on starting the season in Los Angeles:
This should be a very entertaining game. It’s a rivalry that’s been built up over years. I think we’ve played them three of the past four playoffs, they’ve won a couple Stanley Cups. It’s a great rivalry and it should be the opening game, at least out West here.

Joe Pavelski, on starting the season in Los Angeles:
We’re excited, it felt really good to get out on the ice pregame skate, just kind of being able to have a chance to play a game again. [Last year] was a tough way to end, and I think everybody knows that, and we’re going to try and put the talk and distractions aside and build on something new now.

Pavelski, on any speculation of captains being assigned before the game:
Obviously it’s up to the coach, it’s still a work in progress. I think not rushing into it, we want to get it right. There’s a lot of trust and a lot of belief in the guys in this room, in the core, and guys have expressed that. There’s been multiple things that have happened to get to this point, it’s just going to take a little bit more time, and everyone’s fine with it.

Pavelski, on whether the Sharks are ready:
Preseason is definitely useful, I think all of the guys in here feel like we’re in good shape, we’re ready to play, we’re a good team, structure-wise we know what to do, and now it’s about executing.