San Jose Sharks

The San Jose Sharks are a professional ice hockey team based in San Jose, California. They play in the National Hockey League (NHL).

The Sharks, along with the New Orleans Hornets of the NBA, are often credited with popularizing teal as a color for American sports teams. They are also referred to as Los Tiburones ("The Sharks" in Spanish.)

Facts

Founded: 1991

Arena: HP Pavilion ("The Shark Tank") (capacity: 17,496)

Former Home Arena: Cow Palace (1991-1993)

Logo design: A shark biting a hockey stick in half

Mascot: S.J. Sharkie

Nickname: Team Teal, Los Tiburones

Division Championships: 2 (2001-02, 2003-04)

Rivals: Los Angeles Kings, Dallas Stars, Anaheim Ducks, Phoenix Coyotes

Franchise history

Bringing hockey 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. 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. The NHL vetoed the move, but as a compromise allowed the Gunds to dissolve the North Stars-Barons merger Stein, Gil: Power Plays: An Inside Look at the Big Business of the National Hockey League (1997, Birch Lane Press, ISBN 1559724226) and take some of the North Stars players to the Bay Area through a dispersal draft. 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 and were awarded a new team in the Bay Area, based in San Jose. Over 5000 entries 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 portion 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. In 1992-93 they set two single-season NHL records--71 losses and a 17-game losing streak, while earning a mere 24 points in the standings.

Kevin Constantine years (1993-97)

For their third season, 1993-94, the Sharks moved to their current home, the HP Pavilion (known as the San Jose Arena until 2001). Under head coach Kevin Constantine, the Sharks pulled off the biggest turnaround 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 heavily favored top seed in the conference. 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 ringed off the Toronto crossbar.

In 1994-95, the Sharks returned to the playoffs and made the second round as well. 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 1988-89 Stanley Cup (a streak they wouldn't break until 2004). Key Sharks players were goalie Arturs Irbe, defensemen 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 and surrounded the San Jose Arena in March 1995.

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 (who scored two goals eight seconds apart at the 1997 NHL All-Star Game in San Jose and completed the hat trick very late after on a beat of Buffalo Sabres superstar Dominik Hasek on a shot to the top right corner) 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 seven games. San Jose, however, managed to last only five more games before being eliminated by the Dallas Stars that year.

In the 2000-01 season, Kazakh goalie Evgeni Nabokov won the Calder Memorial Trophy as the league's best rookie. The team also acquired Finnish star forward Teemu Selänne 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 Ulf 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 2001-2002 season, the Gunds sold the Sharks to a group of local investors headed by team president Greg Jamison. The transition, coupled with other problems caused the team to miss the playoffs in 2002-03. "Cancers" in the locker room, a lack of veterans, ineptitude by rookies, lack of effort, the holdouts of Evgeni Nabokov and Brad Stuart, and overconfidence were all cited as reasons for the Sharks's fall. There were also questions about the relationship between Sutter and the team's star, Selänne . Even when Nabokov and Stuart were signed, the team continued to struggle. Kyle McLaren was acquired in a three-way trade with Montreal and Boston 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)

The team underwent a huge change. Face-of-the-franchise Owen Nolan was traded to Toronto, and the newly-acquired McGillis, fan favorite Bryan Marchment, AHL star Shawn Heins, and forward Matt Bradley were moved. Selänne left to sign with the Colorado Avalanche. Character centres Alyn McCauley (from the Maple Leafs) and Wayne Primeau (from the Penguins) were brought in to stabilize the locker room. The one bright spot for the Sharks that season was Jim Fahey, who lead all rookie defenseman 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 Niko Dimitrakos, 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, all thanks to Primeau in OT on March 28 against the Stars), won the Pacific Division championship, and were seeded second in the Western Conference. They charged through the playoffs; taking down the 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.

In that season, Miikka Kiprusoff, Lynn Loyns, Chad Wiseman and Brad Boyes were sent out. Curtis Brown, Nils Ekman and Jason Marshall were brought in.

2005-06 season

The Sharks started the 2005-06 season slowly. Vincent Damphousse, Mike Ricci, Mike Rathje, Todd Harvey, Brown, and Marshall were no longer on the team, and the team had a hard time adjusting. Inconsistent goaltending and an inability to score goals dropped the team to last place in the Pacific Division. Forwards that had had career years in 2004 went into slumps, and the defense corps, filled with rookies and sophomores, crumbled. San Jose's only free agent signing, Josh Langfeld, was eventually placed on waivers and lost. On November 30, 2005, after losing their 10th consecutive game which dropped their record to an 8-12-4, the Sharks traded winger Marco Sturm, defenseman Brad Stuart, and center Wayne Primeau to the Boston Bruins for star center Joe Thornton. Thornton had two assists in his first game as a Shark, a 5-0 win against the Buffalo Sabres which broke their losing streak. San Jose won Thornton's first seven games with the team. With Thornton as his new teammate, up and coming sharpshooter Jonathan Cheechoo went on a goal scoring spree. Cheechoo finished the regular season as the leading goal scorer of the NHL and was awarded the Rocket Richard Trophy. Thornton finished the season with the most points, edging out New York Rangers winger Jaromir Jagr, and was awarded the Art Ross trophy. He also won the Hart trophy.

On February 7, 2006, the San Jose Sharks signed two of their brightest young stars, seemingly securing their future. Jonathan Cheechoo, the 25-year old right wing, was signed to a 5-year deal worth USStates dollar|$" target="_blank" >^*15 million. 30-year-old Evgeni Nabokov, the 2000-01 Calder Trophy winner, was signed to a 4-year deal worth USStates dollar|$" target="_blank" >^*21.5 million. Nabokov holds virtually every major Sharks goaltending record. Ville Nieminen was acquired from New York for a third-round draft pick. A slumping Niko Dimitrakos was also moved to Philadelphia for a third-round pick. The Niemenen trade seemed to pay off down the stretch, as the Sharks went 16-5 with him in the lineup.

The line of Ekman-J.Thornton-Cheechoo became one of the best lines in the NHL. Steve Bernier was recalled from the AHL and led the NHL in goals scored during the month of March. Since being recalled, he has scored the same number of goals as rookie sensation Alexander Ovechkin. Bernier, along with Marleau and Milan Michalek became an excellent secondary scoring threat. Nieminen, along with McCauley and Scott Thornton formed an excellent checking line, providing energy the Sharks desperately needed. Since the arrival of Joe Thornton, Scott Hannan, who before was last in the league in plus/minus, leads the league in the same category. With the maturation of Tom Preissing and Christian Ehrhoff into top four defensemen, and with Vesa Toskala replacing the oft-injured and inconsistent Nabokov, San Jose forged ahead. San Jose signed 2006 Hobey Baker Award winner Matt Carle to an entry-level contract in March, and Carle provided an immediate boost to the Sharks blueline. On April 15, 2006, the Sharks clinched the fifth spot in the Western Conference, meaning they would face the Nashville Predators in the 2006 playoffs.

The Sharks' quest for the cup began with Game 1 of the Western Conference Quarterfinals in Nashville. Although Mark Smith gave San Jose the early lead, Nashville proceeded to score three goals of their own before the end of the first period and won Game 1 by the score of 4 to 3. All four of Nashville's goals came on the power play. The second game of the series was also held in Nashville and San Jose scored three goals in the first period. The penalty kill for the Sharks solidified in game 2 and the three first period goals held up as Vesa Toskala earned his first career playoff shut out as the Sharks won 3-0 to even up the series at one a piece. The site of the third game was HP Pavilion in San Jose and through the first two games, the Sharks had not allowed a goal in a 5 on 5 situation. The Sharks gave up a shorthanded goal early in the first period, but proceeded to score the final four goals of the game to take a 2-1 series lead over the Predators.

Game 4 took place two days later and it was a high scoring affair. Nashville took a 2-1 lead at 5:45 of the second period, but the Sharks stormed back and scored the next four goals to take a 5-2 lead in the third period. The Predators would score two goals late in the third but it was too little too late and the Sharks won Game 4 by a 5 to 4 marker, moving Nashville to within one game of elimination.

Nashville hosted Game 5 and the first period featured very good defense from both sides, but in the final second of the first period, Steve Bernier tapped the puck past Chris Mason with .3 seconds left on the clock to send the Sharks into the locker room with a 1-0 lead. Midway through the second period, the Sharks added another goal, this one from Patrick Marleau on the power play and took a 2-0 lead into the second intermission. Nashville came out flying in the third period, playing with their postseason on the line. Midway through the third period Paul Kariya broke through to tally Nashville's first goal of the game on a power play. The San Jose defense killed off another penalty three minutes later and held off the Predator onslaught in the final minute of the third to win Game 5 by the score of 2 to 1, eliminating the Predators and moving on to the second round of the 2006 Stanley Cup Playoffs, where they faced the Edmonton Oilers.

The series was marked by brutality and extreme forechecking by both teams. The Sharks defeated the Oilers in Games 1 and 2, latter game featuring one unusual highlight when the Sharks, down 3-on-5 after two penalties, successfully defended their goal despite not clearing the puck once and two of their penaltykillers breaking their sticks, making it effectively a 1-on-5 for 30 agonising seconds ^*.

The Sharks dropped four straight games and were eliminated from the playoffs, 4 games to 2. Of note, some San Jose fans loudly booed the Canadian national anthem prior to game 5, which was widely reported and commented upon within the Canada media. In response, Oiler fans loudly cheered the American anthem before game 6, drowning out the Oilers' anthem singer. The booing of the Canadian anthem is attributed to what San Jose fans perceived was a booing by Edmonton fans of the American anthem in before game 4, which was a reaction to an image of Sharks' forward Joe Thornton being displayed in Rexall Place. The Oilers' Dwayne Roloson effectively held off Cheechoo and Thornton.

At the 2006 NHL Awards Show at The Centre in Vancouver for Performing Arts, Joe Thornton was awarded the Hart Trophy as the league's Most Valuable Player, as well as the Art Ross Trophy for leading the league in points, with a total of 125 points, the most ever by a player playing for two teams in the same season. Thornton is also the third player in three years to win both the Hart Trophy and the Art Ross in the same year, following Peter Forsberg in 2003 and Martin St. Louis in 2004. Thornton is the first Shark ever to be the league MVP. Jonathan Cheechoo also received the Rocket Richard Trophy for netting the most goals during the regular season, with a total of 56.

Players who made the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin, Italy

Five SJ Sharks players, Joe Thornton, Evgeni Nabokov, Ville Nieminen, Marcel Goc, and Christian Ehrhoff played for their countries in the 2006 Winter Olympics. Thornton played for Canada, Nabokov played for Russia, Nieminen for Finland, and Goc and Ehrhoff for Germany.

Season-by-season record

Note: GP = Games played, W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, OTL = Overtime losses, Pts = Points, GF = Goals for, GA = Goals against, PIM = Penalties in minutes

Season	GP	W	L	T	OTL	Pts	GF	GA	PIM	Finish	Playoffs
1991-92	80	17	58	5	--	39	219	351	1894	6th in Smythe	Out of Playoffs
1992-93	84	11	71	2	--	24	218	414	2134	6th in Smythe	Out of Playoffs
1993-94	84	33	35	16	--	82	252	265	1343	3rd in Pacific	Lost Conference Semifinal (TOR)
1994-95¹	48	19	25	4	--	42	129	161	840	3rd in Pacific	Lost Conference Semifinal (DET)
1995-96	82	20	55	7	--	47	252	357	1480	7th in Pacific	Out of Playoffs
1996-97	82	27	47	8	--	62	211	278	1085	7th in Pacific	Out of Playoffs
1997-98	82	34	38	10	--	78	210	216	1417	4th in Pacific	Lost Conference Quarterfinal (DAL)
1998-99	82	31	33	18	--	80	196	191	1423	4th in Pacific	Lost Conference Quarterfinal (COL)
1999-00	82	35	30	10	7	87	225	214	1292	4th in Pacific	Lost Conference Semifinal (DAL)
2000-01	82	40	27	12	3	95	217	192	1364	2nd in Pacific	Lost Conference Quarterfinal (STL)
2001-02	82	44	27	8	3	99	248	189	1249	1st in Pacific	Lost Conference Semifinal (COL)
2002-03	82	28	37	9	8	73	214	239	1112	5th in Pacific	Out of Playoffs
2003-04	82	43	21	12	6	104	219	183	1091	1st in Pacific	Lost Conference Final (CGY)
2004-05²	--	--	--	--	--	--	--	--	--	--	--
2005-06	82	44	27	--	11	99	266	242	1058	2nd in Pacific	Lost Conference Semifinal (EDM)
Grand Totals	1116	426	531	121	38	2221	7560	6963	41158

¹ Season was shortened due to the 1994-95 NHL lockout.

² Season was cancelled due to the 2004-05 NHL lockout.

Notable players

Hall of Famers: none

Current squad

As of July 15, 2006 ^*

Goaltenders
Number	Player	Catches	Acquired	Place of Birth
20	Evgeni Nabokov	L	1994	Ust-Kamenogorsk, U.S.S.R.
31	Nolan Schaefer	R	2000	Yellow Grass, Saskatchewan
35	Vesa Toskala	L	1995	Tampere, Finland

Defensemen
Number	Player	Shoots	Acquired	Place of Birth
4	Kyle McLaren	L	2003	Humboldt, Saskatchewan
5	Rob Davison	L	1998	St. Catharines, Ontario
6	Josh Gorges	L	2003	Kelowna, British Columbia
21	Jim Fahey	R	1998	Boston, Massachusetts
22	Scott Hannan - A	L	1997	Richmond, British Columbia
25	Matt Carle	L	2003	Anchorage, Alaska
41	Doug Murray	L	1999	Bromma, Sweden
44	Christian Ehrhoff	L	2001	Moers, Germany

Forwards
Number	Player	Shoots	Position	Acquired	Place of Birth
-	Curtis Brown	L	C/LW	2006	Unity, Saskatchewan
-	Mike Grier	R	RW	2006	Detroit, Michigan
8	Mark Bell	L	LW	1998	St. Paul's, Ontario
9	Milan Michálek	L	RW	2003	Jindrichuv Hradec, Czechoslovakia
11	Marcel Goc	L	C	2001	Calw, Germany
12	Patrick Marleau - C	L	C	1997	Aneroid, Saskatchewan
14	Jonathan Cheechoo	R	RW	1998	Moose Factory, Ontario
15	Ville Nieminen	L	LW	2006	Tampere, Finland
16	Mark Smith	L	C	1997	Edmonton, Alberta
19	Joe Thornton	L	C	2005	London, Ontario
26	Steve Bernier	R	RW	2003	Quebec, Quebec
27	Scott Parker	R	RW	2003	Hanford, California
28	Nils Ekman	L	LW	2003	Stockholm, Sweden
34	Patrick Rissmiller	L	C	2003	Belmont, Massachusetts
37	Grant Stevenson	R	C	2003	Spruce Grove, Alberta

Team captains

Doug Wilson - 1991-93
Bob Errey - 1993-94
Bob Errey & Jeff Odgers - 1994-95
Jeff Odgers - 1995-96
Todd Gill - 1996-98
Owen Nolan - 1998-03
Rotating captaincy for most of the 2003-04 season
- Mike Ricci (first 10 games)
- Vincent Damphousse (next 20 games)
- Alyn McCauley (next 10 games)
Patrick Marleau - 2004- present

Retired numbers

99 Wayne Gretzky (retired league-wide by the NHL, February 2000)

1st round draft picks

1991: Pat Falloon (2nd overall)
1992: Mike Rathje (3rd overall)
1993: Viktor Kozlov (6th overall)
1994: Jeff Friesen (11th overall)
1995: Teemu Riihijarvi (12th overall)
1996: Andrei Zyuzin (2nd overall)
1997: Patrick Marleau (2nd overall)
1998: Brad Stuart (3rd overall)
1999: Jeff Jillson (14th overall)
2000: none
2001: Marcel Goc (20st overall)
2002: Mike Morris (27th overall)
2003: Milan Michalek (6th overall)
2004: Lukas Kaspar (22nd overall)
2005: Devin Setoguchi (8th overall)
2006: Ty Wishart (16th overall)

Franchise scoring leaders

These are the top-ten point-scorers in the history of the Sharks as of April 18, 2006. Figures are updated after each completed NHL regular season.

Note: GP = Games Played, G = Goals, A = Assists, Pts = Points. A * indicates a player currently on the team

Player	POS	GP	G	A	Pts
Owen Nolan	RW	568	206	245	451
Patrick Marleau *	C	640	187	226	413
Jeff Friesen	LW	512	149	201	350
Marco Sturm	C/LW	576	134	155	289
Vincent Damphousse	C	385	92	197	289
Mike Ricci	C	529	101	162	263
Pat Falloon	RW	258	76	86	162
Jonathan Cheechoo *	RW	229	93	63	156
Mike Rathje	D	671	27	128	155
Brad Stuart	D	377	36	117	153