Dan Boyle Named Sharks Player of the Month: Fan Reaction

Each month, Brocade, a network solutions company based out of Silicon Valley donates $2,500 dollars to the The Sharks Foundation on behalf of the San Jose Sharks Player of the Month. The company also donates $5,000 on behalf of the Sharks Player of the Year, which is obviously awarded at the end of every season to the Sharks player who contributed the most to the team's success. In total, the Sharks Player of the Month and Year program has donated over $300,000 dollars to The Sharks Foundation since it was first established in the 1996-1997 season.

On February 2, before the Sharks beat the Dallas Stars 5-2, Dan Boyle was given the award and $2,500 was donated to The Sharks Foundation for his performance during the month of January. During the 14 games played in January, Boyle led the Sharks in several categories including assists (11), points (13), and plus/minus (+11). He even managed to have back-to-back three-point performances during that span on January 7 against the Washington Capitals and on January 10 against the Minnesota Wild and registered at least one point in nine of the 14 games.

Dan Boyle is much more than just another hockey player. He is a defenseman that has a well-rounded game, including the ability to score. Since joining the NHL he has also played for the Tampa Bay Lightning and Florida Panthers, even winning a Stanley Cup with the Lightning in 2004. He also won a gold medal with the Canadian National Team in the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver.

Although his goals are down this season and also were down in 2010-2011, I know he's capable of scoring as he led all team defensemen on the Sharks in his first season with the team with 16 goals in 77 games in 2008-2009. In fact, Boyle is such an integral part to the Sharks that he leads their franchise history with points by a defenseman and was an All-Star in 2008-2009 and 2010-2011.

He is an absolute competitor and one of my favorite Sharks. His hard-hitting style combined with his ability to score goals and effectiveness with passing the puck makes him, in my opinion, a complete hockey player. I hope that Boyle continues his play as of late and helps lead the Sharks make a deep run in the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

David is co-founder of wrapupp sports blog where they post fresh content daily and present sports blogs and sports opinions - all with a West Coast bias. Growing up in the Bay Area, David is a huge supporter of all the local sports teams; the Giants, Athletics, Warriors, Sharks, 49ers, and Raiders. His one fault, admittedly, as many of his friends and family would say, is his love for the Los Angeles Lakers. Growing up, Magic Johnson was his favorite basketball player and he fell in love with the team. He chalks it up to, "Not knowing any better". Now his love for sports has turned just as academic as it is intuitive and he follows most all sports all over the nation.

You can follow David on Twitter: @officialwrapupp

Sources:

NHL.com. Brocade "Sharks Player of the Month". NHL 2012.

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