He’s been All-NHL and played in the NHL All-Star Game, and now Dan Boyle will have an Olympic gold medal to hang in his trophy case.

The San Jose Sharks defenseman, an alternate captain for the Sharks, played a prominent role for Team Canada, pairing on defense with Chris Pronger and others as Canada rebounded from an early loss to the Americans with victories over Russia, Slovakia and, finally, the U.S. in overtime, 3-2, in the Gold Medal Game.

“This gold medal meant everything to our country and that is what pleases me the most,” Boyle said. “To see 33 million Canadians partying in the streets after the win was awesome. To get scored on with less than a minute left and then win it in overtime is something you only usually see in movies. With Sid scoring that goal, he and the rest of us will be part of a classic for years to come.”

After the Olympic Games, Boyle immediately returned to San Jose to resume training with the Sharks. He has 11 goals and 34 assists for 45 points in 56 games so far this season, as well as 45 penalty minutes, a +5 rating and 22 points on the power play.

Defenseman Dan Boyle will wear the “A” on his jersey this season, as the San Jose Sharks named the veteran All-Star an alternate captain, along with center Joe Thornton.

The captain’s “C” went to defenseman Rob Blake.

Coach Todd McLellan took away the captainship from Patrick Marleau before training camp and said he wanted to see who assumed the leadership before picking a replacement.

San Jose opens the 2009-10 season tonight on the road against the Colorado Avalanche.

The Sharks have high expectations after winning the Western Conference’s regular-season title last year and adding high-scoring forward Dany Heatley in an off-season trade.

THE SHARKS ROSTER:

Rob Blake
Dan Boyle
Joe Callahan
Ryane Clowe
Thomas Greiss
Dany Heatley
Kent Huskins
Derek Joslin
Manny Malhotra
Patrick Marleau
Jamie McGinn
Torrey Mitchell
Mike Moore
Douglas Murray
Evgeni Nabokov
Scott Nichol
Jed Ortmeyer
Joe Pavelski
Devin Setoguchi
Jody Shelley
Brad Staubitz
Joe Thornton
Marc-Edouard Vlasic

San Jose Sharks defenseman Dan Boyle was named Second Team All-NHL at the NHL’s awards show yesterday in Las Vegas.

It was the second time Boyle has been named Second Team All-NHL, putting him among the top four defensemen in the league. The first time was in 2004 when he led the Tampa Bay Lightning to the Stanley Cup championship.

Boyle, who played in his first All-Star Game this season, was selected to the Second Team along with Niklas Lidstrom of Detroit. Mike Green of Washington and Zdeno Chara of Boston were the defensemen on the First Team All-NHL.

It was also announced that Boyle placed fifth in the voting for the Norris Trophy as the NHL’s best defenseman. Chara won the award, followed by Green, Lidstrom, Shea Weber of Nashville and Boyle.

Boyle finished his second-most successful season offensively, collecting 16 goals and 41 assists for 57 points in 77 games. A wrist injury midway through the season prevented him from putting up even more gaudy numbers for the Sharks, the best team in the NHL during the regular season before they were ousted by the Anaheim Ducks in the first round of the Western Conference playoffs.

With the President’s Trophy resting securely in their trophy case, the San Jose Sharks are set to go about their quest for a more important award: their first Stanley Cup.

The Sharks posted the NHL’s best record (53-18-11) for the first time in team history and are aiming for their first Stanley Cup, as well. Behind tough, experienced forwards in Joe Thornton and Patrick Marleau and experienced, Cup-winning defensemen Dan Boyle and Rob Blake, the Sharks would be the favorites to lift the Cup were it not for the presence of the defending-champion Detroit Red Wings.

The Sharks open with a best-of-seven first-round playoff series against the Anaheim Ducks – just two years removed from their own winning Cup run. The schedule:

Game 1 – Thursday, April 16, at San Jose
Game 2 – Sunday, April 19, at San Jose
Game 3 – Tuesday, April 21, at Anaheim
Game 4 – Thursday, April 23, at Anaheim
Game 5* –Saturday, April 25, at San Jose
Game 6* – Monday, April 27, at Anaheim
Game 7* – Wednesday, April 29, at San Jose
* – if necessary

The second-seeded Red Wings open against the seventh-seeded Columbus Blue Jackets. The other two first-round series in the Western Conference pit third-seeded Vancouver against sixth-seeded St. Louis and fourth-seeded Chicago against fifth-seeded Calgary.