San Jose Sharks History.

San Jose Sharks, professional ice hockey team and one of five teams in the Pacific Division of the Western Conference of the National Hockey League (NHL).. The Sharks play at the San Jose Arena in San Jose, California, and wear uniforms of teal, gray, black, and white. Their name was chosen because of San Jose’s proximity to the Pacific Ocean, which is home to several different varieties of sharks.

The Sharks joined the NHL in 1991 as an expansion team. In its first two seasons, San Jose finished last in its division and had the worst record in the league. In the 1993-94 season, however, first-year head coach Kevin Constantine orchestrated the biggest turnaround in league history. The Sharks, whose win-loss-tie record the previous year had been 11-71-2, improved to 33-35-16. They finished third in the Pacific Division and qualified for the playoffs. Wings Pat Falloon and Johan Garpenlov led the offense, and goalie Arturs Irbe and defensemen Sandis Ozolinsh and Tom Pederson anchored the defense.

In the first round of the 1994 Stanley Cup playoffs San Jose defeated the heavily favored Detroit Red Wings, 4 games to 3. The Sharks were then eliminated by the Toronto Maple Leafs in the second round, 4 games to 3.

San Jose finished with a 19-25-4 win-loss-tie record in the 1994-95 season, as the campaign was significantly shortened by a player strike. In the playoffs the Sharks defeated the Calgary Flames 4 games to 3 in the first round. Detroit then defeated the Sharks in the second round, 4 games to 0. In the 1995-96 season the Sharks posted the NHL’s second-worst mark, finishing with a 20-55-7 record.