BURLINGAME, Calif. – The quicker the San Jose Sharks forget their label as the NHL's newest team, the better.

“We have to keep the words ‘expansion team' out of our vocabulary,” Brian Mullen said Tuesday at the first media gathering of San Jose players.

“And we won't be able to use it as an excuse for losing games. We're not going to be able to say that we're just another expansion team.”

Mullen, acquired by the Sharks from the New York Rangers in exchange for Tim Kerr, echoed what the eight players who met with the media Tuesday said will he the way the team will approach its inaugural season.

“Most of these guys have played in the NHL,” Mullen said. “It's not like everybody is a new player. It's just like we're just another team.”

The Sharks have 34 players on their roster, thanks to a dispersal draft with the Minnesota North Stars, which netted 24 players, and an NHL expansion draft, which landed 10 more.

Mullen and seven teammates, including veterans Bob McGill and Brian Hayward, were brought together for the first time over the weekend. Also in town were defensemen Rob Zettler and Neil Wilkinson, center Tony Hrkac, goalie Jeff Hackett, and winger Craig Coxe.

With a roster containing 26 players under 25 years-old,, the Sharks will open the 1991-92 season on October 6 looking more like a team rebuilding with youth than a typical expansion team.

“Most of the past expansion teams have ended up with a lot of older guys,” McGill said. “This time, this is a good young team that needs some leadership. I think we're going to learn to win quickly. It already feels like a team. The guys seem really close.”

Hayward, Wilkinson and Zettler come to the Sharks from the North Stars, who advanced to the Stanley Cup Finals, while McGill comes from the Chicago Blackhawks, who had the most points in the NHL.

All three were anxious to be part of the Sharks' first season, even though it figures to be a lean one in terms of victories.

“It's a challenge, really,” Wilkinson said. “It's another obstacle. When you're growing up you say, ‘I want to ‘play junior hockey.' Then it's T want a contract.' Then ‘I want to make it to the minors.' Then 'I want to play in the NHL.' This is just another challenge to get through.”

The Sharks are set to add 13 more young players to their youthful character in the NHL entry draft on June 22. San Jose has the second pick overall, and the first pick in the second through 12th rounds. The Sharks also have the Minnesota North Star's second-round choice, the 30th overall.

The Sharks also announced their radio and television broadcast teams on Tuesday.

Joe Starkey, the radio voice for the San Francisco 49ers who worked for seven years with the Califoimia Golden Seals, and former NHL All Star Dennis Hull will serve as the Sharks' play-by-play announcer and color analyst on the Sharks' 30 televised games.

Dan Rusanowsky, who spent the last five seasons as the radio announcer for the New Haven Nighthawks of the American Hockey League, will be the Sharks' radio announcer.