Joe Pavelski on his golf game, Stanley Cup run, World Cup of Hockey (Puck Daddy Q&A)

Joe Pavelski is modest when asked about his golf game.

“It’s alright. It’s respectable,” he said from Lake Tahoe on Thursday.

The San Jose Sharks captain will put his game to the test this weekend at the American Century Championship featuring over 80 celebrities from the entertainment and sports worlds. Pavelski enters the tournament a 30/1 favorite. (Wonder if he brought along any of his TRUTH golf balls to help him out?)

Pavelski, who will be in a group with T.J. Oshie of the Washington Capitals and Hockey Hall of Famer Mike Modano this weekend, rates himself pretty highly among the golfers on the Sharks roster.

“I’d have to give myself a No. 1 on the Sharks, but there’s a couple of good players, couple of six and sevens,” he said. “You know what, though, Jumbo’s [Joe Thornton] one of the best partners. He’s a great six, seven. He makes some putts and he’s who you want on your team.”

Pavelski didn’t get to hit the links that much during the 2015-16 NHL season that saw the Sharks advance to the Stanley Cup Final. But he was able to work on his short game having installed a putting green in the backyard of his San Jose home. He also hosted his own golf tournament last month in Wisconsin, which benefited the Stevens Point Area Youth Hockey Association.

We spoke to Pavelski on Thursday ahead of this weekend’s tournament, which you can watch coverage of from 3-6 p.m. ET on Saturday and Sunday on NBC.

Enjoy.

Q. Are you the type that’s already forgotten how the season ended or does that stay with you as motivation going forward?

PAVELSKI: “You never forget how something like that ends. I’m sure I’ll never forget that. But obviously as time goes you take lessons from it, you move on a little bit, you work to hopefully get another opportunity to be in that position; that’s what we take from it. You’re trying to get rest right now and get your body back in line and working so you can make another run at it when you get a chance.”

Despite the disappointing finish are you able to look back and realize how successful a season it was?

“You understand there was a little success there and a lot of good energy and the fans were excited. It was an awesome run looking back. To be a part of it and have that experience was pretty cool. It’s still not great that we didn’t win, it could have been a lot better and we understand that, but definitely we have an understanding of what it meant to the city. It’s just one of those things where if we can win a Cup here sometime soon it’ll be pretty special.”

How would you rate your first season as captain?

“I think it was somewhat of a success. Each year’s a little different you’ve got to find something a little different along the way. To be honest, the first year was a success in large part due to the guys. Everybody in the room was tremendous. It was such a joy coming to the rink and working with everybody, competing, getting out there. A lot of credit goes to those guys.”

Was your first year as captain made easier because of the makeup of the Sharks where there’s guys like Patrick and Joe and other vets like Martin and Burns in that room as well?

“Yeah, I think so. Those guys play huge factors for our team. Everything that we’ve done along the way we’ve kind of done together and you feel everything. Those guys were tremendous and they’ve helped me out so much along the way, and this last year was really no different.”

With your season going until mid-June and the World Cup of Hockey in September, how has your off-season schedule had to change?

“There’s still a process that you have to go through. You need some rest; so I think the rest right now is the biggest thing. We’re slowly getting back into the gym now the last week. It’s a little bit of a down week this week with the golf tournament. [I’ll] enjoy this and then when we get back we’ll start getting after it and skating in August. You go through this whole process, the recovery and then it’s just you get what you can over the next couple of weeks and go from there.”

You’ve played in a couple of international tournaments for the U.S. Is there something that coaching staffs or players do when you first get together to help gel quickly for such a short period of time?

“There’s different meetings and different chances to hang out and have dinners and stuff like that. It’s just nice being able to play on a couple of them before you start to get to know guys and their tendencies a little bit and all that helps.”

You played for John Tortorella at the 2010 Olympics and against him throughout your career. What do you takeaway from his coaching style that you think he’s going to bring to the World Cup team?

“It’s going to be all about competing. That’s first and foremost. In these short tournaments that’s what it is all about. Just show up and play, keep it fairly simple and we’ll go ahead. We know he’s upfront, he’s an honest guy and I think that’s really good for this tournament and what we’ll need.”

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Sean Leahy is the associate editor for Puck Daddy on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at puckdaddyblog@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter! Follow @Sean_Leahy