Sharks’ Thornton still making impact
When Sharks center Logan
Couture suggests that teammate Joe Thornton is underrated, he’s spot on.
San Jose’s alternate captain made the observation the night Jumbo Joe passed Gordie
Howe to take sole possession of ninth place all-time with 1,050 assists. In that same game in Vancouver on Monday, Thornton surpassed two others with whom he had been tied for 15th all-time in games played and tied Teemu Selanne for 15th in career points.
On Thursday, Thornton served up the primary assist on San Jose’s only goal during a loss to Washington to leave Selanne behind with point No. 1,458. This impressive assault on the NHL record book goes to support Evander Kane jokingly saying after a recent game how Thornton’s teammates grow tired of hearing which milestone he set on any particular night.
Want more? Thornton appeared in his 1,500th game Nov. 8. He scored his 400th goal three games later. Combine those accomplishments with previously collecting 1,000 assists and Thornton became just the seventh player in league history to hit all three milestones.
His glowing numbers aside, what Thornton has done best in 21 NHL seasons is make players around him better and set the culture for a welcoming and fun-loving locker room that still demands winning once the team hits the ice.
It’s a cliche to hear that a player makes others better, but look what Thornton has done for young Sharks forwards
Marcus Sorensen and Kevin Labanc lately. Current and former Sharks Jonathan
Cheechoo (56), Patrick Marleau (44), Joe Pavelski (41) and Devin Setoguchi (31) all enjoyed career-high goal seasons
when playing alongside Thornton.
Dany Heatley played left wing on Thornton’s line in Heatley’s first season in San Jose and produced his last 30plus goal total (39) after scoring 50 twice in Ottawa. Brent
Burns scored 22 the one season he played forward next to Thornton. And before Jumbo was traded to San Jose, Rick
Nash profited alongside Thornton, scoring 27 goals in 44 games with Davos of the Swiss league during the 2004-05 lockout season after Glen Murray boosted his goal totals playing with Thornton in Boston.
Sharks coach Peter DeBoer put it best when talking about Thornton: “That culture is based around his personality. We’re going to have fun, but we’re going to put in an honest day’s work. That’s what he’s all about.”
Where does the 39-year-old, playing under a second oneyear contract, go from here? Thornton is nine points behind No. 14 Stan Mikita, 12 assists away from No. 8 Steve Yzerman and eight games from No. 14 Alex Delvecchio.
My advice? Enjoy every minute of Thornton’s late-career play in San Jose. It’s going to be a long, long time before we see another player like him. If ever.
Two to tango? With just over a week before the Feb. 25 trade deadline, press boxes at NHL arenas are stuffed with scouts. And while it’s a dangerous game to predict dance partners in possible deals, it’s worth noting that Flyers senior adviser Dean Lombardi (who preceded Doug Wilson as San Jose’s general manager) attended Thursday’s Sharks-Capitals game. Philadelphia forward
Wayne Simmonds — a pending unrestricted free agent — could provide a team playofftested grit with the ability to chip in offensively. Hockey humor: Flames forward James Neal lost eight teeth after getting struck by a high stick last Saturday. How did teammates treat the veteran, who said he lost 13 teeth earlier in his career? They suggested Neal needs subtitles when he talks.
Briefly: What’s the over/under on the number of trades on Feb. 25? It’s 19½, as set by BetOnline. … Toronto’s 21-year-old Auston
Matthews scored his 100th and 101st goals in just his 187th career game Thursday. … Rookie goalie Jordan Binnington, 25, is doing his best Andrew
Hammond impersonation (remember “The Hamburglar” with Ottawa in 2015?) by going 11-1-1 since his first NHL start Jan. 7 while leading St. Louis on an improbable push to the playoffs.