This Day in Hockey History – October 4, 1991, 1999, 2001 – San Jose and the Triple Tricks

In three years on October 4, four NHL players scored three goals each. In 1991, Jari Kurri’s first game with the Los Angeles Kings brought his 21st hat trick. Meanwhile, that night another California team, the San Jose Sharks debuted. In 1999, on their eighth anniversary, Sharks Owen Nolan and Jeff Friesen celebrated with a hat trick apiece. Two years later, in 2001, San Jose hosted the Detroit Red Wings, whose Brendan Shanahan became the second NHL player to score opening-night hat tricks twice in his career.

1991

In 1991, 14,558 fans at Winnipeg Arena watched the season opener in which the Californian visitors beat the Jets 6-3. The Kings’ first goal was followed by two for the Jets. Then the new Wayne Gretzky-Jari Kurri-Tomas Sandstrom line kicked into gear. The line had just successful debuted at the outdoor exhibition game played at Las Vegas on September 27. This was the first regular-season game reuniting former Edmonton Oilers linemates Gretzky and Kurri. They only needed 10 seconds over halfway through the first period to prove themselves again. 

As the Los Angeles Times described the back-to-back plays: “Sandstrom received the puck at mid-ice, flipped it to Kurri skating by, and watched as the former Oiler drilled the puck through the legs of Winnipeg goalie Stephane Beauregard from the left circle. Ten seconds later, Gretzky threw the puck into the corner. Sandstrom gained control and flipped it in front of the crease. Kurri, the late man in, skated past Beauregard, frozen and helpless, and backhanded in his second goal.” To earn his hat trick, Kurri waited until the final minute of the game before “firing into an empty net off Gretzky’s pass after Beauregard had been pulled.”

Naturally, Kurri and his new linemates looked forward to a season playing together. Sandstrom said, “Playing with Wayne, there’s going to be some room out there. When you play with partners like that, if you don’t have fun, it’s time to retire.” The man himself commented, “It’s going to be fun.”

Meanwhile, at Pacific Coliseum in Vancouver, the Canucks hosted the debut of the newest expansion team, the San Jose Sharks. The new kids on the block trailed 3-0 a few minutes into the third period. Then, in less than ten minutes, they rallied to tie the score. Craig Coxe scored their first goal as a franchise followed by Pat MacLeod making two thirds of a hat trick. Unfortunately for the Sharks, the Canucks squeaked in a game-winner with less than 20 seconds to spare.

1999

The eight-seasons-old Sharks hosted the Chicago Blackhawks and decimated them 7-1 thanks to one line. After Chicago scored its only goal, Captain Owen Nolan, left wing Jeff Friesen, and veteran center Vincent Damphousse really came out to play. Nolan notched his tenth hat trick while assisting on all three goals of Friesen’s second hat trick. His six points set a franchise record. Damphousse tied a team record by earning four assists (on all three of Nolan’s and one of Friesen’s goals). All this scoring gave the Sharks their first ever “double hat trick.”

Much of their success could be laid at the feet of the “undisciplined Chicago squad.” Their penalties gave the Sharks a 5-on-3 advantage, which Nolan used to score his first two goals within 66 seconds midway through the first period. According to the San Francisco Examiner, “From the left side of the slot, Nolan teed up a Gary Suter feed” to score once and then to score again “he simply redirected Damphousse’s perfect cross-ice feed to the left doorstep.” Friesen closed out the period when he “capped a 2-on-1 break with Nolan by tapping home the right wing’s feed just 45 seconds before the first break.”

In the second period, Nolan finished his hat trick when the puck “deflected off Chicago starting goalie Jocelyn Thibault, then off the glove of Blackhawk defenseman Bryan McCabe and into the net.” Nolan joked, “I had empty nets last year and nothing went in. Now I’m getting ricochets going in.”

Friesen closed out his hat trick during the final four minutes of the game. He had “two third-period power-play goals that came 2:43 apart.” Friesen commented, “It’s nice to get off to a fast start, but we have to re-focus right away … It’s just two games and there’s a long way to go.” Between these goals, all 12 players on the ice (and another off the bench) participated in a brawl instigated by Chicago’s Mark Janssens charging Sharks goalie Steve Shields. This resulted in a total of 84 penalty minutes.

Still, the award for worst game went to Chicago defenseman Bryan McCabe, who “played a part in 3 San Jose goals.” At the end of the first period, “McCabe coughed up the puck just inside his own blue line and eventually Friesen had an easy score in front after Nolan’s rebound hit McCabe’s skate.” It was his glove that deflected in Nolan’s third goal. Friesen’s “third [goal] banked in off his body,” prompting Hawks Coach Lorne Molleken to tease, “He got a hat trick.” McCabe admitted, “It wasn’t the best start with a new team, but I’ve got to put it behind me. It was a rough night. It was just a matter of trying to do too much and being a little overly excited.”

2001

In 2001, the visiting Detroit Red Wings ruined the Sharks’ home opener. After drawing first blood, the Sharks let the Wings update the scoreboard three times before getting back on the board themselves. At 14:49 of the first period, Brendan Shanahan tied the game at 1-1 when Detroit was short-handed. He was assisted by teammate Sergei Federov, who also helped Shanahan score just 49 seconds into the second period. According to the Detroit Free Press, “Federov avoided defenseman Scott Hannan with some sweet stickhandling and made a short pass. From there, Shanahan picked the far corner of the net.” Almost five minutes later, Brett Hull brought the score up to 3-1.

The Sharks regained their pride when Todd Harvey’s slap shot past Dominik Hasek tied the game with just 4:31 remaining. This forced the game into overtime, which only lasted 1:55. Just 34 seconds into overtime, Federov was sent to the penalty box for cross-checking. Despite being short-handed, “Shanahan’s forechecking forced San Jose goalie Evgeni Nabokov to play the puck awkwardly off the board. Shanahan corralled the loose puck and beat Nabokov for his second short-handed goal of the night.” Shanahan became only the second NHLer to twice score a hat trick on opening night.

Additional Sources:

• Stephen Laroche, Changing the Game: A History of NHL Expansion (Toronto: ECW Press, 2014), 339-342.
• https://thepinkpuck.com/2019/09/27/this-day-in-hockey-history-september-27-1991-what-happens-in-vegas/
• Steve Springer, “Kurri Heats Up the Kings, Burns Jets,” Los Angeles Times, 5 Oct. 1991, p. C12.
• “Chula Vista’s Coxe Gets Sharks’ 1st Goal,” Los Angeles Times, 5 Oct. 1991, p. C12.
• Ross McKeon, “Sharks now just lining up to score,” San Francisco Examiner, 5 Oct. 1999, p.p D1-D2.
• “Nolan, Friesen Lead Sharks, 7-1,” Los Angeles Times, 5 Oct. 1999, p. D12.
• Tim Sassone, “Hawks’ season gets off to disappointing start,” Chicago Daily Herald, 5 Oct. 1999, section 2, p. 1.
• Tim Sassone, “A nightmarish debut for defenseman McCabe” and “Brawl with Sharks leaves Blackhawks in defensive mood,” Chicago Daily Herald, 6 Oct. 1999, section 2, p. 3.
• “Shanahan’s big night ruins Sharks’ opener,” San Francisco Examiner, 5 Oct. 2001, p. B1.
• Nicholas J. Cotsonika, “Hats off to Shanahan! His OT goal wins for Wings,” Detroit Free Press, 5 Oct. 2001, pp. 1D and 4D.