‘There was an October?’ 1st Time in Sharks History They’ve Lost Every Game in a Month

“There was an October?”

That was head coach David Quinn’s dry joke, when I told him that this was the first time in San Jose Sharks history that they’ve lost every game in an almost-full month of play.

But indeed, there was an October: The Sharks are now 0-8-1 after a 3-1 loss to the Washington Capitals on Sunday. Their next game is on Nov. 2 against the Vancouver Canucks. So they’re 0-for-October.

The Sharks have had winless months: They went 0-7-3 in Oct. 1995, 0-13-1 in Jan. 1993, and 0-0-3 in Apr. 2003. But they didn’t lose every game, there were ties back then.

They did lose every game in Apr. 1992, but there were just three games in that month.

“Winning is contagious, just like losing is contagious,” Quinn said.

So’s scoring – or not scoring.

The San Jose Sharks’ nine goals this October were the fewest scored in a month in franchise history, four or more games played.

San Jose didn’t fare much better defensively this month: Their -25 Goal Differential is among the nine-worst in a month in Sharks history.

• -25 Feb. 1992 (12 games played)
• -25 Oct. 1992 (11)
• -25 Oct. 2023 (9)
• -27 Mar. 2023 (14)
• -31 Dec. 1992 (14)
• -34 Jan. 1993 (14)
• -36 Mar. 1993 (12)
• -39 Feb. 1993 (13)
• -44 Oct. 1991 (14)

This is not company that you want to keep, the Sharks’ expansion squad that won 17 games, and the sophomore side that managed just 11 victories. Seven of the nine months represented here are from San Jose’s first two campaigns.

But Quinn’s joke speaks to a degree of collective amnesia that the San Jose Sharks need, to play themselves out of this record-setting spiral. Of course, they need to be honest about what’s transpired – but they can’t let it weigh them down either.

“We’re focusing on Vancouver. Get off to a good start in November,” he said. “It’s just really being mentally tough enough to live in the moment and not let what’s happened these first two-and-a-half weeks affect what’s going to happen on Thursday. You’ve just got to start with a clean slate, day in and day out.”