November 19th is not an auspicious date in San Jose Sharks history, but whether you decide on picking this particular date or if you throw a dartboard at a wall calendar and pick the date that you hit, you usually find something interesting. Let’s take a quick snapshot of November 19th in Sharks history and see what we find:
2011: SHARKS 4 at DALLAS 1 (FINAL)
- The Sharks arrive in “Big D” fresh off an impressive 5-2 home win against Detroit.
- San Jose trail Dallas by one point in the battle for second in the Pacific Division. LA leads the division with just two more points than the Sharks, but Todd McLellan’s team has two games in hand on Dallas and three in hand over the Kings.
- Off the ice, 43-year-old Tom Galiardi is confirmed as the new owner of the Stars. He is introduced in a news conference along with new team president , Jim Lites.
- As the action commences, the Sharks’ strong power play gets them off to a 2-0 lead. Brent Burns scores on the man advantage to give the defenseman his very first goal against the Stars franchise. That leaves only Minnesota, his former team, on the list of clubs that Burns has not scored against – a mark that would end with a goal on February 26th at Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul.
- Logan Couture makes it 2-0 with a power play goal at 1:23 of the second period. Couture already is having an interesting night. He lost his stick during a Douglas Murray penalty in the first period while defending against the Stars’ point men. Making a snap judgment to skate about 10 feet to the bench to get a new stick, he gets back in position just as Dallas sends a shot to the net that is stopped by Antti Niemi, causing a sigh of relief. By the end of the night, he could have had a hat trick: one great opportunity at the 4:00 mark of the second was saved by an outstanding block by defenseman Stephane Robidas, and he was stopped on another sure-looking chance by goaltender Andrew Raycroft.
- No love is ever lost between these two teams, but things got extracurricular at 4:13 of the second period when Jim Vandermeer and Krys Barch dropped the gloves and battled it out. Two seconds later, Eric Nystrom and Jamie McGinn were going toe-to-toe. 37 seconds later, Brad Winchester took a pass from Andrew Desjardins and made it 3-0.
- A total of 100 minutes in penalties were called in this game. Barch should have been called for instigating an altercation with Ryane Clowe at 18:16 of the third, which would have brought suspensions, but officials Chris Lee and Tom Kowal elect to call him for unsportsmanlike conduct instead. The mitigating circumstance was a late third period slash by Clowe on Stephane Robidas that was missed, but was replayed several times on the big screen, much to the displeasure of Stars fans and the referees.
- Mike Ribeiro, who always seems to bring it against the Sharks, ended an 11-game goalless drought in the third period to notch Dallas’ only goal. It ended a 194:11 goalless drought for the Stars.
- Three Stars: 1. Logan Couture; 2. Joe Thornton; 3. Patrick Marleau
2010: NO GAME
2009: NO GAME
2008: NO GAME
- While they have the day off, Shark Hockey is in the middle of a 9-game winning streak, and an NHL-best-ever 25-3-2 start to the season under new head coach Todd McLellan.
2007: NO GAME
2006: NO GAME
2005: PHOENIX 4 at SHARKS 3 (SHOOTOUT)
- The Sharks are 8-8-2 and are frustrated with a lack of reward for effort.
- Captain Joe Thornton has a very strong game. While he does not record a point, Jumbo Joe puts 7 shots on goals against Curtis Joseph, and gets things going by getting nasty with the Coyotes. A little extra move with the stick causes Dave Scatchard to step over and invite Thornton into a big bout.
- San Jose trails in the game, 3-1, but then, in the third period, winger Wayne Primeau (remember him?) blocks a clearing attempt with his face, followed by a big power play goal in the third that has to be unassisted. Primeau winds up with a couple of black eyes because of his face block.
- Tom Preissing (remember him?) puts together a tremendous individual effort to score the tying goal. He keeps the puck in, then drives to the net to catch a rebound of a Niko Dimitrakos (remember him?) shot.
- The Sharks outshoot Phoenix 43-21 in the game, including 4-0 in overtime, but long-time San Jose nemesis Curtis Joseph stops 40 shots. Then, Cujo stops 3 of 4 San Jose chances in the shootout. Overall, it is the 7th straight game that the Sharks have outshot their opponent, but it is their fifth straight loss.
2004: NO GAME
2003: NO GAME
2002: SHARKS 3 at WASHINGTON 2 (FINAL)
- The Sharks are really struggling. They’re in last place in the Pacific Division, and rumors are starting to bubble about head coach Darryl Sutter’s future (he would be replaced by Ron Wilson just a couple of weeks later).
- When it comes to pressure, the game clearly belongs to the Capitals. Washington outshoots San Jose, 48-29 in the game, including an astounding 20-3 in the third period. But it’s Evgeni Nabokov’s night to shine. In one of his best performances in a Sharks uniform, Nabby comes up with 18 saves in the first and third periods, and 46 for the game. He’s the reason why San Jose gets two points.
- Teemu Selanne, Owen Nolan, and Patrick Marleau are the goal scorers for the Sharks. Nolan’s goal, assisted by Mike Ricci and Vincent Damphousse, is the game winner.
- In an aside, future Shark Mike Grier scores for the Capitals midway through the third to make it a one-goal game, but the rest of the night belongs to Nabokov.
2001: NO GAME
2000: NO GAME
1999: NO GAME
1998: NO GAME
1997: NO GAME
- It was probably a good thing that no game is scheduled, because GM Dean Lombardi is rather busy on the telephone. He’s finishing up details of a major trade with the Colorado Avalanche that sends a 1st round pick and RW Shean Donovan to the Avs in exchange for a 2nd round selection and (drum roll, please) Mike Ricci. It is one of the more important trades in Sharks history that continues to have an effect on the organization today.
1996: NO GAME
1995: SHARKS 3 AT CHICAGO 2 (FINAL)
- The season is not going well for Shark Hockey at this point. They start the season 0-7-4, and make a few earth-shattering trades. Igor Larionov is traded to Detroit on October 24th in exchange for Ray Sheppard. Future captain Owen Nolan is acquired for Sandis Ozolinsh on October 26th. In a three-way deal with Philadelphia and Buffalo, San Jose says so long to their first-ever draft pick, Pat Falloon, and says hello to veteran defenseman Doug Bodger.
- The moves have certainly not taken hold: the Sharks enter action with a 1-14-4 record. Their only win is a home victory against St. Louis.
- Chicago outshoots the Sharks, 30-25 in the game, and gets 2 goals from Hall of Famer Denis Savard. One of them is on the power play, so it is the 11th straight game that San Jose has allowed a PPG, a not-so-nice record.
- The top line for Kevin Constantine’s team in this game is: Craig Janney-Kevin Miller-Ray Sheppard. My broadcast partner Jamie Baker is centering Owen Nolan and Ray Whitney.
1994: NO GAME
1993: NO GAME
1992: SHARKS 0 TORONTO 2 (FINAL)
- Back at the Cow Palace, the Sharks have just recorded the first shutout in franchise history. Two days earlier, Arturs Irbe’s 39 saves keys a 6-0 San Jose win against Los Angeles that ends a 5-game losing streak.
- The Maple Leafs outshoot the Sharks, 49-23 in this game, including 20-7 in the second period alone. Dmitri Mironov and Todd Pearson score goals, but Irbe is sensational with 47 saves. Arturs sees his shutout streak end at 87:21.
- Hall of Famer Grant Fuhr picks up the shutout with 23 saves.
- In the final 3 minutes of the game, five players pick up 10-minute misconducts from referee Mark Faucette. They are: Kelly Kisio, Perry Berezan, Larry DePalma, Sylvain Lefebvre,and Kent Manderville. While all of the other penalties are issued in a pushing, shoving, and shouting dustup at 17:32, DePalma gets this assessment on his own at 18:24: 2 for interference, 2 for unsportsmanlike conduct, and a 10-minute misconduct.
- After this game, the Sharks have 64 games remaining. Their record in those games: 7-57-1.
1991: SHARKS 2 LOS ANGELES 3 (OT)
- It’s the first season in Sharks’ history. The team has recently played the Detroit Red Wings for the first time (a 3-3 tie), lost in Vancouver (1-0, with Igor Larionov’s shorthanded goal the only Canucks tally), and at home against the U.S. Olympic team (a 6-2 defeat).
- In this game at the Cow Palace, fans are treated to a goaltending exhibition by San Jose’s Jeff Hackett and Los Angeles’ Daniel Berthaiume. After two periods of play, the score is 0-0, and each goaltender has 23 saves.
- Down 2-0 in the third period, the Sharks tie things up with goals by Perry Berezan and Neil Wilkinson, the latter notching his first Sharks goal. Berezan’s tally ends a San Jose scoreless drought that lasted over 150 minutes.
- Wayne Gretzky , playing on a line with Tony Granato and Tomas Sandstrom, notches two assists. The game winning play is on a Mike Donnelly goal for the Kings at 3:47 of overtime, on an assist from Marty McSorley.
- Link Gaetz records “only” four penalty minutes in this game, but has over 300 for the season. It’s a quiet night for the Linkster.
- Team captain Doug Wilson sits this one out with an injury.
EVERY DAY: AN ADVENTURE
As you can plainly see, there are all sorts of stories on each day in San Jose Sharks history. This is but one example. I hope that you enjoy it!
