Although Northern California was a hotbed of hockey in the latter part of the Original Six era, the first attempt to bring NHL hockey to the region was a dismal failure. In 1976, the Oakland Seals would move to Cleveland, where they would play for the final two years as the Cleveland Barons. The owners of the Barons, George Gund and Gordon Gund, would merge the team with the Minnesota North Stars, which the two owned until 1990.

On May 9, 1990, the Gund brothers would sell their share of the North Stars in return for the rights to a new team back in Northern California. Thus, the Sharks, a nickname chosen from over 5000 entries submitted by mail, and inspired by the sharks living in San Francisco Bay, were born. The team played its firrst two seasons in the Cow Palace in Daly City, California, before moving to the San Jose Arena (now the HP Pavillion), or more colloquially, the Shark Tank, where they currently play.

For the first two seasons, the Sharks were one of worst teams in the NHL, as often happens to expansion teams. In the 1992-93 NHL season they had an NHL all-time-high 71 losses. The third, 1993-94 season, was more successful, the Sharks finished the regular season with a 33-35-16 record, making the playoffs with 82 points. That was 58 points more than in the previous season, an NHL all-time record for single season points differential. In the first round of playoffs, they met the President's Trophy winning Detroit Red Wings, and won the series 4-3. In the second round, they would lose to the Toronto Maple Leafs 2-4. They made the second round of playoffs in the next season, 1994-95, as well. The key Sharks players at this time were goalie Arturs Irbe, defensemen Sandis Ozolinsh and forward Igor Larionov, under coach Kevin Constantine.

The next season, 1995-96 season, was not as good as the previous two; the Sharks finished last in the Pacific Division and failed to make the playoffs. The team also underwent major changes: during the season they traded Ozolinsh and Larionov; Irbe, who had suffered an off-ice injury, was released at the end of the season, and the team began rebuilding by acquiring forward Owen Nolan from the Colorado Avalanche, as well as several other players.

The Sharks returned to the NHL playoffs two years later, in the 1997-98 NHL season, with goalie Mike Vernon, whom they acquired from the Red Wings (the season after Vernon won the Conn Smythe Trophy), and new head coach Darryl Sutter. For the next 5 years, the Sharks always made the playoffs, yet never advanced past the second round. In the 2000-01 season, Russian goalie Evgeni Nabokov became the starter for Sharks, winning the Calder Memorial Trophy as the league's best rookie. The team also acquired Finnish star forward Teemu Selanne from the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim, who played for the team until 2003.

The 2003-04 NHL season was the most successful in the history of the Sharks so far. They finished the regular season with 104 points, a team record, won the Pacific Division championship, and were seeded second in the Western Conference. They won the first two rounds of playoffs against the St. Louis Blues and the Colorado Avalanche, before being defeated 4-2 in the Western Conference finals by the Calgary Flames.

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Players of Note
Hall of Famers: none

Current stars:

Vincent Damphousse
Jonathan Cheechoo
Patrick Marleau
Evgeni Nabokov

Not to be forgotten:

Jeff Friesen
Arturs Irbe
Igor Larionov
Sandis Ozolinsh
Teemu Selanne
Retired Numbers:

99 Wayne Gretzky (retired league-wide by the NHL)