The season ticket holder was unhappy about something—Baker, the San Jose Sharks president, can’t remember what it was—and he didn’t let up. So Becher threw out an Ave Maria. Who is your favorite player? Becher expected the usual suspects: Patrick Marleau or Joe Thornton or Brent Burns.
Instead, the fan said, “Doug.”
DougWilson, the team’s general manager from May 13, 2003 to April 7, 2022, had only played two seasons for the Sharks, just 86 games in a career that would span 1,024 games in the NHL, the remainder playing for the Chicago Blackhawks . But Becher saw an opportunity; He offered to meet Wilson, the team’s first-ever captain.
“The guy literally started shaking,” said Becher.
The couple answered the phone. Wilson turned on the charm and listed all the reasons why he shouldn’t even be in the top 10 fan favorite players. The anger was forgotten. The fan was happy.
“There are probably a hundred of these stories that come to mind,” said Becher.
This is Wilson.
The Sharks will honor Wilson in a ceremony prior to their game against the Chicago Blackhawks Saturday (10 p.m. ET; NBCSCA, NBCSCH, ESPN+, SN NOW) at the SAP Center, including the unveiling of a banner featuring Wilson’s contributions to the franchise.
Because that’s a lot.
Under Wilson, who took a medical leave from San Jose last November and retired in April, the Sharks became one of the NHL’s premier franchises, making the Stanley Cup playoffs in 14 of the 15 seasons between 2003 and 2019. From 2003 to 22, only two teams, the Pittsburgh Penguins (773) and the Boston Bruins (769), won more regular season games than the Sharks (763). They lost the 2016 Stanley Cup Finals to the Penguins in six games.
“Doug has literally touched every corner of the franchise, from being our first captain, to providing emotional leadership during the first two years, to his return as GM, the second-longest serving GM in hockey history,” said Becher. of Wilson’s status just behind David Poile of the Nashville Predators. “It’s too simplistic to say that everywhere you go you can see traces of your fingerprints.
“Honoring him is honoring our own legacy, not just honoring the man.”
Wilson was there from the start after 14 seasons with the Blackhawks. He had 779 points (225 goals, 554 assists) in 938 games for Chicago as a smart defender with a big throw and scored 39 goals en route to winning the Norris Trophy, voted the NHL’s best defenseman, in 1981-82. He was sold to the Sharks expansion on September 6, 1991 and made captain, becoming a key element in developing a culture that continues to this day.
Wilson was elected to the Hockey Hall of Fame in 2020, his 24th year of eligibility, and was inducted in 2021.
“I think being on the ground floor of something brand new has been a wonderful challenge,” Wilson told NHL.com ahead of his induction into the Hall of Fame. “It was almost like a pioneering spirit and all the guys from those teams in the first few years that came out and played at the aromatic Cow Palace.
“But I think a lot of the players, especially in the first couple of years, really developed a great relationship with our fanbase and all the players that we’ve had over the years.”
Perhaps none more so than Wilson.
It was Wilson’s idea in the mid-2000s that San Jose players should hand out some of the season tickets to fans, with players like Thornton and Devon Setoguchi showing up on the doorstep. It was Wilson who constantly sought to make the team better through closer ties to the community in which they live. It was Wilson who had devised trades for players like center Thornton, defender Burns and Eric Karlson and drafted players like centers Joe Pavelski, Logan Couture and Thomas HertlForward Timo Meier and defender Marc Edouard Vlasic.
“He was the first captain and was a very important player for the Sharks when they started,” said Pavelski, the 2015-19 Sharks captain who now plays for the Dallas Stars. “Then to jump right into that GM role and then hold that position and build that team from the ground up. He identified certain areas and created that atmosphere in the tank (SAP Center) which was exciting as a player and have a home game.”
San Jose was an inviting destination, not only because of the Californian weather and the team’s perennial contender status, but also because of the atmosphere that was created.
“Doug always wanted to make San Jose a place where players wanted to play,” said his son, Doug Wilson, Jr., who spent 10 years scouting and hockey with the Sharks and is now an amateur scout with the Seattle Kraken is . “And they knew the organization believed in them.
“I don’t think it’s a surprise that under his rule the Sharks were known for developing native players because it was always Doug and [senior advisor] Tim Burke’s philosophy that if we invested or traded a draft pick in you or signed you as a free agent, you were one of us.
That’s how Couture, the current Sharks captain, felt. That Wilson believed in him. That he not only picked him the number 9 in the 2007 NHL Draft, but that he traded himself in for it.
He felt the embrace of the organization and Wilson.
“He obviously means a lot to the Sharks,” Couture said. “He was with this organization for a long time. He set the standard and built teams that have competed for a Stanley Cup year after year. It’s a difficult thing in this league. I think a lot of individuals are in. This space obviously owes a lot to Doug and the organization as a whole.”
Couture offered three names that epitomize the Sharks, three that have meant more to the franchise than anyone else: Thornton, Marleau and, of course, Wilson.
As Becher said, “I suspect long after I leave the organization — let’s call it 20, 30 years — the essence of Doug will still be there.”
NHL.com contributor Tom Gulitti and NHL.com independent correspondent Taylor Baird contributed to this report
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