1993–94 San Jose Sharks 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.

Season standings

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 Lidstrom, and Steve Yzerman (in addition to Hall of Fame coach Scotty Bowman) and were a favorite to win the Stanley Cup. 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 defenseman Vlastimil Kroupa. After the Red Wings won the next two contests – a 22-save, 4–0 shutout by rookie goaltender Chris Osgood in Game 2 and a 3–2 victory in Game 3 to spoil the Sharks' first-ever home playoff game – San Jose rallied behind goaltender Arturs 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. Johan Garpenlov and Sergei Makarov gave the Sharks a quick 2–0 lead, but Detroit's Kris Draper scored near the end of the first period and Vyacheslav Kozlov tied the game 2–2 early in the second period. At 13:25 of the third period, Red Wings goaltender Osgood was caught out of position trying to pass the puck up the left-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.

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. 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 Garpenlov scored the game-winning goal with 2:16 remaining. However, Toronto took Game 2, 5–1, as five different Maple Leaf players scored and three goals came on the power play. The two teams then shifted to the West Coast, where an Ulf Dahlen hat trick and aggressive checking keyed the Sharks to a 5–2 victory in Game 3, 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. 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. 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, Garpenlov's shot beat Toronto goaltender Felix Potvin, but rang off the crossbar. Then, 3:20 into overtime, Sandis Ozolinsh chose to pass to Larionov during a 3-on-2 rush despite having room to shoot between two Toronto defensemen. The Leafs finally won the game 3–2 at 8:53 of overtime on a Mike Gartner goal to force a seventh game. 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.

Schedule and results

Regular season

|- |1||October 6, 1993||2–3 || style="text-align:left;"| @ Edmonton Oilers (1993–94) ||0–1–0 || |- |2||October 7, 1993||2–6 || style="text-align:left;"| @ Calgary Flames (1993–94) ||0–2–0 || |- |3||October 10, 1993||2–5 || style="text-align:left;"| @ Los Angeles Kings (1993–94) ||0–3–0 || |- |4||October 14, 1993||1–2 || style="text-align:left;"| Calgary Flames (1993–94) ||0–4–0 || |- |5||October 16, 1993||1–1 OT|| style="text-align:left;"| Boston Bruins (1993–94) ||0–4–1 || |- |6||October 19, 1993||1–4 || style="text-align:left;"| St. Louis Blues (1993–94) ||0–5–1 || |- |7||October 21, 1993||2–5 || style="text-align:left;"| @ St. Louis Blues (1993–94) ||0–6–1 || |- |8||October 23, 1993||4–6 || style="text-align:left;"| Vancouver Canucks (1993–94) ||0–7–1 || |- |9||October 24, 1993||2–3 OT|| style="text-align:left;"| @ Vancouver Canucks (1993–94) ||0–8–1 || |- |10||October 26, 1993||3–1 || style="text-align:left;"| Edmonton Oilers (1993–94) ||1–8–1 || |- |11||October 28, 1993||4–3 || style="text-align:left;"| Mighty Ducks of Anaheim (1993–94) ||2–8–1 || |- |12||October 30, 1993||2–4 || style="text-align:left;"| Washington Capitals (1993–94) ||2–9–1 || |- |13||October 31, 1993||2–1 OT|| style="text-align:left;"| @ Mighty Ducks of Anaheim (1993–94) ||3–9–1 ||

| Legend:

Playoffs

|- |1||April 18, 1994||5–4 || align="left"| @ Detroit Red Wings ||Sharks lead 1–0 || |- |2||April 20, 1994||0–4 || align="left"| @ Detroit Red Wings ||Series tied 1–1 || |- |3||April 22, 1994||2–3 || align="left"| Detroit Red Wings ||Red Wings lead 2–1 || |- |4||April 23, 1994||4–3 || align="left"| Detroit Red Wings ||Series tied 2–2 || |- |5||April 26, 1994||6–4 || align="left"| Detroit Red Wings ||Sharks lead 3–2 || |- |6||April 28, 1994||1–7 || align="left"| @ Detroit Red Wings ||Series tied 3–3 || |- |7||April 30, 1994||3–2 || align="left"| @ Detroit Red Wings ||Sharks win 4–3 ||

| Legend:

Player statistics

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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

Free agency

Waivers

Departures

Draft picks

NHL entry draft

San Jose's draft picks at the 1993 NHL entry draft held at the Quebec Coliseum in Quebec City, Quebec.

NHL supplemental draft

NHL expansion draft

References

• 2021–22 San Jose Sharks Media Guide
• Sharks on Hockey Database

References

1. Hill, Adam. (2018-04-24). "Despite playoff history, Sharks don't have a Stanley Cup". [[Las Vegas Review-Journal]].
2. "1993-94 San Jose Sharks Roster and Statistics".
3. Miller, Max. (2023-05-01). "The Most Iconic Game 7s in Sharks History". [[The Hockey News]].
4. Murphy, Bryan. (2021-08-19). "Sharks' 1994 Red Wings upset part of greatest turnaround season". [[NBC Sports Bay Area]].
5. (1994-04-20). "Red Wings 4, Sharks 0". [[United Press International]].
6. [[Associated Press]]. (1994-05-01). "STANLEY CUP PLAYOFFS : Sharks Take Final Bite Out of Red Wings". [[Los Angeles Times]].
7. Koppett, David. (2019-04-22). "Sharks' Game 7 History in NHL Playoffs Filled With Elation, Heartbreak". [[KNTV.
8. (2019-04-15). "Blue Jackets defeat Lightning in historic playoff first-round upset". NHL.com.
9. (1994-04-29). "Maple Leafs Clinch in Arena Finale". [[The Washington Post]].
10. "1993-94 Western Conference Semi-Finals Game 1, San Jose Sharks vs. Toronto Maple Leafs Box Score: May 2, 1994".
11. (1994-05-05). "Toronto Topples San Jose, 5-1, While Canucks Defeat Stars". [[Deseret News]].
12. (1994-05-07). "HOCKEY; 3 Dahlen Goals Win for Sharks". [[The New York Times]].
13. "1993-94 Western Conference Semi-Finals Game 4, Toronto Maple Leafs vs. San Jose Sharks Box Score: May 8, 1994".
14. (1994-05-11). "HOCKEY; You Gotta Believe! Sharks Grab Lead". [[The New York Times]].
15. Moran, Malcolm. (1994-05-13). "HOCKEY; Gartner's Goal in Overtime Gets Leafs Even With Sharks". [[The New York Times]].
16. Sell, Dave. (1994-05-14). "Maple Leafs Prevail, End Sharks' Dream". [[The Washington Post]].
17. "1993-94 San Jose Sharks Schedule".
18. "1993-94 San Jose Sharks Statistics - Hockey-Reference.com". hockey-reference.com.
19. "1993 NHL Entry Draft Picks at hockeydb.com".