Fintastic Voyage

It may seem weird to people, but I had the day off today and I spent it in a local library. While some will yell "Nerd!" about my location this morning, I did spend a couple of hours before lunch at the library doing something I had never done before: converting a VHS tape into a digital format. I knew this could be done, but I had never actually looked into doing it until this past week when the VHS tape, entitled Fintastic Voyage: 1991-92 Inaugural Season of the San Jose Sharks, sat on my desk staring at me. I figured it was time to learn something new while converting this video to a format that can be embedded here, so it was off to the library to try out this technology!

Before we even get into this, a number of you might just point to YouTube where this video has been posted. You're not wrong, but I actually went to learn how to do this. Your local library offers all sorts of services for free as long as you have a library card, and this is one of those cool things I wanted to know how to do. Now that I know what's required, I feel smarter for both investigating and knowing how to do this. Libraries are good places to learn new skills!

Let's get into this, though. Here's the 75-minute video.
Pretty incredible, right? I mean, congratulations for hanging in there to watch an hour and fifteen minutes on the San Jose Sharks' first season of play, but there are some moments that need to be highlighted if you're just looking for the good stuff.

• This version of the video cuts out the entire 30-second clip of Pat Falloon reading the FBI warning about copyrighted material. Honestly, it might be one of the funniest things on the video as Falloon is clearly reading cue cards, and he's very out of his element entirely. I may go back and clip that just to post it online for a few laughs.
• At the 3:15 mark, the Sharks show some behind-the-scenes footage of the "Dispersal & Expansion Draft" that took place on May 30, 1991. Defenceman Neil Wilkinson was the first player chosen from the Minnesota North Stars in the dispersal draft. On the whiteboard, though, you can see the players the team had identified in the expansion draft as players they wanted, and New York Islanders goaltender Jeff Hackett became the first player selected by the Sharks in the expansion draft.
• At 5:49, we move to June 22, 1991 where the San Jose Sharks prepared for their first NHL Entry Draft in Buffalo, New York. Selected second-overall from the WHL's Spokane Chiefs, Pat Falloon is selected.
• At 8:56, the announcement of George Kingston as the team's first head coach is made.
• At 10:30, the video notes that Perry Anderson is the first player on the ice for the first official Sharks practice in team history. Anderson had played with the AHL's Utica Devils for most of the previous two seasons before signing in San Jose.
• At 11:12, the Sharks jumped into the NHL trade waters with their first big move, acquiring veteran defenceman Doug Wilson in exchange for Kerry Toporowski and second-round draft pick in the 1992 draft.
• September 13, 1991 is the next major date shown at 12:52, and San Jose winger JF Quintin officially puts his name into the franchise record book as he scored the first goal in Sharks history. Granted, it was just an exhibition goal, but Quintin was the first Shark to dent twine when he beat Vancouver's Kirk McLean.
• At 14:40, the teal phenomenon is discussed as San Jose's look for the 1991-92 NHL season is a hit with fans.
• At 15:18, Matt Levine, Executive VP of Marketing and Broadcast, discusses how the design of the colours, the logo, the jerseys, and the name was done as a package. He specifically states that the team name needed to be one syllable before discussing the Sharks name. There are a pile of logo designs that are shown in this section, and they may look somewhat familiar based on what we've seen from the Sharks and their affiliates over the years!
• The original artwork shown at 16:04 looks remarkably like what the team introduced in 2016. There's a logo shown whose shark face looks very similar to what the Cleveland Barons wore as the Sharks' affiliate.
• Terry Smith, the designer of the Sharks logo, is interviewed at 16:26 about logo design. This is a very good reminder of what good logos require in terms of their designs and sizes.
• October 4, 1991 is the Sharks' inaugural game, and they'd be on the road in Vancouver for that big night. At 20:55, the Sharks head out of their dressing room while the voiceover tells us that Neil Wilkinson's #5 jersey had gone missing, forcing him to wear #45 in the Sharks' first game! How's that for a jersey cameo!
• At 22:13, Jeff Hackett makes the first-ever save for the Sharks as he covers Greg Adams' chip towards the net with his glove.
• At 22:31, Geoff Courtnall records the first goal-against for the Sharks as he scores on a breakaway, going stick-side on Hackett.
• At 22:46, former Canucks pugilist Craig Coxe puts his name in the history books as he scores San Jose's first-ever regular season goal by beating Kirk McLean with assists going to Neil Wilkinson and Mark Pavelich. It should be noted that this was one of two games that Pavelich played in that 1991-92 season, and it would be his only point with the Sharks that season.
• At 23:13, the voiceover notes that defenceman Pat MacLeod scored the second goal for the Sharks - his first NHL goal in just his second NHL game - before scoring the third San Jose goal as well. MacLeod had five goals in 37 games with the Sharks in 1991-92!
• At 23:52, we see the Canucks score with 19 seconds remaining as the Sharks fall 4-3 in their very first NHL regular season game. Trevor Linden scores on the power-play to push the Canucks past the Sharks. Hackett makes 48 saves in the game.
• At 26:08, the San Jose Sharks, inside the aging Cow Palace, kicked off their home schedule on October 5 against the Vancouver Canucks. Check out the pregame laser show on the ice. Remember, this is 1991!
• At 29:06, you can see the glitter ball that hung inside the arena. The Cow Palace might be the only NHL arena to ever have a glitter ball. It's the only one I can recall!
• At 30:45, Wayne Presley scores the first goal at home for the Sharks when he beat Vancouver's Kirk McLean.
• At 34:02, Pat Falloon scores his first NHL goal, beating Calgary's Rick Wamsley on October 8, 1991.
• at 35:14, Kelly Kisio scored on a Brian Mullen rebound with three minutes to play, and the San Jose Sharks would record their first win in history, beating the Calgary Flames on October 8, 1991 by a 4-3 score! Brian Hayward earned the win on the night!
• The Sharks endured a 13-game losing streak between wins, but they put together their first win streak by beating the Edmonton Oilers 5-1 on November 8 before welcoming the Islanders to the Cow Palace on November 9. If we jump to 38:32, Jeff Odgers scores his first NHL goal against Steve Weeks before Bob McGill's second of the season with 40 seconds to play gave the Sharks the 4-3 victory over the Islanders. Arturs Irbe earned the win against the Islanders.
• At 41:54, the Red Wings visited the Sharks, and this would be the first bout between Link Gaetz and Bob Probert in their careers.
• At 43:03, "The Chomp" is discussed. I won't say more.
• At 44:56, the Sharks record their first road point, tying the Edmonton Oilers 3-3 at Northlands Coliseum. Jayson More and Pat Falloon with a pair were the goal scorers.
• 46:17 saw the Sharks head to Calgary on Novemebr 30, 1991 where Steve Bozek and David Bruce paced the Sharks to a 2-1 win over the Flames for their first road win! Jeff Hackett recorded the first win on the road!
• The Sharks welcomed the LA Kings in the third meeting between the two California NHL teams on December 3, 1991 at 48:27. Brian Mullen's overtime winner would give the Sharks their first win in the Battle of California as he scored the 3-2 goal in extra time.
• Shout-out to Dale Craigwell as he scored his first NHL goal on the power-play on January 3, 1992 against Ron Hextall of the Philadelphia Flyers, shown at 52:41. Craigwell played 32 games in his rookie season, scoring five goals and 11 assists.
• The Sharks won their second road game of the season on January 12, 1992 when they beat the Winnipeg Jets in Winnipeg, shown at 53:33. Foxwarren, Manitoba's Pat Falloon scored the game-winning goal.
• Listen to Doug Wilson talk about Pat Falloon at 56:28. Falloon, who led the team with 25 goals and 59 points in their inaugural campaign, never reached those point totals again in his career. Doug Wilson, meanwhile, went on to be the GM of the Sharks.
• At 1:02:59, the Sharks introduce you to their mascot.
• 1:04:07 saw San Jose thump the Quebec Nordiques on February 26, 1992 as San Jose scored a team-record seven goals in a game.
• At 1:08:50, we see the Sharks defeat the Hartford Whalers on March 21, 1992 for the 17th-and-final win of the season. Dale Craigwell scored the game-winner in a 5-4 win over the Whalers.

From first players selected in three types of drafts to logo designs to a jersey cameo to historic moments, Fintastic Voyage had a number of interesting sections of the San Jose Sharks' first season. For the record, the Sharks finished the season 17-58-5 in 1991-92, 13 points back of the Quebec Nordiques.

I only mentioned him once, but Link Gaetz amassed 326 penalty minutes that season - fifth-highest in 1991-92. To give you an idea of how much the league has changed since San Jose's first season, Nashville's Mark Borowiecki led the league in penalty minutes in 2021-22 with 151. That would have had him tied with Rick Tocchet in 1991-92 for 71st-overall. For the record, Chicago's Mike Peluso led the league in 1991-92 with 408 PIMs.

Enjoy the video yearbook of the 1991-92 San Jose Sharks entitled Fintastic Voyage above. It's an incredible look back at one expansion team's first season in the NHL!

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!