2007–08 San Jose Sharks season


The 2007–08 San Jose Sharks season began on October 4, 2007. It was the San Jose Sharks' 17th season in the National Hockey League. The Sharks were the Pacific Division champions, and second in the Western Conference. They finished the season with a 49–23–10 record.

Preseason

During the pre-season, the 2007 NHL Entry Draft took place in Columbus, Ohio, on June 22–23. Additionally, the free agency period began on July 1.
The Sharks began a win streak of road games on November 14, 2007, when they beat the Dallas Stars with a shootout win. The Sharks went on to win nine more consecutive road games, which gave them 10 straight wins on the road. The streak ended when the Sharks lost to the Anaheim Ducks on January 13, 2008. This was also the game where Head Coach Ron Wilson gave the Sharks' backup goaltender, Thomas Greiss, his first start and rested Evgeni Nabokov, who was the starting goaltender for all the other Sharks games played up until the All-Star break.
The Sharks' streak of ten-straight road wins was second to the 12 road game win streak posted by the Detroit Red Wings in 2006.
Jonathan Cheechoo earned his first hat-trick of the season on February 9, 2008 at the HP Pavilion against the Nashville Predators. This was the ninth time that Cheechoo earned a hat-trick in his career. The Sharks won the game 4–3 and gave Ron Wilson his 500th win as an NHL coach, the 11th coach in League history to reach the milestone.
The Sharks have continued with another win streak of 11 games at home and on the road. Since February 21, when the Sharks played the Philadelphia Flyers away in Philadelphia and won the game 3–1, they started their lengthy winning streak. On February 29, 2008, the Sharks played the Detroit Red Wings in Detroit and came across a 3–2 win on a controversial goal by Devin Setoguchi to push the winning streak to four consecutive games. San Jose played the Montreal Canadiens on March 3 in San Jose and pulled away with a 6–4 win to push their winning streak to six games. On March 5 in San Jose, they played the Ottawa Senators and pulled away with a winner in overtime by Patrick Marleau to push their winning streak to seven games.
The Sharks won the Pacific Division and finished second in the Western Conference.
The Sharks finished the regular season having allowed the fewest power-play goals, with 44, and with the best penalty-kill percentage.

Divisional standings

Conference standings

Schedule and results

On March 28, the Sharks clinched the Pacific Division title with a 3–1 win at Anaheim. The Sharks finished the regular season as the 2nd seed in the Western Conference. The Sharks began their first series, the Western Conference Quarter-finals, against the 7th seed Calgary Flames, losing the first game 3–2 but winning the second 2–0, tying the series at 1 win each. In the third game, the Sharks lost by a score of 4–3, falling back by 2 games to 1 game in the series. Game 4 saw Jonathan Cheechoo score the tying goal with just under five minutes to play in the third, and Joe Thornton scoring the game-winner with 9.4 seconds remaining in regulation to send the series back to San Jose tied at two games apiece. Back in San Jose for Game 5, the Flames' Jerome Iginla scored a 2nd period, 5-on-3 goal to give Calgary the first goal of the game, but the Sharks would score the next 4 goals and hang on for a 4–3 win for a 3–2 series lead. The Sharks showed poorly in Game 6, losing to Calgary in a shut-out, 2 -0, forcing Game 7. The Sharks played with Jeremy Roenick scoring twice and adding two assists to power the Sharks in a decisive 5–3 win over Calgary, clinching the series. The Sharks advanced to meet the Dallas Stars in Round 2 of the playoffs. In Game 1 of the Semifinals, the Sharks had a strong defensive showing at home, but lost in overtime to the Stars, 3–2, on a Brenden Morrow goal. After losing Games 2 & 3 and falling to a 3–0 deficit in the series, the Sharks won Game 4 in Dallas and Game 5 at home to force a Game 6 in Dallas. After playing into a fourth overtime period in the longest game in Sharks history, the Sharks season ended on a power play goal by the Stars' Brenden Morrow.

Playoffs

Regular Season

Skaters

Note: GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; +/- = Plus/Minus; PIM = Penalty Minutes
PlayerGPGAPts+/-PIM
Joe Thornton822967961859
Brian Campbell8385462820
Milan Michalek792431551947
Patrick Marleau78192948−1933
Joe Pavelski82192140128
Jonathan Cheechoo692314371146
Craig Rivet74530353104
Jeremy Roenick69141933−826
Christian Ehrhoff7712122972
Mike Grier7891322−824
Torrey Mitchell82101020−350
Patrick Rissmiller798917−830
Devin Setoguchi441161768
Sandis Ozolinsh3931316−1124
Matt Carle6221315−826
Marc-Edouard Vlasic8221214−1224
Kyle McLaren613811384
Douglas Murray6619102098
Curtis Brown33549410
Ryane Clowe15358−122
Marcel Goc51538−1512
Jody Shelley62167−4135
Alexei Semenov22134−836
Tomas Plihal2221344
Tom Cavanagh101110
Lukas Kaspar3000−20
Mike Iggulden1000−10

Goaltenders

Note: GP = Games Played; TOI = Time On Ice ; W = Wins; L = Losses; OT = Overtime/Shootout Losses; GA = Goals Against; SO = Shutouts; Sv% = Save Percentage; GAA = Goals Against Average
PlayerGPTOIWLOTGASOSv%GAA
Evgeni Nabokov7745614621816360.9102.14
Brian Boucher5238311710.9321.76
Thomas Greiss3129011700.8603.26
Dimitri Patzold344000400.8005.45

Playoffs

Skaters

Note: GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; +/- = Plus/Minus; PIM = Penalty Minutes
PlayerGPGAPts+/-PIM
Joe Thornton13281032
Ryane Clowe13549−212
Joe Pavelski1354930
Patrick Marleau13448−22
Jonathan Cheechoo1344834
Brian Campbell1316734
Craig Rivet13066216
Jeremy Roenick1323502
Christian Ehrhoff10055114
Milan Michalek1340454
Torrey Mitchell13123−210
Douglas Murray1311202
Devin Setoguchi9112−22
Mike Grier13011−22
Matt Carle1101104
Marc-Edouard Vlasic13011−20
Curtis Brown7000−24
Kyle McLaren5000−24
Jody Shelley6000−12
Alexei Semenov200002
Marcel Goc400012
Tomas Plihal400010
Patrick Rissmiller8000−34

Goaltenders

Note: GP = Games Played; TOI = Time On Ice ; W = Wins; L = Losses; GA = Goals Against; SO = Shutouts; Sv% = Save Percentage; GAA = Goals Against Average
PlayerGPTOIWLGASOSv%GAA
Evgeni Nabokov13853673110.9072.18
Brian Boucher1200000.0000.00

Awards and records

The Sharks did not win any awards during the 2007–2008 NHL season.

Records

The Sharks were involved in the following transactions during the 2007–08 season.

Trades

Free agents signed

Free agents lost

Draft picks

San Jose's picks at the 2007 NHL Entry Draft in Columbus, Ohio.
Round#PlayerPositionNationalityCollege/Junior/Club Team
19Logan CoutureCenterCanadaOttawa 67's
128Nick PetreckiDefenderUnited StatesOmaha Lancers
383Timo PielmeierGoaltenderKölner Haie
391Tyson SexsmithGoaltenderCanadaVancouver Giants
6165Patrik ZackrissonLeft wingSwedenRögle BK
6173Nick BoninoCenterCanadaAvon Old Farms
7201Justin BraunDefenderUnited StatesUniversity of Massachusetts Amherst
7203Frazer McLarenLeft wingCanadaPortland Winterhawks

Farm teams

Worcester Sharks

The Worcester Sharks are the San Jose Sharks' American Hockey League affiliate.

Phoenix RoadRunners

The Phoenix RoadRunners are the Sharks affiliate in the ECHL.