The NHL held its own version of “Shark Tank” at the Shark Tank on Monday. Six teams of Bay Area college students pitched their ideas for the future of hockey at the Innovation Competition at SAP Center in San Jose. Instead of having to deal with the show’s Kevin O’Leary, these young entrepreneurs got to hang with Joe Thornton and S.J. Sharkie.
Before hockey purists get all Link Gaetz about it, these weren’t changes to how the game is played but how fans experience it — and ideas for how the San Jose Sharks and the NHL can bring the next generation of fans into the fold.
San Jose Sharks mascot S.J. Sharkie jokes around with guests at the Innovation Competition’s Final Pitch Day at the SAP Center in San Jose, Calif., on Monday, June 1, 2026. (Nhat V. Meyer/Bay Area News Group)
Members of team “Little Saigon,” from left to right, Santa Clara University students, Alyssa Tran, T.J. Singleton and Erin Hanahoe, present their pitch during the Innovation Competition’s Final Pitch Day at the SAP Center in San Jose, Calif., on Monday, June 1, 2026. (Nhat V. Meyer/Bay Area News Group)
Members of team “Puck Pulse,” Santa Clara University students, from left to right, Alex de Ana Skinner, Liam Hadden, Fletcher Criag, and Anna Mulderink, pose for a photograph with former San Jose Sharks’ Joe Thornton, center, and Devin Setoguchi and Sharks mascot S.J. Sharkie before the awards were announced at the Innovation Competition’s Final Pitch Day at the SAP Center in San Jose, Calif., on Monday, June 1, 2026. They would win the “Innovator Award.” (Nhat V. Meyer/Bay Area News Group)
Members of team “Puck Pulse,” Santa Clara University students, from left to right, Anna Mulderink, Liam Hadden, Fletcher Criag, and Alex de Ana Skinner present their proposal at the Innovation Competition’s Final Pitch Day at the SAP Center in San Jose, Calif., on Monday, June 1, 2026. They would win the “Innovator Award.” (Nhat V. Meyer/Bay Area News Group)
Members of team “The Rink Reach Program,” students from Santa Clara University present the Innovation Competition’s Final Pitch Day at the SAP Center in San Jose, Calif., on Monday, June 1, 2026. (Nhat V. Meyer/Bay Area News Group)
University of San Francisco’s Kayvan Zahiri with team “IceBreaker Bay” presents his proposal for the Innovation Competition’s Final Pitch Day at the SAP Center in San Jose, Calif., on Monday, June 1, 2026. (Nhat V. Meyer/Bay Area News Group)
Members of team “Puck Pulse,” from Santa Clara University, awarded the “Innovator Award” and University of Berkeley’s Cory La Roe with team “Hockey Without Barriers,” awarded the “Changemaker Award,” celebrate at the end of the Innovation Competition’s Final Pitch Day with San Jose Sharks mascot S.J. Sharkie and judges at the SAP Center in San Jose, Calif., on Monday, June 1, 2026. (Nhat V. Meyer/Bay Area News Group)
Members of team “Little Saigon,” starting second from left, Santa Clara University students, from left to right, Alyssa Tran, Erin Hanahoe, and T.J. Singleton, pose for a photograph in the San Jose Sharks’ sharks head during the Innovation Competition’s Final Pitch Day at the SAP Center in San Jose, Calif., on Monday, June 1, 2026. (Nhat V. Meyer/Bay Area News Group)
Former San Jose Sharks’ Joe Thornton, left, chats with University of Berkeley’s Cory La Roe, center, with team “Hockey Without Barriers,” as he holds his “Changemaker Award,” next to San Jose City Councilmember Michael Mulcahy, one of four judges, for the Innovation Competition’s Final Pitch Day at the SAP Center in San Jose, Calif., on Monday, June 1, 2026. (Nhat V. Meyer/Bay Area News Group)
San Jose Sharks mascot S.J. Sharkie jokes around after the Innovation Competition’s Final Pitch Day at the SAP Center in San Jose, Calif., on Monday, June 1, 2026. (Nhat V. Meyer/Bay Area News Group)
Members of team “Puck Pulse,” Santa Clara University students, from left to right, Anna Mulderink, Liam Hadden, Fletcher Criag, and Alex de Ana Skinner present their proposal at the Innovation Competition’s Final Pitch Day at the SAP Center in San Jose, Calif., on Monday, June 1, 2026. They would win the “Innovator Award.” (Nhat V. Meyer/Bay Area News Group)
Along with San Jose Sharks mascot S.J. Sharkie former Sharks’ Devin Setoguchi, far left, and Joe Thornton, top right, pose for a photograph with the six team finalists in the Innovation Competition’s Final Pitch Day at the SAP Center in San Jose, Calif., on Monday, June 1, 2026. (Nhat V. Meyer/Bay Area News Group)
Neda Tabatabaie, center, Senior Vice President of Business Analytics and Technology at San Jose Sharks and judge, speaks during the Innovation Competition’s Final Pitch Day at the SAP Center in San Jose, Calif., on Monday, June 1, 2026. From left to right is Mandi Duhamel, Vice President, Hockey Development & Industry Growth for the National Hockey League, and judges San Jose City Councilmember Michael Mulcahy, Tabatabaie, Oliver Vivell, SAP Head of Corporate Business Development, and Rob Knesaurek, Senior Vice President of Hockey Development & Industry Growth for the NHL. (Nhat V. Meyer/Bay Area News Group)
University of Berkeley’s Cory La Roe with team “Hockey Without Barriers,” presents his proposal at the Innovation Competition’s Final Pitch Day at the SAP Center in San Jose, Calif., on Monday, June 1, 2026. He would win the “Changemaker Award.” (Nhat V. Meyer/Bay Area News Group)
Judge Neda Tabatabaie, second from left, Senior Vice President of Business Analytics and Technology at San Jose Sharks, asks a question during the Innovation Competition’s Final Pitch Day at the SAP Center in San Jose, Calif., on Monday, June 1, 2026. From left to right is Mandi Duhamel, Vice President, Hockey Development & Industry Growth for the National Hockey League, and judges San Jose City Councilmember Michael Mulcahy, Tabatabaie, Oliver Vivell, SAP Head of Corporate Business Development, and Rob Knesaurek, Senior Vice President of Hockey Development & Industry Growth for the NHL. (Nhat V. Meyer/Bay Area News Group)
Former San Jose Sharks’ Joe Thornton, right, hands Santa Clara University’s Anna Mulderink, with team “Puck Pulse,” her “Innovator Award,” she is one of four members on the team, for the Innovation Competition’s Final Pitch Day at the SAP Center in San Jose, Calif., on Monday, June 1, 2026. (Nhat V. Meyer/Bay Area News Group)
Members of team “Little Saigon,” Santa Clara University students, from left to right, Alyssa Tran, T.J. Singleton, and Erin Hanahoe, present their proposal during the Innovation Competition’s Final Pitch Day at the SAP Center in San Jose, Calif., on Monday, June 1, 2026. (Nhat V. Meyer/Bay Area News Group)
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San Jose Sharks mascot S.J. Sharkie jokes around with guests at the Innovation Competition’s Final Pitch Day at the SAP Center in San Jose, Calif., on Monday, June 1, 2026. (Nhat V. Meyer/Bay Area News Group)
“We’re really excited to see, with these students, the power of possibility,” said Kevin Brown, executive director of the Sharks Foundation, which co-sponsored the event with the NHL, NHL Players Association and SAP. “The students really took a step back and, in their own way, assessed what hockey means to them and their interpretation of where there are opportunities in this sport to continue to be inclusive and an environment where people can succeed.”
Each team was given 10 minutes to present and answer questions from the judges — Rob Knesaurek, NHL senior vice president of hockey development and industry growth; SAP Head of Corporate Business Development Oliver Vivell; Neda Tabatabaie San Jose Sharks senior vice president of business analytics and technology; and San Jose City Councilmember Michael Mulcahy.
After all the presentations, the Game Changer Award went to Hockey Without Barriers, a project by UC Berkeley MBA student Cory La Roe to use AI narration, haptics and real-time captioning to make the game easier to follow for fans who have disabilities or brain injuries or are otherwise neurodivergent.
La Roe, a disabled U.S. Air Force veteran and longtime hockey fan, said he worked on the project because he needs something like it to exist to enjoy the sport more. “I think we can make hockey a sport without barriers, and we can start right here in San Jose,” he said.
The Innovator Award went to Puck Pulse, an idea from a Santa Clara University team with similar goals. The team — Anna Mulderink, Liam Hadden, Alex de Ana Skinner and Fletcher Craig — wants to use real-time puck tracking and haptic feedback in a tablet-like device that would allow visually impaired fans to follow the game.
Another Santa Clara University team, Little Saigon, presented a plan to make heritage nights at SAP Center and other arenas a more culturally immersive experience for fans, including more partnerships with local food vendors, pre-game activities like night markets. While the team didn’t win one of the two awards Monday, Sharks executives in attendance were definitely paying attention to their ideas.
The competition has been held for four years, but this was the first time it was held in San Jose or even on the West Coast. San Jose Sharks President Jonathan Becher said he’s hoping for some encore engagements that draw on the talent of Silicon Valley students.
“Innovation is much more than technology,” Becher said. “Frankly, innovation is about people. It’s about unlocking the different perspectives that all of us have. These are the pioneers that are going to help us figure out the future of every industry, including our own.”
CULTURAL CONNECTIONS: Santa Clara County’s cultural diversity is a real hallmark of the region, whether you discover it through food, music, dance or language. You’ve got to love a place where you can grab a banh mi in the afternoon, take in a Afro-Cuban jazz show and wrap up the night with birria — and then repeat that the next day with different foods and entertainment.
The Mosaic Festival, which returns to History Park in San Jose on Saturday, takes it all and presents it as one daylong package. The entertainment offerings are about as diverse as you can get. After all, there aren’t many events where you can see Aztec dancing and the Santa Clara Valley Fiddlers Association on the same stage.
Priya Das, co-founder of Mosaic America, the umbrella organization that stages the festival, says its year-round mission is to create meaningful ways for groups to share their traditions with the larger community. “The best part about the Mosaic festival is that we get to see all of the diversity in our neighborhoods in one place. We are used to celebrating our unique identities or cultures in our own homes,” she said.
The festival runs 11 a.m. to 6 p.m., and admission is free. The entertainment lineup, along with other details, is listed at mosaicfestival.org.
POINTS OF PRIDE: Count me among those who were really surprised to find out that Palo Alto had never held a citywide LGBTQ Pride event. But that changes this weekend with the city’s inaugural Pride celebration at King Plaza at City Hall on Sunday. It’ll run from 2 to 5 p.m. with speakers, dancers, singers and poets providing entertainment and lots of community grounds tabling around the plaza.
Also this weekend, the Children’s Discovery Museum in downtown San Jose will host Proud of My Family, an event to celebrate our diverse families, especially those with LGBTQ parents, relatives and friends. Special activities, which will take place from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday, include a Rainbow Dance Zone, parade-sign making and family art projects and photo opportunities. The activities are included with museum admission, and you can get more information at www.cdm.org.