Sharks Prospect Snap Shot

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The NHL could be found in the San Francisco area back in the late 60's and mid 70's but when the Oakland/California Golden Seals moved to Cleveland, hockey fans were out of luck. Then in time for the 1991-92 season, an expansion team was granted which also included a smattering of Minnesota North Stars players and the San Jose Sharks were born.

There were lean years in San Jose but the Sharks have grown into a ferocious regular season franchise. Unfortunately, once the playoffs begin, tradition has shown that the Sharks loose their bite and fall to the wayside.

San Jose has become an organization that is well respected for their drafting success and for also being aggressive on the trade front and free agency as well. Some of the big names who have played for the organization over the years have included Rob Blake, Joe Thornton, Jeremy Roenick, Arturs Irbe, Owen Nolan, Vincent Damphousse and Doug Wilson who is currently the club's General Manager.

Here is a look at some of the bigger fish in San Jose's prospect pool...

One on One: Tyson Sexsmith

The Vancouver Giants rolled through town to take on the Edmonton Oil Kings a couple weeks ago and I had the chance to talk with netminder Tyson Sexsmith.

The Giants feast on the Oil Kings and Sexsmith in particular; he's shut them out in both meetings this year, something we had a small chuckle about.

I wrote a story for Hockey's Future stemming from this interview and also spoke with San Jose Sharks WHL scout Brian Gross for some comments from the team that drafted him. Gross was a guest on The Pipeline Show last summer to talk about life as a scout for the Sharks and you can hear that interview here.

You can read that HF article here.

For those of you who would rather take a listen to the well spoken netminder instead, you can hear that interview on The Pipeline Show website in the media archives by clicking here.