San Jose Sharks

The San Jose Sharks are a professional ice hockey team based in San Jose, California, United States. They are members of the Pacific Division of the Western Conference of the National Hockey League (NHL).

Franchise History

Bringing hockey back to the Bay Area
Although Northern California was not considered a particularly fertile hockey market, the NHL's 1967-68 expansion included a Bay Area team, primarily because the terms of a new television agreement with CBS called for two of the new teams to be located in California. Thus, the Oakland Seals were one of the six expansion teams added, but were a failure both on the ice and at the gate. After nine money-losing seasons and continued low attendance, in 1976 the Seals were sold to Cleveland businessmen George and Gordon Gund and moved to Cleveland, where they became the Barons. After two more years of losses, the Gunds were permitted to merge the Barons with the financially struggling Minnesota North Stars (now the Dallas Stars). The Gunds emerged as the owners of the North Stars as part of the deal.
The Gunds had long wanted to bring hockey back to the Bay Area, and asked the NHL for permission to move the North Stars there in the late 1980s, but were vetoed by the league. Meanwhile, a group led by former Hartford Whalers owner Howard Baldwin was pushing the NHL to bring a team to San Jose, where a new arena was being built. Eventually a compromise was struck by the league, where the Gunds would sell their share of the North Stars to Baldwin's group, with the Gunds receiving an expansion team in the Bay Area to begin play in the 1991-92 NHL season.in return, the North Stars would be allowed to participate as an equal partner in an expansion draft with the new Bay Area team.
On May 5, 1990, the Gunds officially sold their share of the North Stars to Baldwin and were awarded a new team in the Bay Area, based in San Jose. Over 5000 potential names were submitted by mail for the new team. While the first-place finisher was "Blades," the Gunds were concerned about the name's negative connotations (weapons, etc.) and went with the runner-up, "Sharks." The name was said to have been inspired by the large number of sharks living in the Pacific Ocean. Seven different varieties live there, and one area of water near the Bay Area is known as the "red triangle" because of its shark population. The team's first marketing head, Matt Levine, said of the new name, "Sharks are relentless, determined, swift, agile, bright and fearless. We plan to build an organization that has all those qualities."

George Kingston years (1991-93)
For their first two seasons, the Sharks played at the Cow Palace in Daly City, just outside San Francisco. During this time, under coach George Kingston, they were one of the worst teams in the NHL, as often happens to expansion teams — 71 losses and a 17-game losing streak, while earning a mere 24 points in the standings. Unsurprisingly, Kingston was fired following the end of the 1992-93 season.

Kevin Constantine years (1993-97)
For their third season, 1993-94, the Sharks moved to their current home, the San Jose Arena (now the HP Pavilion at San Jose). Under head coach Kevin Constantine, the Sharks pulled off one of the biggest turnarounds in NHL history, finishing with a 33-35-16 record, making the playoffs with 82 points — a 58-point jump from the previous season. They were seeded 8th in the Western Conference playoffs and faced the Detroit Red Wings, the near-unanimous pick to win the Stanley Cup. However, in one of the biggest upsets in Stanley Cup Playoff history, the underdog Sharks shocked the Red Wings in seven games. In the second round, the Sharks had a 3-2 lead over the Toronto Maple Leafs, but lost the final two games in Toronto; including an overtime loss in Game 6 where, moments before Toronto's decisive goal, Johan Garpenlov's shot rang off the Toronto crossbar.
In 1994-95, the Sharks returned to the playoffs and again made it to the second round. Ray Whitney scored a goal in double overtime of Game 7 of the conference quarterfinals against the Calgary Flames, adding to Calgary's streak of not winning a playoff series after they won the 1989 Stanley Cup (a streak they wouldn't break until 2004). Key Sharks players were goalie Arturs Irbe, defenseman Sandis Ozolinsh and forwards Igor Larionov and Sergei Makarov. The 1995 season also saw the only rainout in the history of the NHL, when the Guadalupe River flooded its banks in March 1995, making it impossible for anyone to get into the San Jose Arena for a game between the Sharks and the Red Wings.
In 1995-96, the Sharks finished last in the Pacific Division and failed to make the playoffs. The team also underwent major changes: during the season they traded Ozolinsh and Larionov; Irbe, who had suffered an off-ice injury, was released at the end of the season. The team began rebuilding, acquiring forward Owen Nolan from the Colorado Avalanche, as well as several other players. Constantine was fired midway through the season and replaced by interim coach Jim Wiley. The next season was no better under Al Sims, with the Sharks again finishing last and winning only 27 games.

Darryl Sutter years (1997-2002)
The Sharks returned to the playoffs in 1997-98, with goalie Mike Vernon, whom they acquired from the Red Wings (the season after Vernon won the Conn Smythe Trophy), and new head coach Darryl Sutter. For the next two years, the Sharks made the playoffs, yet never advanced past the first round. This changed in the 1999-2000 season, when the Sharks finished with their first-ever winning record, but earned a match-up against the Presidents' Trophy champion St. Louis Blues in the first round. However, in an upset on par with the one they had pulled on Detroit six years earlier, the Sharks managed to eliminate the Blues in the full seven games. San Jose, however, managed to last only five more games before being eliminated by the Dallas Stars that year.
In 2000-01, Kazakh goalie Evgeni Nabokov won the Calder Memorial Trophy as the league's best rookie. The team also acquired Finnish star forward Teemu Selanne from the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim for Jeff Friesen and Steve Shields. In the 2001 playoffs, the Blues downed the Sharks in six games in the first round, avenging the 2000 defeat to San Jose. The team's breakout year was 2001-02. Veteran Adam Graves was acquired for Mikael Samuelsson. The Sharks won their first Pacific Division title, and defeated the Phoenix Coyotes in the first round, but fell to the Colorado Avalanche in second.
Following the 2001-02 season, the Gunds sold the Sharks to a group of local investors headed by team president Greg Jamison. Kyle McLaren was acquired in a three-way trade with the Montreal Canadiens and Boston Bruins for checking-line winger Niklas Sundstrom and promising prospect Jeff Jillson, and Dan McGillis was acquired for Marcus Ragnarsson, but the team could not turn itself around. Sutter was fired and replaced by Ron Wilson midway through that season.

Ron Wilson years (2003-present)
In 2003, Owen Nolan was traded to Toronto, and the newly-acquired McGillis, Bryan Marchment, AHL star Shawn Heins, and forward Matt Bradley were moved. Selanne left to sign with the Colorado Avalanche. Centers Alyn McCauley (from the Maple Leafs) and Wayne Primeau (from the Pittsburgh Penguins) were brought in to stabilize the locker room. Jim Fahey, who led all rookie defensemen in points despite playing in only 43 games.
2003-04 saw another turnaround for the team, resulting in the team's best season ever. An injection of youth, with players like Christian Ehrhoff and Tom Preissing, and the influx of energy with Alexander Korolyuk jump-started San Jose. They posted the third-best record in the league with a team-record 104 points (31 more than the previous season, and the first time the team had earned 100 points), won the Pacific Division championship, and were seeded second in the Western Conference. They charged through the playoffs, taking down the St. Louis Blues 4 games to 1 in the conference quarterfinals and stopping the Colorado Avalanche 4-2 in the conference semis—before falling to the Calgary Flames 4-2 in the conference finals.
The Sharks started the 2005-06 season slowly, with inconsistent goaltending and an inability to score goals dropping the team to last place in the Pacific Division. In response, the Sharks traded Brad Stuart, Wayne Primeau and Marco Sturm to the Boston Bruins for Joe Thornton. The trade re-energised the team, and with excellent play by backup goaltender Vesa Toskala, the Sharks rallied back from their early season slump to clinch the 5th seeding in the Western Conference for the playoffs. The Sharks defeated the Nashville Predators 4-1 in the conference quarterfinals before falling to the Edmonton Oilers 4-2 in the conference semifinals. Joe Thornton was awarded the Hart Memorial Trophy as the league's MVP, as well as the Art Ross Trophy for leading the league in points, with a total of 125. Jonathan Cheechoo was awarded the Maurice 'Rocket' Richard Trophy for scoring the most goals during the regular season, with a total of 56.
The Sharks entered the 2006-07 season as the youngest team in average age, as well as the biggest team in average weight, and they raced out to a 20-7-0 start, the best in franchise history. Ron Wilson chose the uncommon strategy of alternating both Vesa Toskala and Evgeni Nabokov every other game. However, injuries, inexperience, and inconsistency dogged the team until making two significant trades at the trade deadline for defenseman Craig Rivet and winger Bill Guerin. The trades coincided with Nabokov, playing full time while Toskala recovered from an injury, putting together a string of outstanding performances and earning the number one job. The Sharks finished the regular season with the best record in franchise history at 51-26-5, and defeated the Nashville Predators in a 1st round rematch of last year's playoffs with the same 4-1 result. In the Western Conference semifinals, the Sharks faced the Detroit Red Wings. After taking a 2-1 series lead, they lost a pivotal game 4 when the Red Wings scored the tying goal with 33 seconds left and went on to win in overtime. The Sharks never recovered from the disappointment of this loss, losing the next two games in a row giving the series to Detroit 4-2.
See also 2006-07 San Jose Sharks season.
The Sharks goal horn is a fog horn that reflects on the many fog horns heard in the Bay Area.


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