25 years of San Jose Sharks hockey, and the team had a lot of options for its quarter of a century team. After all, the Sharks made the playoffs 17 times since the 1999-2000 season, making it to the conference finals five times and the Stanley Cup Finals once. There was also a President’s Trophy in 2008-09. It was a quarter of a century that saw the Sharks win more games than they lost. It was also a time when a lot of superstars made their way through San Jose.
While no former Sharks players are in the Hockey Hall of Fame, there are a few former Sharks from the past century that have gone into the Hall with other teams. Jeremy Roenick is the most recent inductee, but there’s also Rob Blake and Teemu Selanne who have played with the Sharks in the last quarter century.
That said, none of them are on either of the San Jose Sharks quarter of the century teams.
Each team consists of six players — three forwards, two defensemen and one goalie. The only rule is that they must have played for the franchise between Jan. 1, 2000 and Dec. 31, 2024. The teams were selected by Sharks broadcasters as well as national, local and NHL.com writers who have covered the Sharks as well as select former players.
Sharks Quarter Century First Team
Of course, the only two players to have their numbers raised to the rafters of SAP Center likely weren’t among the former players asked to vote. That’s because they were two of the three forwards on the first team for the Sharks’ Quarter Century team.
Now presenting the Quarter-Century team for the @SanJoseSharks! š¦ #NHLQCTeam
— NHL (@NHL) January 28, 2025
Read more ā”ļø https://t.co/4JTCUPOIuE pic.twitter.com/rKDgMdX1Rp
Joe Thornton, Patrick Marleau, Joe Pavelski, Brent Burns and Marc-Edouard Vlasic were all named to the first team with none other than 2000-01 Calder Trophy winner Evgeni Nabokov in the net. Perhaps the most impressive thing about this first-team ballot is how many seasons they all played together on the same roster.
Marleau was a shoo-in. After all, he leads the franchise in goals (518), power play goals (161) and points (1,102), among other things.
Former captain Joe Pavelski was also an easy pick. He’s one of the best American-born skaters in Sharks history and was invited to the All-Star game four times.
Finally, up front, there’s future hall of fame Thornton, who has the most assists of any Shark at 804. He also ranks fifth all-time in the league among forwards with 1,109 assists. He’s second only to Marleau in points for Sharks’ skaters (1,055).
On the back end, it’s Burns and Vlasic. While the duo never seemed to mesh well in real life it’s understandable why they were paired together on the first team. Vlasic has played more than 1,300 games, all in a teal uniform and was one of the best shutdown defensemen in the league in his prime.
As for Burnsie, he’s the top scoring defenseman in teal with 594 points, 172 goals and 422 assists.
It’s also pretty easy to see why Nabokov, the winningest goaltender in franchise history, earned his spot on the first team. Nabby leads San Jose netminders in games played (563), games started (553), wins (293), time on ice (32490:44), and shutouts (50), according to the San Jose Sharks news release.
Sharks Quarter Century Second Team
The second team is just as formidable.
Lead off by current Sharks captain Logan Couture, it includes Tomas Hertl and Owen Nolan up front with Dan Boyle and Erik Karlsson on the backend. In the net is Martin Jones.
Couture is fourth on the Sharks’ all-time scoring list with 701 points and third in goals with 323. He was also clutch in the postseason and is second in franchise history with 53 assists, tied for second in goals with 48 and third in points with 101.
Hertl wasn’t short on the thrills when he entered the league and kept them up through his tenure with the Sharks. In his 11 seasons in teal, he moved up to fourth on the team’s all-time list for even-strength goals with 162 and overtime goals with 7.
Another former captain, Owen Nolan, rounds out the forward core. He was an integral part of the Sharks’ first few playoff runs, helping San Jose reach the postseason every season between 1997 and 2002. In 1999-00, Nolan had a career season, scoring 84 points (44 G, 40 A).
On the backend are the duo of Boyle and Karlsson. Boyle played 431 games in teal and served as the team’s alternate captain for six seasons. The Sharks reached the playoffs in each of those seasons, with Bolye playing a sizeable role in the team’s success. Meantime, Karlsson set a franchise record in 2022-23 for season points by a Sharks’ defenseman when he scored 101 points (25 G, 76 A). The season ranked him 13th in NHL history.
And in the net is Martin Jones, who backstopped the Sharks from 2015-2021. Jones was the longest-tenured Sharks’ goaltender save for Nabokov. Jones started 326 games for the Sharks and had 170 wins in that span. He had 18 shutouts.
Would you make any changes to this lineup?