San Jose Sharks Tickets

Outside of Los Angeles, the NHL wasn’t initially successful in California. The California Golden Seals lasted less than ten years before they eventually dissolved. After Wayne Gretzky was traded to the LA Kings, however, hockey’s popularity grew in the state, and there was a push to bring hockey back to the Bay Area.

The Sharks joined the NHL in 1991 and played their first two seasons at the Cow Palace before they moved into their current arena. The arena is officially named SAP Center, but it’s most commonly called “The Shark Tank.”

The Sharks made the playoffs for the first time in 1994. In the previous season, the team lost an NHL record 71 games; their 58 point improvement from 1992-93 to 93-94 is still an NHL record. In their first playoff series, the Sharks matched up with the #1 seed Detroit Red Wings. The Sharks were clear underdogs, but they took the Red Wings to a game seven and ultimately won the game and the series in Detroit.

In 2005, the Sharks made a huge trade when they acquired Joe Thornton from the Boston Bruins. The Thornton trade worked out for the Sharks almost immediately. The team had been slumping, but Thornton—one of the best playmakers of all time—thrived in San Jose. In his first season with the Sharks, he led the NHL in points and was named the league MVP at the end of the season.

For a time, the Sharks developed a reputation for strong regular season performances without any success in the playoffs. The team won six division titles between 2001 and 2011 but never advanced beyond the second round of the playoffs. The Sharks finally advanced to the Western Conference Final in 2016 and defeated the St. Louis Blues to advance to the Stanley Cup Final. Despite strong playoff performances from Logan Couture, Brent Burns, and Joe Pavelski, the Sharks lost in six games to the Pittsburgh Penguins.