1993–94 San Jose Sharks season explained

League:	NHL
Season:	1993–94
Year:	1993
Team:	San Jose Sharks
Conferencerank:	8th
Divisionrank:	3rd
Record:	33–35–16
Homerecord:	19–13–10
Roadrecord:	14–22–6
Goalsfor:	252
Goalsagainst:	265
Attendance:	16,537
Goalsleader:	Sergei Makarov (30)
Assistsleader:	Todd Elik (41)
Pointsleader:	Sergei Makarov (68)
Pimleader:	Jeff Odgers (222)
Plusminusleader:	Igor Larionov (+20)
Winsleader:	Artūrs Irbe (30)
Gaaleader:	Artūrs Irbe (2.84)

The 1993–94 San Jose Sharks season was the team's third season of operation in the National Hockey League (NHL). It saw the Sharks finish in third place in the Pacific Division with a record of 33 wins, 35 losses, and 16 ties for 82 points, clinching the eighth and final playoff spot in the newly rebranded Western Conference. San Jose achieved the largest turnaround in NHL history, recording a 58-point improvement from the previous season.^[1] Their 33 wins and 82 points in 1993–94 were more than their win and point totals in their first two seasons combined. In the playoffs, the Sharks upset the heavily favored Detroit Red Wings in the Conference Quarterfinals. However, they fell to the Toronto Maple Leafs in seven games in the Conference Semifinals.

This was the first season in which the Sharks actually played in San Jose. After playing their first two seasons at the Cow Palace in Daly City, the Sharks moved into the brand new San Jose Arena for the 1993–94 season.

Offseason

The Sharks selected Viktor Kozlov with their first-round pick, sixth overall.

Newly acquired forward Bob Errey, was named team captain. He replaced the retired Doug Wilson.

Regular season

The Sharks had the fewest shots on goal (2,101) out of all 26 teams during the regular season.^[2]

Season standings

Schedule and results

Regular season schedule
No.	R	Date	Score	Opponent	Record
1	L	October 6, 1993	2–3	@ Edmonton Oilers (1993–94)	0–1–0
2	L	October 7, 1993	2–6	@ Calgary Flames (1993–94)	0–2–0
3	L	October 10, 1993	2–5	@ Los Angeles Kings (1993–94)	0–3–0
4	L	October 14, 1993	1–2	Calgary Flames (1993–94)	0–4–0
5	T	October 16, 1993	1–1 OT	Boston Bruins (1993–94)	0–4–1
6	L	October 19, 1993	1–4	St. Louis Blues (1993–94)	0–5–1
7	L	October 21, 1993	2–5	@ St. Louis Blues (1993–94)	0–6–1
8	L	October 23, 1993	4–6	Vancouver Canucks (1993–94)	0–7–1
9	L	October 24, 1993	2–3 OT	@ Vancouver Canucks (1993–94)	0–8–1
10	W	October 26, 1993	3–1	Edmonton Oilers (1993–94)	1–8–1
11	W	October 28, 1993	4–3	Mighty Ducks of Anaheim (1993–94)	2–8–1
12	L	October 30, 1993	2–4	Washington Capitals (1993–94)	2–9–1
13	W	October 31, 1993	2–1 OT	@ Mighty Ducks of Anaheim (1993–94)	3–9–1
14	T	November 2, 1993	3–3 OT	Pittsburgh Penguins (1993–94)	3–9–2
15	W	November 5, 1993	4–2	Dallas Stars (1993–94)	4–9–2
16	L	November 7, 1993	1–2	New Jersey Devils (1993–94)	4–10–2
17	T	November 9, 1993	2–2 OT	Toronto Maple Leafs (1993–94)	4–10–3
18	L	November 11, 1993	0–4	@ Dallas Stars (1993–94)	4–11–3
19	W	November 13, 1993	4–2	@ New Jersey Devils (1993–94)	5–11–3
20	T	November 14, 1993	3–3 OT	@ New York Rangers (1993–94)	5–11–4
21	W	November 16, 1993	2–1	@ Washington Capitals (1993–94)	6–11–4
22	L	November 18, 1993	1–3	@ Boston Bruins (1993–94)	6–12–4
23	W	November 20, 1993	3–2	@ Hartford Whalers (1993–94)	7–12–4
24	L	November 21, 1993	5–6	@ Buffalo Sabres (1993–94)	7–13–4
25	W	November 23, 1993	6–4	Detroit Red Wings (1993–94)	8–13–4
26	W	November 26, 1993	4–3	@ Mighty Ducks of Anaheim (1993–94)	9–13–4
27	W	November 27, 1993	1–0	Mighty Ducks of Anaheim (1993–94)	10–13–4
28	T	December 3, 1993	3–3 OT	Winnipeg Jets (1993–94)	10–13–5
29	W	December 5, 1993	2–1	Florida Panthers (1993–94)	11–13–5
30	L	December 7, 1993	1–3	Tampa Bay Lightning (1993–94)	11–14–5
31	L	December 11, 1993	3–5	@ Detroit Red Wings (1993–94)	11–15–5
32	L	December 12, 1993	1–2	@ Chicago Blackhawks (1993–94)	11–16–5
33	L	December 15, 1993	1–3	St. Louis Blues (1993–94)	11–17–5
34	L	December 17, 1993	2–4	@ Edmonton Oilers (1993–94)	11–18–5
35	L	December 19, 1993	5–7	@ Quebec Nordiques (1993–94)	11–19–5
36	T	December 22, 1993	2–2 OT	@ Toronto Maple Leafs (1993–94)	11–19–6
37	L	December 23, 1993	3–5	@ Chicago Blackhawks (1993–94)	11–20–6
38	T	December 28, 1993	3–3 OT	Calgary Flames (1993–94)	11–20–7
39	W	December 31, 1993	3–2	@ Vancouver Canucks (1993–94)	12–20–7
40	T	January 2, 1994	4–4 OT	@ Edmonton Oilers (1993–94)	12–20–8
41	T	January 4, 1994	2–2 OT	Montreal Canadiens (1993–94)	12–20–9
42	L	January 6, 1994	3–10	Detroit Red Wings (1993–94)	12–21–9
43	T	January 11, 1994	2–2 OT	Los Angeles Kings (1993–94)	12–21–10
44	W	January 12, 1994	5–2	@ Mighty Ducks of Anaheim (1993–94)	13–21–10
45	W	January 15, 1994	8–2	Hartford Whalers (1993–94)	14–21–10
46	W	January 17, 1994	3–2	Calgary Flames (1993–94)	15–21–10
47	L	January 25, 1994	3–8	New York Rangers (1993–94)	15–22–10
48	T	January 28, 1994	3–3 OT	@ Florida Panthers (1993–94)	15–22–11
49	W	January 29, 1994	2–1	@ Tampa Bay Lightning (1993–94)	16–22–11
50	L	February 1, 1994	4–5	@ New York Islanders (1993–94)	16–23–11
51	W	February 3, 1994	3–2 OT	@ Philadelphia Flyers (1993–94)	17–23–11
52	L	February 5, 1994	3–4	@ St. Louis Blues (1993–94)	17–24–11
53	W	February 6, 1994	7–1	@ Dallas Stars (1993–94)	18–24–11
54	W	February 8, 1994	4–3	Chicago Blackhawks (1993–94)	19–24–11
55	W	February 11, 1994	4–3	Chicago Blackhawks (1993–94)	20–24–11
56	W	February 13, 1994	1–0	Chicago Blackhawks (1993–94)	21–24–11
57	L	February 15, 1994	4–6	Philadelphia Flyers (1993–94)	21–25–11
58	L	February 17, 1994	2–8	Quebec Nordiques (1993–94)	21–26–11
59	W	February 19, 1994	4–3	Los Angeles Kings (1993–94)	22–26–11
60	L	February 21, 1994	3–6	Dallas Stars (1993–94)	22–27–11
61	L	February 23, 1994	1–3	@ Montreal Canadiens (1993–94)	22–28–11
62	L	February 24, 1994	4–6	@ Ottawa Senators (1993–94)	22–29–11
63	L	February 26, 1994	0–2	@ Detroit Red Wings (1993–94)	22–30–11
64	T	February 28, 1994	3–3 OT	@ Winnipeg Jets (1993–94)	22–30–12
65	W	March 3, 1994	4–2	Edmonton Oilers (1993–94)	23–30–12
66	W	March 6, 1994	6–0	Mighty Ducks of Anaheim (1993–94)	24–30–12
67	T	March 8, 1994	4–4 OT	Buffalo Sabres (1993–94)	24–30–13
68	W	March 10, 1994	4–3	New York Islanders (1993–94)	25–30–13
69	L	March 12, 1994	0–2	@ Calgary Flames (1993–94)	25–31–13
70	L	March 17, 1994	1–2	Ottawa Senators (1993–94)	25–32–13
71	L	March 19, 1994	1–2	@ Los Angeles Kings (1993–94)	25–33–13
72	T	March 20, 1994	6–6 OT	Los Angeles Kings (1993–94)	25–33–14
73	T	March 22, 1994	2–2 OT	@ Pittsburgh Penguins (1993–94)	25–33–15
74	W	March 24, 1994	2–1	@ Toronto Maple Leafs (1993–94)	26–33–15
75	W	March 25, 1994	8–3	@ Winnipeg Jets (1993–94)	27–33–15
76	W	March 27, 1994	4–3	@ St. Louis Blues (1993–94)	28–33–15
77	W	March 29, 1994	9–4	Winnipeg Jets (1993–94)	29–33–15
78	W	March 31, 1994	5–3	Toronto Maple Leafs (1993–94)	30–33–15
79	W	April 2, 1994	7–4	Vancouver Canucks (1993–94)	31–33–15
80	W	April 5, 1994	2–1	@ Los Angeles Kings (1993–94)	32–33–15
81	L	April 7, 1994	2–3	@ Vancouver Canucks (1993–94)	32–34–15
82	L	April 8, 1994	2–5	@ Calgary Flames (1993–94)	32–35–15
83	W	April 10, 1994	3–1	Vancouver Canucks (1993–94)	33–35–15
84	T	April 13, 1994	2–2 OT	Edmonton Oilers (1993–94)	33–35–16

^[3]

Playoffs

Conference Quarterfinals

In 1993–94, the Sharks made the playoffs for the first time in their history, qualifying as the eighth seed in the Western Conference despite being the only playoff team to have a losing record during the regular season. In the Conference Quarterfinals, they faced the top-seeded Detroit Red Wings, who featured Hockey Hall of Fame members Dino Ciccarelli, Paul Coffey, Sergei Fedorov, Mark Howe, Nicklas Lidström, and Steve Yzerman (in addition to Hall of Fame coach Scotty Bowman) and were a favourite to win the Stanley Cup.^[4] ^[5] However, the Sharks silenced the crowd at Detroit's Joe Louis Arena by taking Game 1, 5–4, on a late goal by 18-year-old defenceman Vlastimil Kroupa. After the Red Wings won the next two contests, including a 3–2 victory in Game 3 to spoil the Sharks' first-ever home playoff game, San Jose rallied behind goaltender Artūrs Irbe to win Games 4 and 5. Detroit stormed back in Game 6, scoring the first five goals en route to a 7-1 drubbing of the Sharks to force a decisive Game 7. At 13:25 of the third period, with the score tied 2-2, Red Wings goaltender Chris Osgood was caught out of position trying to fire a pass up the right-side boards. The puck went right to San Jose's Jamie Baker, who fired it into the empty net for the go-ahead goal. The Sharks held on for a shocking 3–2 victory and a 4–3 series win, completing one of the biggest upsets in Stanley Cup Playoffs history.^[6] ^[7]

Conference Semifinals

In the Conference Semifinals, the Sharks took on the Toronto Maple Leafs, who were the conference's third seed and had defeated the Chicago Blackhawks in six games in the Conference Quarterfinals.^[8] The two teams alternated victories in the series' first five games. As in their first-round series against Detroit, San Jose won the first game on the road, this time by a 3–2 score, as Johan Garpenlöv scored the game-winning goal with 2:16 remaining.^[9] However, Toronto took Game 2, 5–1, as five different Maple Leaf players scored and three goals came on the power play.^[10] The two teams then shifted to the West Coast, where an Ulf Dahlén hat trick and aggressive checking keyed the Sharks to a 5–2 victory in Game 3,^[11] but the Leafs came back with a dominant special teams effort in Game 4, scoring two power-play goals and two short-handed goals - one of each coming from Dave Andreychuk - in an 8–3 rout of the Sharks.^[12] In Game 5, San Jose's Russian duo of Sergei Makarov and Igor Larionov, who had been held off the score sheet in the previous three games, came to life for three goals and five assists combined in a 5–2 win that put the team one win away from the Conference Finals heading into Game 6 in Toronto.^[13] This contest, tied at 2-2, went into overtime, where San Jose missed two opportunities to seal another astonishing upset. First, at 1:11 into the extra period, Garpenlöv's shot beat Toronto goaltender Felix Potvin, but rang off the crossbar. Then, 3:20 into overtime, Sandis Ozoliņš chose to pass to Larionov during a 3-on-2 rush despite having room to shoot between two Toronto defencemen. The Leafs finally won the game 3–2 at 8:53 of overtime on a Mike Gartner goal to force a seventh game.^[14] In Game 7, also in Toronto, Wendel Clark scored two goals in a 4-2 Leafs victory as Toronto took the series 4-3 and advanced to the Conference Finals against the Vancouver Canucks.^[15]

Date! style="width:90px;"
Away	Home	OT
April 18	San Jose 5	4 Detroit
April 20	San Jose 0	4 Detroit
April 22	Detroit 3	2 San Jose
April 23	Detroit 3	4 San Jose
April 26	Detroit 4	6 San Jose
April 28	San Jose 1	7 Detroit
April 30	San Jose 3	2 Detroit
*San Jose wins series 4–3.*

Date! style="width:90px;"
Away	Home	OT
May 2	San Jose 3	2 Toronto
May 4	San Jose 1	5 Toronto
May 6	Toronto 2	5 San Jose
May 8	Toronto 8	3 San Jose
May 10	Toronto 2	5 San Jose
May 12	San Jose 2	3 Toronto	OT
May 14	San Jose 2	4 Toronto
*Toronto wins series 4–3.*

Player statistics

Regular season

Scoring

Pos	GP	G	A	Pts	PIM	+/-	PPG	SHG	GWG
RW	80	30	38	68	78	11	10	0	5
C	75	25	41	66	89	-3	9	0	4
D	81	26	38	64	24	16	4	0	3
C	60	18	38	56	40	20	3	2	2
RW	83	22	31	53	18	-3	6	0	1
LW	80	18	35	53	28	9	7	0	3
LW	61	14	26	40	14	2	1	0	0
D	64	7	33	40	36	16	1	0	0
RW	84	15	20	35	28	-10	6	0	4
LW	84	12	18	30	28	8	0	1	3
LW	64	12	18	30	126	-11	5	0	2
D	74	6	19	25	31	3	3	0	1
RW	81	13	8	21	222	-13	7	0	0
C	65	12	5	17	38	2	0	0	2
LW	13	6	6	12	0	0	3	0	2
D	47	1	9	10	59	-9	1	0	0
C	58	3	6	9	16	-13	0	1	0
D	49	1	6	7	63	-5	0	0	0
LW	9	3	2	5	2	-5	1	0	0
D	22	1	4	5	14	-4	0	0	0
C	11	2	2	4	6	-1	0	0	0
C	26	2	2	4	4	-3	0	2	1
D	27	1	3	4	20	-6	0	0	0
D	68	0	4	4	122	-9	0	0	0
D	42	0	3	3	65	-7	0	0	0
C	12	0	2	2	10	-2	0	0	0
D	34	0	2	2	76	2	0	0	0
G	74	0	2	2	16	0	0	0	0
D	23	0	2	2	8	-5	0	0	0
C	3	1	0	1	0	-4	1	0	0
C	6	1	0	1	0	1	0	0	0
LW	4	0	1	1	0	-5	0	0	0
LW	2	0	0	0	0	-2	0	0	0
LW	19	0	0	0	30	-1	0	0	0
LW	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
G	15	0	0	0	6	0	0	0	0

Goaltending

Player	MIN	GP	W	L	T	GA	GAA	SO	SA	SV	SV%
	4412	74	30	28	16	209	2.84	3	2064	1855	.899
	697	15	3	7	0	50	4.30	0	319	269	.843
Team:	5109	84	33	35	16	259	3.04	3	2383	2124	.891

Playoffs

Scoring

Pos	GP	G	A	Pts	PIM	+/-	PPG	SHG	GWG
C	14	5	13	18	10	-1	0	0	0
RW	14	8	2	10	4	2	3	0	2
C	14	5	5	10	12	-5	1	0	0
LW	14	4	6	10	6	0	0	0	2
D	14	0	10	10	8	3	0	0	0
LW	14	6	2	8	0	-3	3	0	1
D	14	1	6	7	2	-7	0	1	0
D	14	1	5	6	20	4	0	0	0
C	14	3	2	5	30	-1	0	0	1
LW	14	3	2	5	10	-3	1	0	0
LW	14	1	4	5	12	-2	0	0	0
LW	14	0	4	4	8	-4	0	0	0
RW	14	1	2	3	6	-2	0	0	0
D	14	1	2	3	21	-8	0	0	1
RW	14	2	0	2	0	-1	1	1	0
D	13	0	2	2	32	-3	0	0	0
D	14	1	0	1	20	-4	0	0	0
G	14	0	0	0	6	0	0	0	0
RW	11	0	0	0	11	-2	0	0	0
D	1	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0
G	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0

Goaltending

Player	MIN	GP	W	L	GA	GAA	SA	SV	SV%
	806	14	7	7	50	3.72	399	349	.875
	40	2	0	0	3	4.50	17	14	.824
Team:	846	14	7	7	53	3.76	416	363	.873

^[16]

Note: Pos = Position; GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; +/- = plus/minus; PIM = Penalty minutes; PPG = Power-play goals; SHG = Short-handed goals; GWG = Game-winning goals
MIN = Minutes played; W = Wins; L = Losses; T = Ties; GA = Goals-against; GAA = Goals-against average; SO = Shutouts; SA = Shots against; SV = Shots saved; SV% = Save percentage;

Transactions

Trades

June 18, 1993	To Chicago Blackhawks Future considerations	To San Jose Sharks Jimmy Waite
June 19, 1993	To Tampa Bay Lightning Peter Ahola	To San Jose Sharks Dave Capuano
June 20, 1993	To Dallas Stars 6th-round pick in 1993	To San Jose Sharks Gaetan Duchesne
June 20, 1993	To New York Islanders 3rd-round pick in 1994 Future considerations	To San Jose Sharks Jeff Norton
June 26, 1993	To Hartford Whalers 1st-round pick in 1993	To San Jose Sharks Sergei Makarov 1st-round pick in 1993 2nd-round pick in 1993 3rd-round pick in 1993
June 26, 1993	To Dallas Stars Dean Evason	To San Jose Sharks 6th-round pick in 1993
July 13, 1993	To Chicago Blackhawks Jeff Hackett	To San Jose Sharks 3rd-round pick in 1994
August 5, 1993	To Philadelphia Flyers Future considerations	To San Jose Sharks Shawn Cronin
September 10, 1993	To Edmonton Oilers Link Gaetz	To San Jose Sharks 10th-round pick in 1994
October 28, 1993	To Boston Bruins Jon Morris	To San Jose Sharks Future considerations
November 5, 1993	To Boston Bruins Dave Capuano	To San Jose Sharks Cash
January 23, 1994	To New York Islanders David Maley	To San Jose Sharks Cash
February 1, 1994	To Philadelphia Flyers Rob Zettler	To San Jose Sharks Vyacheslav Butsayev
March 19, 1994	To Dallas Stars Mike Lalor Doug Zmolek Cash	To San Jose Sharks Ulf Dahlen 7th-round pick in 1995

Free agency

Date	Player	Previous team
August 10, 1993		Kalamazoo Wings (IHL)
August 16, 1993		Winnipeg Jets
August 17, 1993		Buffalo Sabres
August 18, 1993		Ottawa Senators
October 18, 1993		Kansas City Blades (IHL)

Waivers

Date	Player	Team
October 26, 1993		from Edmonton Oilers
January 6, 1994		to Calgary Flames

Departures

Date	Via	New Team
June 10, 1993	Free agency
June 10, 1993	Free agency
June 10, 1993	Free agency	San Diego Gulls (IHL)
June 10, 1993	Free agency	Kansas City Blades (IHL)
June 24, 1993	Expansion Draft	Mighty Ducks of Anaheim
June 24, 1993	Expansion Draft	Mighty Ducks of Anaheim
July 1, 1993	Free agency	Providence Bruins (AHL)
July 1, 1993	Free agency	Atlanta Knights (IHL)
July 1, 1993	Free agency	Calgary Flames
July 1, 1993	Free agency	Binghamton Rangers (AHL)
July 1, 1993	Free agency	Milwaukee Admirals (IHL)
July 1, 1993	Free agency	Portland Pirates (AHL)
July 1, 1993	Free agency	Kansas City Blades (IHL)
August 10, 1993	Release	Detroit Red Wings
September 10, 1993	Retirement
November 1, 1993	Release	Kansas City Blades (IHL)

Draft picks

NHL Entry Draft

Round		Player	Position	College/Junior/Club team
1	6	Viktor Kozlov	Center	Dynamo Moscow (Russia)
2	28	Shean Donovan	Right Wing	Ottawa 67's (OHL)
2	45	Vlastimil Kroupa	Defense	Chemopetrol Litvinov (Czech)
3	58	Ville Peltonen	Left Wing	HIFK (SM-liiga)
4	80	Alexander Osadchy	Defense	CSKA Moscow (Russia)
5	106	Andrei Buschan	Defense	Kiev Sokol (Russia)
6	132	Petri Varis	Left Wing	Porin Assat (SM-liiga)
6	154	Fredrik Oduya	Defense	Ottawa 67's (OHL)
7	158	Anatoli Filatov	Forward	Ust-Kamenogorsk Torpedo (Russia)
8	184	Todd Holt	Right Wing	Swift Current Broncos (WHL)
9	210	Jonas Forsberg	Goalie	Djurgardens IF (Elitserien)
10	236	Jeff Salajko	Goalie	Ottawa 67's (OHL)
11	262	Jamie Matthews	Center	Sudbury Wolves (OHL)

NHL Expansion Draft

	Player	Drafted from	Drafted by
17	David Williams (D)		Mighty Ducks of Anaheim
47	Robin Bawa (RW)		Mighty Ducks of Anaheim

References

Notes and References

Web site: Hill. Adam. Despite playoff history, Sharks don't have a Stanley Cup. Las Vegas Review-Journal. 2018-04-24. 2024-03-23.
Web site: 1993-94 San Jose Sharks Roster and Statistics.
Web site: 1993–94 San Jose Sharks Games. Hockey-reference.com . 2009-06-24 .
Web site: Miller. Max. The Most Iconic Game 7s in Sharks History. The Hockey News. 2023-05-01. 2024-03-09.
Web site: Murphy. Bryan. Sharks' 1994 Red Wings upset part of greatest turnaround season. NBC Sports Bay Area. 2021-08-19. 2024-03-09.
Web site: Koppett. David. Sharks' Game 7 History in NHL Playoffs Filled With Elation, Heartbreak. NBC Bay Area. 2019-04-22. 2024-03-09.
Web site: Blue Jackets defeat Lightning in historic playoff first-round upset. NHL.com. 2019-04-15. 2024-03-10.
News: 1994-04-29 . Maple Leafs Clinch in Arena Finale . 2024-04-13 . . Associated Press.
Web site: 1993-94 Western Conference Semi-Finals Game 1, San Jose Sharks vs. Toronto Maple Leafs Box Score: May 2, 1994 . 2024-04-13.
News: 1994-05-05 . Toronto Topples San Jose, 5-1, While Canucks Defeat Stars . 2024-04-13 . . Associated Press.
News: 1994-05-07 . HOCKEY; 3 Dahlen Goals Win for Sharks . . Associated Press.
Web site: 1993-94 Western Conference Semi-Finals Game 4, Toronto Maple Leafs vs. San Jose Sharks Box Score: May 8, 1994 . 2024-04-13.
News: 1994-05-11 . HOCKEY; You Gotta Believe! Sharks Grab Lead . 2024-04-13 . The New York Times.
News: Moran . Malcolm . 1994-05-13 . HOCKEY; Gartner's Goal in Overtime Gets Leafs Even With Sharks . 2024-03-09 . The New York Times.
News: Sell . Dave . 1994-05-14 . Maple Leafs Prevail, End Sharks' Dream . 2024-03-09 . The Washington Post.
Web site: hockey-reference.com . 2009-07-15 . 1993-94 San Jose Sharks Statistics - Hockey-Reference.com.