In the 1994–95 San Jose Sharks season, the Sharks once again qualified for the playoffs and won their first-round series against the Calgary Flames before losing in the second round to the Detroit Red Wings.
Offseason The Sharks chose Jeff Friesen with their first-round pick, eleventh overall. Friesen would play for the Sharks for nearly seven seasons.
Regular season The Sharks started their lockout-shortened season by winning 5 of their first 6 games. In their first win of the season on January 21, 1995, 18-year-old rookie Jeff Friesen scored his very first National Hockey League goal, a short-handed game-winner against the Toronto Maple Leafs as the Sharks won 3-2. Their streak soon came to an end, and the team lost 5 straight from February 18 to 26. Although he had 4 shutouts, goaltender Arturs Irbe struggled, going 14-19-3 with a goals against average (GAA) of 3.26 and a save percentage (SV%) of .895. Friesen went on to lead the Sharks in goals with 15. During the season, the team acquired forwards Craig Janney and Kevin Miller in a trade with the St. Louis Blues for forward Todd Elik and defenseman Jeff Norton. Captain Bob Errey is traded to the Detroit Red Wings, and forward Jeff Odgers is named team captain.
The Sharks finished last in shots on goal (1,152) during the regular season.
Season standings
Playoffs In the first round of playoffs, the Sharks once again upset the team with the better record, as they edged the Calgary Flames 4 games to 3. The Sharks allowed 5 shorthanded goals and gave up 35 total goals in the series. In the second round, the Sharks faced the Detroit Red Wings, whom they had defeated in 7 games in the first round of the 1994 Stanley Cup Playoffs. This time around, it was no contest, as Detroit blanked San Jose 6–0 in game 1, and won games 2, 3 and 4 by identical scores of 6–2. Detroit forward Vyacheslav Kozlov scored 4 goals and had 5 assists for 9 points in the 4 games. The Red Wings' special teams dominated the Sharks, scoring 7 power-play goals and adding two shorthanded goals. The Sharks were outscored 24–6 in the series, and were outshot 147–61.
Schedule and results
Regular season
|1||January 20, 1995||2–5 || align="left"| St. Louis Blues (1994–95) ||0–1–0 ||
|2||January 21, 1995||3–2 || align="left"| Toronto Maple Leafs (1994–95) ||1–1–0 ||
|3||January 25, 1995||4–0 || align="left"| Winnipeg Jets (1994–95) ||2–1–0 ||
|4||January 28, 1995||3–2 || align="left"| Dallas Stars (1994–95) ||3–1–0 ||
|5||January 30, 1995||2–1 || align="left"| Chicago Blackhawks (1994–95) ||4–1–0 ||
|6||February 2, 1995||2–1 || align="left"| @ Dallas Stars (1994–95) ||5–1–0 ||
|7||February 4, 1995||3–3 OT|| align="left"| @ Winnipeg Jets (1994–95) ||5–1–1 ||
|8||February 6, 1995||3–7 || align="left"| @ Toronto Maple Leafs (1994–95) ||5–2–1 ||
|9||February 7, 1995||0–6 || align="left"| @ Detroit Red Wings (1994–95) ||5–3–1 ||
|10||February 10, 1995||1–5 || align="left"| @ Edmonton Oilers (1994–95) ||5–4–1 ||
|11||February 11, 1995||1–1 OT|| align="left"| @ Vancouver Canucks (1994–95) ||5–4–2 ||
|12||February 15, 1995||3–1 || align="left"| Vancouver Canucks (1994–95) ||6–4–2 ||
|13||February 17, 1995||2–0 || align="left"| @ Los Angeles Kings (1994–95) ||7–4–2 ||
|14||February 18, 1995||3–6 || align="left"| Mighty Ducks of Anaheim (1994–95) ||7–5–2 ||
|15||February 20, 1995||2–3 || align="left"| @ Chicago Blackhawks (1994–95) ||7–6–2 ||
|16||February 22, 1995||3–4 || align="left"| @ St. Louis Blues (1994–95) ||7–7–2 ||
|17||February 24, 1995||0–3 || align="left"| Calgary Flames (1994–95) ||7–8–2 ||
|18||February 26, 1995||1–5 || align="left"| Vancouver Canucks (1994–95) ||7–9–2 ||
|19||February 28, 1995||4–3 || align="left"| @ Vancouver Canucks (1994–95) ||8–9–2 ||
|20||March 2, 1995||4–3 || align="left"| @ Toronto Maple Leafs (1994–95) ||9–9–2 ||
|21||March 4, 1995||2–4 || align="left"| @ Winnipeg Jets (1994–95) ||9–10–2 ||
|22||March 8, 1995||2–5 || align="left"| Edmonton Oilers (1994–95) ||9–11–2 ||
|23||March 15, 1995||1–2 || align="left"| Toronto Maple Leafs (1994–95) ||9–12–2 ||
|24||March 17, 1995||3–5 || align="left"| @ Edmonton Oilers (1994–95) ||9–13–2 ||
|25||March 19, 1995||5–3 || align="left"| @ Calgary Flames (1994–95) ||10–13–2 ||
|26||March 21, 1995||3–7 || align="left"| Chicago Blackhawks (1994–95) ||10–14–2 ||
|27||March 23, 1995||3–6 || align="left"| Mighty Ducks of Anaheim (1994–95) ||10–15–2 ||
|28||March 25, 1995||3–1 || align="left"| @ Los Angeles Kings (1994–95) ||11–15–2 ||
|29||March 26, 1995||3–7 || align="left"| Los Angeles Kings (1994–95) ||11–16–2 ||
|30||March 28, 1995||6–5 OT|| align="left"| Winnipeg Jets (1994–95) ||12–16–2 ||
|31||March 31, 1995||1–4 || align="left"| @ St. Louis Blues (1994–95) ||12–17–2 ||
|32||April 2, 1995||4–5 || align="left"| @ Mighty Ducks of Anaheim (1994–95) ||12–18–2 ||
|33||April 5, 1995||3–5 || align="left"| Detroit Red Wings (1994–95) ||12–19–2 ||
|34||April 7, 1995||5–0 || align="left"| Edmonton Oilers (1994–95) ||13–19–2 ||
|35||April 9, 1995||5–2 || align="left"| @ Edmonton Oilers (1994–95) ||14–19–2 ||
|36||April 10, 1995||3–8 || align="left"| @ Calgary Flames (1994–95) ||14–20–2 ||
|37||April 12, 1995||3–2 || align="left"| @ Chicago Blackhawks (1994–95) ||15–20–2 ||
|38||April 13, 1995||0–3 || align="left"| @ Detroit Red Wings (1994–95) ||15–21–2 ||
|39||April 16, 1995||2–0 || align="left"| Los Angeles Kings (1994–95) ||16–21–2 ||
|40||April 17, 1995||0–3 || align="left"| @ Mighty Ducks of Anaheim (1994–95) ||16–22–2 ||
|41||April 19, 1995||5–5 OT|| align="left"| @ Dallas Stars (1994–95) ||16–22–3 ||
|42||April 23, 1995||1–5 || align="left"| Detroit Red Wings (1994–95) ||16–23–3 ||
|43||April 25, 1995||2–3 || align="left"| Calgary Flames (1994–95) ||16–24–3 ||
|44||April 26, 1995||5–2 || align="left"| @ Mighty Ducks of Anaheim (1994–95) ||17–24–3 ||
|45||April 28, 1995||4–0 || align="left"| Los Angeles Kings (1994–95) ||18–24–3 ||
|46||April 30, 1995||3–4 || align="left"| St. Louis Blues (1994–95) ||18–25–3 ||
|47||May 1, 1995||3–1 || align="left"| Dallas Stars (1994–95) ||19–25–3 ||
|48||May 3, 1995||3–3 OT|| align="left"| Vancouver Canucks (1994–95) ||19–25–4 ||
Legend:
Playoffs
| 1 || May 7, 1995 || 5–4 || align="left"| @ Calgary Flames || Sharks lead 1–0 ||
| 2 || May 9, 1995 || 5–4 OT|| align="left"| @ Calgary Flames || Sharks lead 2–0 ||
| 3 || May 11, 1995 || 2–9 || align="left"| Calgary Flames || Sharks lead 2–1 ||
| 4 || May 13, 1995 || 4–6 || align="left"| Calgary Flames || Series tied 2–2 ||
| 5 || May 15, 1995 || 0–5 || align="left"| @ Calgary Flames || Flames lead 3–2 ||
| 6 || May 17, 1995 || 5–3 || align="left"| Calgary Flames || Series tied 3–3 ||
| 7 || May 19, 1995 || 5–4 2OT|| align="left"| @ Calgary Flames || Sharks win 4–3 ||
| 1 || May 21, 1995 || 0–6 || align="left"| @ Detroit Red Wings || Red Wings lead 1–0 ||
| 2 || May 23, 1995 || 2–6 || align="left"| @ Detroit Red Wings || Red Wings lead 2–0 ||
| 3 || May 25, 1995 || 2–6 || align="left"| Detroit Red Wings || Red Wings lead 3–0 ||
| 4 || May 27, 1995 || 2–6 || align="left"| Detroit Red Wings || Red Wings win 4–0 ||
Legend:
Player statistics
Scoring Position abbreviations: C = Center; D = Defense; G = Goaltender; LW = Left wing; RW = Right wing = Joined team via a transaction (e.g., trade, waivers, signing) during the season. Stats reflect time with the Sharks only. = Left team via a transaction (e.g., trade, waivers, release) during the season. Stats reflect time with the Sharks only. Player Regular season Playoffs 22 LW 46 11 23 34 −2 11 11 5 4 9 −13 0 39 LW 48 15 10 25 −8 14 11 1 5 6 −9 4 14 LW 39 13 12 25 −7 14 11 4 4 8 −3 2 6 D 48 9 16 25 −6 30 11 3 2 5 −13 6 24 RW 43 10 14 24 −4 40 11 3 3 6 −3 4 7 C 33 4 20 24 −3 14 11 1 8 9 −4 2 15 C 27 5 15 20 −4 10 11 3 4 7 −13 4 17 RW 46 12 7 19 −4 25 11 3 1 4 −6 0 27 C 22 7 10 17 3 18 41 D 47 5 11 16 −14 31 10 0 5 5 −14 8 18 C 26 3 11 14 1 10 11 1 1 2 −7 8 8 C 21 6 7 13 0 13 6 0 0 0 −3 2 13 C 43 7 4 11 −7 22 11 2 2 4 −7 12 8 D 20 1 9 10 1 39 11 LW 33 2 7 9 −6 16 40 D 42 2 7 9 −1 29 11 5 2 7 −15 4 23 LW 26 3 5 8 −1 94 6 0 0 0 0 9 36 RW 48 4 3 7 −8 117 11 1 1 2 0 23 2 D 18 2 5 7 −7 33 11 0 2 2 −1 14 4 D 45 0 6 6 7 71 11 0 4 4 0 6 3 D 13 0 5 5 −9 14 12 LW 13 2 2 4 4 27 38 D 16 0 4 4 6 10 9 C 6 2 0 2 −2 0 47 C 16 2 0 2 −5 2 10 LW 13 1 1 2 −3 2 16 C 9 1 1 2 0 29 44 D 29 0 2 2 0 61 9 0 0 0 2 5 26 D 14 0 2 2 −7 16 6 0 0 0 −3 4 31 G 18 0 1 1 0 7 0 0 0 0 42 RW 14 0 0 0 −6 6 7 0 1 1 −3 6 32 G 38 0 0 0 4 6 0 0 0 10
Goaltending Player Regular season Playoffs 32 Arturs Irbe 38 14 19 3 1056 111 3.26 .895 4 2043 6 2 4 184 27 5.13 .853 0 316 31 Wade Flaherty 18 5 6 1 455 44 3.10 .903 1 852 7 2 3 221 31 4.93 .860 0 377
Awards and records
Awards TypeAward/honorRecipientRef League(annual) Lester Patrick Trophy Brian Mullen NHL All-Rookie Team Jeff Friesen (Forward) Team Sharks Player of the Year Ulf Dahlen2014–15 San Jose Sharks Media Guide, p.255–58 Sharks Rookie of the Year Jeff Friesen
Milestones MilestonePlayerDateRef First game Jeff Friesen January 20, 1995 Shean Donovan February 6, 1995 Viktor Kozlov February 18, 1995 1,000th game played Gaetan Duchesne February 26, 1995
Transactions
Trade Deadline Transactions Traded Acquired Acquired From Gaetan Duchesne 1995 6th round draft pick (FLA) Florida Panthers
Draft picks San Jose's draft picks at the 1994 NHL entry draft held at the Hartford Civic Center in Hartford, Connecticut.
Round # Player Position Nationality College/Junior/Club team 1 11 Jeff Friesen Left wing Regina Pats (WHL) 2 37 Angel Nikolov Defense Litvinov CHP HC (Czech) 3 66 Alexei Yegorov Right wing St. Petersburg SKA (Russia) 4 89 Vaclav Varada Left wing Vitkovice HC (Czech) 5 115 Brian Swanson Center Omaha Lancers (USHL) 6 141 Alexander Korolyuk Right wing Krylja Sovetov (Russia) 7 167 Sergei Gorbachev Forward HC Dynamo Moscow (Russia) 8 193 Eric Landry Right wing Guelph Storm (OHL) 9 219 Evgeni Nabokov Goalie Kamenogorsk (Russia) 10 240 Tomas Pisa Left wing Pardubice HC (Czech) 10 245 Aniket Dhadphale Left wing Notre Dame (NCAA) 11 271 David Beauregard Left wing St. Hyacinthe Lasers (QMJHL)
Notes
References