The WEIRDEST NHL Expansion of All Time

1991 NHL Expansion Background: nathangabay.com/how-bobby-cla...
1991 NHL Expansion Draft Exposed Player List: historicalhockey.blogspot.com...
Not Mike Craig Trade Tree: www.sportscardforum.com/threa...
NHL expansion has always been imperfect. In some cases, it has been rushed or poorly thought out. Other times, no one bothered thinking about the unintended consequences. However, to the league’s credit, it has at least tried assist teams so they wouldn’t be abject.
The six-team NHL expansion in 1967 saw all six new teams placed in their own conference and kind of allowed to do their own thing. It wasn’t pretty, but it was fun and fair, considering the riff-raff made available to them in that year’s expansion draft.
In the various 1970s NHL expansion drafts, the new franchises received the top selections in that year’s entry draft in addition to picking various castoffs. And there is 1979 and the WHA teams coming into the NHL which is sort of its own thing altogether.
Then 1991 came along and it was finally time for the NHL to have an even number of teams after more than a decade of playing with 21 franchises. Doing that, however, involved the single weirdest NHL expansion of all time.
The story of the San Jose Sharks and the worst NHL expansion of all time begins in 1975, when California Golden Seals minority owners George and Gordon Gund convinced then-majority owner Melvin Swig to move the franchise to Cleveland. The move was disastrous, mostly because it was last-minute.
The NHL wasn’t all that keen on removing a hockey team from the state of hockey while owners hated the idea of losing a potential expansion market and the fees which came with it. After behind closed doors haggling, it was announced the Gunds would sell the North Stars to an ownership group keeping the franchise in Minnesota (LOL) for $31.5 million.
They, in turn, handed the NHL $50 million for an expansion franchise that would play in San Jose. However, George and Gordon Gund had to make a huge concession to the other NHL owners in order to get them to sign off on the entire deal.
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[@ericwickman920]

How bad one must be to lose money with a pro hockey team in Minnesota!?

[@Zkhan2475]

Was Bettman Commissioner when they moved to Dallas?

[@CreightonRabs]

​@@Zkhan2475Bettman became NHL Commissioner on February 1 1993; the North Stars relocated to Dallas not too long after Bettman took over.

[@SaintNormRIP]

Norm Green is as much of an idiot as Art Modell who claimed to lose money on Pro Football in Cleveland. Where pro football is literally almost a religion.

[@SaintNormRIP]

@@CreightonRabsthey were already in the process of wanting to relocate though. That’s why Norm ditched the classic Northstars uniforms right away and brought in the black and white “Stars” jerseys.

[@saulteanuts-vg8iu]

@@Zkhan2475 Gary Bettman is a scourge.

[@therealtombrokaw]

So basically the NHL was run like a fantasy football league with your buddies

[@richardsiemion5903]

It pains me to say this …. Bettman is the best commissioner in sports bc he fixed all this. I know … I can’t stand him either …. But still … this the NHL wo him.

[@brettrossi034]

​@@richardsiemion5903I hate to say it too, but Bettman does definitely deserve a bunch of credit for helping stabilize the NHL

[@sharxfan16]

The strangest part of the story is that the NHL robbed the Sharks of the #1 overall pick two years in a row. For the 1st time in history, they didn't award the #1 pick to an expansion team and instead gave it to the previous season's worst team. The next season, they defaulted to awarding the top 2 picks to the incoming Lighting and Senators. The team with the worst record that season? The Sharks, of course who got to pick 3rd.

[@elephantrange]

Get most of what you say, except that the Gunds basically learned from their Seals and Barons experience, and built the Sharks franchise on Merchandising. Look at how jersey sales, for instance, propelled them early on. This is something that has kept the San Jose Sharks out of trouble, no matter the bad trades or on-ice product.

[@garymauk2963]

The games in Sacramento were in both 92-93 and 93-94 as part of all NHL teams playing two neutral site games in the 84 game season. The league was testing the waters for games in other markets. There were neutral site games scheduled for 94-95 but the lock out scrapped that as only a 48 game season was played. The NHL schedule starting in 95-96 was shortened to 82 and the neutral site schedule was eliminated.

[@thetouchback]

Great info!

[@rileyholden-zc9ip]

The old sharks logo is gorgeous

[@PrinceAnt722]

Would love to see the Sharks go back to the original logo before their 35th Anniversary season.

[@choossuck7653]

Its crazy to hear that they are going for the 35 anniversary next year. I didn't even know their logo changed. Everyone had sharks gear when they started ​@@PrinceAnt722

[@rileyholden-zc9ip]

@@PrinceAnt722 I would love that

[@xenialafleur]

Arturs Irbe lead the Carolina Hurricanes to the 2002 Stanley Cup finals where they lost 1-4 to the Detroit All Stars.

[@andrewheitmeyer9945]

The fact an original 6 team like Montreal came to Sacramento blows my mind. Terry Harper who won 5 Stanley Cups with the Canadiens lives in Folsom and plays pick up games at skatetown.

[@dcfog81]

I'd like to add that the Sharks could've drafted Scott Niedermayer in 1991 (picked Pat Faloon instead) and Chris Pronger in 1993 (traded pick) long before they teamed up in Anaheim to win the Cup in 2007

[@mayhemjr.803]

Picking Pat Faloon that year was a big mistake. I don't think Pat played more than 6 or 7 years in the league.

[@MrTakaMOSHi]

​@@mayhemjr.803 He wasn't very good but stuck around for 12 seasons. All Sharks fans (myself included) call him "Fat Balloon"

[@mayhemjr.803]

@@MrTakaMOSHi 😂😅🤣...Fat Ballon...that's cute😂

[@StevenBeverage]

Arturs Irbe!!!! I remember this season well. Everyone in Boston had Sharks and Lightning gear in lieu of Bruins gear for a moment before either team played a game. Those Sharks jerseys are still the coolest.

[@RobMcDougall]

From the area and can confirm, but can't put my finger on the why. Esposito spearheading Tampa Bay and still being much revered in Boston makes sense, but the Sharks? And it's not even like the Bruins were that far removed from two Stanley Cup finals. But for whatever reason the two joining was treated as a really big deal up here. Still have a Sharks puck a family member from Silicon Valley sent me back in that era.

[@richardsiemion5903]

I’ve said this after studying this extensively… it seems like the San Jose Sharks are a continuation of the Oakland Seals … not an expansion franchise …. Which explains why it wasn’t a traditional expansion draft and done so differently ….. Does the absurdity start making a little more sense now ? Players in from Cleveland …. Out from Minn to SJ.

[@maxscameraguy]

It's funny because in the NHL games, the Dallas Stars have the Seals/Barron's throwback jerseys not the sharks.

[@richardsiemion5903]

@@maxscameraguythe Sharks use the Seals colors for throw back too. It’s a mess.

[@Mommayam]

@@maxscameraguy When have the Stars done Seals/Barrons throwback jerseys?

[@untexan]

@@Mommayamhe meant in video games. The Stars have never worn throwbacks that go beyond their own history in Dallas.

[@Mommayam]

@@untexan Ah, ok. Been a Stars fan for almost 30 years and I didn’t remember seeing that… Might be kind of cool IRL

[@kpkelly6182]

Looking forward to your video on why the North Stars left Minnesota. Norm Green SUCKS

[@CreightonRabs]

I would be interested as well. It would've been nice to have kept the North Stars branding and team history in Minnesota.

[@MrVisde]

I went to games at the Cow Palace. It was a terrible place to watch a hockey, but we were excited to have an NHL team. It didn’t even have a video jumbotron to watch replays 😂

[@Zkhan2475]

Thankfully Bettman allowed hockey in Florida a year later despite the Sharks debacle or there may not have been the Panthers stunning the Bruins last year.

[@thetouchback]

Let's not forget that Panthers Cup run in 1996.

[@SaintNormRIP]

Not even San Francisco. The Cow Palace is in Daly City. In San Mateo County. San Francisco is contiguous with San Francisco county. Daly City is closer to SF than Sanjo though. You’re correct. But it’s not in SF. People liked the Cow Palace because it has a low ceiling. It made the atmosphere loud and makes for an intimate feeling. :-)

[@TheOtherGygax]

Eric Lindros was drafted by Quebec then traded to Philadelphia.

[@saulteanuts-vg8iu]

Then Kitchener boy, Scott Stevens, made him pay. Big Up K-Town! 🇨🇦

[@cynthiastines8918]

Look how that turned out? Lindros suffered a concussions THAT RUINED HIM FOR LIFE.

[@greggpaul4670]

One thing you left out is the price tag of the expansion fee. The NHL previously announced the fee would be $50M but gave the Gunds a discounted rate due to their owning the North Stars. The Sharks only had to pay $35M and that and the dispersal/expansion draft fiasco are the sole reasons that Lloyd Pettit pulled his bid for Milwaukee a few years later. Before Pettit pulled his bid it was widely considered that Milwaukee would have been awarded the spot that Ottawa now has.

[@drew10981]

I've been a Sharks fan going back to when I was in grade school in 1993 and remember that playoff run. I was too young to understand the shenanigans that went on for our entry draft and the dispersal draft. I've watched and heard a lot of backgrounds on what that process was like, and a lot of the details you had here were new information to me. Exceptional video you have here. And thank you for the background on a team I've loved & followed for over 30 years.

[@maxscameraguy]

If you do a video about the NHL moving back to Minnesota, let me know. The Mayor who brought it back, Norm Coleman, was an alumni at my university for undergrad. Hes got stories about how he tried to get the Jets and Whalers to come and how the NHL wanted Houston, but the negotiations for a new Arena stalled and St. Paul became the benefactor.

[@fritzpollard266]

Not a NHL fan but I still enjoyed this a lot. If you’re ever struggling for an idea for a story imagine if a MLB team left spring training with one name headed to one city and roughly 4 days later on opening day of that same year that team had a different name playing for a different home city, that’s exactly how the Seattle Pilots became the Milwaukee Brewers.

[@rpannier]

8/12 teams made the playoffs and their division may have been weak, but they still eliminated Detroit and nearly eliminated Toronto -- and I was in Reno at the time and put 50 bucks down on the Sharks (was a Seals fan in the 70's and the Sharks became my team)

[@mayhemjr.803]

Oh if only Johan Garpenlov hadn't missed that wide open shot in game 7 against Toronto. Damn you Felix Potvin!

[@Hoovie9596]

North stars went 6 games in the SCF in 1991

[@kjoeyb.]

My mom said this about the cow palace sharks. “Went on a date there with your father. Sharks got crushed but it was so much fun. Great atmosphere, got a nice dinner before the game, only bad part was your father. Wish I never met him” She divorced my dad because he was abusive. Thank god he isn’t alive anymore

[@risboturbide9396]

Great breakdown! Thank you for your hard work 🍻

[@mattmacknight3000]

Irbe is my favourite of all time. I grew up in Raleigh when he was there. 2002 is enough to convince me he's a special guy. But he's more than just that. He was fun, he was dynamic.

[@thetouchback]

I fully understand why Irbe is a beloved figure in both San Jose and Carolina but being a cult hero and good goaltender are two different things.

[@mattmacknight3000]

@@thetouchback I think being a good goaltender and a great goaltender is the difference. He was good. He had some very good years. He wasn’t great. But you don’t become beloved as a bad goalie.

[@mushroom13cfh]

Irbe is the best. My dad befriended him as a hockey hound way way back. Irbe got me and my dad into the Shark tank to watch them practice, long story short my dad saw Gretzky across the arena we went to go get his autograph and he took off lol. I got hella irbe stuff signed and still my favorite goalie till this day

[@davidlivingston2754]

Weren't those games in Sacramento neutral site games? They played a lot of them back then

[@thetouchback]

From what I could find, the Sharks played two games in Sacramento in both 1992-93 and 1993-94. Those were announced in the media as neutral site but have since been listed as home games. Details about those are scarce. I know the ice basically slush during the final Sharks game played at Arco in 1994. They also played the Blackhawks three straight game in Northern California in 1994, once at Arco and twice in San Jose.

[@andrewheitmeyer9945]

@@thetouchbackI would give anything for the nhl to come back to Sacramento even if it was just for preseason. A good sharks team and a good team here would be a good geographical rivalry for the league.

[@PrinceAnt722]

That was at the time when the NHL would schedule regular season games at neutral sites.

[@maluorno]

my high school got a hockey team the year SJ joined the NHL. I was in grade 10 and was our only defenseman that could skate backwards....lol we lost our first game 24 - 2

[@thetouchback]

At least you didn't get shut out!

[@romangagne5842]

Expansion year Sharks had one of the TOUGHEST lineups from that first year. Players like Link Gaetz, Jeff Odgers, Craig Coxe, Bob McGill, Kevin Evans, Rick Lessard, Neil Wilkinson, Rob Zettler and Jayson More. Gaetz's penalty minute record in that expansion year still has not been beaten and probably never will!

[@IronSikh44]

Great video. You did your home work for sure. The amateur drafts over the years are full of obvious misses when you analyze in hindsight. Missing on Niedermayer is a head scratcher for sure. He’d already shown his brilliance in Kamloops but in Falloon’s defence, he’d also been an impactful player on the Memorial Cup champion Spokane team. But I never knew the Sharks gave up the right to the No 1 pick. Would Lindros have balked about going there too? Good chance since San Jose would have been in worse shape than the Nordiques.

[@ntq0364]

Man if the Sharks had gotten Lindros and did the same trade Quebec and Philly did…but then again, the 93-94 upset wouldn’t be as magical.

[@MrVisde]

Hell, imagine if they drafted Niedermeyer instead of Falloon.

[@JruGordon]

The California Golden Seals moved to Cleveland in 1976

[@hsiren]

Like the video. My favourite subjects.Agree with lot of it. I Know it very much seem that Sharks decided to go with bunch of nobodies from North Stars . And in hindsight that was the result. But as you point out the key was Ferreira and Co. And they believed in those players that they had once scouted and signed. Even The Hockey news ranked North Stars prospect pool in early 1990 like this. 1. Link Gaetz 2. Rob Zettler 3. Neil Wilkinson 4. Jay More 5. Peter Lappin 6. Don Barber 7. Jarmo Myllys 8. Pat MacLeod 9. Dean Kolstad 10. Dan Keczmer All of those ended up to Sharks So they believed in the core that they had once scouted. As sidenote players like Wade Flaherty and Jeff Odgers both came from those old North Stars contacts to Sharks. Neither of them had huge impact though.

[@ericfett9218]

Flaherty was in goal for games 6 and 7 in the first round of the 1995 playoffs, the Sharks won both games and the series before getting steamrolled by the Wings in round two.

[@hsiren]

@@ericfett9218 Yes I remember that. Flaherty had his moments with Sharks. I guess you can say the same about Odgers. Mainly that was to point out Sharks did grab other players from North Stars organization too. Basically you can say their minor league team was guys with North Stars backround. Mike Colman, Gary Emmons, Duane Joyce and so on. All of them had been with Minnesota organization. But at best those players got cup of tee with Sharks.

[@untexan]

John Ziegler's NHL was a non stop gong show. Bettman takes a bunch of crap but it's still a lot better than this.

[@sttrogdor93]

Pickles the drummer explains the expansion draft

[@sloter1521]

I’m new to hockey, your videos are great! Go Avs!

[@jeremybell5963]

Cmon Rob ramage, Dave babych and Craig cox were all good nhlers

[@TonysMusic1974]

I don't think this story is all that weird

[@thetouchback]

Because if there is one thing constantly happening in expansion drafts, it is teams that have existed for 20+ years taking part and players that had been retired for more than a decade being exposed.

[@saulteanuts-vg8iu]

I live in the medium sized Canadian city of Kitchener, Ontario. and I drive for a living. I haven't see a Canadian in three days. I should learn a few third world languages.

[@Lawomenshoops]

Come on man do better research! In the 93-94 season every team played two neutral site games. Obviously the sharks games were in Sacramento.! I am pretty sure there were also games in Las Vegas, Denver, and Seattle. Obviously by other teams. If you go to hockey reference instead of the @ symbol or blank, those games are listed as vs.

[@thetouchback]

I did come across a full list of neutral site cities in 1992-93 and 1993-94 and many make Sacramento seem downright normal: Sacramento Halifax Phoenix Hamilton Saskatoon Minneapolis Cleveland Indianapolis Milwaukee Oklahoma City Dallas Atlanta Peoria Cincinnati Providence

[@invaderjaymz]

Whoa Neil Wilkinson... of any value??!!

[@JoshQuill]

So pretty much the NHL has been screwing the Sharks since day one. Beating the Red Wings in 7 was just the cherry on top. The League is pretty much not over it and in future playoffs the Sharks continued to upset the Red Wings. Probably why the League keeps screwing them.

[@kevinkthedj]

the sharks?1

[@MrVisde]

I heard the league wanted the Sharks to start in 92-93, but the Gunds wanted to quickly get into the league in 91-92. They agreed to surrender the #1 pick that year (Eric Lindros) in order to do that.

[@saulteanuts-vg8iu]

Save Canadian hockey! Fire Gary Bettman!

[@TonysMusic1974]

Did he say "NHL hockey lesgue?" Doesn't the "HL" mean "hockey league?"

[@mayhemjr.803]

So in essence you blame the Gunds not the NHL for screwing up the Sharks not drafting Eric Lindros?. I kind of blame the NHL for that because they kind of put a gun to the Gunds head in a kind of " take it or leave it' deal. Personally I don't think the league ever has been very high on the Bay Area supporting hockey. I don't want to believe it myself because I love the game. On the other hand geez, when have the Sharks ever had help from the league? It seems time and time again the league has SCREWED the Sharks. Just look at last season. the Blackhawks TANKED thier season down the stretch in order to draft Conner Bedard. They should've been punished for it and WE should've gotten Bedard. Look how the league bent over backward and made sure to stockpile the Vegas Golden Knights with enough talent to get them to a Stanley Cup appearance in thier first season in the league. That was unprecedented. The league never helped the Sharks like that in thier inaugural season back in 1991. I thought then and still think now it's BS!. Its been total favoritism for Vegas. Just this past week the league allowed Vegas to welcome back an injured player Mark Stone back just in time for the playoffs, and the move doesn't affect thier salary cap. Why? Probably star power I'm thinking. Who knows? It's just that it pisses me off that one city maybe has it over another because of its glitz and glamor. One gets screwed and the other gets to hoist the Stanley Cup over its head in less than 7 years of existence. Bitter? You’re damn right I am.

[@hsiren]

I mentioned it in another comment but this is what Sharks did. They believed in what they had. There was this thing called "Bay area team parthership" thing. They started to sign players like Jeff Odgers and Wade Flaherty in the summer/fall 1990. They truely believed that their future would be with the North Stars prospects. If you want to blame someone it would be Gunds and the North Stars group that they hired (Ferreira and Co,) That was not NHL´s fault.

[@mayhemjr.803]

@hsiren the league has it in for the Sharks. Watch the draft lottery. Worst record in the league my ass. We're going to get screwed out of drafting Mak Celebrini...BOOK IT. Gary Bettman will fix it for Chicago.

[@mayhemjr.803]

@hsiren I still believe foe some odd reason, the league and specifically Commissioner Gary Bettman has it out for the Sharks

[@NightVirusX]

so basically the Sharks were doomed to be a poverty franchise from the start

[@andrewheitmeyer9945]

Eh they had a good 20 year playoff run. Grier really had to tear the team down from the nubs to start over.

[@righttackle70]

Poverty franchise? Did you just start watching hockey?

[@NightVirusX]

@@righttackle70 have you? the Sharks are a factory of sadness that can't win for shit minus a few lucky seasons

[@righttackle70]

@@NightVirusX 6 division championships, 1 presidents trophy, 1 western conference championship, 10 straight playoff appearances from 02-12, made the playoffs in 21/32 seasons. Made it past the first round in 14/21 playoff appearances. 5 times making it to the conference finals. But yeah totally a poverty franchise clown

[@MicheleCobre]

San Francisco needs the seals back

[@MicheleCobre]

Arizona is coming back sooner ATL Québec City Houston are next