Is there a more perfect way to celebrate your 25th anniversary than drinking an adult beverage from the Stanley Cup?

Going into this NHL season, even the most avid Sharks fans of were wondering if their team had lost its teeth and the desire to take the ultimate bite out of Lord Stanley’s cup.

Perhaps you have seen the news reports over the past few weeks regarding a number of Great White sightings in and around Monterey Bay. The naturalists have focused on El Nino. I think it has more to do with The Pavelski Effect or The Thornton Tide. This Carcharodon carcharias fraternity could smell a Stanley Cup Final as easily as a school of fat mackerel. And the feeding frenzy is on with Shark Week arriving in the Bay Area. (Penguins always make a tasty meal for the ultimate apex predator.)

The Giants and Warriors championships have increased the appetite to add a Stanley Cup to the Bay Area trophy case. And teal will be turning into green with the Sharks business bandwagon taking on a whole new group of paying passengers.

Season Tickets

The timing of the team’s run to the final couldn’t have come at a better time. Empty seats started to show up in 2013 and now the Sharks will be able to fill in those loyalists who took a hike due to their recent frustrations. The franchise should be able to get back to 15,000 or more FSEs (Full Season Equivalents). This number will give them the base to sell out the remaining ticket revenue packages for the 2016-17 season and beyond.

Sharks Ice

As it is, ice time is tough to come by for amateur skaters. Now, many young skaters might be asking their parents to help lace them up. Be prepared for major local expenditures on hockey equipment.

Stanley Cup Playoff Beards

Bad time for barbers. Even people who have a hard time growing any facial hair will give it a try.

Local Business

It's New Year's Eve and the Super Bowl rolled up into one for local bars and restaurants. From those coming in before and after games to those who will be glued to flat screen TVs who aren’t lucky enough to be inside the madness of SAP, business numbers should be at least five times higher than regular game night grosses based on stats from Super Bowl 50.

First Visits and New Eyeballs

As loyal as the Sharks fan base has been for 25 years, there will be many first-timers coming to see the first ever Stanley Cup games in the Bay Area. Add in the tens of thousands who will be tuning in and paying attention to hockey for the first time. Those newbies will be blown away by the size and speed of the game. The fan conversion factor could be high based on the result.

Sponsorship

Renewals, Check. New Sponsors, invite them into a suite and close the door. The marketing gurus at the Sharks will be able to show the larger postseason metrics in TV ratings and social media to push any fence sitters into the buy side.

Merchandise

One of the coolest logos in sports will be rediscovered nationally and sell out both regionally and locally. During the team’s launch, their branding was at the cutting edge. In recent years the NHL has focused on the original six teams with an occasional outlier like the LA Kings. It will not be safe to go into the water over the next few weeks without your new Sharks gear.

25th Anniversary

This year celebrated those loyalists who were on hand at the Cow Palace in 1991 for the Sharks' debut, those who chomped their way through six division championships and celebrated a group of players that helped launch and grow the franchise’s success in Northern California.

Barracuda

To build their hockey business, the Sharks added a predator to The Tank. The Barracuda swam with the Sharks’ when they moved from Worcester, MA and changed names as part of the new Pacific Division of the AHL (American Hockey League).

Shark’s COO John Tortora described the main business reason for the relocation: “There is no better way to grow any market especially in the championship spoiled market of Northern California.” Attendance for their toothy neighbors will increase next season.

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With cash registers ringing on many fronts, it is time to raise your sticks to those that owned, administered, marketed, built and skated with the Sharks over the past 25 years.

George and Gordon Gund, Art Savage, Doug Wilson, Greg Jamison, Matt Levine, Dan Rusanowsky, Arturs Irbe, Own Nolan, Pat Falloon, Mike Ricci, Evgeni Nabokov, Igor Larianov, Todd McClellan, Patrick Marleau, Joe Thornton, Joe Pavelski and throw in SJ Sharkie and the Cow Palace for good luck.

It’s Shark Week! Start chomping!