Sophomore Surprise
By ALEX ISAO HERBACH
SPECIAL TO THE RAFU
Saturday, April 25, 2009

Devin Setoguchi, in only his second year, is making a world of difference for the NHL’s team.

Photos by MARIO G. REYES/Rafu Shimpo
San Jose’s Devin Setoguchi battles at the net with Los Angeles Kings defenseman Davis Drewiske, front, and goalie Jon Quick, during last Saturday’s
matchup at Staples Center. Though the Sharks lost their regular season finale, they headed into the playoffs with the league’s best record.

Still only 22 years old, Setoguchi tallied 31 goals and 65
points–third on the Sharks–during the season.

On a lazy Saturday afternoon at Staples Center, San Jose Sharks right winger Devin Setoguchi, one of the promising young goal scorers in the National Hockey League, found himself in the middle of a war zone.

Sharpened skates and sticks slashed at his ankles as pulverized ice splattered his neck and face. He went right at the chaos and took position in front of the net, turning his back to the opposing goalie to blind the net-minder of everything but his backside.

Then Setoguchi’s teammate fired a wrist shot from the point. In the time it takes to sneeze, it traveled 50 feet and missed his ears by inches. The puck hissed past, bounced off the goalie’s left leg pad, and landed at the winger’s feet. The only thing between the puck and the back of the net was six inches of naked ice. The kid didn’t stutter or stare or smile at his good fortune, because even at a green 22 years of age, Setoguchi knows that even diamonds are produced under pressure. So he tapped the puck home for his 31st goal of the year – one of the easiest a professional hockey player can come by.

Though the Sharks would lose that game against the Kings, 4-3, their final game of the regular season, there was a lesson to be learned from that fortunate bounce of the puck: nothing is more blessed than being in the right place at the right time. As far as picking teams to start a career with, Setoguchi couldn’t do much better.

San Jose won this year’s Presidents’ Trophy, designating them as the NHL’s best team and owners of home ice throughout the Stanley Cup Playoffs, which they began Thursday against the Anaheim Ducks with a 2-0 loss.

Still, they are the Vegas favorites to win the Cup this year–though some in Detroit and Boston might disagree. Without a doubt though, they would not be the team they are without Setoguchi.

With 65 points this season, he tallied the third-most for the powerful Sharks in only his second year in the league. That may not seem like much until you consider that the two guys ahead of him, Joe Thornton and Patrick Marleau, have nine All-Star credits between them.

In 124 career games, Setoguchi has 41 goals and a career plus-minus rating of 23, a metric that shows how many more goals a player’s team scores than it allows while he’s playing. In other words, the Sharks are a much better team when he’s on the ice than when he’s not.

A native of Taber, Alberta, Setoguchi has been playing hockey with his father Dale, a third generation Japanese-Canadian and a former semi-pro hockey player, since he was old enough to strap on skates. He grew up with the game, idolizing another Japanese-Canadian legend, six-time NHL All-Star Paul Kariya.

“There are only a handful of people that have played of Japanese descent, so I always looked up to Kariya growing up,” Setoguchi said. “I’ve had lots of people from the San Jose area that are Japanese come up to me. I am proud of that. It feels great.”

Judging from the number of “Setoguchi” jerseys in the crowd at Staples Center last Saturday, it seems the Sharks faithful are proud of their baby-faced new star as well.

“He’s been showing himself off big time, from coming down as a rookie to quickly making major points, he’s been showing off a lot of potential,” said Erik Tsujimura, a Bay Area native who wore his No. 16 jersey down to Staples Center last Saturday.

What’s astonishing about Setoguchi’s prospects is that nobody was expecting this kind of production this early in his career. Some weren’t expecting it at all. Before he was drafted in 2005, scouts doubted his consistency; after he was drafted eighth overall to the Sharks, the scouts doubted his work ethic. Now, as Setoguchi plays in his second postseason, the scouts are likely doubting themselves.

His production has shocked everyone, even his coach.

“At game 82 I’m not surprised anymore,” Sharks coach Todd McLellan said of Setoguchi’s play following the season finale. “At game 40 I was.”

Setoguchi himself even admitted that his goal at the beginning of the season was just to play the entire year with the big club. He never expected to score more than 30 goals for the best team in the league.

He’s a pro now, which means if you ask him to dwell on how he got here, he’ll redirect the focus to where he hopes to go from here. (Professional athletes tend to wield clichés about as well as their equipment.) Besides, it’s clear he already knows what to do when he’s in the right place at the right time: get to work and never look back.

“I never expected to do the things that I’ve done,” Setoguchi said. “I got off to an early start, I play with the best players in the league. And I hope to make the most of it.”