The top 3 all-time San Jose Sharks goalies is a tough list to come up with. While there have been many goaltenders that have prowled the blue paint at the SAP Center, only a handful can be considered the best in franchise history. The Hockey Writers boiled down the list and ranked the trio of San Jose Sharks goalies who are the best of Team Teal.
Number 3: Antti Niemi
It is tough to pare down the list down to just three when you look at the important netminders that have been with the Sharks. Arturs Irbe and Mike Vernon were both strongly considered, but when you look at the tale of the tape, Antti Niemi comes out above the cut.
Niemi took over the crease when the team moved on from Evgeni Nabokov ahead of the 2010-11 season after the Chicago Blackhawks walked away from a one-year, $2.75 million arbitration award.
Both goalies were casualties of the salary cap and Nabokov would head to Russia and Niemi signed a one-year, $2 million contract to join the San Jose goalie stable along with Alex Stalock and Antero Niittymaki.
The next handful of seasons, the Vantaa, Finland native started 296 games for San Jose and earning 163 wins with 25 coming by way of shutout, all ranking second in franchise history. Niemi is also tied for the best career save percentage in Sharks history (.917) with Martin Jones.
Many fans will point to the lack of playoff success with San Jose, but his best postseason campaign in 2013 was the second-best ever by a San Jose goalie with a 1.87 goals-against average and .930 save percentage. Niemi’s postseason numbers overall in San Jose were not so stellar: just a .905 save percentage and 2.79 goals-against average and a losing record of 19-20.
Despite never making it past the third round, and subpar postseason numbers, the five years of consistent regular season goaltending places Niemi in this exclusive company.
Number 2: Martin Jones
The Sharks current starter and the only goaltender on the list to backstop San Jose to the Stanley Cup Final is second on our list, Martin Jones.
Martin Jones had a monstrous start (Gary A. Vasquez-USA TODAY Sports)
The former Calgary Hitmen goalie came to San Jose in a deal with the Boston Bruins who had only days before acquired Jones from the Los Angeles Kings. The trade on June 30, 2015, sent prospect Sean Kuraly and San Jose’s 2016 first round NHL entry draft pick to Boston for the Stanley Cup winning (backup) goalie. Wilson wasted no time and quickly signed the promising, but unproven, Jones to a three-year, $9 million contract.
Jones took over the starting job after San Jose traded the rights to #3 on this list, Antti Niemi, to the Dallas Stars after five decent years but ones without the postseason success that the team craved. Enter Jones and his first year in teal came two wins away from perfection.
There was some concern over how the young Jones would respond to his first full-time starter role since entering the NHL. Backing up Jones was the regressing Alex Stalock so there was little margin for error.
After an uneven first half of the 2015-16 season, Jones righted the ship. He got a breather down the stretch when the Sharks traded for James Reimer, who went on to play all 10 of his games in San Jose in a 30-day span. Jones, now rested, entered the 2016 Stanley Cup playoffs with the Sharks as the Pacific Division’s third seed.
Jones was exceptional in the NHL’s second season, posting a 2.16 goals-against average and .923 save percentage to go with three shutouts. The Sharks ultimately fell to the Pittsburgh Penguins in six games. Now in the midst of his second season in San Jose, Jones’ steady play is a near mirror image of his first season and should enter the top three in games played by a goalie for the Sharks franchise early next year.
Number 1: Evgeni Nabokov
The number one goaltender in the history of the San Jose Sharks is undisputed. Of the 28 players who have tended the twine for San Jose, no reasonable case may be made for anyone outside of Evgeni Nabokov.
The only Shark from the start on this list, the native of Oskemen, Kazakhstan came to San Jose in the 1994 NHL Entry Draft as a humble ninth round selection and 219th overall. None of the Sharks scouting staff saw their future franchise goaltender play. Reportedly, San Jose selected Nabakov based on the bloodlines of his father, Viktor Nabokov, who played for nearly two decades in Kazakhstan.
After the Sharks had selected the 6-foot, 198-pound goalie, he spent the next three season with Dynamo Moskva in the Russian league before heading across the pond for a two-year acclimation with the Kentucky Thoroughblades, then the Sharks’ AHL affiliate, at the start of the 1997-98 season.
His big break would come on Jan. 1, 2000, with four save relief performance against the Nashville Predators. Nabokov would get his NHL starting debut on Jan. 19 with a 39-save shutout, dueling future Hall of Famer Patrick Roy and the powerhouse Colorado Avalanche to a 0-0 tie.
The next nine seasons would see ‘Nabby’ as he was affectionately known, lock down nearly ever meaningful franchise record. Nabokov led the Sharks to their only President’s Trophy in 2008 and helped San Jose to the Western Conference Final in 2004 and 2010.
In addition to winning the Calder Trophy as the NHL top rookie in 2001, Nabokov appeared in two All-Star games and finished second in Vezina Trophy voting after the 2007-08 season, losing by just eight votes to Martin Brodeur.
He leads the Sharks in games played (563), wins (293) shots faced (14,757), saves (12,463), penalty minutes (100) and shutouts (50). He is also the all-time leading scoring goalie in Sharks history, with a goal and nine assists, leaving truly no statistical stone unturned in his claim as the top goaltender in franchise history.
