Sharks by Number

Ok, we're now to our second to last edition of Sharks by Number. This time, we take a look at the 40's, which, as you can imagine, are not exactly popular numbers in hockey. Fortunately, they're not all duds. Let's take a look:

#41 - Tom Pederson

The rest: Ryan Kraft, Douglas Murray, Jed Ortmeyer

Easily taking the #41 title is Tom Pederson, a defenseman who played for the Sharks in the early and mid-90's. He only played over 70 games in one season, so I'm going to go ahead and assume he was somewhat of a borderline NHL player


#42 - Shean Donovan

The rest: Jaroslav Otevrel, Andy Sutton, Tom Preissing, Matt Pelech

Shean Donovan barely edges out Tom Preissing for #42. Donovan broke into the NHL with the Sharks in 1995, and was later part of the deal that brought Mike Ricci to San Jose. Donovan never did much as a Shark, but was a thorn in the Sharks side in 2004 when he helped the Calgary Flames beat San Jose in the Western Conference Finals.

#43 - Al Iafrate

The rest: Ray Whitney, Jeff McLean, Jan Caloun, Scott Hannan, Matt Carkner, Lukas Kaspar, John McCarthy

For now, Al Iafrate retains the #43 title, but the Sharks current #43, John McCarthy will almost certainly pass him with all the injuries to the Sharks this season. Iafrate, who is best known for his booming slap shot, played parts of two seasons for the Sharks at the end of his career in the late '90s.

#44 - Marc-Edouard Vlasic

The rest: Kevin Evans, Michel Picard, Shawn Cronin, Vlastimil Kroupa, Matt Bradley, Christian Ehrhoff

It seems very unlikely that anyone will ever overtake the current #44 for Team Teal, Marc-Edouard Vlasic, for this spot on the list. Pickles, as he is affectionately known in San Jose, has established himself as one of the best shutdown defensemen in the league, and his number 44 can be seen on many a sweater at the Shark Tank.

#45 - Jody Shelley

The rest: Claudio Scremin, Dody Wood

At #45, we have Jody Shelley. Shelley was a goon who played for the Sharks in the late '00s.

#46 - Tim Kennedy

The rest: Miroslav Zalesak, Steve Bernier, Mike Iggulden

Tim Kennedy (not to be confused with current Shark Tyler Kennedy) played just 16 games (including 3 playoff games) for the Sharks last season, but that was enough to grab the #46 crown. Kennedy now plays for Phoenix.

#47 - Mike Sullivan

The rest: Viktor Kozlov, Darren Turcotte, Yves Racine, Tom Cavanagh, Joe Callahan

The original #47 for the Sharks, Mike Sullivan, is still the man who is most associated with the number. Sullivan played center for the Sharks for just over two seasons.

#48 - Alexei Yegorov

The rest: Steven Zalewski

The #48 title goes to Alexei Yegorov. If you've never heard of him, don't worry, you're not alone. Yegorov played just 9 games as the Sharks #48 in 1995-96 (and 2 games as #15 the next season) before spending a couple seasons in the minors and then returning to play in his native Russia.

#49 - Chad Wiseman

The rest: Mathieu Darche

The man to wear #49 the longest for San Jose was Chad Wiseman. He played 4 games for the Sharks in 2002-03, sat in the box for 4 minutes, and took 1 shot on net.

#50 - Jaroslav Otevrel

The rest: Hannes Hyvonen

Finally, at #50 we have Jaroslav Otevrel. Otevrel played 9 games wearing #50 in '93-94, scored 3 goals and assisted on 2 others. Not bad!

So that's it. It got pretty dicey at the end there. The last installment will be all the remaining numbers. As you can imagine, there's not a lot of competition for them, but there are a few big names.