# 1995–96 San Jose Sharks season

The 1995–96 San Jose Sharks season was the Sharks' fifth season of operation in the National Hockey League. The Sharks failed to make the playoffs for the first time since 1993, finishing with the worst record in the NHL that season.

## Regular season

On December 2, head coach Kevin Constantine was fired after a 3–18–4 start and replaced by assistant coach Jim Wiley.
On March 6, director of player personnel and effectively co-general manager Chuck Grillo was fired, leaving Dean Lombardi as the sole general manager of the team.
The Sharks allowed the most goals (357), the most even-strength goals (244), the most power-play goals (93), had the lowest penalty-kill percentage (76.57%), the fewest shutouts for (0) and the fewest shots on goal (2,143). On January 13, 1996, Ray Sheppard scored a hat trick as the Sharks defeated the Pittsburgh Penguins 10–8 in Pittsburgh. It was the highest scoring game of the NHL regular season.

### Final standings

Pacific Division :
| No. | | GP | W | L | T | GF | GA | Pts |
| 1 | Colorado Avalanche | 82 | 47 | 25 | 10 | 326 | 240 | 104 |
| 2 | Calgary Flames | 82 | 34 | 37 | 11 | 241 | 240 | 79 |
| 3 | Vancouver Canucks | 82 | 32 | 35 | 15 | 278 | 278 | 79 |
| 4 | Mighty Ducks of Anaheim | 82 | 35 | 39 | 8 | 234 | 247 | 78 |
| 5 | Edmonton Oilers | 82 | 30 | 44 | 8 | 240 | 304 | 68 |
| 6 | Los Angeles Kings | 82 | 24 | 40 | 18 | 256 | 302 | 66 |
| 7 | San Jose Sharks | 82 | 20 | 55 | 7 | 252 | 357 | 47 |
Note: GP = Games played; W = Wins; L = Losses; T = Ties; GF = Goals for; GA = Goals against; Pts = Points Bolded teams qualified for the playoffs.
Western Conference :
| R | | Div | GP | W | L | T | GF | GA | Pts |
| 1 | p – Detroit Red Wings | CEN | 82 | 62 | 13 | 7 | 325 | 181 | 131 |
| 2 | Colorado Avalanche | PAC | 82 | 47 | 25 | 10 | 326 | 240 | 104 |
| 3 | Chicago Blackhawks | CEN | 82 | 40 | 28 | 14 | 273 | 220 | 94 |
| 4 | Toronto Maple Leafs | CEN | 82 | 34 | 36 | 12 | 247 | 252 | 80 |
| 5 | St. Louis Blues | CEN | 82 | 32 | 34 | 16 | 219 | 248 | 80 |
| 6 | Calgary Flames | PAC | 82 | 34 | 37 | 11 | 241 | 240 | 79 |
| 7 | Vancouver Canucks | PAC | 82 | 32 | 35 | 15 | 278 | 278 | 79 |
| 8 | Winnipeg Jets | CEN | 82 | 36 | 40 | 6 | 275 | 291 | 78 |
| 9 | Mighty Ducks of Anaheim | PAC | 82 | 35 | 39 | 8 | 234 | 247 | 78 |
| 10 | Edmonton Oilers | PAC | 82 | 30 | 44 | 8 | 240 | 304 | 68 |
| 11 | Dallas Stars | CEN | 82 | 26 | 42 | 14 | 227 | 280 | 66 |
| 12 | Los Angeles Kings | PAC | 82 | 24 | 40 | 18 | 256 | 302 | 66 |
| 13 | San Jose Sharks | PAC | 82 | 20 | 55 | 7 | 252 | 357 | 47 |
Divisions: CEN – Central, PAC – Pacific
bold – Qualified for playoffs; p – Won Presidents' Trophy

## Schedule and results

1995–96 regular season :
October: 0–7–3 (home: 0–5–1; road: 0–2–2)
GameResultDateScoreOpponentRecordRecap
1LOctober 7, 19953–4Chicago Blackhawks (1995–96)0–1–0Recap
2TOctober 12, 19956–6 OTBoston Bruins (1995–96)0–1–1Recap
3LOctober 14, 19956–7Vancouver Canucks (1995–96)0–2–1Recap
4LOctober 17, 19952–7@ Toronto Maple Leafs (1995–96)0–3–1Recap
5TOctober 19, 19953–3 OT@ Winnipeg Jets (1995–96)0–3–2Recap
6TOctober 22, 19951–1 OT@ Edmonton Oilers (1995–96)0–3–3Recap
7LOctober 25, 19951–6Winnipeg Jets (1995–96)0–4–3Recap
8LOctober 28, 19953–4Dallas Stars (1995–96)0–5–3Recap
9LOctober 30, 19953–4@ Vancouver Canucks (1995–96)0–6–3Recap
10LOctober 31, 19953–5New York Rangers (1995–96)0–7–3Recap :
November: 3–10–1 (home: 2–4–1; road: 1–6–0)
GameResultDateScoreOpponentRecordRecap
11TNovember 2, 19953–3 OTNew Jersey Devils (1995–96)0–7–4Recap
12WNovember 4, 19957–3St. Louis Blues (1995–96)1–7–4Recap
13LNovember 7, 19953–7@ Hartford Whalers (1995–96)1–8–4Recap
14LNovember 8, 19952–7@ Buffalo Sabres (1995–96)1–9–4Recap
15LNovember 10, 19951–9Pittsburgh Penguins (1995–96)1–10–4Recap
16LNovember 11, 19952–5Detroit Red Wings (1995–96)1–11–4Recap
17LNovember 14, 19953–5New York Islanders (1995–96)1–12–4Recap
18LNovember 16, 19951–3@ St. Louis Blues (1995–96)1–13–4Recap
19LNovember 17, 19951–2@ Dallas Stars (1995–96)1–14–4Recap
20WNovember 19, 19953–2@ Chicago Blackhawks (1995–96)2–14–4Recap
21LNovember 21, 19952–3@ Washington Capitals (1995–96)2–15–4Recap
22LNovember 22, 19952–5@ Detroit Red Wings (1995–96)2–16–4Recap
23WNovember 25, 19957–2Vancouver Canucks (1995–96)3–16–4Recap
24LNovember 29, 19953–5Calgary Flames (1995–96)3–17–4Recap :
December: 5–8–0 (home: 4–3–0; road: 1–5–0)
GameResultDateScoreOpponentRecordRecap
25LDecember 1, 19952–7@ Vancouver Canucks (1995–96)3–18–4Recap
26WDecember 2, 19955–3Washington Capitals (1995–96)4–18–4Recap
27LDecember 5, 19952–12@ Colorado Avalanche (1995–96)4–19–4Recap
28WDecember 7, 19955–3Winnipeg Jets (1995–96)5–19–4Recap
29LDecember 9, 19952–4Edmonton Oilers (1995–96)5–20–4Recap
30WDecember 12, 19952–1Ottawa Senators (1995–96)6–20–4Recap
31LDecember 14, 19951–4Toronto Maple Leafs (1995–96)6–21–4Recap
32LDecember 16, 19952–3@ St. Louis Blues (1995–96)6–22–4Recap
33LDecember 17, 19952–4@ Dallas Stars (1995–96)6–23–4Recap
34WDecember 19, 19957–4@ Mighty Ducks of Anaheim (1995–96)7–23–4Recap
35WDecember 22, 19954–3Los Angeles Kings (1995–96)8–23–4Recap
36LDecember 26, 19951–5Colorado Avalanche (1995–96)8–24–4Recap
37LDecember 29, 19952–4@ Mighty Ducks of Anaheim (1995–96)8–25–4Recap :
January: 3–10–0 (home: 1–4–0; road: 2–6–0)
GameResultDateScoreOpponentRecordRecap
38LJanuary 3, 19961–3Philadelphia Flyers (1995–96)8–26–4Recap
39LJanuary 5, 19962–5Los Angeles Kings (1995–96)8–27–4Recap
40LJanuary 6, 19965–7@ Los Angeles Kings (1995–96)8–28–4Recap
41LJanuary 8, 19962–5Florida Panthers (1995–96)8–29–4Recap
42LJanuary 10, 19964–7@ New York Rangers (1995–96)8–30–4Recap
43WJanuary 11, 19962–1@ New Jersey Devils (1995–96)9–30–4Recap
44WJanuary 13, 199610–8@ Pittsburgh Penguins (1995–96)10–30–4Recap
45LJanuary 16, 19961–4@ Florida Panthers (1995–96)10–31–4Recap
46LJanuary 17, 19964–6@ Tampa Bay Lightning (1995–96)10–32–4Recap
47LJanuary 24, 19962–4@ Detroit Red Wings (1995–96)10–33–4Recap
48LJanuary 25, 19961–2@ Chicago Blackhawks (1995–96)10–34–4Recap
49LJanuary 27, 19963–4 OTColorado Avalanche (1995–96)10–35–4Recap
50WJanuary 30, 19968–2Hartford Whalers (1995–96)11–35–4Recap :
February: 3–7–2 (home: 2–1–1; road: 1–6–1)
GameResultDateScoreOpponentRecordRecap
51TFebruary 1, 19966–6 OTLos Angeles Kings (1995–96)11–35–5Recap
52LFebruary 3, 19961–4Chicago Blackhawks (1995–96)11–36–5Recap
53WFebruary 5, 19966–4Toronto Maple Leafs (1995–96)12–36–5Recap
54WFebruary 10, 19966–1@ Los Angeles Kings (1995–96)13–36–5Recap
55LFebruary 12, 19960–3@ Montreal Canadiens (1995–96)13–37–5Recap
56LFebruary 14, 19963–4@ Toronto Maple Leafs (1995–96)13–38–5Recap
57TFebruary 15, 19962–2 OT@ Ottawa Senators (1995–96)13–38–6Recap
58LFebruary 17, 19962–4@ New York Islanders (1995–96)13–39–6Recap
59LFebruary 20, 19963–5@ Calgary Flames (1995–96)13–40–6Recap
60LFebruary 23, 19961–3@ Vancouver Canucks (1995–96)13–41–6Recap
61LFebruary 25, 19963–4@ Mighty Ducks of Anaheim (1995–96)13–42–6Recap
62WFebruary 26, 19967–4Montreal Canadiens (1995–96)14–42–6Recap :
March: 4–9–1 (home: 1–7–0; road: 3–2–1)
GameResultDateScoreOpponentRecordRecap
63LMarch 1, 19963–7Tampa Bay Lightning (1995–96)14–43–6Recap
64LMarch 3, 19961–5Calgary Flames (1995–96)14–44–6Recap
65WMarch 5, 19965–3@ Colorado Avalanche (1995–96)15–44–6Recap
66LMarch 6, 19961–2Dallas Stars (1995–96)15–45–6Recap
67LMarch 8, 19962–4@ Edmonton Oilers (1995–96)15–46–6Recap
68WMarch 10, 19966–4Buffalo Sabres (1995–96)16–46–6Recap
69LMarch 13, 19963–8Edmonton Oilers (1995–96)16–47–6Recap
70LMarch 15, 19962–4St. Louis Blues (1995–96)16–48–6Recap
71LMarch 17, 19962–8@ Philadelphia Flyers (1995–96)16–49–6Recap
72TMarch 18, 19963–3 OT@ Boston Bruins (1995–96)16–49–7Recap
73WMarch 20, 19967–1@ Winnipeg Jets (1995–96)17–49–7Recap
74WMarch 22, 19962–1 OT@ Calgary Flames (1995–96)18–49–7Recap
75LMarch 28, 19963–8Colorado Avalanche (1995–96)18–50–7Recap
76LMarch 31, 19962–4Mighty Ducks of Anaheim (1995–96)18–51–7Recap :
April: 2–4–0 (home: 2–2–0; road: 0–2–0)
GameResultDateScoreOpponentRecordRecap
77WApril 2, 19966–3Detroit Red Wings (1995–96)19–51–7Recap
78WApril 4, 19965–3Edmonton Oilers (1995–96)20–51–7Recap
79LApril 6, 19961–5@ Colorado Avalanche (1995–96)20–52–7Recap
80LApril 7, 19963–5Mighty Ducks of Anaheim (1995–96)20–53–7Recap
81LApril 10, 19962–6@ Los Angeles Kings (1995–96)20–54–7Recap
82LApril 12, 19960–6Calgary Flames (1995–96)20–55–7Recap :
Legend:
  Win (2 points)
  Loss (0 points)
  Tie (1 point) :

## 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.
| No. | Player | Pos | Regular season | Regular season | Regular season | Regular season | Regular season | Regular season |
| No. | Player | Pos | GP | G | A | Pts | +/- | PIM |
| 15 | Craig Janney‡ | C | 71 | 13 | 49 | 62 | −35 | 26 |
| 11 | Owen Nolan† | RW | 72 | 29 | 32 | 61 | −30 | 137 |
| 26 | Ray Sheppard†‡ | RW | 51 | 27 | 19 | 46 | −19 | 10 |
| 19 | Jeff Friesen | LW | 79 | 15 | 31 | 46 | −19 | 42 |
| 8 | Kevin Miller‡ | C | 68 | 22 | 20 | 42 | −8 | 41 |
| 14 | Ray Whitney | LW | 60 | 17 | 24 | 41 | −23 | 16 |
| 33 | Marcus Ragnarsson | D | 71 | 8 | 31 | 39 | −24 | 42 |
| 13 | Jamie Baker | C | 77 | 16 | 17 | 33 | −19 | 79 |
| 22 | Ulf Dahlen | LW | 59 | 16 | 12 | 28 | −21 | 27 |
| 18 | Chris Tancill | C | 45 | 7 | 16 | 23 | −12 | 20 |
| 3 | Doug Bodger† | D | 57 | 4 | 19 | 23 | −18 | 50 |
| 42 | Shean Donovan | RW | 74 | 13 | 8 | 21 | −17 | 39 |
| 38 | Michal Sykora | D | 79 | 4 | 16 | 20 | −14 | 54 |
| 25 | Viktor Kozlov | C | 62 | 6 | 13 | 19 | −15 | 6 |
| 34 | Yves Racine† | D | 32 | 1 | 16 | 17 | −3 | 28 |
| 36 | Jeff Odgers | RW | 78 | 12 | 4 | 16 | −4 | 192 |
| 23 | Andrei Nazarov | LW | 42 | 7 | 7 | 14 | −15 | 62 |
| 37 | Ville Peltonen | LW | 31 | 2 | 11 | 13 | −7 | 14 |
| 43 | Jan Caloun | RW | 11 | 8 | 3 | 11 | 4 | 0 |
| 9 | Darren Turcotte† | C | 9 | 6 | 5 | 11 | 8 | 4 |
| 16 | Dody Wood | C | 32 | 3 | 6 | 9 | 0 | 138 |
| 4 | Jay More | D | 74 | 2 | 7 | 9 | −32 | 147 |
| 44 | Vlastimil Kroupa | D | 27 | 1 | 7 | 8 | −17 | 18 |
| 2 | Jim Kyte | D | 57 | 1 | 7 | 8 | −12 | 146 |
| 40 | Mike Rathje | D | 27 | 0 | 7 | 7 | −16 | 14 |
| 48 | Alexei Yegorov | RW | 9 | 3 | 2 | 5 | −5 | 2 |
| 41 | Tom Pederson | D | 60 | 1 | 4 | 5 | −9 | 40 |
| 30 | Chris Terreri† | G | 46 | 0 | 5 | 5 | | 4 |
| 21 | Dave Brown | RW | 37 | 3 | 1 | 4 | 4 | 46 |
| 6 | Sandis Ozolinsh‡ | D | 7 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 2 | 4 |
| 17 | Pat Falloon‡ | RW | 9 | 3 | 0 | 3 | −1 | 4 |
| 7 | Igor Larionov‡ | C | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | −6 | 0 |
| 28 | Sergei Bautin† | D | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | −1 | 2 |
| 31 | Wade Flaherty | G | 24 | 0 | 0 | 0 | | 0 |
| 32 | Arturs Irbe | G | 22 | 0 | 0 | 0 | | 4 |
| 29 | Geoff Sarjeant | G | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | | 2 |

### Goaltending

* † = Joined team via a transaction (e.g., trade, waivers, signing) during the season. Stats reflect time with the Sharks only.
| No. | Player | Regular season | Regular season | Regular season | Regular season | Regular season | Regular season | Regular season | Regular season | Regular season | Regular season |
| No. | Player | GP | W | L | T | SA | GA | GAA | SV% | SO | TOI |
| 30 | Chris Terreri† | 46 | 13 | 29 | 1 | 1322 | 155 | 3.70 | .883 | 0 | 2516 |
| 32 | Arturs Irbe | 22 | 4 | 12 | 4 | 607 | 85 | 4.59 | .860 | 0 | 1112 |
| 31 | Wade Flaherty | 24 | 3 | 12 | 1 | 689 | 92 | 4.85 | .866 | 0 | 1137 |
| 29 | Geoff Sarjeant | 4 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 87 | 14 | 4.92 | .839 | 0 | 171 |

## Awards and records
### Awards

| Type | Award/honor | Recipient |
| League (annual) | Lester Patrick Trophy | George Gund III |
| League (in-season) | NHL All-Star Game selection | Owen Nolan |
| Team | Sharks Player of the Year | Jamie Baker |
| Team | Sharks Rookie of the Year | Marcus Ragnarsson |

### Milestones

| Milestone | Player | Date |
| First game | Marcus Ragnarsson | October 7, 1995 |
| First game | Ville Peltonen | October 12, 1995 |
| First game | Alexei Yegorov | February 10, 1996 |
| First game | Jan Caloun | March 18, 1996 |

## Draft picks

San Jose's draft picks at the 1995 NHL entry draft held at the Edmonton Coliseum in Edmonton, Alberta.
| Round | # | Player | Position | Nationality | College/Junior/Club team |
| 1 | 12 | Teemu Riihijarvi | Left Wing | Finland | K-Espoo Jrs |
| 2 | 38 | Peter Roed | Center | United States | White Bear Lake H.S |
| 3 | 64 | Marko Makinen | Right Wing | Finland | TPS Jrs |
| 4 | 90 | Vesa Toskala | Goalie | Finland | Ilves Jr |
| 5 | 116 | Miikka Kiprusoff | Goalie | Finland | TPS Jr |
| 5 | 130 | Michal Bros | Center | Czech Republic | HC Olomouc |
| 6 | 140 | Timo Hakanen | Center | Finland | Assat Jrs |
| 6 | 142 | Jaroslav Kudrna | Left Wing | Czech Republic | Penticton Panthers |
| 7 | 167 | Brad Mehalko | Right Wing | Canada | Lethbridge Hurricanes |
| 7 | 168 | Robert Jindrich | Defense | Czech Republic | Plzen HC |
| 8 | 194 | Ryan Kraft | Center | United States | U. of Minnesota |
| 9 | 220 | Mikko Markkanen | Right Wing | Finland | TPS Jrs |