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Stadium:
HP Pavilion
The HP Pavilion at San Jose, commonly called The Shark Tank or The Tank, both of which come from its primary tenant, or, just simply, the HP Pavilion, or as the San Jose Arena (after its former name), is an indoor arena located at 525 West Santa Clara Street in San Jose, California.

Seating Chart:
HP Pavilion Seating Chart

Team History:
Although Northern California was not considered a particularly fertile hockey market, the NHL's 1967-68 expansion included a Bay Area team, primarily because the terms of a new television agreement with CBS called for two of the new teams to be located in California. Thus, the Oakland Seals were one of the six expansion teams added, but were a failure both on the ice and at the gate. After nine money-losing seasons and continued low attendance, in 1976 the Seals were sold to Cleveland businessmen George and Gordon Gund and moved to Cleveland, where they became the Barons. After two more years of losses, the Gunds were permitted to merge the Barons with the financially struggling Minnesota North Stars. The Gunds emerged as the owners of the North Stars as part of the deal. The Gunds had long wanted to bring hockey back to the Bay Area, and asked the NHL for permission to move the North Stars there in the late 1980s, but were vetoed by the league. Meanwhile, a group led by former Hartford Whalers owner Howard Baldwin was pushing the NHL to bring a team to San Jose, where a new arena was being built. Eventually a compromise was struck by the league, where the Gunds would sell their share of the North Stars to Baldwin's group, with the Gunds receiving an expansion team in the Bay Area to begin play in the 1991-92 NHL season. In return, the North Stars would be allowed to participate as an equal partner in an expansion draft with the new Bay Area team.

Season Preview:
The Sharks rode out a rollercoaster season in 2005-06, beginning as many experts' picks to win the Western Conference. But the team struggled through the first half of the season until a blockbuster deal brought eventual scoring champ and league MVP Joe Thornton to town. The Sharks blistered through the last half and looked to be a team that could run the table in the postseason, but they fell to a determined Edmonton squad in the second round, blowing a 2-0 series lead in the process. So where does that leave the franchise? On the cusp. The Sharks remain one of the best -coached, best-managed teams in the NHL, and look to be a team that should contend for the foreseeable future. This coming season, they will have to deal with a potential goaltending controversy, the good kind, a battle between two quality netminders. And they'll have to prove that giving up quality defensemen like Brad Stuart and Tom Preissing since the trade deadline last March won't hurt them down the road. But this is a team that brought in crucial players like Mike Grier and Mark Bell that could have people next spring nodding and saying, yeah, that's a Stanley Cup puzzle piece.

Official Site:
http://www.sjsharks.com/index2.html