SAP Center

SAP Center in downtown San Jose, universally nicknamed "the Shark Tank," is the home of the Sharks and one of the NHL's most distinctive game-day environments. The teal-and-black crowd, the fog and shark-fin entrance the players skate through, and the tank motif woven into the building's design make it instantly recognizable on broadcasts. Beyond hockey, the arena is a major concert and events venue for the South Bay, drawing top touring acts between Sharks homestands. It's an intimate bowl by NHL standards, which keeps the noise trapped and the atmosphere loud even on a mid-season Tuesday.

The arena opened in September 1993 as the San Jose Arena, with the Sharks moving in that October after two seasons split between other Bay Area venues. It has hosted the 1997 NHL All-Star Game, multiple Frozen Four-style amateur events, and other major concerts and combat-sports cards over the decades. Its signature moment came in 2016, when the building hosted home games of the Sharks' first-ever trip to the Stanley Cup Final. Renamed SAP Center in 2013 after decades as the San Jose Arena and later HP Pavilion, the building's shark-head entrance remains one of hockey's most copied traditions leaguewide.