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San Jose Sharks Team Formation
The Oakland Coliseum Arena was home to the California Golden Seals of the NHL from 1967 to 1976. Gordon and George Gund III became minority owners of the Seals in 1974, and were instrumental in their move to Cleveland in 1976 and a 1978 merger with the Minnesota North Stars, which they purchased that year. They had long 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 the league vetoed the proposed move. Meanwhile, a group led by former Hartford Whalers owner Howard Baldwin was pushing the NHL to bring a team to San Jose, where a new arena was being built. Eventually the league struck a compromise: 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 – 1992 season and being allowed to take a certain number of players from the North Stars to their new club. In return, the North Stars would be allowed to participate as an equal partner in an expansion draft with the new Bay Area team.
On May 5, 1990, the Gunds officially sold their share of the North Stars to Baldwin and were awarded a new team for the Bay Area, based in San Jose.
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San Jose Arena Opens
For their third season, 1993 – 1994, the Sharks moved to their current home, the San Jose Arena (now the SAP Center at San Jose). The SAP Center at San Jose, originally San Jose Arena and formerly the Compaq Center at San Jose and HP Pavilion at San Jose is an American indoor arena, located in San Jose, California. Its primary tenant is the San Jose Sharks of the National Hockey League, and the arena has been nicknamed the Shark Tank as a result.
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San Jose Sports & Entertainment Enterprises
Following the 2001 – 2002 season, the Gunds sold the Sharks to a group of local investors headed by team president Greg Jamison.
San Jose Sports & Entertainment Enterprises (SJSEE) is a private company based in San Jose, California which owns the San Jose Sharks of the National Hockey League, the Worcester Sharks of the American Hockey League, and manages the SAP Center arena. The company was formed in 2002 after George Gund III put these assets up for sale; Gund requested then-Sharks president and CEO Greg Jamison to find a group of local investors to buy the team and keep them in San Jose.
The San Jose Sharks are a professional ice hockey team based in San Jose, California. They are members of the Pacific Division of the Western Conference of the National Hockey League (NHL). They play their home games at the SAP Center, known locally as the Shark Tank. The Sharks were founded in 1991 and were the first NHL franchise based in the San Francisco Bay Area since the California Golden Seals relocated to Cleveland in 1976. They have won six division titles and one conference championship.
Established
1991
City
San Jose
League History
1991 – Present / National Hockey League
Team History
1991 – Present / San Jose Sharks
Nickname
Sharks – When George and Gordon Gund were awarded an expansion franchise for San Jose on May 10, 1990, they offered fans the opportunity to name the team. More than 5,000 entries were submitted, and Sharks was chosen by management over Blades, Breakers, Breeze, Condors, Fog, Gold, Golden Gaters, Golden Skaters, Grizzlies, Icebreakers, Knights, Redwoods, Sea Lions and Waves. Blades was the most popular entry, but ultimately rejected because of its gang implications. When the Shark nickname was chosen, seven shark species made their home in a stretch of the Pacific Ocean off the California coast called The Red Triangle.
“Sharks are relentless, determined, swift, agile, bright and fearless,” then-executive vice president of marketing and broadcast Matt Levine said. “We plan to build an organization that has all those qualities.”
Championship
Stanley Cup 0
Arena
2013 – Present / SAP Center at San Jose
2002 – 2013 / HP Pavilion at San Jose
2001 – 2002 / Compaq Center at San Jose
1993 – 2001 / San Jose Arena
*San Francisco*
1991 – 1993 / Cow Palace
Owner
2001 – Present / San Jose Sports & Entertainment Enterprises
1991 – 2001 / Gordon and George Gund
Retired Number
99 / Wayne Gretzky
*Blue is this team’s history