Y2K night at the Tank

Tomorrow night, the San Jose Sharks will party like it’s 1999…or maybe prep for the pending computer meltdown that 2000 threatened to bring. We’re not sure just yet. But we do know it’s Y2K night at the Tank against a team that wasn’t even a glimmer in the league’s eyes in any of the 2000s, the Vegas Golden Knights.

In honor of Y2K night, let’s flashback to 1999-00.

Back at the turn of the century (yes, I said it) guys like Martin Kaut, Fabian Zetterlund and Jacob Peterson were not even born yet. Neither was William Eklund or Thomas Bordeleau.

Dean Lombardi occupied the front office job and Darryl Sutter was behind the bench. Owen Nolan donned the “C” with Vincent Damphousse and Gary Suter serving as his alternates. Our beloved SAP Center was called the San Jose Arena at the time.  

In net, Steve Shields was the starting goaltender in October, with Mike Vernon backing him up. At the time, rookie Evgeni Nabokov was proving himself with the team’s affiliate, the Cleveland Lumberjacks. On Dec. 30, 1999, the Sharks dealt Vernon and a draft pick to the Florida Panthers for Radek Dvorak. The move was to make way for Nabokov, who played 11 games as Shields’ backup.

San Jose’s roster consisted of a mix of young forwards and seasoned veterans. Names like Jeff Friesen, Mike Ricci, Patrick Marleau, Brad Stuart, Marco Sturm, Jeff Norton, Tony Granato, Mike Rathje, Bryan Marchment, Todd Harvey, Alexander Korolyuk, you get the idea.

The 1999-00 season saw the Sharks squeak into the playoffs as the number eight seed. Back then, there were three divisions in each conference and only the top seed in each division was guaranteed a spot in the postseason. San Jose finished the season with 87 points and prepared to face the St. Louis Blues in the opening round of the playoffs.

St. Louis Blues (1) vs. San Jose Sharks (8)

No stranger to playing as the underdog, the Sharks were ready for a Blues team that finished the season with 114 points and won the President’s Trophy.

While San Jose fell in Game 1 with a final score of 5-3, the team battled back in Game of the series to win 4-2. San Jose headed home with the series tied at one game apiece.

The Sharks won games 3 and 4 in San Jose Arena and took a St. Louis team on the brink back to the Midwest. But the more experienced Blues had other plans. St. Louis walloped the Sharks over the next two games, outscoring the Sharks 11-5.

That set things up for the winner take all Game 7 in St. Louis. The Sharks came out hard against the Blues. Ronnie Stern scored the first goal of the game for the Sharks. Then, as time was winding down in the first period, Owen Nolan teed one up from center ice to make it 2-0.

The Sharks went on to win 3-1 and advance to the semifinals.

Sadly, the Sharks had nothing left in the tank following the seven game series with the Blues. In the Western Conference semifinals, the team fell to the Dallas Stars in five games.

Flashback to 1999

Billboard’s Top Song: “Believe” by Cher
Top Movie at the Box Office: Star Wars Episode 1: The Phantom Menace
Other Movies Released in 1999: The Matrix, The Sixth Sense, Fight Club, Office Space, Toy Story 2, The Blair Witch Project, American Pie, American Beauty
Average Cost of a Movie Ticket: $5.08
Top Rated TV Show: Who Wants to be a Millionaire
Fun Fact: Brandi Chastain scores the game winning penalty kick in the Women’s World Cup
Fun Fact: *NSync opened for Janet Jackson in 1999
Fun Fact: Napster launched (ask your parents)
Fun Fact: Sega Launched Dreamcast in America (don’t ask your parents, it’s not worth it)
Fun Fact: SpongeBob SquarePants aired its first episode