Owen Nolan

[Forever_Habs10]

FORMER SHARKS CAPTAIN OWEN NOLAN RETIRES AFTER 18 SEASON

Former San Jose Sharks team Captain Owen Nolan today formally announced his retirement from the game of hockey, following 18 stellar seasons in the National Hockey League.

Nolan, who will be remembered as one of the game's purest power forwards, played in exactly 1,200 NHL games with Quebec/Colorado, San Jose, Toronto, Phoenix, Calgary and Minnesota, posting 885 points (422 goals, 463 assists) and 1,793 penalty minutes.

He finishes ranked 71st on the NHL's all-time goals list and among all NHL players with more career NHL goals, only seven have posted more penalty minutes than Nolan (Mark Messier, Brendan Shanahan, Keith Tkachuk, Pat Verbeek, Theo Fleury, Rick Tocchet and Gary Roberts).

Nolan ranks T-33rd all-time in NHL power play goals and T-100th in points (with former teammate Peter Forsberg).

"I was very lucky to be able to play 18 seasons in the National Hockey League," said Nolan. "I want to thank all of my teammates over those years, along with my friends and family. I also want to thank Doug Wilson and the San Jose Sharks for allowing me the opportunity to step away from the game as a member of the Sharks family."

Nolan, who turns 40 on Feb. 12, was selected by the Quebec Nordiques as the first overall selection in the 1990 NHL Entry Draft. That draft would prove to be one of the deepest in NHL history, with players such as Keith Primeau, Mike Ricci, Jaromir Jagr, Derian Hatcher, Keith Tkachuk and Martin Brodeur following Nolan in the first round.

Acquired by San Jose from Colorado on Oct. 26, 1995 in exchange for defenseman Sandis Ozolinsh, Nolan would go on to become one of the top players in San Jose Sharks history, playing 568 games with the Sharks, posting 451 points (206 goals, 245 assists) and 934 penalty minutes. He was named the fifth team captain in franchise history on Oct. 28, 1998.

His finest NHL season came in 1999-00 when he set career-highs in goals (44 – 2nd, NHL), points

(84 – T-6th, NHL), power play goals (18 – 1st, NHL) and finished fifth in voting for the Hart Trophy, awarded to the NHL's most valuable player. That year, he was voted as the "Sharks Player of the Year" by the Bay Area media, leading the team in goals, points, shots (258), power play goals, hits (209), shorthanded goals (4), takeaways (70) and average ice time (21:07). He was named the winner of The Hockey News' "Intimidation Quotient," which was a formula based on the number of goals and non-misconduct penalties.

"Owen Nolan was a dominating player on the ice and remains an important member of the history of the San Jose Sharks franchise," said Sharks Executive Vice President and General Manager Doug Wilson. "We feel that it is only fitting that he announces the conclusion of a great career as a member of the Sharks family.

"We congratulate Owen, along with his wife, Diana, and their family, on a remarkable career."