9 Iconic Moments in San Jose Sharks History

The NHL's San Jose Sharks have only been in existence for 20 seasons, yet these years have provided us fans with many unbelievable and unforgettable moments. 

12 playoff appearances, including two Western Conference Final appearances, have made San Jose one of NHL's elite franchises. Selling out every game in the 2010-2011 season (including playoff tickets selling out in 16 minutes), the Shark Tank has been one of the most intimidating arenas to watch hockey. Needless to say, San Jose, California, is definitely a premier hockey city.

Even with these great benefits, a team cannot win games without great competitors. Many players—from the likes of former Sharks Doug Wilson, Arturs Irbe, Igor Larianov and Owen Nolan, to the current Sharks superstars of Joe Thornton, Patrick Marleau, Dan Boyle and Joe Pavelski—have made these iconic moments possible.

9. Brian Campbell's Beautiful Spin-O-Rama

Unfortunately, this turned out to be one of the only times that Sharks fans would cheer for Brian Campbell. Campbell is now loathed by San Jose fans, after signing a mega deal—eight years, $57 million—with the Chicago Blackhawks.

However, he did score a beauty of a goal, and Randy Hahn dubbed it, "the greatest goal scored by a San Jose Sharks' defenseman."

With the Sharks up 5-4 with two minutes left in a 2008 regular season game against the Montreal Canadiens, Campbell took a pass from Joe Thornton at the Canadiens blue line. He then proceeded to put Mike Komisarek in the spin-cycle and finished it off with a backhand goal on Carey Price, sealing the victory for San Jose.   

8. Owen Nolan's 90-Foot Slap Shot in Game 7 of the 2000 WCQF

Roman Turek probably still has Owen Nolan's slap shot in his dreams.

In Game Seven of the 2000 Western Conference Quarterfinals, with the Sharks leading 1-0 in the dying seconds of the first period, Nolan unleashed a bullet of a slap shot from the red line right at St. Louis goaltender Roman Turek's chest.

Instead of trying to catch it with his glove, Turek inexplicably attempted jump in front of it and block it with his body. The result? It ricocheted of his chest and into the left corner of the net. This turned out to be the defining moment of Turek's career. Nolan's goal was the game winner, and Roman Turek found himself out of the NHL five years later.   

7. Patrick Marleau's Goal in the Greatest Regular Season Game in Sharks History

Trying to get a ticket to this game would have been like trying to lick your elbow. This 2009 mid-season game was sold out almost half a year beforehand, and boy, was it ever worth it. 

The San Jose Sharks and the Detroit Red Wings were first and second in the Western Conference, and this matchup was talked about for months. Arguably the greatest game in San Jose Sharks regular season history, the Sharks won 6-5, with Patrick Marleau scoring the game winner in the third period. 

Receiving a perfect pass from Ryan Clowe, Marleau streaked into the Red Wing zone and flicked a wrister past Chris Osgood to give the Sharks a 6-4 lead.

Needless to say, the goal ignited the crowd (and Randy Hahn) and the win proved that the Sharks were indeed the best team in the west. San Jose ended up having the best record in the Western Conference that year, and some of that has to be credited to beating the Red Wings on a January night.

6. Joe Thornton's Game Winning Goal in Game 4 of the 2008 WCQF Against Calgary

Not quite like Joe Starkey's, "The band is out on the field! He's going to go into the end zone! The Bears have won!", but pretty close. Randy Hahn's call of this iconic moment will be remembered for years to come. 

A gritty, grind-it-out playoff game between the Sharks and the Flames was all but destined to go into overtime. But Joe Thornton and his linemates refused to quit. With 37 seconds left to go in the third period and the faceoff in the Calgary zone, Thornton won the draw, starting a flurry of relentless offensive pressure. Just seconds after Flames goaltender Mikka Kipprusoff made an unbelievable save off Ryane Clowe, Thornton fed Murray at the point, who wristed it toward the net. The puck was deflected by Jumbo Joe en route to the back of the net, giving the Sharks a 3-2 lead with 7.3. seconds remaining. 

The Sharks ended up winning the series in seven games, and a lot of that can be credited to the momentum gained from this win. 

5. 5-on-3 Penalty Kill Against Edmonton

This is the greatest penalty kill in Sharks history. Period.

During the 2006 Western Conference Semi-Finals, with the Sharks up 1-0 in Game Two, they found themselves down two men against a dangerous Edmonton power play for 1:41.

The Sharks penalty killers were Kyle McLaren, Mark Smith and Scott Hannan, going against a highly potent Edmonton power play that consisted of Jared Stoll, Chris Pronger, Fernando Pisani, Ales Hemsky and Ryan Symth. 

Here is a timetable of the ensuing chaos that was the greatest penalty kill in the history of Sharks hockey:

1:01—After working it around the perimeter, Pronger feeds Stoll for a one-timer that is saved by goalie Vesa Toskala. 

0:53—Kyle McLaren's clearing attempt is unsuccessful.

0:45—Pronger passes to Stoll for another one-timer that is stopped by Toskala. Scott Hannan breaks his stick. Kyle McLaren attempts to clear the puck, but is unsuccessful yet again.

0:35—Mark Smith breaks his stick attempting to slash Fernando Pisani. Stoll rips a wrister wide of the net.

0:27—Pisani's one-timer attempt from the slot is saved by Toskala.

0:20—Stoll fires another one-timer that careens off the boards, and Hemsky's backdoor feed for Ryan Smyth goes astray.

0:12—Stoll rips another one wide.

0:02—Stoll's final attempt is blocked by Hannan, who clears it with his hand.

Keep in mind that Kyle McLaren was the only Shark who still had a stick in his hand when the 5-on-3 was over.

And that, ladies and gentlemen, was the greatest penalty kill in San Jose Sharks history.

4. Nabokov's Superman Save Against Dallas

Why the Sharks let Evgeni Nabokov go has puzzled many fans, especially those who have seen this save. 

Consider the circumstances: You are a goalie for the San Jose Sharks. Your team is down 3-2 in the Western Conference Semi-Finals to the Stars. It is overtime of Game Six, with the score tied 2-2. You know that every shot the opposing team takes could potentially end your season. At 18:34 of OT, Brad Richards, the Stars' best player, slaps one from the right wing right at you. "No problem," you think, as you deflect it off to the left corner, where it is corralled by Antti Miettinen, who attempts to put it right back on net. You think, "Easy save", and move in position to make the stop.

The problem is, the shot is blocked by Joe Pavelski and deflects right back to Richard's waiting stick on the right wing. Suddenly, you realize that you are completely out of position. You now must dive back across the six-foot net, put your glove out and just pray that it catches the puck. You take a deep breath, lunge across the net and stick your glove out. You wait for the red light to turn on, for the goal horn to sound and for the Dallas fans to go nuts.

Suddenly, you feel a thump on your left hand. You look, and you realize that you have just made the best save of your career; and, for some odd reason, your season is not over. You sigh, take a skate to catch your breath, then get right back in net to defend the next flurry of shots.   

Now consider the fact that all of that actually happened to Evgeni Nabokov in a span of less than six seconds.

Rough day, huh?

This is why most Sharks fans will consider Nabokov to be the greatest Shark goaltender of all time. For making the save of the decade, and temporarily saving their season. (They lost that game in a four-overtime marathon).

So the next time you see Nabokov play in the NHL (he may get a chance with the New York Islanders), think to yourself that you are looking at the guy who made the greatest playoff save of all time.  

3. Sharks Shock the Hockey World by Upsetting Calgary in Round 1

This was just the start of the magnificent career of Ray Whitney. 19 years later, Whitney is currently playing for the Phoenix Coyotes.

In the second overtime of Game Seven of the 1995 Western Conference Quarterfinals, the Sharks caught a break. Theoren Fluery, the Flames' superstar came down the right wing with the puck at full speed. His slap shot, with the help of defenseman Mike Rathje, was stopped by goalie Arturs Irbe, and it deflected over to a Sharks forward, who gave it up to Igor Larianov at the Flames' blue line. Larianov's attempt to take it to the net was knocked off his stick, where it was picked up by Calder Cup winning forward Sergei Makarov. Makarov, on the right wing, quickly swung it to the net, where the young Ray Whitney was standing. Whitney deflected the shot past Calgary goalie Trevor Kidd, and the Sharks had pulled off a miraculous upset.

As the two seed coming in and with expectations to win a Stanley Cup, Calgary had figured that they would make haste of the Sharks, treating San Jose as just a traffic stop en route to a championship.

Well, Ray Whitney and the San Jose Sharks showed them that underdogs will not go down without a fight, and occasionally, just occasionally, the underdog will triumph.      

2. "The Miracle on Manchester": The San Jose Sharks' Version

Throughout this slideshow, you have seen the greatest regular season game in Sharks' history, the greatest penalty kill in Sharks' history and the greatest save in Sharks' history. 

And now, may I present to you, the greatest comeback in Sharks' history.

Down 4-0 at the start of the second period of a playoff game against the Kings, chances looked grim for the Sharks. Anti Niemi had given up four goals and the Sharks looked tired and unresponsive.

It all changed when coach Todd McClellan pulled Niemi and put in backup goaltender, Antero Nittymaki. Just two minutes later, Joe Thornton deflected a shot by Dan Boyle into the net. Three minutes later, Ryane Clowe scored on the power play. Then Logan Couture hammered a one-timer set up by Ian White into the back of the net, making it 4-3. After a Ryan Smyth goal made if 5-3, Clowe scored his second of the night into a wide open net, thanks to a great pass by Dan Boyle. Then, with thirty seconds left in the second period, Ian White's shot from the point deflected right to Joe Pavelski, who punched it in from point-blank range. The score? 5-5. 

The third period was scoreless, setting up overtime. In OT, Devin Setoguchi took a perfect pass from Patrick Marleau and wristed it past goalie Jonathon Quick. Just like that, the Sharks had won: 6-5.

Unbelievable.  

1. The Greatest Goal in Sharks' History

Even 18 years later, this is still the biggest goal in the history of San Jose Sharks' hockey.

Remember how the Sharks upset the Flames in '95? Well, multiply that by two. That is how big this goal and this win was for San Jose. The Sharks entered the series as a huge underdog. Detroit had the most points in the Western Conference, with one hundred. The Sharks were the eight seed, with 82. How they pulled it off, nobody will ever know. All we know is that there was a game seven, in which Detroit goaltender Chris Osgood made the biggest mistake in his life.

Late in the third period of a tied game, the Sharks' Ray Whitney dumped one into the left corner of the Red Wing zone and chased after it. Then, inexplicably, Osgood came out to play the puck, despite the fact that three of his teammates were right behind Whitney and would have stole the puck away from him. But that wasn't all. Instead of passing the puck to one of his teammates two feet away from him, Osgood backhanded it to the boards, where the Sharks' Jamie Baker was waiting.

And in one swift motion, Baker hammered a slap shot into the empty net, giving the Sharks the lead and eventually the win.

The jubilation and excitement in young Randy Hahn's voice says it all: "The Sharks are going to the second round, and I never thought I'd say it this year."