San Jose Sharks - NHL.com

executives
where his responsibilities included ticket sales, marketing, advertising and corporate sponsorships. His experience
also includes stints as vice president of sales and promotions for the Arena Football League’s Anaheim Piranhas as
well as general manager of several franchises in the Major Indoor Soccer League.
A native of Cleveland, Russell earned a bachelor’s in communications from Ohio University and a master’s in
sports administration from The Ohio State University.
Russell and his wife, Mary, recently celebrated their 25th wedding anniversary and reside in San Jose.
Rich Sotelo
Vice President of Building Operations
Rich Sotelo enters his 17th year with Silicon Valley Sports & Entertainment
and his 10th as vice president of building operations. From 1995-99, he served as
director of operations for San Jose Arena Management.
Sotelo, 52, oversees various aspects of HP Pavilion at San Jose’s Building
Operations Department, including audio/visual, engineering, security, conversion,
cleaning, facility enhancements and construction projects. In addition, Sotelo is
responsible for coordinating the facility’s Emergency Response Contingency Planning
and, utilizing his past knowledge and involvement with labor union negotiations, he
is HP Pavilion at San Jose’s liaison and main negotiator in handling all collective bargaining agreements with the
various unions.
With a 27-year background in engineering and facility operations, Sotelo, who began his career at San
Jose Arena after initially being hired in 1993 by Johnson Controls, also possesses an intricate understanding of
the building’s inner workings. He has extensively handled equipment and facility shakedown, developed a vast
knowledge of arena equipment and facilities, implemented the process to inspect and catalog all equipment
locations and continues to monitor all maintenance needs.
His experience was invaluable in managing HP Pavilion at San Jose improvement projects such as the
installation of an additional ice making chiller, installation of dehumidification equipment and the challenging
placement of the HP Pavilion signs that adorn both entrances and the roof.
In the summer of 2007, Sotelo oversaw the ambitious, $17.5-million capital upgrades project to HP Pavilion
that included the new, multi-level Daktronics LED scoreboard, LED full color fascia display, a state-of-the-art
seating-area sound system, acoustic panels, roof-rigging weight capacity increase, a new HDTV control room
and an additional concourse level suite.
In addition to onsite building projects, he worked on and oversaw two separate expansion and renovation
projects of Sharks Ice at San Jose, which included the addition of a multi-million dollar, 58,000-square foot
training and practice facility for the Sharks in August 2000 and a fourth sheet of ice in 2005. The facility is now
the largest ice facility under one roof west of the Mississippi River. In addition, the facility added Stanley’s, a
5,400-square foot sports bar which overlooks three of the four ice surfaces and boasts 11 flat-screen plasma
televisions and a state-of-the-art sound system.
A native Californian, Sotelo was raised in San Leandro and attended Chabot College in Hayward. Sotelo is on
the board of directors for the San Jose Sports Hall of Fame.
Wayne Thomas
Vice President and Assistant General Manager
FRONT OFFICE
Wayne Thomas recently completed his 13th season as assistant general manager
and his eighth as vice president, providing Sharks Executive Vice President and
General Manager Doug Wilson with an experienced, versatile and valuable assistant.
Thomas, 61, is well versed in all aspects of the National Hockey League,
garnering experience from 39 years of being a player, head coach, assistant coach,
advance scout and executive. Before his promotion in March 1996, he was in his
third season as Sharks assistant coach and assistant to the general manager.
An Ottawa, Ontario native, Thomas is intimately involved with all aspects of the Sharks on- and off-ice
operations, including evaluating players on the Sharks reserve list with special emphasis on goaltenders,
scouting other NHL teams and taking an active role in contract negotiations and player personnel matters.
In addition, Thomas serves as the general manager of the American Hockey League’s Worcester Sharks (the
organization’s top development affiliate) and also supervises the relationship between the organization and its
other player development teams, including the ECHL’s Kalamazoo Wings. Last season, Worcester advanced to
the AHL Atlantic Division Finals.
For the past six seasons, Thomas has also taken on a more advanced, day-to-day role in working with the
2009-10 SAN JOSE SHARKS ORGANIZATION GUIDE • 17