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San Jose Sharks- Sept. 14, 2021 – Vol. 75, Issue 03 - Curtis Pashelka
FORWARDS
JOE THORNTON
2005-20
GP 1,104 G 251 A 804
PTS 1,055 PIM 631
The most prolific playmaker of the 21st century, Thornton led San Jose into the playoffs in 13 of 15 seasons after he was acquired from Boston in 2005. He remains the only Sharks player to win either the Hart Trophy or Art Ross Trophy, capturing both in 2005-06. He’s first in assists and second in points on San Jose’s all-time scoring list.
PATRICK MARLEAU
1997-2017, 2019-20, 2021
GP 1,607 G 522 A 589
PTS 1,111 PIM 481
Marleau is the franchise's all-time leader in goals and points, not to mention the NHL’s career leader in games played after passing Gordie Howe. He ranks 23rd in league history with 566 goals. Marleau scored at least 20 goals in 14 of his first 19 NHL seasons, including seven 30-plus goal seasons and a career-high 44 goals in 2009-10.
JOE PAVELSKI
2006-19
GP 963 G 355 A 406
PTS 761 PIM 371
Pavelski sit second on San Jose’s all-time list in goals, third in both assists and points and fourth in games played. Only Marleau has scored more post-season goals (68) for the Sharks than Pavelski (48), who’s one of four players to reach 100-plus playoff points with San Jose. He scored a league-high 14 goals in the Sharks’ run to the 2016 Cup final.
DEFENSEMEN
BRENT BURNS
2011-PRESENT
GP 716 G 162 A 378
PTS 540 PIM 396
Burns is the Sharks' all-time blueline leader in goals, assists and points. He’s a three-time Norris Trophy finalist and the only Sharks player to ever win the award as the league’s top defenseman, doing so in 2016-17. Over the past 10 NHL seasons, only Erik Karlsson’s 554 regular-season points tops Burns’ total of 540.
M-E VLASIC
2006-PRESENT
GP 1,086 G 73 A 259
PTS 332 PIM 410
No defenseman has played more games for the Sharks than Vlasic, who was one of the NHL’s premier shutdown D-men for more than a decade. Although he’s never been a Norris finalist, Vlasic won Olympic gold with Canada in 2014. He was named to the NHL’s all-rookie team in 2006-07 after cracking San Jose’s roster as a 19-year-old.
GOALIE
EVGENI NABOKOV
2000-10
GP 563 W-L-OTL 293-178-66
GAA 2.39 SP .912 SO 50
‘Nabby’ is San Jose's all-time goaltending leader in games played, wins, shutouts and playoff wins (40). He’s the only Sharks player to claim the Calder Trophy, and he finished runner-up in Vezina Trophy voting in 2007-08. Nabokov also ranked in the top five in Vezina voting four other times: 2000-01, 2001-02, 2008-09 and 2009-10.
TOP 3 TEAMS OF ALL-TIME
San Jose’s playoff demons were exorcised with an appearance in the 2016 Stanley Cup final
#1 2015-16
Statistics alone do not make this the best team in Sharks history. But in their first season under coach Pete DeBoer, San Jose was a team that was greater than the sum of its parts. Joe Thornton, Joe Pavelski, Logan Couture and Brent Burns led the way as the Sharks made their first appearance in the Stanley Cup final. But off-season additions Martin Jones, Joel Ward and Paul Martin also proved critical, as did the emergence of Tomas Hertl, Joonas Donskoi and Chris Tierney. San Jose eliminated Los Angeles, Nashville and St. Louis en route to the Cup final before falling in six games to Pittsburgh.
#2 2018-19
If this sharks squad had stayed healthy throughout the post-season, perhaps there would be a Stanley Cup banner hanging at SAP Center. Besides the core of Pavelski, Couture and Burns, the Sharks went all-in and acquired Erik Karlsson just before training camp began. San Jose rallied to beat Vegas in an epic seven-game first-round series and then got past Colorado in the second round, also in seven. But in the Western Conference final against St. Louis, injuries to Pavelski, Karlsson and Hertl took a huge toll. The Blues won the series in six games before going on to capture their first Cup.
#3 2009-10
A year after they won the Presidents’ Trophy only to lose in the first round, the Sharks returned with a team that was determined to learn from the sour experience. San Jose had an NHL-high eight players make Olympic rosters that season, including four on Team Canada. The Sharks ranked fourth in NHL scoring and goalie Evgeni Nabokov turned in another solid campaign. But after beating Colorado and Detroit in the first two rounds of the playoffs, the Sharks ran into a buzzsaw in Chicago. They dropped the first two games in San Jose, then lost Game 3 in overtime before the Blackhawks completed the sweep.
Photo Credits: (STEPHEN R. SYLVANIE-USA TODAY SPORTS)