Former Sharks forward Tim Hunter enters his fifth season as assistant coach with San Jose, after having been named to Head Coach Ron Wilson's staff on Dec. 6, 2002. One of Hunter's primary responsibilities includes working with the team's forwards. Working to create a diversified attack, the Sharks finished the 2005-06 season with four 20-goal scorers, including the League’s top point and goal scorers in Joe Thornton (League-leading 125 points) and Jonathan Cheechoo [Cheechoo (NHL-leading 56 goals), Patrick Marleau (34), Nils Ekman (21) and Thornton (20, plus another nine with Boston)]. In addition, Joe Thornton and Jonathan Cheechoo authored league-leading career seasons with Thornton capturing the Hart Memorial Trophy as the NHL’s most valuable players and the Art Ross Trophy as the NHL’s leading point scorer, and Cheechoo earning the Maurice Rocket’ Richard Trophy as the NHL’s top goal scorer. Previously, he spent five seasons (1997-02) as an assistant coach under Wilson with the Washington Capitals. Hunter, 44, provides an experienced voice in the Sharks locker room and on the bench.Hunter concluded his 16-year National Hockey League playing career with the Sharks following the 1996-97 season and also played for Calgary, Quebec and Vancouver. He won a Stanley Cup with the Flames in 1989 and appeared in two other Stanley Cup Finals (1986 with Calgary and 1994 with Vancouver). A rugged, physical winger, Hunter registered more than 200 penalty minutes in six different seasons and more than 300 minutes in three consecutive seasons. He still holds the Calgary all-time record with 2,405 career penalty minutes, as well as the team's single-season mark with 375 penalty minutes in 1988-89 and ranks eighth in NHL history with 3,146 minutes. He was a third round selection (54th overall) by the Atlanta Flames in the 1979 NHL Entry Draft. Hunter, along with Head Coach Ron Wilson and fellow Assistant Coach Rob Zettler, are among the most technologically savvy NHL coaches. The three utilize laptop computers on the bench for replays and a tablet personal computer for real-time statistics. In addition, the staff also uses a SMART Board "digital chalkboard" in the locker room, which has video streaming and telestrator capabilities.Recently, he has attended several professional development seminars in coaching, communications and computer technology and has helped create and maintain a digital video system that the Sharks coaching staff utilizes on a daily basis during the season. Hunter, along with Zettler, became the first professional sports coaches to receive certification from the Positive Coaching Alliance, an organization dedicated to using sports as a character-building experience based in Stanford, Calif.