We thought we’d go with some alliteration for this new quasi-regular check in with the San Jose Sharks, the 2023-2024 NHL equivalent of MLB’s 2023 Oakland Athletics. While the Golden State Warriors and the San Francisco 49ers thrive (for the most part), the Sharks and the A’s are at the bottom of the barrel. In the middle somewhere are the San Francisco Giants—but our position and viewpoint of that franchise is noted.

After two decades of being the league’s most successful regular-season franchise, the Sharks have fallen on hard times since their last postseason appearance (2019). Since reaching the Western Conference Finals for the fifth time in 15 seasons that spring, San Jose has not finished above sixth in the eight-team divisions it has played in since then. This year, the Sharks are off to a particularly bad start: 0-7-1 (minus-24 goals).

Sabermetrically, this San Jose team is on pace to be the worst in franchise history, and that’s saying something as the 1992-1993 Sharks lost 71 games—in an 84-game season—which remains the NHL record for most losses in a season. That was San Jose’s second season in the NHL, and the team followed it up with two consecutive playoff appearances in the two years that followed. However, this season feels a lot worse.

Already.

The Sharks have scored just 8 times in their 8 games this year, while coughing up 32 scores to opponents. Losing every time out by an average of 4-1 isn’t a good thing, and only once (obviously) did San Jose even make it to overtime—before losing in the shootout. The most goals the Sharks have scored in a single game (3) came when they gave up their most goals in a game (6). It’s been a rough start for the San Jose franchise.

Hockey fans in the Bay Area usually have been pretty loyal over the years, but the frustration with never winning a Stanley Cup despite so much regular-season success really took its toll on the loyalty of the base. Watching rivals in Southern California—both the Ducks and the Kings—win NHL titles was frustrating, not to mention the Johnny-Come-Lately success of the Vegas Golden Knights. The Sharks deserved better.

Alas, everything’s cyclical, and here we are with the worst team in the NHL. We will check in every week or two to see if the Sharks can avoid their respective infamy this season. We will have some good predictions once we have more seasonal data to crunch. In the meantime, it’s fun times for those in the Bay Area, for sure, between the five professional teams that remain in the region: two winners, a cheater, and two losers.