Looking Back on Evgeni Nabokov's 2000-01 Calder Season for the Sharks

When the Sharks were awarded the No. 1 overall pick in the 2024 NHL Draft, the fanbase erupted in excitement as there wasn’t a shadow of a doubt that San Jose would select Macklin Celebrini when they kicked off the draft held in the Las Vegas Sphere.

Celebrini’s hype was and is still immense. Comparisons and projections of 3-time Stanley Cup champions Jonathan Toews and Sidney Crosby were stamped on an 18-year-old kid by pundits and fan accounts alike before playing his first NHL game, which he scored in. 

So far, Celebrini has lived up to his hype in his rookie season leading his class in goals despite significantly less games played due to an injury he sustained in his debut. With talk of Celebrini leading the Calder race, let’s look back at the only Calder winner in Sharks history: Evgeni Nabokov. 

Nabokov’ foreshadowed his future success that would cement him as the best goalie in franchise history in his first career start on January 19th, 2000. Facing hall-of-fame goalie Patrick Roy, the 219th overall selection in the 1994 draft miraculously matched his opponent by stopping all 39 shots he faced in a 0-0 tie against the Colorado Avalanche.

With only a cup of coffee totaling 11 games In the 1999-2000 season, Nabokov’s eligibility as a rookie carried over into the 2000-01 season where he started the year backing up Steve Shields, the goalie who helped carry the Sharks into the playoffs the two seasons prior extending their playoff streak to three seasons. 

The Sharks chances to make the playoffs for a fourth year in a row when Shields got injured, throwing the rookie into the fire to keep the team afloat in his absence. Nabokov showed far more promise than anyone could have realistically expected, not giving Shields the net back. 

San Jose raced out to a 9-2-2 start, and by the time Shields was able to return, “Nabby” had solidified himself as the starter moving forward. Shields’ name plate on his jersey may as well read “Pipp,” getting traded later in the year in a package that brought in Teemu Selanne from the Anaheim Mighty Ducks because of the emergence of Nabokov.

Nabokov’s hot start carried over to mid-season where his excellence was rewarded an all-star selection. The phase the NHL All-Star Game was in at the time was a North America team vs. a World team, where Nabokov shared one of three goalie roster spots with hall-of-famer Dominik Hasek and Roman Cechmanek of the Flyers. 

North America led 9-7 going into the third period which belonged to Nabokov, where he matched Martin Brodeur giving up five goals, but was handed the loss in North America’s 14-12 win in the host city Denver. 

Nabokov maintained his excellence throughout the season post all-star break, leading the Sharks to their first 40 win season in franchise history. San Jose earned the #5 seed in the Western Conference after finishing 2nd behind the Dallas Stars in the Pacific Division. Nabokov ended his year with a 32-21-7 record, a .910 SV%, and a .219 GAA, good enough for him to be named on the all-rookie team and 4th in Vezina voting. 

Nabokov’s incredible rookie season is one that shouldn’t be forgotten, considering goalies seldom win the award for the year’s best rookie. Only two since have won the Calder between the pipes, Andrew Raycroft in 2003-04 for the Bruins and Steve Mason in 2008-09 for the Blue Jackets. 

Nabokov ended his career as the best goalie in Sharks franchise history with 563 games played, 293 wins, two conference finals appearances and is still the lone Sharks goalie to score a goal and the first goalie in NHL history to score a power play goal.

Let’s hope that Celebrini can continue to shine on both sides of the puck and keep his current pace as the leading rookie goal scorer to bring home a companion to Nabokov’s Calder in the Sharks’ trophy case.