The Best Number 16, 15, and 14 in San Jose Sharks History
So, due to school work I missed my article for yesterday, and then I found out today that I’ve actually been a day behind for a good bit of time now. Awkward. So instead of 15 days until hockey season, there’s actually 14 days until the beginning of hockey season. Even better! There’s only two weeks until regular season hockey! So today, we’re going to look at the best number 16, 15, and 14 in San Jose Sharks history.
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We start with number 16. Devin Setoguchi was drafted 8th overall by the San Jose Sharks in the 2005 NHL Entry Draft and made a very strong impact his second year in the NHL. He put up 65 points in 81 games and was extremely impressive. He was slowly turning into the player Sharks fans were hoping he would. However, he trailed off. The next season he only accumulated 36 points in 70 games, and then he only had 41 points in 72 games. The next offseason he was traded to the Minnesota Wild for Brent Burns. That trade has worked very well, but that’s really only with Burns at forward and now he’s moving back to defenseman. But that’s for another day. Despite it all, Devin Setoguchi is still the best number 16 to wear a San Jose Sharks sweater.
For number 15, we look at Dany Heatley. Dany Heatley was acquired by the Sharks in a trade with Ottawa which saw them send Milan Michalek and Jonathan Cheechoo north of the border. Despite this trade making me angry due to how well Cheechoo played with Thornton (although that seems to be any player in the NHL) and due to Milan Michalek being my favorite Sharks player, Dany Heatley did make the impact that Sharks fans wanted. His first season with San Jose he put up 82 points in 82 games. Any time you get a point per game player on your team, you should be very pleased with that. The next season, Heatley didn’t put up the same numbers, but in no way had a bad year. He had 64 points in 80 games, which is still a very good. However, in that offseason, Dany Heatley would go the route of Devin Setoguchi and would be traded to the Minnesota Wild for Martin Havlat. He only played with the Sharks for two years, but he still put up impressive numbers which makes him the best number 15 in San Jose Sharks history.
Speaking of Jonathan Cheechoo, he is next on our list as the best number 14 in San Jose Sharks history. Number 14 was very difficult. Cheechoo had to go up against Ray Whitney. But Cheechoo was just a little bit better. And he had to go up against Patrick Marleau, but Patrick Marleau *SPOILER ALERT* will be the best number 12 in Sharks history, so it’s unfair to use him twice. Also, people hardly remember him as number 14 anyway. So that brings us to Jonathan Cheechoo.
Jonathan Cheechoo had a strange career. He started his Sharks career with 16 points in 66 games. The next season had 47 points in 81 games. Improving over his first season, he showed signs of being a very good depth forward. The following season, Cheechoo netted 56 goals and had a total of 93 points. Wow! Where did that spike of point production come from? Well, it came from Joe Thornton being traded to San Jose that season. Joe Thornton never had a season like he did in 2005-2006, but that doesn’t mean he hasn’t been an absolute stud. However, because he hasn’t had a season like he did in 2005-2006, neither did Jonathan Cheechoo. The next season he had 69 points in 73 games, which is still very good. But he then trailed off. As I mentioned before, he was then traded for Dany Heatley. But he still put up some solid numbers for a three year span, including scoring 56 goals, and that makes him enough to be the best number 14 in San Jose Sharks history.
There are two weeks until hockey season. This offseason seems to be taking forever. But two wednesdays from now, we will be preparing for puck drop. There’s no better feeling in the world.