Washington Capitals right wing Nicolas Aube-Kubel is congratulated by center Nic Dowd after scoring against the San Jose Sharks during the second period of an NHL hockey game in San Jose, Calif., Saturday, March 4, 2023. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu)
SAN JOSE – George Barata attended Patrick Marleau’s number retirement ceremony at SAP Center last weekend, and it was a reminder of the San Jose Sharks’ glory days: lots of familiar players on hand from standout teams, and another packed house at the downtown arena.
Those glory days seem like a distant memory.
Some star players have been traded away, the Sharks are among the worst teams in the NHL, and on several nights, crowds appear to be a fraction of what they once were.
With some uncertainty as to when things will improve under a new front office and coaching staff, it’s not easy to be a Sharks fan right now.
“Fans just have to be patient,” Barata, 69, said Saturday before the Sharks were blown out 8-3 by the Washington Capitals. “I mean, it’s been ugly. It’s going to get uglier.”
“It’s going to be probably a few more years before (the Sharks) build it up,” said Caroline Chavez, 76, of San Jose. “They made so many bad contracts, so now they’re kind of paying for it.”
The Sharks are a week removed from trading leading goal-scorer Timo Meier to the New Jersey Devils, and eight months removed from dealing Brent Burns, the 2017 Norris Trophy winner, to the Carolina Hurricanes. Sharks fans are still getting to know some of the faces on this year’s team, as eight of the 20 players who dressed Saturday weren’t with the club last season.
“I think there’s potential,” said Dave McCready, 82, of San Jose. “I’m not sure that giving away your scorers, which they seem to do, is the right way to go. But there’s also the young kids that they just brought up.”
Forward William Eklund, the top prospect in the Sharks organization, was recalled from the AHL on Friday and made his season debut in the NHL Saturday. Going forward, Eklund could be part of a talented young nucleus that includes forwards Thomas Bordeleau and Filip Bystedt, and defensemen Shakir Mukhamadullin, Nikita Okhotyuk, and Mattias Havelid — all players age 22 or younger.
Still, more than one Sharks fan who spoke with this news organization Saturday said they wouldn’t mind seeing the team take on more of a rough-and-tumble personality.
“We need to get some bigger guys. We’re kind of we’re getting beat up,” said Kenia Leon, 42, who lives in Santa Rosa. “It seems like we’ve been stuck in a transition mode for a while and losing Meier, it kind of hurts, right?
“Maybe we don’t see the bigger picture. We need strength. We need defense.”
The Sharks announced that 17,562 tickets were sold for Saturday’s game, a sellout crowd possibly bolstered by the ‘shirzey’ giveaway to fans entering the arena, an afternoon start, and a high-profile opponent like the Capitals, led by captain and future hall of famer Alex Ovechkin. It was the Sharks’ ninth announced sellout in 31 games at SAP Center this season.
Big crowds and sellouts used to be the norm.
Since the Sharks moved into their current arena in 1993, the average announced attendance has only dipped below 16,000 two other times, in 2003-04 (15,835) and last season (12,574).
Winning helped. From 1994 to 2019, the Sharks made the playoffs in 21 of 25 seasons.
But prior to Saturday, the Sharks, per hockey-reference.com, has averaged 13,853 tickets sold per game – the second lowest figure in the NHL, ahead of only the 4,600 people the Arizona Coyotes average at 4,600-seat Mullett Arena in Tempe.
The Sharks’ average for its first 30 home games was 78.9 percent of capacity of the 17,562-seat arena.
Earlier this week, the announced number of tickets sold for Sharks games against Montreal and St. Louis were 11,470 and 12,290, respectively, although the actual number of people in attendance appeared to be far fewer.
“I know it sounds crazy with our record, but I would say we’ve been an entertaining team,” Sharks coach David Quinn said. “Winning is more entertaining than anything. So, with a good crowd today, we owe it to our fan base to be entertaining but in the fashion where we’re winning.”
That didn’t happen, as the Sharks suffered their second-most lopsided loss of the season. Only a 7-1 loss to the Edmonton Oilers on Jan. 13 was worse.
Amazingly, the Sharks are now 0-6-3 this season in front of sellout crowds.
With more victories, Quinn believes “people will show up. Absolutely. It’s the greatest marketing brand there is.”
Sharks fans seem to be willing to accept incremental improvements. Right now, with the team owning the NHL’s third-worst record at 18-33-12, that feels far off.
“We need to get to .500 That’s the goal to start,” said Barata, who lives in Monterey County. “We haven’t gotten near that yet. So, I don’t know.”
Originally published at Curtis Pashelka