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Revision as of 05:04, 4 June 2004 by Template namespace initialisation script (talk | contribs)(diff) ← Previous revision | Latest revision (diff) | Newer revision → (diff)The San Jose Sharks are a National Hockey League team based in San Jose, California.
- Founded: 1991
- Arena: HP Pavilion
- Uniform colors: Teal blue, Black, and Grey
- Logo design: A shark biting a hockey stick in half
- Stanley Cups won: none
Franchise history
The Sharks were founded in 1991, and started playing in the 1991-92 NHL season. The team's nickname, Sharks, was chosen from over 5,000 entries submitted by mail, and is inspired by the sharks living in San Francisco Bay. The team played their first two seasons in the Cow Palace in Daly City, California, before moving to the newly built San José Arena (which is now named the HP Pavillion) in 1993.
For the first two seasons, the Sharks were one of worst teams in the NHL, as often happens to expansion teams. In the 1992-93 NHL season they had an NHL all-time-high 71 losses. The third, 1993-94 season, was more successful, the Sharks finished the regular season with a 33-35-16 record, making the playoffs with 82 points. That was 58 points more than in the previous season, an NHL all-time record for single season points differential. In the first round of playoffs, they met the President's Trophy winning Detroit Red Wings, and won the series 4-3. In the second round, they would lose to the Toronto Maple Leafs 2-4. They made the second round of playoffs in the next season, 1994-95, as well. The key Sharks players at this time were goalie Arturs Irbe, defensemen Sandis Ozolinsh and forward Igor Larionov, under coach Kevin Constantine.
The next season, 1995-96 season, was not as good as the previous two; 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, and the team began rebuilding by acquiring forward Owen Nolan from the Colorado Avalanche, as well as several other players.
The Sharks returned to the NHL playoffs two years later, in the 1997-98 NHL season, 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 5 years, the Sharks always made the playoffs, yet never advanced past the second round. In the 2000-01 season, Russian goalie Evgeni Nabokov became the starter for Sharks, winning 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, who played for the team until 2003.
The 2003-04 NHL season was the most successful in the history of the Sharks so far. They finished the regular season with 104 points, a team record, won the Pacific Division championship, and were seeded second in the Western Conference. They won the first two rounds of playoffs against the St. Louis Blues and the Colorado Avalanche, before being defeated 4-2 in the Western Conference finals by the Calgary Flames.
Players of Note
Hall of Famers: none
Current stars:
Not to be forgotten:
Retired Numbers:
- 99 Wayne Gretzky (retired league-wide by the NHL)
External link
San Jose Sharks official web site
Category:
