3 players you forgot played for the San Jose Sharks
3. Andrei Zyuzin
From 1994-2014, Andrei Zyuzin played on 20 different teams in eight different leagues. I’ll let you take a moment to process this information.
In the NHL, he played 496 games with San Jose, Tampa Bay, New Jersey, Minnesota, Calgary, and Chicago. He also chalked up 117 games in the KHL and played 127 games for Russia.
With a lot of miles on his resume, it’s easy to forget which NHL team he got his start with. Back in the 1996 NHL draft, the Sharks used their second-overall pick to select the youngster out of Ufa, USSR.
Just like Kiprusoff and Selanne however, Zyuzin just couldn’t make it work with the Sharks organization. He played a total of 81 games with San Jose from 1997-1999. He also spent time in the AHL with the Kentucky Thoroughblades.
More from Golden Gate Sports
- Raiders: Rookie stock report following Week 3 performance
- 49ers sign new long snapper amidst a flurry of roster moves
- Oakland Athletics win Game 2 of Wild Card round with late-inning drama
- 49ers: George Kittle and Deebo Samuel cleared to return to practice
- 49ers expected to place DE Dee Ford on injured reserve
He’ll forever be remembered amongst Sharks fans for his game-winning goal in Game 4 of the Western Conference quarterfinals against the Dallas Stars. It was his first-ever NHL playoff goal and point.
Zyuzin didn’t finish out the 1999 season with San Jose. He was suspended in April for leaving the team without permission. He was traded four months later to the Tampa Bay Lightning.
Included in the deal were Bill Houlder, Shawn Burr, and Steve Guolla with Zyuzin for Tampa Bay’s Niklas Sundstrom and the New York Rangers third-round draft pick.
He never caught on with a team for longer than three seasons. He played almost 200 games for the Minnesota Wild and just over 100 contests for Tampa Bay.
He played 39 games with the New Jersey Devils over two seasons before ending his NHL career with a season for the Calgary Flames and his final season was spent with the Chicago Blackhawks.
Next. San Jose Sharks sign coveted college prospects to deals. dark
If it wasn’t for the Sharks taking a chance on these guys, who knows where their careers would’ve led them. And oh what the Sharks could’ve been if Kiprusoff and Selanne played together as they did for Finland in numerous international events.