Sports in The San Francisco Bay Area - Hockey

Hockey

San Jose currently hosts the San Jose Sharks of the National Hockey League. The Sharks currently play at HP Pavilion at San Jose. Since the Sharks inception in 1991, the Sharks have yet to win nor appear in a Stanley Cup.

Before the Sharks, the Bay Area had the California Golden Seals, who had been previously named the California Seals and the Oakland Seals. The Seals came into existence in the 1967 NHL expansion. The Seals played at the Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum Arena (now Oracle Arena). The Seals later became the Cleveland Barons in 1976 and then merged with the Minnesota North Stars in 1978 (who in turn later became the Dallas Stars). The Golden Seals/Barons franchise is notable as the last franchise in North America's four major leagues to permanently cease operations.

However, the Sharks can be viewed as an effective successor of the Golden Seals/Barons. In the late 1980s, North Stars majority owners Gordon and George Gund tried to move the team to the Bay Area, but were rebuffed by the NHL. In the meantime, a group led by former Hartford Whalers owner Howard Baldwin sought to bring an expansion team to the Bay Area. The league then brokered a deal which effectively unwound the Barons–North Stars merger. The Gunds sold their share of the North Stars to Baldwin's group in exchange for an expansion team in the Bay Area. The Gunds would be allowed to take half of the North Stars' roster with them, and both the North Stars and the future Sharks would participate as equals in an expansion draft.

Also, for one season (1995-96), it was home to the San Francisco Spiders of the International Hockey League.

On September 20th, 2011, the ECHL Board of Governors announced that a AA hockey team would appear in San Francisco for the 2012-2013 season. They would be called the San Francisco Bulls and would play at the Cow Palace.