Hockey History
SJHN Daily: Which Free Agents Should Sharks Target? + Nabokov’s Message to Ovechkin
Alex Ovechkin is now the NHL’s all-time leading goal scorer.
On Sunday afternoon, Ovechkin blasted a one-timer past the New York Islanders’ Ilya Sorokin for career goal No. 895, surpassing Wayne Gretzky’s 894.
ALEX OVECHKIN IS THE GREATEST GOALSCORER IN NHL HISTORY! 🚨🚨🚨 #Gr8ness pic.twitter.com/NKef3VvNaJ
— NHL (@NHL) April 6, 2025
17 of Ovechkin’s 895 goals have come against the San Jose Sharks, most recently, No. 887 on Mar. 15 at SAP Center.
Here’s all the goals that Ovechkin has scored against the San Jose Sharks, his childhood team, courtesy of Stathead:
| Goal | Date | Goalie | Arena |
|---|---|---|---|
| 225 | 10/15/09 | Evgeni Nabokov | Verizon Center |
| 226 | 10/15/09 | Evgeni Nabokov | Verizon Center |
| 245 | 12/30/09 | Evgeni Nabokov | HP Pavilion |
| 292 | 2/17/11 | Antti Niemi | HP Pavilion |
| 404 | 1/14/14 | Antti Niemi | Verizon Center |
| 425 | 10/14/14 | Antti Niemi | Verizon Center |
| 426 | 10/14/14 | Antti Niemi | Verizon Center |
| 578 | 12/4/17 | Martin Jones | Capital One Arena |
| 641 | 1/22/19 | Martin Jones | Capital One Arena |
| 642 | 1/22/19 | Martin Jones | Capital One Arena |
| 643 | 1/22/19 | Martin Jones | Capital One Arena |
| 646 | 2/14/19 | Martin Jones | SAP Center |
| 743 | 11/20/21 | Adin Hill | SAP Center |
| 744 | 11/20/21 | Empty Net | SAP Center |
| 814 | 3/4/23 | Kaapo Kähkönen | SAP Center |
| 815 | 3/4/23 | Kaapo Kähkönen | SAP Center |
| 887 | 3/15/25 | Georgi Romanov | SAP Center |
“Nobody loves scoring goals more than you,” Sharks director of goaltending Evgeni Nabokov told Ovechkin in a congratulatory message posted on Sunday.
From Nabby to Ovi 👏
Congratulations to Alex Ovechkin on completing the #Gr8Chase pic.twitter.com/n5eM6h1U0R
— San Jose Sharks (@SanJoseSharks) April 6, 2025
At San Jose Hockey Now…
Ryan Warsofsky shared his opinion about Barclay Goodrow’s value to the San Jose Sharks.
Steph Curry took in Saturday’s Sharks’ game. Rick Celebrini was there too.
Luca Cagnoni is a big hockey card collector.
William Eklund got into his first NHL fight.
Other Sharks News…
Sharks coach Ryan Warsofsky is at Chase for tonight's game 🤝 pic.twitter.com/pE3JNnb3qq
— Warriors on NBCS (@NBCSWarriors) April 7, 2025
Follow Cat Toffoli, Tyler’s wife, and her podcast!
How has Macklin Celebrini revitalized the Sharks?
Sam Dickinson and Kasper Halttunen move on in the OHL playoffs:
See you Thursday 📆 #OHLPlayoffs pic.twitter.com/sI0JFFhIqa
— London Knights (@LondonKnights) April 6, 2025
How can Igor Chernyshov impact the San Jose Barracuda?
April 5, 1994:
Against the Kings at Great Western Forum, forward Jamie Baker scored two goals to lead the #SJSharks to their first ever win at GWF and first ever Stanley Cup Playoffs berth.
📸 Sharks Classic Games
🚨 SJ 2, LA 1 🚨 pic.twitter.com/bZ20zEtpO0— San Jose Sharks History (@sjsharkshistory) April 6, 2025
Around the NHL…
Daily Faceoff released its first top-50 UFAs list…who should the Sharks target?
Every Alex Ovechkin goal from No. 1 to 895.
The Chicago Blackhawks win! Great news for the San Jose Sharks’ quest for another No. 1 pick…check out the latest Tankathon standings!
Gabriel Landeskog is about to suit up for the…Colorado Eagles? Good news!
Five candidates for new Philadelphia Flyers head coach.
Which teams should try offer sheets this summer? Not the Sharks, according to this list.
Dustin Wolf, against the odds, is still hoping to lead the Calgary Flames to the playoffs.
Lane Hutson continues to make history.
Ovechkin has done it. #Gr8Chase pic.twitter.com/SYc4xcDSoP
— Stefen Rosner (@stefen_rosner) April 6, 2025
Chicago won last night, which means the Sharks can now win 1/3 of their remaining games and still finish last.
Hawks play the Pens again tomorrow night, so maybe the Sharks are allowed to go .500 to close out the stretch!
That would be nice. The Sharks have 8 1st and 2nd round picks in the next two drafts. There will be a lot of new faces to talk about.
Pretty amazing that one of 99’s records was broken considering just how drastically the Goaltending position has improved since the early/mid 80’s
Truly amazing. I’ve never seen anyone else score goals the way he does. I read a quote from someone saying essentially that you can’t make a bad pass to Ovechkin. He can shoot it just as well from anywhere in his stance.
It’s also fascinating to me that Howe’s record stood for almost exactly 31 years and then Gretzky’s stood for almost exactly 31 years. What a weird coincidence.
It really is. Look at the YouTube’s of Gretzky’s goals with the Oilers and Kings and compare the size (and equipment) of those goalies back in the 1980’s/90’s with the present day. Also, especially in the 1980’s, the wild scores in many games.
Holly Jumpin ! Look at Panger 😂
I can’t imagine trying to score on Vassy. We have a couple guys who are 6’3” but they are skinny.
Don’t lump the 90s with the 80s. The 90’s was when goalies got good and the equipment improved. That was Broduer, Hasek, Roy, Richter, etc… hasek had a sub 2gaa for a whole season. More than once I think?
Also, you can’t make all the crazy headhunting, bone crushing boarding hits anymore, so injuries are less prevalent. Gretzky played in a far more dangerous time. I don’t want to take anything away from Ovechkin, though, he’s scored about 100 goals shooting from his knees or butt
LOL, it wasn’t a dangerous time for Gretski
This pretty true. Even in the playoffs players rarely hit him because of who he was. No one really ever did cheap stuff to him.
I always also forget to take into account the advances in stick tech throughout Ovechkin’s career. He’s played his whole career with full one piece composites that have only gotten better over the last 20 years. It is pretty amazing how much easier it is rip the puck with a composite vs wood. Still, I don’t know that it fully equalizes the advances in pads and increase in goalie size!
And he uses a boomerang shaped curve lol. I know this is ridiculous but I’ve noticed that Mac uses a pretty extreme curve I wonder if he experiments with something a little flatter this summer that is more indicative of a centerman. I do notice that he has trouble controlling his shots and misses high quite often. It’s just most centers like a flatter pattern to get more touch on their sauce and way more control.
Guys who mostly pass might use flat blades but Celly is a shooter. Sakic had a healthy curve with a very open toe as well. You can adjust to the blade, it’s all about your confidence with it.
Ya it’s crazy how if you watch a game from the 90’s there is literally 5 hooking/interference penalty’s on every shift along with Roy inventing the Butterfly and the pads getting huge it definitely changed from the 80’s
Daily Faceoff’s contract projections simply don’t take the current cap explosion into consideration… Their projection on Marner assumes he wants to give Toronto a “Buy 7 Get 1 Free” deal. That dude has 7/$15M waiting for him, and 8/$12.5M ain’t gonna do it. He could have signed the latter deal 6 months ago. He did not. What else does he have to say? I don’t blame him, you only get one career. Make that money! Is there a world where Marner takes $15M AAV from the Sharks and Pionk and Ekblad take $2M/year overpays on 3 year contracts to be… Read more »
Marner is only a good signing if they’re planning to shop Eklund for a defenseman. Otherwise that top six is just too small long term. I worry they’d get crushed come playoff time.
I think Eklund will eventually get traded, but I think if the top line is Musty (improved 200 ft game version), Celebrini, and Marner, that is probably fine. Second line of Eklund, Smith, and Chernyshov could be big enough too, because Eklund does play bigger than his size. This is all wishcasting because a lot of things have to go right to get to where that can work
I would bet more on Chernyshov over Musty on that line. Already has pro experience vs men. Musty will have a development schedule if he stays up. Probably a lot of 3rd line work to get that 200ft game.
Agreed. Chernyshov is probably a half season ahead of Musty in terms of development. Musty might see a handful of developmental games toward the end of next year, the way Cagnoni has, but I think Chernyshov gets more in the 20-25 game range spread out across a couple of separate stints. Even if they don’t see NHL time next year, I’m excited to see them play together for the Cuda.
Me too. Going to buy the package and watch legally the rest of the way.
I tried to match left and right sticks on the wings. My assumption is Musty develops the 2 way game with the Cuda actually and he doesn’t come up until that clears a threshold
If he does, he’s increased his value significantly with his play this season.
Did someone say shop Eklund for a defenseman? 😜🤣🤣🤣
I just can’t imagine they grab 2 of the top 10 UFAs. Maybe? Just think they’ll want to go somewhere to win. Almost every team will have space for at least one big purchase.
Not as many as you think. It’s fan optimism on my part, my eyes are open. But I think the league knows something is brewing here and players like money, which the Sharks have a lot of
I’d be curious to know how many Sharks and former Sharks take advantage of the financial opportunities for wealthy folks in the Bay Area, and whether there’s a feeling amongst wealthier players that it can offset the taxes to have such close proximity to Sand Hill. I doubt it, but you never know.
The Warriors have a long history of it. But hockey culture just seems different. The Ontario prairie kids just don’t seem to think about Silicon Valley the way Iguodala and Durant did. Marner was literally just at Marleau’s house the other day. He knows exactly what would await him in the South Bay. He’s gonna be making plenty of money, so if he can win and be happy and get more in 7 than Rantanen and Draisaitl got in 8, I think it will be enough.
Just read the Toews interview at the Athletic. If he can still play I think he could be a perfect signing. Who better to show the youth in this team the intensity and work ethic it takes to win than him? I know he had may have had some role in what happened in Chicago but I’m not sure he actually knew what was going on. It was the coach and GM who swept that under the rug from what I understand. If I’m wrong and he had a bigger role? Then yea fuck him. If not though he could… Read more »
While I don’t think the team needs to focus on only young guys who fit the team’s “trajectory” I am also opposed to all geezers who could very well prove to just not have it anymore.
I get that. For the most part I agree with you. I think it would have to be an incredibly cheap contract. From the interview it sounds like he doesn’t want cup expectations, he just wants to have fun playing the game. This is a guy though who could end up being a steal if he gets any of his mojo back. I wouldn’t bet the farm on him but I won’t be disappointed if they get him and it doesn’t work out as long as it’s a 1 year deal which I believe is all he’ll be looking for.
Bringing Kane and Toews in on one year deals would be both hilarious and a not altogether terrible idea. Imagine if they built the foundation for a future Sharks cup team while the Hawks specifically elected to rebuild without them. That would be the karmic comeuppance they truly deserve as an org.
forgot Kane was available too. Jeez the 2 perfect players for Smith and Celly.
Love the experience, dunno if they will win hockey games though. We have guys who have won cups already, so the roster space might be better employed
Hell no!!! Toews and Kane May have intentionally stayed out of it, but their teammates were taunting the guy during practice, saying that Kyle Beach was the coach’s boyfriend. Not participating in the harassment is one thing, sure, but being a leader on the team comes with added responsibility on & off the ice.
The fact that they turned a blind eye to abuse a member of their hockey family in order to focus on winning is obscene, and unforgivable for anyone, let alone players who are looked up to set a standard and lead by example.
This, and PKane was as much trouble (both before and after the allegations) as EKane, just with very different media responses.
sticking with bring in Pavelski on a 1 year deal.
Its all about leadership and Pavelski is as good as it gets
I didn’t really watch any of the Canes games this season… How’d Burns look? I’ve wondered if bringing him back on a 1 year deal and flipping him to a contender at the deadline could work out.