San Jose Sharks

Lore & Background

Ice hockey in the San Francisco Bay Area began with the San Francisco Seals of the Western Hockey League (WHL) when they were awarded an expansion franchise for San Francisco on April 23, 1961. The Seals won two WHL championships and were renamed to the California Seals in 1966. In 1967, the California Golden Seals joined the NHL as part of the 1967 NHL expansion. They played their seasons from 1967 to 1976, but were neither successful on the ice nor at the box office. Gordon and George Gund III became minority owners of the Golden Seals in 1974, and were instrumental in their move to Cleveland in 1976 and a 1978 merger with the Minnesota North Stars, which they purchased that year. In 1988, 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, the League struck a compromise: 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 season and being allowed to take a certain number of players from the North Stars to their new club. On May 9, 1990, the Gunds officially sold their share of the North Stars to Baldwin and were awarded a new team for the Bay Area, based in San Jose. The owners paid to the league an expansion fee of US$45 million and the new franchise was approved on May 9. Over 5,000 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 potentially negative association with weapons, 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. Matt Levine—the team's first marketing head—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.' The 1992–93 Sharks set an NHL record with 54 losses, not 71. While the Sharks famously upset the top-seeded Detroit Red Wings as an eighth seed in 1994, they were not the first eighth-seed in North American professional sports to defeat a first seed; the 1982 Los Angeles Kings and others had done so earlier.

In Their Own Story

The SAP Center hums with a low, electric tension as the final seconds tick down on a playoff game against Anaheim. The air smells of popcorn and stale beer, but beneath it lies the sharp scent of ice shavings kicked up by frantic skates. A Sharks forward, jersey soaked in sweat, fights for the puck along the boards while a Ducks defender checks him hard into the glass. The crowd roars, a deafening wall of sound that vibrates through the floorboards. It is not just a game; it is a battle for regional pride, where every shift feels like a war and every goal could be the difference between another season and a return home.

Reader's Guide

The Sharks play at SAP Center at San Jose, known locally as 'the Shark Tank'. Their mascot is S. J. Sharkie. The team's first general manager was Jack Ferreira. Their first head coach was George Kingston. Their first draft pick was Pat Falloon. The team's first captain was Doug Wilson.

Did You Know?

• The Sharks were founded on May 9, 1990.
• The team's name was inspired by the large number of sharks living in the Pacific Ocean.
• The Sharks set an NHL record with 71 losses in the 1992–93 season.
• The Sharks became the first eighth-seed in North American professional sports to defeat the first seed in a playoff series in 1994.
• Evgeni Nabokov won the Calder Memorial Trophy in 2000–01.