- Editor's Note: Sheng Peng will be a regular contributor to NBC Sports California’s Sharks coverage. You can read more of his coverage on San Jose Hockey Now, listen to him on the San Jose Hockey Now Podcast, and follow him on Twitter at @Sheng_Peng.
Who cares about hockey?
You couldn’t blame Kevin Labanc if he thought that.
Over Thanksgiving, his father Milan was put into a medically induced coma.
“He was actually hanging up Christmas lights. Then he fell off the ladder,” Labanc shared today. “He was in an induced coma over two months.”
Just in time for the birth of Labanc’s first child – he and his wife Kelly are expecting on Feb. 20 – his 50-year-old father is out of the woods.
“It was tough, but he’s good now,” Labanc said. “He’s walking, talking. He’s doing his physical therapy. He’s in a good place.”
So forgive Labanc if hockey and getting healthy scratched in eight of the San Jose Sharks’ last 10 games, despite his 25 points in 45 games, was the furthest thing from his mind.