The Game of Numbers is an exclusive THW series looking at upcoming milestones around the NHL. Each team will be looked at individually in three parts – individual player milestones, franchise player milestones, and players that rank in the top 100 in NHL history in any big statistical category.
For years, the San Jose Sharks could be found playing into the spring as the NHL postseason was a yearly thing for the team out of California. But changes and arguably a mismanaged roster changed that in 2014-15. While the team got older with guys like Patrick Marleau and Joe Thornton still swarming opponents on the ice, the young guys made their first attempts at becoming full-time roster players in San Jose.
In doing so, these young players began their journey in setting individual and franchise milestones alongside some of the game’s best. While it will take a while to reach the heights of Thornton, it’s nonetheless a start for Tomas Hertl, Chris Tierney and others.
San Jose Sharks Individual Milestones
Games Played:
- 1,300 games played: Joe Thornton (1,285)
- 1,100 games played: Scott Hannan (1,055)
- 700 games played: Marc-Edouard Vlasic (670)
- 400 games played: Logan Couture (379), Adam Burish (378)
- 300 games played: Justin Braun (287), John Scott (274)
- 200 games played: Ben Smith (175), Matt Irwin (153)
- 100 games played: Barclay Goodrow (60), Michael Haley (56), Melker Karlsson (53)
Goals:
- 500 goals: Patrick Marleau (456)
- 400 goals: Joe Thornton (358)
Assists:
- 300 assists: Joe Pavelski (257)
- 200 assists: Scott Hannan (179)
- 100 assists: Justin Braun (60), Tommy Wingels (57)
Points:
- 1,300 points: Joe Thornton (1,259)
- 1,000 points: Patrick Marleau (988)
- 500 points: Joe Pavelski (485)
- 300 points: Logan Couture (288)
- 200 points: Marc-Edouard Vlasic (187)
- 100 points: Tommy Wingels (96), Justin Braun (69), Adam Burish (60), Tomas Hertl (56), Matt Nieto (51), Matt Irwin (50)
Wins:
- 200 wins: Antti Niemi (190)
San Jose Sharks Franchise Milestones
Founded in 1991, the San Jose Sharks may not have the same lengthy history as some of the other franchises in the NHL. Nonetheless, there are some big names that found their place atop the team’s all-time statistical lists. While Owen Nolan and Jeff Friesen are among them, current roster players like Thornton, Marleau and Joe Pavelski have all made it known that they – too – will go down in Sharks history.
Games Played:
- Joe Thornton (753) needs 577 games played to pass Patrick Marleau (1,329) for 1st on the team’s all-time list.
- Marc-Edouard Vlasic (670) needs 2 games played to pass Mike Rathje (671) for 3rd on the team’s all-time list.
- Joe Pavelski (643) needs 28 games played to pass Marc-Edouard Vlasic (670) for 4th on the team’s all-time list.
- Scott Hannan (626) needs 18 games played to pass Joe Pavelski (643) for 5th on the team’s all-time list.
- Logan Couture (379) needs 7 games played to pass Vincent Damphousse (385) for 17th on the team’s all-time list.
- Antti Niemi (296) needs 268 games played to pass Evgeni Nabokov (563) for 1st on the team’s all-time goalie list.
- Alex Stalock (49) needs 5 games played to pass Wade Flaherty (53) for 10th on the team’s all-time list.
Goals:
- Joe Pavelski (228) needs 229 goals to pass Patrick Marleau (456) for 1st on the team’s all-time list.
- Joe Thornton (189) needs 18 goals to pass Owen Nolan (206) for 3rd on the team’s all-time list.
- Logan Couture (139) needs 11 goals to pass Jeff Friesen (149) for 6th on the team’s all-time list.
- Brent Burns (59) needs 4 goals to pass Alexander Korolyuk (62) for 19th on the team’s all-time list.
Assists:
- Patrick Marleau (532) needs 85 assists to pass Joe Thornton (616) for 1st on the team’s all-time list.
- Joe Pavelski (257) needs 276 assists to pass Patrick Marleau (532) for 2nd on the team’s all-time list.
- Logan Couture (149) needs 14 assists to pass Mike Ricci (162) for 9th on the team’s all-time list.
- Marc-Edouard Vlasic (148) needs 2 assists to pass Logan Couture (149) for 10th on the team’s all-time list.
- Scott Hannan (116) needs 8 assists to pass Milan Michalek (123) for 17th on the team’s all-time list.
- Brent Burns (106) needs 2 assists to pass Christian Ehrhoff (107) for 19th on the team’s all-time list.
Points:
- Joe Thornton (805) needs 184 points to pass Patrick Marleau (988) for 1st on the team’s all-time list.
- Joe Pavelski (485) needs 321 points to pass Joe Thornton (805) for 2nd on the team’s all-time list.
- Logan Couture (288) needs 2 points to pass Vincent Damphousse (289) for 7th on the team’s all-time list.
- Marc-Edouard Vlasic (187) needs 28 points to pass Milan Michalek (214) for 13th on the team’s all-time list.
- Brent Burns (165) needs 6 points to pass Brad Stuart (170) for 15th on the team’s all-time list.
Powerplay Goals:
- Joe Pavelski (83) needs 60 powerplay goals to pass Patrick Marleau (142) for 1st on the team’s all-time list.
- Joe Thornton (65) needs 11 powerplay goals to pass Owen Nolan (75) for 3rd on the team’s all-time list.
- Logan Couture (39) needs 1 powerplay goal to pass Vincent Damphousse (39) for 7th on the team’s all-time list.
- Brent Burns (16) needs 1 powerplay goal to pass Brad Stuart (16) for 18th on the team’s all-time list.
Game-Winning Goals:
- Joe Pavelski (35) needs 2 game-winning goals to pass Jonathan Cheechoo (36) for 2nd on the team’s all-time list.
- Logan Couture (29) needs 7 game-winning goals to pass Joe Pavelski (35) for 3rd on the team’s all-time list.
- Joe Thornton (28) needs 2 game-winning goals to pass Logan Couture (29) for 4th on the team’s all-time list.
Wins:
- Antti Niemi (163) needs 131 wins to pass Evgeni Nabokov (293) for 1st on the team’s all-time list.
- Alex Stalock (21) needs 28 wins to pass Steve Shields (48) for 6th on the team’s all-time list.
Shutouts:
- Antti Niemi (25) needs 26 shutouts to pass Evgeni Nabokov (50) for 1st on the team’s all-time list.
- Alex Stalock (4) needs 5 shutouts to pass Arturs Irbe and Vesa Toskala (8) for 5th on the team’s all-time list.
- Troy Grosenick (1) needs 1 shutout to pass Ed Belfour, Nolan Schaefer, Wade Flaherty, Thomas Greiss and Kelly Hrudey (1) for 10th on the team’s all-time list.
‘Top 100’ Milestones
He’s spent his entire career with the San Jose Sharks since being drafted by the team second overall by them in 1997 and now, Patrick Marleau is among the games best in numerous statistical categories. While he is aging, Marleau can play the game knowing that he’s left his mark on the game.
- Marleau (1,329) needs 2 games played to pass Ray Whitney (1,330) for 51st on the NHL’s all-time list.
- Marleau (456) needs 1 goal to pass Alex Delvecchio (456) for 55th on the NHL’s all-time list.
- Marleau (988) needs 2 points to pass Paul Kariya (989) for 83rd on the NHL’s all-time list.
- Marleau (142) needs 2 powerplay goals to pass Rick Vaive and Dany Heatley (143) for 51st on the NHL’s all-time list.
- Marleau (87) needs 3 game-winning goals to pass Luc Robitaille (89) for 18th on the NHL’s all-time list.
Drafted first overall by the Boston Bruins in 1997 (one pick prior to Marleau), Joe Thornton came over to the Sharks during the 2005-06 season. In his 10th season with the team, Thornton’s been a big part of San Jose’s offence setting up his line mates and making the players around him better.
- Thornton (1,285) needs 5 games played to pass Mathieu Schneider (1,289) for 61st on the NHL’s all-time list.
- Thornton (901) needs 1 assist to pass Bryan Trottier (901) for 18th on the NHL’s all-time list.
- Thornton (1,259) needs 9 points to pass Jean Ratelle (1,267) for 35th on the NHL’s all-time list.
- Thornton (121) needs 1 powerplay goal to pass John Bucyk (121) for 88th on the NHL’s all-time list.
- Thornton (55) needs 2 game-winning goals to pass Kevin Dineen, Scott Mellanby, Ryan Smyth, Vyacheslav Kozlov, Denis Savard, Doug Gilmour and Adam Oates (56) for 85th on the NHL’s all-time list.
At 31, Antti Niemi has played seven seasons in the NHL and has quite the resume so far. In fact, his team has only missed the playoffs twice during his career (Chicago and San Jose) and Niemi’s put up solid regular season numbers to find himself among the game’s best in some statistical categories.
- Niemi (190) needs 2 wins to pass Guy Hebert (191) for 81st on the NHL’s all-time list.
- Niemi (32) needs 1 shutout to pass Eddie Johnston, Kari Lehtonen and Felix Potvin (32) for 54th on the NHL’s all-time list.
More from the ‘Game of Numbers’ series:
Eastern Conference: BOS | BUF | CAR | CLB | DET | FLA | MTL | NJD | NYI | NYR | OTT | PHI | PIT | TBL | TOR | WSH
Western Conference: ANA | ARZ | CAL | CHI | COL | DAL | EDM | LAK | MIN | NSH | SJS | STL | VAN | WPG
NOTE: The ‘Game of Numbers’ series is subject to updates as the 2014-15 season progresses. Individual marks will only appear if the player is within 50 of the specific statistical milestone, while franchise marks only recognize the top 20 in club history.
For more, follow Andrew on Twitter at @AndrewGForbes or his THW column at @Tape2TapeTHW.