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 5, 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 Sharks' 71 losses in the 1992–93 season set an NHL record, a mark they now share with the 2023–24 Sharks.

They also once suffered a 17-game losing streak, which at the time was an NHL record for consecutive losses (not winless games); that record has since been broken.

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. The Sharks' first draft choice was Pat Falloon. Doug Wilson was the team's first captain.

Did You Know?

• In their first season, the Sharks led the NHL in merchandise sales with $150 million, accounting for 27% of the NHL's total.
• The Sharks' 58-point improvement from the 1992–93 season to 1993–94 was an NHL record.
• The Sharks defeated the top-seeded Detroit Red Wings in seven games in the 1994 playoffs, in one of the biggest upsets in Stanley Cup playoff history.