2012-13 Media Guide - NHL.com

JOHN TORTORAEXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT AND GENERAL COUNSELJohn Tortora enters his second season as executive vice president and general counselfor Sharks Sports & Entertainment (SSE) and will oversee all legal matters pertaining tothe company. He also serves as an alternate governor for SSE in representing the teamJat NHL board meetings. Tortora, 43, joined the organization after 14 years with the NationalHockey League (NHL) office in New York, where he most recently was vice president, media.Tortora is responsible for overseeing the legal aspects for all SSE properties and businesses, including thecontractual relationships with corporate partners, suite holders, broadcasters, financial institutions, event and servicecontractors, and major service providers. In addition, Tortora is involved with certain hockey operational functionsincluding NHL/CBA compliance matters as well as other League compliance issues. Tortora works closely with the Cityof San Jose on all HP Pavilion and Sharks Ice at San Jose issues and also addresses general liability and insurancematters, oversees human resource issues, and coordinates all external legal services utilized by the organization.The New Jersey native earned his law degree from the Seton Hall University School of Law in 1994, where hewas editor-in-chief of the Seton Hall Journal of Sport Law during the 1993-94 school year. Tortora has a broad rangeof experience working at the NHL in the areas of negotiating and analyzing local and national television and radioagreements for both the English and French languages; navigating content rights issues across the digital cable, mobileand broadband platforms; enforcing NHL team and telecaster territorial rights; and monitoring regulatory matters inCanada and the United States.During his time at the NHL, he developed a strong institutional knowledge concerning the NHL governance of mediamatters and was actively involved in the launch of the NHL Network and the operation of the NHL Center Ice out-ofmarketpackage. He worked closely with the NHL’s senior management team as well as each of the 30 NHL teams andtheir local broadcasters. Tortora is a member of the New York and New Jersey State Bars and is registered in-housecounsel with the State Bar of California.DOUG WILSONEXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT AND GENERAL MANAGER (SHARKS)Since being named the team’s executive vice president and general manager on May 13,2003, Doug Wilson has strategically built the San Jose Sharks into one of the NationalHockey League’s top franchises through strong drafting, shrewd trades and timely freeSagent signings.In his eight seasons in charge of the Sharks hockey department, Wilson has guidedthe team to its most successful era since the franchise’s inception, capturing a Presidents’ Trophy (2009), five PacificDivision titles and advancing to the Western Conference Final on three occasions (2004, 2010, 2011).In his tenure as general manager, only the Detroit Red Wings have appeared in more Stanley Cup Playoff rounds (19)than San Jose (17).During that same span, the Sharks have averaged 106 points per season, rank second in the NHL in regular seasonpoints (849 points, 382-189-85 record) and are second in wins among all NHL teams.The Sharks have eight consecutive 40+ win seasons (tied for second-most among current NHL teams) and theyposted five consecutive 100-point seasons (2007-2011).Wilson’s focus in team-building is forging the team through drafting and development, retaining the organization’skey players and making the Sharks organization a place that players want to come and play. Entering the 2012-13season, since the 2003 NHL Entry Draft, Wilson’s first at the helm of the team, Sharks draft selections have played thesecond-most games of any NHL team’s draft picks (4,078), despite the organization having the lowest average draftposition of any NHL team during that span (137.96).In his current role, Wilson, 55, has overall authority regarding all hockey-related operations. He oversees all playerpersonnel decisions, negotiates player contracts, coordinates the efforts of the team’s scouting department, leads theteam in its draft day preparation and administers the club’s player evaluation process at all professional, minor andjunior levels.Wilson serves as one of the franchise’s alternate governors to the NHL’s Board of GovernorsIn his previous role as the team’s director of pro development (1997-03), the 16-year NHL veteran’s responsibilitiesincluded evaluating talent at all professional and minor league levels and continuous assessment of the Sharks rosterand reserve list. In addition, he provided valuable input assisting in the club’s player development programs andconsulting with the hockey department on all major personnel issues, special assignments and contract negotiations.Working closely with the entire hockey department, Wilson played a major role in creating a positive atmospherein the dressing room and on-the-ice attractiveness to obtaining and retaining veteran free agents during the team’sre-building period such as Vincent Damphousse, Mike Ricci, Gary Suter, Scott Thornton and Mike Vernon.FRONT OFFICEsjsharks.com • TWITTER: @SanJoseSharks13