25 Years of SAP Center: The Shark Head

No one seems to recall exactly who had the duty of informing the Shark players. The consensus is that it was Kevin Constantine.
Twenty five years ago, Constantine was the Sharks' new head coach for their very first home game in the building then known as San Jose Arena. This meant that, as his team prepared to take the ice just before the historic first faceoff, Constantine had to tell them this:
"Uh, guys, there's something you should know. When we walk out to the tunnel, there's going to be this enormous Shark head with an open mouth. And the mouth will be filled with fog. And we'll skate through the mouth onto the ice. So whatever you do, don't get lost in the fog, turn too quick and trip over one of the giant teeth."
Rob Zettler, who was on the Sharks' roster that night, also has no memory of the players' response to this stunning information. The date was October 14, 1993. At that point, no team in National Hockey League history had ever skated onto the ice through anything, let alone a giant fabricated fish mouth.
Matt Levine, the Sharks' marketing guru who dreamed up the Shark head entrance along with his partner Bob Brand, knew that it was something wildly different for the sport and that the reception in the dressing room might be iffy.
"It is my understanding," Levine says today, "that a couple of older players were skeptically conservative about it. But most of them voiced a 'Why not?' attitude."
Constantine, however, was on board totally.
"I know Kevin was supportive of the dramatic impact he knew it would have, energizing the players and fans," Levine says.
Never has there been a more accurate scouting report.

Because if you ask most Shark players who have skated through the Shark mouth over the past quarter of a century, that experience is at the top of their list when it comes to SAP Center's favorite qualities. The Shark Tank, as it became known, would not be the same without the Shark mouth.

"If I could come up with one word when I think of the building, it would be 'energy,'" says Patrick Marleau, who should know because he has played more games in the structure than anyone. He can even tell you about the distinctive smells of the arena and how they change over the course of the season. (Actual fact.)
Marleau is now with the Toronto Maple Leafs. But owing to his 19 seasons as a Shark, he is easily atop the list of players who have suited up most often at the Tank. At the start of the 2018-19 season, Marleau had been on the SAP ice for 746 regular season games. He was scheduled to make it 747 when Toronto visited in mid-November. Joe Thornton (481) and Joe Pavelski (450) began this season with the second and third most times skating onto the SAP ice.
Vincent Damphousse, the former San Jose captain, has a memory of the Shark head, as well - because one night, he in fact did take too severe of a left turn out of the mouth. He tripped over a tooth and went sprawling on the ice. Video of that glorious spill was replayed in the dressing room for several days, drawing incisive commentary by his teammates.
The 25th anniversary of SAP is certainly an occasion to reminisce and ruminate and celebrate such moments. So let's skate out through the Shark head and make some fun lists of various categories linked to the building that is now the third oldest in the NHL, behind only New York's Madison Square Garden and Calgary's Scotiabank Saddledome.
Some of these choices are personal. Some are obvious. Some are controversial. And some are just plain unforgettable.

THE ARENA'S THREE BIGGEST HOCKEY MOMENTS

1. After years of playoff frustration, the Sharks clinched their first trip to the Stanley Cup Final on May 25, 2016, with a 5-2 victory over the St. Louis Blues. It was only fitting they did so at home in front of the fans who'd been so loyal for so long. Logan Couture's empty net goal with 20 seconds remaining to close the deal brought the house down.
   2. On March 20, 1994, the Kings' Wayne Gretzky scored twice against the Sharks to tie Gordie Howe's career record of 801 goals. Gretzky's second goal came with just 49 seconds left in the third period of a wild 6-6 tie. The moment felt almost like a benediction for the building just six months after it had opened, lending it some instant NHL history. Gretzky would go on to break Howe's record two nights later in Los Angeles.
   3. The NHL All-Star Game on January 18, 1997, will always be remembered for the "called-shot" hat trick of Owen Nolan. He scored his first two goals just eight seconds apart--still an All-Star Game record-in the second period. Then, with just under three minutes left in the third, Nolan found himself alone with the puck as he crossed the blue line of his home rink. He pointed at a corner of the net above goalie Dominic Hasek -- and slammed the puck past him. Caps and other headwear flew onto the ice. Nolan laughs: "There were at least six garbage bags full of hats after they cleaned them off. I didn't know what to do with them. I think we just threw them away."

THE ARENA'S THREE LOUDEST MOMENTS

1. Thanks to the low ceiling and the proximity of the second-deck crowd, SAP is one of the league's most decibel-heavy buildings, if not at the very top. "It's the closest thing to the old Chicago Stadium," Nolan says. "They don't build them like that any more." And you can get many arguments for which event provoked the loudest roar. But the pick here would be the overtime goal scored by Joonas Donskoi on June 4, 2016, in Game 3 of the Stanley Cup Final. It was the first-ever Sharks victory in their first-ever Final after the Penguins had won the first two games in Pittsburgh and gave fans hope of a series comeback. That wasn't to be. But the huge noise explosion after Donskoi's goal may still be rattling around the rafters.
   2. In a 2006 playoff series against Edmonton, the Sharks found themselves trying to preserve a 1-0 lead in Game 2 by killing a 5-on-3 penalty situation with Mark Smith, Kyle McLaren and Scott Hannan. Things went south quickly when both Smith and Hannan broke their sticks and couldn't clear the puck for nearly 90 seconds on the two-man disadvantage. The three Sharks somehow got it done by blocking shots and positioning themselves as best they could. When the puck finally was cleared, the response from the crowd was thunderous. Shark coach Ron Wilson said: "That was the Black Knight from 'Monty Python (and the Holy Grail). Guys dropping, sticks breaking, pieces flying off. It was an unbelievable effort. I've never heard a crowd that loud."
   3. Sharks rookie Andrei Zyuzin created one of the building's early electric moments in a 1998 playoff series against Dallas when his slapshot in overtime of Game 4 zipped past the hated Belfour to win the game, 1-0. The roof practically lifted off SAP. The following morning, this was the San Jose Mercury News headline, a takeoff on a then-popular film: "SUDDENLY ZYUZIN."

THE ARENA'S ALL-TIME SHARKS TEAM

F Patrick Marleau
F Joe Thornton
F Joe Pavelski
D Marc Edouard-Vlasic
D Brent Burns
G Evgeni Nabokov

THE ARENA'S ALL-TIME SHARKS OPPONENTS TEAM

F Mario Lemieux
F Wayne Gretzky
F Teemu Selanne
D Nicklas Lidstrom
D Al MacInnis
G Patrick Roy

THE ARENA'S THREE MOST EMOTIONAL MOMENTS

1. Winning that Game 6 against St. Louis in 2016 to reach the Final was a mass catharsis. Players hugged and screamed. Many fans wept. So did at least one bluecoat usher who had worked in the building since the doors opened. Said Logan Couture that night: "I took a few quick looks around, just to see everyone standing and cheering. They've been through a lot... A lot of credit to the people that have had season tickets and kept them through it all. They deserve this."
   2. Marleau's return to San Jose as a member of the Maple Leafs on Oct. 30, 2017 touched everyone in the house one way or another. Marleau had left San Jose as a free agent because Toronto had offered him a longer-term contract. But the Sharks fans hardly held it against him. After a pregame scoreboard video salute, a spotlight was focused on Marleau and he received a two-minute standing ovation as he saluted the crowd back with his upright hockey stick and barely held it together.
   3. On March 18, 2014, the Sharks partnered with the Make-A-Wish Foundation to give teenager Sam Tageson the experience of his life. Tageson was born with life-threatening heart condition but persisted in playing youth hockey. The Sharks "signed him" to a one-day contract, had him participate in the morning skate and let him skate out through the Shark head before the game with the team before standing on the blue line for the National Anthem. When introduced with his face on the scoreboard, the crowd roared and the crowd caught tears running down his cheeks. "That sort of thing goes beyond hockey," says general manager Doug Wilson. "You had a certain feeling at that moment that I don't think can be matched. I was so proud of our players and so happy for Sam."

THE ARENA'S THREE MOST HEINOUS OPPOSING VILLIANS

1. Theo Fleury is heads above every other player in this category. The troublesome Calgary Flames forward was only 5-foot-6 inches tall but annoyed the hell out of both the Sharks and their fan and provoked them in numerous ways. Once, he even attacked team mascot SJ Sharkie in the tunnel to the visiting dressing room. And here's a story from Zettler from his time as a Shark defenseman in 1994: "At the end of the game, Fleury makes a run at me and I turn around to fight him and all of a sudden, instead of battling Fleury, I'm facing Joel Otto, who is four inches taller and bigger than me. And Fleury is over there on the sideline, giggling."
   2. Chris Pronger was a foot taller than Fleury but just as galling and irritating. The defenseman also was a thorn in the Sharks' side with both Edmonton and Anaheim, in the regular season and the playoffs. Arena fans booed him every time he touched the puck. At one point, Sharks public relations man Ken Arnold suggested to team officials that as intermission entertainment, a "Whack-A-Pronger" game along the lines of "Whack-A-Mole" could be staged on the ice, in which selected ticket holders would be able to bop pop-up Pronger dolls on the head to earn valuable prizes. The idea was rejected. But the sentiment was valid.
   3. For Shark fans, Ed Belfour went from beloved savior to loathed devil in the space of just seven months. The All-Star goalie was acquired from Chicago in January of 1997. He was going to become a free agent in July. But even as he struggled through a back injury that limited his action, he proclaimed that he wanted to stay with the Sharks long term, saying: "I plan on doing that. I want to help them win a Stanley Cup." Maybe so, but when the Sharks offered him a three-year, $10.5 million deal at the free agent deadline, he turned it down and accepted less money to play in Dallas. After that, every Belfour appearance in San Jose was greeted with thunderous scorn.
   Honorable Mention: Dustin Brown, Corey Perry.
   Watch: Youtube Video

THE ARENA'S THREE MOST MEMORABLE CONFRONTATIONS

1. Nolan will never forget the 1997 chaos against the Los Angeles Kings which began when the Kings' Matt Johnson cheap-shotted Sharks' winger Andrei Nazarov and broke his cheekbone. Sharks' defenseman Al Iafrate went after Johnson and the mayhem was on with all 10 skaters. "I didn't see what had happened to start it," Nolan says, "but I skated over and all of a sudden, I was fighting Barry Potomsky. We went at it for a while and finally I was sitting on him, out of breath. I told him, 'Okay, I'm going to let you up, but we're done." The fight can be found on YouTube with the key words "Kings Sharks Brawl 1997."
   2. We'll call this one "SJ Sharkie vs Gravity." On March 12, 1999 before a game against Detroit, the loveable Sharks mascot attempted one of his patented ice entrances by rappelling down from the arena rafters. Except he got stranded, mid-rappel, when part of his costume someone became entangled in the rope. It delayed the start of the game for 12 minutes-during which Red Wings coach Scottie Bowman fumed, thinking it was done to distract his team--until a crew pulled Sharkie back up onto the catwalk above the ice.
   3. Just about any time Bryan ("Mush") Marchment laced up skates, there was a collision or hostility-whether it was during his time with the Sharks or when he played for the opposition. Says Marleau: "I remember the very first game I played at the Tank as a rookie was against the Oilers, when Mush played for them. My first shift, he tried to light me up. Luckily, I caught a rut in the ice and fell down and he went over the top of me. So I guess I was fortunate."

THE ARENA'S THREE BIGGEST SECRETS

1. George Gund, the Sharks' first owner, was a globetrotting adventurer who had residences all over the world. But not in San Jose. So he had an apartment built for himself on the club level of the Zamboni end of the rink, where he could stay when he was in town. It violated several city ordinances, so if you asked any team executives about it, the apartment didn't exist.
   2. When the San Jose Arena's initial architectural drawings were created in 1989, hockey wasn't in the picture. And even when the Sharks signed to play in the building a year later, the press box wasn't a priority. So it was stuck way, way up in the roof area-and it includes a "catwalk" portion that involves a tender stroll into the rafters for seats almost directly over the ice. So if you are a season ticket holder near the boards and a pencil or notebook surprisingly lands in your lap, now you know why.
   3. Nolan can now reveal the truth. He often loved to get naked between periods. During his time with the team, the circulation system in the home dressing room wasn't the best. The room was so hot that Nolan would take off his clothes during the two intermissions and climb into the training room cold tub for five minutes, then climb out and dry off and get suited up again. (The ventilation system eventually improved.)

THE ARENA'S THREE BEST TRADITIONS

1. The Chomp. If you have to ask, you're in the wrong game program, reading the wrong story.
   2. The opposing backup goalie's seat of shame. Because the visiting bench isn't big enough to accommodate everyone, the second-string goaltender must sit across the ice in the tunnel to the visiting dressing room, where he is often taunted by fans. Because of this, some opposing backups choose to sit beneath the stands by the tunnel and watch the entire game on television, knowing they might be called upon any minute if the starter gets pulled. Does any other arena make them do this? Let's hope not. It's a beautiful thing.
   3. Besides the noise and the Shark head, the most common loveable trait of the Tank mentioned by both former and current players isn't really in the arena at all. It's the feeling they get when driving to the game and seeing fans in Shark jerseys walking to the arena down Santa Clara Street from downtown restaurants or taverns. "It's just kind of this noise or this buzz or this feeling you get," says Wilson, the general manager.
   And here's the final word from Zettler, an original Shark player and now an assistant coach: "I've just always loved that entry at the corner of Santa Clara and Autumn. I always park in the lot along the west side of the building and walk around and enter there instead of the door on the ramp in the back. There's something about that tall wall of glass, that atrium. To this day, the building doesn't feel old to me. It's kind of timeless."
   So is the Shark head. There have been repairs and renovations. But it's still the original and unique. As is SAP Center itself.