Bulls goalie Heemskerk scores big Sharks callup

Following Wednesday night’s San Francisco Bulls game, goaltender Thomas Heemskerk told SFBay how nice it was to be back at home after a long road trip:

“Being on the road gets old after about two or three days. It’s been nice to be home, get some groceries, be in your normal bed again, obviously less travel. That stuff.”

Not 48 hours later, the British Columbia native will be traveling again. Except this time, he’d be heading down I-280 to HP Pavilion.

The San Jose Sharks announced Friday morning they have called up Heemskerk to the big club, rewarding the Chilliwack, British Columbia native for a solid season between the pipes for San Francisco.

In 37 games with the Bulls, Heemskerk (13-17-3) posted a goals against average of 3.16 and a save percentage of .904.

The Sharks didn’t waste any time bringing Heemskerk into the mix. Heemskerk practiced with the Sharks Friday morning, filling in for injured backup goaltender Thomas Greiss.

Heemskerk, originally signed to the Sharks in 2009, missed all of January after being treated for a burst appendix. In his last performance Wednesay in a Bulls uniform, he blocked 43 of 45 attempts in a 2-1 loss to the division-leading Alaska Aces.

Though hundreds of ECHL players advance to AHL teams every year, direct callups to the NHL from the ECHL are rare, occurring only a handful of times each season.