October 5, 1991: The NHL Is Restored to the Bay Area

Top row: The Captains for the 1st game,

Doug Wilson and Trevor Linden.

Bottom: The Cow Palace.

October 5, 1991: For the 1st time since April 4, 1976, an NHL regular-season game is played in the San Francisco Bay Area.

The Gund family had been partners in the Oakland Seals franchise, part of the NHL's "Great Expansion" of 1967. But the Seals, later known as the California Golden Seals, only made the Playoffs once, in 1969, and struggled at the box office as well.

The brothers George and Gordon Gund had ties to the Bay Area, but they were from Cleveland. In 1976, they moved the team to become the Cleveland Barons, but failed there, too. In 1978, this franchise was merged with the Minnesota North Stars, and the Gunds became partners in that franchise.

The brothers wanted to bring hockey back to the Bay Area, and asked the NHL for permission to move the North Stars there in the late 1980s, but were vetoed by the league. At the same time, a group led by former Hartford Whalers owner Harold Baldwin was pushing the NHL to bring a team to San Jose, where a new arena was being built.

Eventually a compromise was struck by the league, where 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. In return, the North Stars would be allowed to participate as an equal partner in an expansion draft with the new Bay Area team, despite the fact that, as it turned out, the North Stars went on an unlikely run to the Stanley Cup Finals in 1991. Neither team retains the history of the Seals/Barons franchise.

On May 5, 1990, the Gunds officially sold their share of the North Stars to Baldwin, and were awarded a new team in the Bay Area, based in San Jose. Over 5m000 potential names were submitted by mail for the new team. While the 1st-place finisher was "Blades,", the Gunds were concerned about the name's negative connotations (thinking of inner-city crime) 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. Seven different varieties live there, and one area of water near the Bay Area is known as the Red Triangle because of its shark population. The team's first marketing head, Matt Levine, 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 team's colors were chosen as black, white and teal. The logo, of a shark coming through a triangle (representing either the Red Triangle, or perhaps the three main Bay Area cities of San Francisco, Oakland and San Jose), biting through a hockey stick and breaking it, quickly became popular.

On a personal note: In the Summer of 1990, a friend of my sister's came to the house, wearing one of the brand-new Sharks jackets from Starter, Inc. We lived all the way across the country, and as far as I knew, he had no connection to the Bay Area or the team's organization. He didn't root for any of the other Bay Area sports teams. And their 1st game wasn't going to be for almost a year and a half. So I asked him why he was wearing it. He said it was because it looked cool.

I guess, when you're a teenage boy, looking cool is more important than winning, clean play, or anything else.

The North American Soccer League had had the San Jose Earthquakes -- and Major League Soccer would, as well, although that team was originally known as the San Jose Clash -- but the Sharks would be the first true major league team to have San Jose, rather than "San Francisco," "Oakland," "California," or "Golden State" as its geographic identifier.

The 1st head coach was George Kingston, whose playing career ended in college due to injury, and had coached at the college and international levels. The 1st general manager was Jack Ferreira, a goaltender at Boston University, who had worked in the front offices of the New York Rangers and the North Stars, which is how he knew the Gunds, and had gained their confidence. The 1st Captain was Doug Wilson, a former All-Star defenseman for the Chicago Blackhawks.

With the San Jose Arena -- now named the SAP Center -- not expected to be ready until the 1993-94 season, the Sharks played their 1st 2 seasons at the Cow Palace, just over the San Francisco city line in Daly City. It was already a 50-year-old arena, and its seating capacity for hockey was less than 11,000. Despite going 17-58-5 and 11-71-2 in their 1st 2 seasons, every one of those seats was filled for every home game.

The Sharks had debuted on October 4, 1991, losing away to the Vancouver Canucks, 4-3. The 1st home game, on October 5, also against the Canucks, was a great celebration, as the Bay Area once again had teams in all four major North American sports. The pregame featured the introduction of the giant Shark head, with the players skating onto the ice through its mouth. But the Canucks spoiled the party, 5-2. Wayne Pressley scored the Sharks' 1st goal. The next game, on October 8, also at the Cow Palace, was the Sharks' 1st regular-season win, 4-3 over the Calgary Flames.

With the new arena opening, the Sharks got a lot better, nearly reaching .500 at 33-35-16. They made the Playoffs for the 1st time, upset the Detroit Red Wings in the 1st round, and took the Toronto Maple Leafs to 7 games before losing.

The SAP Center

Since then, they have made the Playoffs more often than not, reaching the Stanley Cup Finals in 2016; and the Western Conference Finals in 2004, 2010, 2011 and 2019.

UPDATE: As of the 2025-26 season, the Sharks do not have a team Hall of Fame. They have retired 2 uniform numbers: 12, for 1997-2021 center Patrick Marleau; and 19, for 2005-20 center Joe Thornton.

Thornton has been elected to the Hockey Hall of Fame. So have defenseman Doug Wilson, their Captain in the 1st 2 seasons, 1991-92 and 1992-93; center Igor Larionov and right wing Sergei Makarov, who together played the 1st 2 seasons in San Jose, 1993-94 and 1994-95; goaltender Ed Belfour, who played 16 games for them in 1996; goaltender Mike Vernon, who played for them from 1997 to 2000; right wing Teemu Selanne, who played for them in the 2001-02 and 2002-03 seasons; center Jeremy Roenick, who played for them in his last 2 seasons, 2007-08 and 2008-09; and defenseman Rob Blake, who played for them in his last 2 seasons, 2008-09 and 2009-10.

(Vladimir Krutov, who formed the famed KLM Line with Larionov and Makarov in the Soviet Union, played just 1 season in the NHL, 1990-91 with the Vancouver Canucks.)

Right wing Owen Nolan, who played for the Sharks from 1995 to 2003, is, so far, the only hockey player, for any team, inducted into the Bay Area Sports Hall of Fame.

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October 5, 1991 was a Saturday. These other games were played in the NHL:

* In an "Original Six" matchup, the New York Rangers beat the Montreal Canadiens, 2-1 at the Montreal Forum. Sergei Nemchinov scored the winning goal with 3:18 left in overtime.

* The New York Islanders beat the Boston Bruins, 4-3 at the Boston Garden.

* The New Jersey Devils beat the St. Louis Blues, 7-2 at the Brendan Byrne Arena at the Meadowlands.

* The Quebec Nordiques beat the Hartford Whalers, 4-2 at the Colisée de Québec.

* The Washington Capitals beat the Buffalo Sabres, 3-1 at the Capital Centre in the Washington suburb of Landover, Maryland.

* In another "Original Six" matchup, the Toronto Maple Leafs beat the Detroit Red Wings, 8-5 at Maple Leaf Gardens in Toronto. Wendel Clark had 3 goals and 2 assists.

* And the Minnesota North Stars beat the Chicago Blackhawks, 4-2 at the Metropolitan Sports Center in the Minneapolis suburb of Bloomington, Minnesota.

These games were played in Major League Baseball, on the next-to-last day of the regular season:

* The New York Yankees lost to the Cleveland Indians, 7-5 at Yankee Stadium. Luis Lopez and Mark Lewis hit doubles in the top of the 12th inning, or Darren Chapin in relief of Eric Plunk. The winning pitcher was Steve Olin in relief of Eric King. Don Mattingly went 3-for-5 with 2 walks and an RBI.

* The New York Mets lost to the Philadelphia Phillies, 1-0 at Veterans Stadium in Philadelphia. Terry Mulholland pitched an 8-hit shutout, outpitching Anthony Young. The only run of the game came in the bottom of the 5th inning, when Braulio Castillo doubled home Dale Murphy.

The next day, David Cone struck out 19 batters, but the Mets let him go after the season.

* The Milwaukee Brewers beat the Boston Red Sox, 13-4 at Fenway Park in Boston. Paul Molitor went 3-for-5 with a walk and an RBI. Robin Yount went 1-for-4 with 2 walks and 2 RBIs.

* The Baltimore Orioles beat the Detroit Tigers, 7-3 in the next-to-last game the O's played at Memorial Stadium. I was at this game. Before it, they introduced the Orioles' all-time team, as voted by the fans. Brooks Robinson and Frank Robinson were in attendance. Jim Palmer was not, as he was broadcasting elsewhere. The catcher chosen, Rick Dempsey, was also unavailable, playing out the string with the Milwaukee Brewers. Cal Ripken Jr., of course, was playing in the game, and went 1-for-4 with a walk.

Before the game, the public address announcer, former Brooklyn Dodger pitcher Rex Barney, asked the fans to sing the National Anthem a cappella. It was nice, except for the traditional shout of "O!" at "O, say does that Star-Spangled Banner yet wave?"

The next day, the Tigers won the last game, and the O's had a postgame ceremony. This, I had to watch on television, back home. They invited 85 former Orioles to take the field in the uniform of their era and run out to their old position. Brooks was the 1st player, Cal the last, followed by manager Earl Weaver. This time, Palmer and Dempsey were permitted by their employers to attend.

* The Atlanta Braves beat the Houston Astros, 5-2 at Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium. John Smoltz went the distance for the win, while Mark Portugal couldn't get an out in the 3rd inning.

* The Pittsburgh Pirates beat the Montreal Expos, 4-3 at Three Rivers Stadium in Pittsburgh. Barry Bonds went 1-for-3 with a walk and an RBI.

* The Chicago Cubs swept a doubleheader from their arch-rivals, the St. Louis Cardinals, 3-2 and 7-5 at Wrigley Field in Chicago.

* The Minnesota Twins beat the Toronto Blue Jays, 3-1 at the Metrodome in Minneapolis. This turned out to be a preview of the American League Championship Series, which the Twins won.

* The Oakland Athletics beat the Texas Rangers, 12-5 at Arlington Stadium in the Dallas suburb of Arlington, Texas. Rickey Henderson went 4-for-4 with a home run, 2 walks, 4 stolen bases and 3 RBIs.

* The San Diego Padres beat the Cincinnati Reds, 10-7 at Jack Murphy Stadium in San Diego. Tony Gwynn did not play.

* The California Angels beat the Kansas City Royals, 5-1 at Anaheim Stadium (now Angel Stadium of Anaheim). George Brett did not play.

* The San Francisco Giants beat their arch-rivals, the Los Angeles Dodgers, 4-0 at Candlestick Park in San Francisco. Trevor Wilson pitched a 2-hit shutout.

* And the Seattle Mariners beat the Chicago White Sox, 10-0 at the Kingdome in Seattle. Bill Krueger allowed 7 hits and 2 walks over 6 innings, but no runs. Gene Harris pitched the rest of the way, for a 9-hit shutout. Pete O'Brien hit 2 homers for the M's. Ken Griffey Jr. grounded out in the 1st inning, then left the game with an injury. 

The NBA season started on November 1. Among the college football games played that day were these:

* Number 1 Florida State beat Number 10 Syracuse, 46-14 at Doak Campbell Stadium in Tallahassee, Florida.

* Number 2 Miami beat Oklahoma State, 40-3 at the Orange Bowl in Miami.

* Number 3 Washington beat Arizona, 54-0 at Husky Stadium in Seattle.

* Number 4 Tennessee were idle.

* Number 5 Oklahoma beat Iowa State, 29-8 at Jack Trice Stadium in Ames, Iowa.

* Number 6 Clemson were upset by Georgia, 27-12 at Sanford Stadium in Athens, Georgia.

* Number 7 Michigan beat Number 9 Iowa, 43-24 at Kinnick Stadium in Iowa City, Iowa.

* Number 8 Notre Dame beat Stanford, 42-26 at Stanford Stadium in the San Francisco suburb of Palo Alto, California.

* Number 16 Auburn were upset by Southern Mississippi, 10-9 at Jordan-Hare Stadium in Auburn, Alabama.

* Number 18 University of California at Berkeley beat Number 24 University of California at Los Angeles: Cal 27, UCLA 24 at the Rose Bowl in the Los Angeles suburb of Pasadena, California.

* Number 19 North Carolina State beat Number 21 Georgia Tech, 28-21 at Carter-Finley Stadium in Raleigh, North Carolina.

* Rivalry: Virginia Tech beat West Virginia, 20-14 at Mountaineer Field (now Milan Puskar Stadium) in Morgantown, West Virginia.

* And among the service academies, Army lost to Rutgers, 14-12 at Giants Stadium in the Meadowlands; Air Force beat Wyoming, 51-28 at Falcon Stadium in Colorado Springs, Colorado; and Navy were idle.

And in English soccer, Arsenal defeated West London team Chelsea, 3-2 at the Arsenal Stadium, nicknamed Highbury for its North London neighborhood.