Floundering Sharks: How San Jose's awful start stacks up historically

The San Jose Sharks are still seeking their first win of this season, and they've been utterly atrocious. In fact, San Jose became only the 10th team in NHL history to go winless through its first 10 games. But how bad have the Sharks actually been compared to those other nine lackluster clubs?

The rules of the game have changed significantly over the years, most notably when the shootout era began in 2005-06. However, it's still worth evaluating where San Jose's putrid performance stands, even while acknowledging the important caveats.

Let's first take a look at these Sharks and then examine the other squads that got off to historically brutal skids to begin their campaigns.

San Jose Sharks (2023-24)

Winless streak: 10
Record through streak: 0-9-1
Goal differential during streak: Minus-35
Final record: TBD

San Jose's dreary record isn't enough to tell the whole story. This year's Sharks are averaging one goal per contest and have allowed a league-worst 45 against. The Vancouver Canucks matched San Jose's entire offensive output this season with a 10-1 drubbing earlier this week, the low point (at least for now) in what projects to be a terribly long season in the Bay Area.

While the Sharks have plenty of time to show signs of improvement, they absolutely deserve to be in the conversation as one of the worst teams of all time until they prove otherwise. Their goal differential right now is the fourth-worst in NHL history through 10 games, and their six even-strength goals are the fewest ever over the same span.

San Jose was known to be rebuilding this year, but no one predicted this much difficulty. It doesn't project to get easier any time soon, either, with games against the Pittsburgh Penguins, Philadelphia Flyers, Edmonton Oilers, and Vegas Golden Knights on the horizon.

Atlanta Thrashers (2002-03) Scott Cunningham / Getty Images Sport / Getty

Winless streak: 10
Record through streak: 0-9-1
Goal differential during streak: Minus-15
Final record: 31-39-7-5

The Thrashers' fourth season got off to a rocky start, but they weren't playing as poorly as it might've seemed. Atlanta lost six of its first 10 games by a single goal, dropped its season opener by two, and tied another. The Georgia-based squad lost another game by three (while allowing eight goals), and its worst defeat during the streak was falling 4-0 to the Los Angeles Kings.

Of course, it doesn't matter how well you play if you don't win the games. But Atlanta's relative competitiveness, despite its unsavory record, proved to be a sign of slightly better things to come. Yes, the Thrashers fired head coach Curt Fraser when they were 8-20-1-4 that season, but Atlanta would ultimately finish third in the Southeast Division with more points in the standings than six other NHL teams.

Calgary Flames (1995-96)

Winless streak: 10
Record through streak: 0-7-3
Goal differential during streak: Minus-17
Final record: 34-37-11

After winning the Pacific Division two years in a row, the Flames hit the skids big time in 1995-96, losing seven of their first 10 games with three ties. In Calgary's ninth contest, it managed only eight shots in a 3-0 loss to the juggernaut Detroit Red Wings, which is a franchise record and the second-lowest output from a team in a regular-season game.

It wasn't all bad for the Flames that season, though. They squeaked into the playoffs after finishing second in the division and, most importantly, acquired Jarome Iginla from the Dallas Stars in a franchise-altering trade that sent Joe Nieuwendyk the other way.

Detroit Red Wings (1975-76)

Winless streak: 10
Record through streak: 0-7-3
Goal differential during streak: Minus-25
Final record: 26-44-10

The Red Wings have a long, illustrious history, but the '75-'76 season certainly wasn't one of their most memorable. This Detroit squad deserved its poor start. The Wings allowed at least four goals in eight of their first 10 games and at least five tallies in half of them, including a 6-1 loss to the Penguins and a 7-3 defeat to the Boston Bruins.

Detroit unsurprisingly missed the playoffs. But on the bright side, the Wings finished 30 points ahead of the Washington Capitals in the Norris Division because the Caps went an abysmal 11-59-10. Detroit also posted a better record than three other clubs (including Washington) in the overall standings across the full 80-game regular-season schedule.

Arizona Coyotes (2021-22) Christian Petersen / Getty Images Sport / Getty

Winless streak: 11
Record through streak: 0-10-1
Goal differential during streak: Minus-31
Final record: 25-50-7

If the Sharks need a recent reference point for their struggles, they need not look further than the Coyotes from two seasons ago. Arizona was miserable out of the gates that year, and many wondered if the Yotes would be the worst team in history during their unfortunate skid - much like the situation San Jose finds itself in now.

The 2021-22 Coyotes gave up goals at a similar rate to this year's Sharks, allowing 45 tallies through 11 games. Arizona didn't allow 10 goals in a single game like San Jose did, but it was torched for eight and seven tallies once apiece, as well as three five-goal opposing performances in what was one of the worst stretches in Coyotes franchise history.

Arizona never straightened things out, losing four of its next five contests after finally snapping the winless streak and finishing 31st in the league standings.

Arizona Coyotes (2017-18)

Winless streak: 11
Record through streak: 0-10-1
Goal differential during streak: Minus-22
Final record: 29-41-12

Four years before that Coyotes squad stumbled its way toward near-historic futility, Arizona had an equally forgettable start to a season - over the first 11 games, that is.

Things got much worse after that. The Coyotes won their 12th game, defeating the Flyers 4-3 in overtime, but any joy from that victory was short-lived, as Arizona then became the first team in NHL history without a non-overtime or shootout win over its first 20 contests. The Yotes' only other victory during that span was in a shootout against the Carolina Hurricanes in game No. 15 for Arizona.

The Coyotes weren't able to dig their way out of the massive hole they created for themselves over the first quarter of the season. They finished last in the Pacific Division, though the Ottawa Senators and Buffalo Sabres concluded their campaigns with worse records in the overall standings. Things didn't get any better for Arizona during the 2018 draft, where the Coyotes passed on Quinn Hughes to take Barrett Hayton fifth overall.

San Jose Sharks (1995-96)

Winless streak: 11
Record through streak: 0-7-4
Goal differential during streak: Minus-16
Final record: 20-55-7

Ah, yes, the Sharks again. The early years of the NHL's expansion to San Jose were difficult for the home team, and while the 1995-96 campaign wasn't the Sharks' worst overall, the start was a nightmare.

Fresh off a surprise trip to the second round of the 1995 playoffs, San Jose failed to record a win through its first 11 games. The Sharks managed four ties in the process but allowed nearly five goals per game during the skid. After earning their first win in game No. 12, they went on a seven-game losing streak, leaving the club at 1-14-4.

Head coach Kevin Constantine was fired shortly after, and San Jose finished the season second-last in the standings while ranking last in goals against. The Sharks' 47 points that year were only five more than they collected in the 48-game, lockout-shortened 1994-95 season.

Minnesota North Stars (1973-74) Denis Brodeur / National Hockey League / Getty

Winless streak: 11
Record through streak: 0-5-6
Goal differential during streak: Minus-13
Final record: 23-38-17

Like every team on this list, the North Stars would likely be ashamed for being included. However, the members of this later-relocated squad shouldn't feel too embarrassed, considering six of the 11 games in question were ties. As a result, they also had the best goal differential of any team listed here.

Minnesota went 23-33-11 after those first 11 contests. While that certainly isn't anything to write home about, the North Stars ended the season with more points than the Canucks, New York Islanders, and California Golden Seals, who went a grimace-inducing 13-55-10. So, if the Sharks can learn anything from this, it's that it's not how you start; it's how you finish.

Pittsburgh Pirates (1927-28)

Winless streak: 11
Record through streak: 0-8-3
Goal differential during streak: Minus-21
Final record: 19-17-8

If this year's San Jose squad needs another rallying cry, perhaps hockey's version of the Pirates could provide some inspiration. Head coach Odie Cleghorn's crew started the year with the second-longest winless streak in NHL history but managed to make the playoffs with a 19-9-5 mark the rest of the way.

Pittsburgh slotted in ninth out of 10 teams in offensive output, but a sturdy fourth-ranked defense steered the ship all the way to the postseason, where the Pirates were eliminated after a two-game set with the New York Rangers. Unfortunately for the Sharks, the NHL isn't dropping down to 10 teams any time soon, and 1.5 goals per game like the Pirates achieved in 1927-28 is looking steep for this year's worst offense.

New York Rangers (1943-44)

Winless streak: 15
Record through streak: 0-14-1
Goal differential during streak: Minus-45
Final record: 6-39-5

The Rangers have the dubious distinction of holding the all-time record for the worst start to a season in NHL history. Not only did these Blueshirts fail to record a W in four more games than the next-closest team on this list, but they also lost all but one of those 15 contests in regulation.

This happened back when the league only had six teams, and they only played 50 games apiece. But it's never good when a club finishes the season with a goal differential of minus-148, nearly three tallies against per contest.

The current Sharks have the benefit of the shootout, meaning they could win a game they don't necessarily deserve just because of the modern penalty shot affair that settles all overtime ties these days. But if they continue to struggle mightily and ultimately surpass this Rangers team from 80 seasons ago, it'll be even more embarrassing because of that advantage.

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