Sturm snapping up opportunities in San Jose

Originally published on EuroReport.com in 2000

By Lucas Aykroyd

The menacing theme music from Jaws has echoed through San Jose Arena thousands of times when the Sharks go on the power play. Marco Sturm’s presence isn’t quite that intimidating, but the swift winger from Dingolfing, Germany does his part to strike fear into the hearts of opposing goaltenders. With his team off to one of the best starts in franchise history, the 6-0, 195-pound Sturm has been contributing at both ends of the ice. This season, he looks poised to improve on his offensive totals from 1999-2000 (12-15-27), which represented an all-time low for the 22-year-old. EuroReport got to jaw with the affable fourth-year Shark recently.

EuroReport: How would you describe your play so far this year?

Marco Sturm: I’m doing pretty good, I think. The team is doing unbelievably and we’ve got a pretty good record right now. It’s fun to play right now.

EuroReport: Last year, you seemed to play in more of a checking role, whereas this year you’ve played with skilled guys like Alexander Korolyuk and Vincent Damphousse. How have you changed your style to adapt to that?

Sturm: I think I’ve had a better start this year than last year. Last year, I had a fight the last couple of months to get in there, and this year it’s much better. I’ve got a lot of ice time and I’m playing the PK a lot, sometimes PPs. But it just comes down to hard work.

EuroReport: You’ve really turned into a shorthanded scoring threat the last two years, with seven goals altogether. What’s been the key?

Sturm: First of all, a little luck. Second, I’m playing with Vinny Damphousse and he always feeds me with little sweet passes. Sometimes I just get a good read on the play.

EuroReport: What’s gotten your team off to such a great start?

Sturm: We just have to keep going like this. We had a perfect start, and now we’re on the road for a while, and hopefully we’ll come back over .500.

EuroReport: What kind of impact will it have when you get Owen Nolan and Marcus Ragnarsson back in the lineup?

Sturm: A big impact! We’re playing pretty good without these guys, and it’ll be pretty scary to see how good we get when they’re back.

EuroReport: Who do you see as the team to beat in the Western Conference this year?

Sturm: There’s a lot of teams out there. You see the standings and all the Western teams are pretty good, so we have to beat all of the big teams like St. Louis and Detroit and Dallas.

EuroReport: Back home in Germany, there must be a lot of excitement about hosting the World Championships in April.

Sturm: That’s right. I think it’s a big deal for us. Everyone is happy. The German team moved up from the B Pool to the A Pool, too, so it’s a big challenge for us and I hope we do well there.

EuroReport: How would you assess the hockey situation in Germany right now.

Sturm: As far as the German League is concerned, we have to shut down the imports a little bit. Right now, it’s all open, whereas five years ago, you couldn’t do that. Me, I was lucky that I played when only four imports per team were allowed, and that’s why I played back home. I got a lot of ice time and I got better and better. No young German guys can do that anymore. But the fans want to see the German guys, and hopefully it will improve in the next few years.

EuroReport: For the World Championships, there’ll be three host cities: Hanover, Cologne, and Nuremberg. Tell me a little bit about the hockey tradition in each of those places.

Sturm: Cologne is the biggest one. They’ve already got a nice arena with about 18,000 seats. Almost every game it’s sold out, so it’s going to be really fun there. They’re also building a new arena in Nuremberg, which I think is going to be done in January or February. They’ve got a good crowd and Bavaria, I think, is the nicest part of Germany. Lots of excitement. I don’t know so much about Hanover, but I think a lot of people up there like hockey and they’re going to fill the rinks.

EuroReport: Is there a little sense of competition with Switzerland evolving now, since they placed three guys in the NHL this year?

Sturm: I don’t think so. I didn’t even know they had three guys. I mean, back home, it’s a big deal with Germany versus Switzerland, but over here, I think I’m happy if either more Germans or more Swiss guys come over to play.

EuroReport: I know you’re also a soccer fan. What do you think the German soccer program needs these days?

Sturm: They’re doing better now. They had an awful European Championships this summer, and I think they’re doing better in their last couple of games.

EuroReport: Tell me about your involvement with the Power Bodies Training Center commercials.

Sturm: I came into San Jose a bit before the season and started to work out with Jeff Grasso of Power Bodies. Jeff Friesen turned me on to this guy, who’s his personal trainer. I just live down from Friesen, so we went there all the time. It’s a pretty hard workout and it’s a good program for us. That’s why I like it so much.

EuroReport: The media guide mentions your ambition to start a band someday. What kind of music? Country? Heavy metal?

Sturm: [laughs] Oh, man. I don’t know. Not country, we don’t have that back home! Probably rock. It’s a big, big dream. I think I’m never going to do it.

EuroReport: You’re pretty busy with this hockey thing, eh?

Sturm: Exactly!

EuroReport: What would you describe as the highlight of your hockey career so far?

Sturm: I think it was last year with the Sharks, when we went to the second round of the playoffs. The other one would be the silver medal at the European Junior Championships with Germany.

EuroReport: What are your personal goals for this season?

Sturm: Keep playing better than the last couple of years. I want to score more goals and points and that’ll make me happy.