Coaches of the San Jose Sharks (Part 1)

The Sharks have seemed to make it into the playoffs in the recent years with relative ease (except for this season, don’t remind me). Most of it is because of the amazing coaching that they have been getting. Do you really know the history of the Sharks and their coaches? I didn’t. Well, this post is dedicated to all the coaches in the Sharks’ 21 year history as a team. I hope you all enjoy.

George Kingston (1991-1993)

During the first couple of years, George Kingston was the man in charge of the squad. Kingston was the main man that aided in the acquisition of Doug Wilson, the first captain of your Sharks. The team, however, did miserably during his term as head coach. But what can you really expect from a brand new hockey team that barely had any notable stars besides Wilson. Kingston had a very unsuccessful 2 years and was released the next season. Why do we care about him then? Well, if it was not for Kingston, we wouldn’t have Doug Wilson, who we all know plays an extremely important role in the development of the Sharks. Love Wilson, or hate him, you have to respect the guy for creating playoff caliber teams each year; blah blah blah, they never made it to the cup, but they are still a team we all love every year regardless.

Kevin Constantine (1993-1996, fired)

Constantine had to come in to try to turn the Sharks around during the early day of the franchise. And although he maintained a negative record with the Sharks as a head coach, he did manage to squeeze the Sharks into two consecutive playoffs where they reached the second round. This definitely aided the franchise’s eventual success. Also, under Constantine’s watch, the Sharks were able to pull around the biggest turn around in NHL history. An astonishing 58 point difference between two seasons. They were also able to pull in players like Sandis Ozolinsh, Arturs Irbe, Igor Larionov, Sergei Markov, and Ray “The Wizard” Whitney. Who eventually became names that stuck with the Sharks’ Nation. On their third season and one of the worse stretches in Sharks’ history, Constantine was fired and replaced by Jim Wiley.

* Shortened Lockout Season

Jim Wiley (1995-1996)

Wiley came in to become the Sharks’ interim head coach. His resume was never amazing, but his hockey IQ was still high enough to give him success. He appeared in 62 games, scored 4 goals, 10 assists for a total of 14 points in his NHL career. His success as a coach resembles those of his playing career. He was only the coach for the remainder of that year before he was replaced by Al Sims.

Al Sims (1996-1997)

What’s there to say about Al Sims that hasn’t been said before. He is the single most important coach in the history of the Sharks. You may ask why… The answer is this. It was because of SIms’ failure as a NHL coach that allowed the Sharks to draft their franchise player by the name of Patrick Marleau. Besides that, Sims was just another casualty of a rebuilding Sharks’ team.

If you want more information about the San Jose Sharks and their coaches, please check back in next Thursday for part 2 of the Coaches of the San Jose Sharks. The best of the best in the coaching world is still to come! Darryl Sutter, Ron Wilson, and the man in charge now, Todd McLellan. Thanks for reading.

If you missed my interview with Randy Hahn earlier this week, please check it out here:
An Interview with Randy Hahn

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Blades of Teal: The Final Word On San Jose Sharks Hockey