1972 – 73 Los Angeles Sharks season Offseason . The WHA awarded a franchise to Los Angeles and it was originally called the " Los Angeles Aces , " while the San Fransicso franchise was called the Sharks . However , when funding fell through and the San Francisco franchise was then moved to Quebec to become the Nordiques , the Los Angeles group took the name Sharks and created the stylized menacing shark logo . The team colors of red and black were based on the original nickname " aces " , being that the two colors in a deck of cards are red and black . Regular season . The Sharks hung around the . 500 mark for much of the season . The Winnipeg Jets , led by Bobby Hull , were clearly the class of the WHA ' s Western Division . Four teams ( the Houston Aeros , Minnesota Fighting Saints , Alberta Oilers , and Sharks staged a season long see - saw battle for 2nd through 5th place , with only the top four making the playoffs ( The Chicago Cougars finished in a distant 6th place ) . The Sharks strength was their defense , which ranked 3rd in the league . Bart Crashley , Gerry Odrowski , and Jim Watson anchored the blue line . George Gardner ( GAA 3 . 30 ) was a capable # 1 goalie for the first half of the season , while 32 year old rookie Russ Gillow ( 2 . 91 GAA ) took over the top spot for most of the second half . In fact , Gillow was second in the WHA to Gerry Cheevers in GAA . The offense had quality but lacked depth . It was led by 43 goal scorer Gary Veneruzzo while Alton White was 2nd on the team in goals with 20 . Veneruzzo also led the team in points with 73 , followed by playmaking center J . P . LeBlanc ( 19 goals and 50 assists for 69 points ) , and defenseman Bart Crashley , who anchored the power play and chipped in 18 goals and 27 assists . Sharks special teams were solid , ranking 4th in the league in power play and 5th in penalty killing . Ultimately , the Sharks went 6 - 3 - 1 in their last 10 games , including winning their last two to climb from 5th place to 3rd . Playoffs . The Sharks ' 3rd place finish enabled them to avoid a first round matchup with Bobby Hull ' s powerful Winnipeg Jets and earned them a series with the 2nd place Houston Aeros , who finished 2 points ahead of the Sharks in the standings . After opening in Houston with an uninspired 7 - 2 loss , the Sharks bounced back to win game two by a 4 - 2 score . Heading back to L . A . with a split , the Sharks won a thrilling game three by a score of 3 - 2 ; goalie Russ Gillow made several spectacular saves to preserve the win . The turning point was game four . The clubs battled through regulation tied at 2 ; if the Sharks scored the next goal , they would have a commanding 3 - 1 series lead but if Houston scored , the series would be tied going back to Houston . Winger Murray Hall scored for Houston , and the Sharks didn ' t win another game , losing game five 6 - 3 and game six , 3 - 2 . After the series , coach Terry Slater was criticized for starting George Gardner in games 1 and 5 despite the fact Gillow played better the second half of the season . Gardner was pulled in game 1 ( a 7 - 2 loss ) and did not play well in game 5 ( a 6 - 3 loss ) . Garnder ' s GAA for the series was 5 . 69 while Gillow ' s was 2 . 91 . Slater stated he wanted the veteran Gardner to start game 1 over the rookie Gillow . Draft picks . 3rd round , 8th pick ( 32nd overall pick ) - Robert Klein , D - Kamloops