The San Jose Sharks are a professional hockey team in the National Hockey League (the NHL). The San Jose Sharks play in the Pacific Division of the Western Conference with four other teams: the Anaheim Ducks, the Dallas Stars, the Los Angeles Kings and the Phoenix Coyotes.  Sharks tickets will be a hot item during the 2009-2010 NHL hockey schedule.

San Jose Sharks 2009-2010 Outlook

The San Jose Sharks have extremely high hopes for the 2009-2010 NHL season. The Sharks have finished atop the Pacific Division 2 years in a row and they finished 2nd in the division the 2 years before that.  Unfortunately, the regular season success hasn't translated into a Stanley Cup trophy as the Sharks have yet to advance past the Conference Semifinals.  In 2008-2009, the Sharks won a franchise-record 53 games and racked up a franchise-record 117 points, so it will be hard to duplicate that effort, especially with all the other Western Conference teams gunning for them.  The key for the Sharks is offensive fire power.  The Sharks averaged just 3.06 goals per game in 2008-2009 and they only scored 10 goals in their shocking opening round upset loss to the Anaheim Ducks in 6 games.  The Sharks acquired stud goal-scorer Dany Cheatley from The Ottawa Senators in the hopes that his clutch, playoff scoring ability will equal more wins for the Sharks come playoff time.  Throw in one of the game's best centers today - Joe Thornton - and the combination of Heatley and Thornton should be lethal.  The Sharks also have several other talented forwards/centers - Patrick Marleau, Ryane Clowe, Joe Pavelski, Devin Setoguchi and Manny Malhotra - who should be able to rack up at least 40-50 points each by season's end.  If the Sharks can get their offense on track during the 2009-2010 NHL season, the rest of the West better look out. 

Evgeni Nabokov is one of the best goalies in hockey today, so if he stays healthy, the Sharks should have little to worry about on defense.  Dan Boyle, Rob Blake and Jason Demers are consistent, solid defenders, so the Sharks should be able to stay in just about every game all season long.  The pressure is on the Sharks players and Head Coach Todd McClellan to step up during the post-season.  Staying healthy and continuing to play focused, consistent hockey during the long NHL season will go a long way for the Sharks.  The Sharks will likely be favored to come out of the Western Conference to fight for the Stanly Cup title - now it's just a matter of time for the team to live up to the enormous hype.  Get your Sharks hockey tickets at the HP Pavilion before it's too late.

History

The San Jose Sharks franchise was founded in 1991 in San Jose, California.  The San Jose Sharks  played in the Cow Palace in Daly City, California, just outside of San Francisco.  The San Jose Sharks had little success during their early years in the NHL.  In the first season, the San Jose Sharks endured a 17-game losing streak during the NHL regular season and finished the season with an NHL-record 71 losses.  During the 1993-1994 NHL season, the franchise moved to its current home, the San Jose Arena, now the HP Pavilion in San Jose, California.  The San Jose Sharks miraculously won 33 games that season, and its 83 points was good enough to advance to the NHL playoffs for the first time in franchise history.  The magic continued as the San Jose Sharks defeated the defending Stanley Cup Champion Detroit Red Wings in a memorable 7-game series in the Quarterfinals.  Despite leading the Toronto Maple Leafs 3-2 in the Conference Semifinals, the San Jose Sharks lost Games 6 and 7 in Toronto, and the season abruptly ended in disappointment.  The San Jose Sharks have enjoyed much success in San Jose.  Since the 1993-1994, the San Jose Sharks have failed to make the playoffs only 3 times.  The San Jose Sharks advanced to the Western Conference Finals once in 2004, but the San Jose Sharks lost to the Calgary Flames in an exciting 6-game series, denying the San Jose Sharks a berth in the Stanley Cup Finals for the 1st time in franchise history.  

The San Jose Sharks have not retired any players’ jersey numbers.  The NHL retired Wayne Gretzky's jersey number #99 league-wide on February 6, 2000.

San Jose Sharks TV/Radio

All San Jose Sharks hockey games can be seen on the Comcast SportsNet California television network in the greater San Jose / Oakland area.  ESPN has television rights to San Jose Sharks hockey games based on the popularity of the game. Tune into the San Jose Sharks flagship station KFOX 98.5 on your FM dial to catch each San Jose Sharks hockey game on the radio.

The San Jose Sharks play their home games in the HP Pavilion.  HP Pavilion is a sports arena located in downtown San Jose, California and is owned by the city of San Jose and operated by HP Pavilion Management.  HP Pavilion is commonly referred to as the “Shark Tank” or the “Tank”.  The venue was known as the San Jose Arena from 1993-2001 and as the Compaq Center at San Jose from 2001-2002.  After HP purchased Compaq in 2002, the venue became known as the HP Pavilion.  In addition to hosting all of the home NHL games for the San Jose Sharks, HP Pavilion also hosts all of the professional lacrosse games for the San Jose Stealth of the National Lacrosse League and all of the professional football games for the San Jose Sabrecats of the Arena Football League.  From 1996-1997, HP Pavilion hosted the home games for the Golden State Warriors of the National Basketball Association during the reconstruction of the Oakland Coliseum Arena.  HP Pavilion has played host to numerous memorable and historic games, events and concerts, including the 1996 U.S. Figure Skating Championships, the 1997 NHL All-Star Game, 1998 World Wrestling Entertainment’s Royal Rumble, the 2002 ArenaBowl XVI and the 1st and 2nd round games for the 2007 NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament.

Stadium:                HP Pavilion
                                525 West Santa Clara Street
                                San Jose, California 95113

http://sharks.nhl.com
www.hppsj.com

2008 Sharks