This Saturday, the Sharks will retire the
number 19, which of course was Joe Thornton's number. While I usually don't
think much of number retirements, this one is on the mark. Thornton has been
the greatest Shark ever.
I remember hearing the shocking news, on
November 30, 2005, that he'd been sent to the Sharks, for Marco Sturm, Brad
Stuart, and Wayne Primeau. It seemed as if the Boston Bruins' GM at the time
just wanted to send Thornton some place far away, where Thornton couldn't come
back to haunt them. Thornton immediately starred for the Sharks, racking up 92
points in just Sharks 58 games that season.
He won the Hart Trophy as
the league MVP and the Art Ross trophy as the leading point-getter (125 points
total) that season, despite being on two different teams. And with Thornton's
help, Jonathan Cheechoo tallied 56 goals that campaign, snagging him the
Maurice "Rocket" Richard Trophy for most goals.
The Sharks overall
kept making and making the playoffs when Thornton was here, something they no
longer do, with the team out of the playoffs since 2019. Thornton ended up
spending 15 seasons with the Sharks (counting the 2005-06 season, which he of
course started with the Bruins). He had a total of a massive 1,091 points with
the Sharks.
Thornton then moved on to brief stints in Toronto
and Florida before his career was over. Of course, it's disappointing that
Thornton never won the Stanley Cup. But in due time, he will have easy entrance
into the Hockey Hall of Fame.
These days, Thornton can be seen in one
of the luxury boxes at Sharks games and apparently has had Macklin Celebrini, a
brand new Sharks star, living with him. Let's all salute Joe Thornton for the
wonderful career he had with the Sharks, and thank him for all the success he
brought to the fans.
