Editing San Jose Sharks (section)

===Cow Palace years (1991–1993)===
[[File:Sharkie with flag.jpg|thumb|right|S. J. Sharkie, the Sharks' mascot, made his debut during the 1991–92 season.]]
For their first two seasons, the Sharks played at the [[Cow Palace]] in [[Daly City, California|Daly City]], just outside San Francisco, a facility the NHL and the Seals had rejected in 1967. [[Pat Falloon]] was their first draft choice and led the team in points during their first season. The team was placed in the Campbell Conference's [[Smythe Division]]. [[George Kingston (ice hockey)|George Kingston]] was their first head coach during their first two seasons.<ref name="hockey-fans.com">{{cite web|url= http://www.hockey-fans.com/pacific/sharks/|title= San Jose Sharks Hockey Team |access-date=August 13, 2008}}</ref> Though the [[1991–92 NHL season|1991–92]] roster consisted primarily of NHL journeymen, minor leaguers and rookies, the Sharks had at least one notable player when they acquired 14-year veteran and former [[James Norris Memorial Trophy|Norris Trophy]]-winning defenseman [[Doug Wilson (ice hockey)|Doug Wilson]] from the [[Chicago Blackhawks]] on September 6, 1991. Wilson was named the team's first captain and [[National Hockey League All-Star Game|All-Star]] representative in the inaugural season. However, the Sharks' first two seasons saw the typical struggles for an expansion team. The 71 losses in [[1992–93 NHL season|1992–93]] is an NHL record, and they also suffered a 17-game losing streak, while winning just 11 games and earning a mere 24 points in the standings. Kingston was fired following the end of the 1992–93 season.<ref name="hockey-fans.com"/>

Despite the Sharks' futility in the standings, the team led the NHL's merchandise sales with $150&nbsp;million, accounting for 27% of the NHL's total and behind only [[National Basketball Association]] champions [[Chicago Bulls]] among all North American leagues.<ref>{{cite news| url=https://www.nytimes.com/1992/12/14/business/in-disney-s-hockey-venture-the-real-action-is-off-the-ice.html | work=The New York Times | first=Calvin | last=Sims | title=In Disney's Hockey Venture, The Real Action Is Off the Ice | date=December 14, 1992}}</ref> Several team "firsts" happened in the 1992–93 season. On November 17, 1992, San Jose goaltender [[Artūrs Irbe|Arturs Irbe]] recorded the first shutout in team history, defeating the [[Los Angeles Kings]] 6–0. On December 3, against the [[Hartford Whalers]] at the Cow Palace, right winger [[Rob Gaudreau]] scored the first [[hat-trick]] in franchise history; he also scored the team's second-ever hat-trick nine days later against the [[Quebec Nordiques]].

The inaugural year also saw the introduction of the San Jose Sharks mascot, "S. J. Sharkie". On January 28, 1992, at a game against the [[New York Rangers]], the then-unnamed mascot emerged from a [[Ice resurfacer|Zamboni]] during an intermission. A "Name the Mascot" contest began that night, with the winning name of "S. J. Sharkie" being announced on April 15, 1992.<ref>{{Cite book| title = Decade of Teal: 10 Years With the San Jose Sharks| publisher = Woodford Publishing, Inc. | page = 105 | year = 2001}}</ref>