Sharks Finding Their Way to San Jose

Before any worries about power plays, line combinations or road trips, the new members of the San Jose Sharks face a summer filled with personal matters.

Adjusting to California real estate prices, assessing school systems, not to mention scouting out an easy tee-off time, all the fun stuff that goes with relocating to a new city awaits most of the 34 players thrown onto the Sharks’ roster, and into a state of limbo.

“The on-ice part is easy,” said Brian Mullen, acquired by the Sharks in a trade with the New York Rangers. “Scouting out neighborhoods, school systems, hospitals, getting a doctor, that’s the hard part.”

Mullen, and his wife, Linda, have an infant son and a daughter whose kindergarten status has been put in doubt by the move. Bob McGill, a defenseman from Chicago, brings a wife, Mary, and three children, including a four-week old daughter, Jessie, born four weeks pre-mature. Goalie Brian Hayward comes from Minnesota with his wife, Angie, and two girls, including an 8-week-old.

“So far, we have five wives with 11 kids,” Mary McGill said. “And I have most of them.”

Mullen, McGill and Hayward were among the first players brought to the Bay Area by the Sharks for a weekend of introductions, interviews and photo sessions. While the NHL expansion franchise that begins play in the 1991-92 seasons wanted to make a media splash after more than a year of business-related announcements, the players and their wives tried to squeeze in some looking around.

“We were just renting (a home in Apple Valley, Minn.) because we thought something might happen,” Angie Hayward said. “But we had just settled into a house. We had babysitters. We were just getting comfortable in the city (of Minneapolis) itself.

“Now we have to start all over again. It’s an overwhelming feeling. Once we’re settled, it won’t seem so bad, but at this stage ...”

At this stage, the 34 players find joining an expansion team nothing like being traded from one existing team to another. The Haywards moved from Montreal to Minneapolis last November when Brian was traded from the Canadiens to the North Stars, but they have come up against a new set of problems with this switch.

“It’s different here than when we moved the first time,” Angie Hayward said. “There’s nobody who is established here, nobody to ask about a pediatrician or a hospital they like.

“There’s nobody to take your hand. We’re all going into this blind.”

Bob McGill played six seasons in Toronto before spending four years in Chicago, so coming to Northern California will offer at least one welcomed change.

“My wife and I, we have three kids, there’s lot’s to do,” Bob McGill said. “But we’re coming to a place where it’s going to be warm all winter. I think the girls are going to like that. We could have been going to a place cold all winter. I think it’s going to be fun.”

Sharks team officials have set up players with real estate agents, and furnished them with information published by cities and school systems up and down the peninsula between San Jose and San Francisco. There is not much else the team can do.

“(General manager) Jack (Ferreira) has been here nine months, and I’ve been here less than a year,” said Sharks Director of Public Relations Tim Bryant. “And we’re not just talking about one or two players here.”

Each family is hesitant to commit to moving into a neighborhood. The team will play just two seasons at the Cow Palace in Daly City, Calif., some 20 miles north of San Jose, where the team’s permanent home is currently being constructed.

“The players and their families tend to migrate to one certain area,” said Mary McGill. “If you think about it, we’re going to determine where everybody else is going to live.”

Not a popular responsibility.

“Nobody wants to be the first one to get a place,” Linda Mullen said. “What if everybody ends up moving someplace else? ... We’re all in the same boat at this point. I think we’re just going to rent something for a year and get a feel for things.”

Including those California real estate prices.

“We’re from New York, so the prices are not as much of a shock for us as they are to anybody coming from Minnesota,” Linda Mullen said.

While Brian Mullen was with the New York Rangers, the Mullens lived next to Kelly Kisio and his family in Mamaroneck, N.Y., a Westchester County suburb of New York City. Kisio also acquired by the Sharks via trade after he was selected by Minnesota

“We lived next to each other in Mamaroneck,” Brian Mullen said. “Both of us coming to San Jose will make it much easier.”

The big question facing the Mullens is whether 4-year-old Nicole will be eligible for Kindergarten in California. She will turn 5 on Christmas Day.

“In New York she was in,” Linda Mullen said. “Here, I don’t know.”

Players who are single don’t know the stress-filled fun they are missing.

Neil Wilkinson, a 22-year-old defenseman who spent last season with the Minnesota North Stars, managed to squeeze in a round of golf in between opening a Sharks store in Cupertino, Calif., and meeting with the press.

While the families spent their free time checking out possible homes, Wilkinson, Rob Zettler, Craig Coxe and Jeff Hackett, all single, managed to get to an Oakland Athletics’ baseball game.

“The single guys, they’re easy,” said Sharks Director of Public Relations Tim Bryant. “They’re just going to rent an apartment five minutes from the practice rink, and 10 minutes from a golf course.”

Still, Wilkinson had to adjust to switching from one organization to another. The 6-foot-3, 180-pound defenseman was drafted by the North Stars in 1986, and was with the team through its unexpected playoff run into the Stanley Cup finals this season.

“One day you’re part of an organization and everybody’s sayin, ‘Hi. That was a great (playoffs) run,”’ Wilkinson said. “The next day it’s ‘Sorry to see you go. Good riddance.’ I have a lot of good friends back in Minnesota who I’m going to miss, but I’m sure I’m going to meet even more people out here.”

That sort of optimism was shared by the Haywards.

“It’s been tough on my family,” Brian Hayward said, “but I’ve heard nothing but good things about the Bay Area. I think it will end up being a good move.”

Until they get settled, these players, and their families, will spend a summer trying to get a read on the Bay Area, which is not as easy as it might sound, even though there is plenty of advice being offered.

“Unfortunately, you talk to 20 people, and you get 20 different opinions,” said Mary McGill.

Said Linda Mullen: “I can’t wait for training camp.”