Logan Couture remembers the sunny days for the NHL's three California-based teams.
"For five to seven years, it seemed like there was a California team in the conference final every year," the San Jose Sharks captain said. "Teams that came from the East to play here would say that they just needed to get a point or two from the three-game stretch. They just tried to survive."
From the 2009-10 through 2018-19 seasons, teams from the Golden State made the Western Conference finals nine times. The Sharks made it four times, advancing to the 2016 Stanley Cup Final, where they lost to Pittsburgh.