Big Joe, Super Joe, Jumbo Joe, Thorty
One of the few bright spots for the Sharks over the entirety of this first quarter of the season has been none other than Joe Thornton. The player who turned around the Sharks fortunes nine years ago in a mid-season trade is still their best forward. And the notion that the Sharks were hoping to trade him this offseason is one of many reasons a rather large percentage of fans are fed up with management. Not only are Sharks fans confused about why they would want to get rid of him, so are a number of respected media.
Now on Saturday night the Sharks host the Ducks while looking to end a four game losing streak. The last time the Sharks played Anaheim they were also coming off a four game losing streak. Both times San Jose had lost to a number of bad teams, including league worst Buffalo in both of the streaks. What happened in that first Ducks game you ask? Well, the Sharks cruised to a 4-1 victory and Joe Thornton showed tremendous leadership. The veteran center blocked a shot in the middle of the opening frame and had to immediately hobble off the ice. A few shifts later he came back and dished a laser assist to Joe Pavelski for a power-play goal.
Thornton has been nothing short of terrific this season. The man who the coaching staff and upper management decided to take the captaincy away from continues to be their best forward on a nightly basis. During this past offseason Doug Wilson told the public there was an apparent locker room rift last season. However, neither veteran defenseman Dan Boyle nor Brad Stuart seemed to be aware of this apparent “rift”. Now taking the captaincy away from a big personality like Joe Thornton, is that supposed to help this team’s camaraderie? Apparently some don’t take to Thornton’s brand of humor, but if his jokes are a problem for fourth line players, they are the ones who should take a hike, not Thornton. Being around this team on a regular basis, it is quite clear that Thornton and Patrick Marleau are tied at the hip, signing essentially matching contracts to stay together. Thornton and Burns act like they are childhood buddies in the dressing room, and every time he’s asked about Thornton, Logan Couture always calls him the best passer in the world. Not to mention, Joe Pavelski elevated himself to even more of a household name by scoring 40 goals on his wing. Trading Thornton was supposed to be the cure of the locker room? Please.
Thornton is having his same typical season production wise but he is also shooting the puck like he did in his Bruins days. He is averaging nearly two shots on goal per game with a fifteen percent shooting percentage to lead the team. Since Thornton has become predominately a passer in his time with San Jose, people forget he twice scored over 35 goals while with the Bruins. In the two seasons with over 30 goals, he tallied 171 and 196 shots. Most of his time in San Jose though he has finished between 120 and 150 shots per year. He is currently on pace for 157 shots. While he has had similar or even higher shot totals as a Shark in the past, his biggest shooting outputs came in his first two full seasons. The league has since gotten much tighter defensively in years since. Last season Thornton finished with just 122. Therefore, being on pace for 35 more shots is a good thing, especially for a team struggling to score goals.
Right now Thornton is doing everything he can to right the ship. It’s just too bad his crew members aren’t pulling their weight, just like they didn’t in the 2012 playoff series against the Blues. Thornton was a terrific captain in that series, as he was the best player on the ice by far for either team. Boy oh boy would it be something he ever scored four goals in a game. (<— warning this link includes vulgar language) San Jose might need him to do that just to win a game again. They simply can’t buy a goal in their current skid.
Hey Andrew, you also forgot to mention in the 2014 playoffs Joe was a -6.
I know I am not the only Sharks fan who has seen an exceptionally talented Thornton historically play a lazy game, lack grit, and not stepping it up in the playoffs. I wanted him traded this summer. That being said he now looks like a new player. He is working hard at both ends of the ice and shooting! Too bad it took the threat of a trade to get him to step up his game, but cudos to Wilson it worked!
Yeah he was only their best player in the playoffs both in 2012 and 2013….
Hey Andrew, who cares about the 2012 or 2013 playoffs. The fact that you didn’t mention his 2014 playoff performance just proves his inability to bring San Jose a Stanley Cup. Let me inform you, Joe’s 2014 playoff performance In 7 games was 2 goals, 1 assist and 8 minutes in penalties.
Wilson has always looked for the quick fix or the scapegoat after a playoff disappointment. But Wilson has never displayed a clear philosophy on how to build a Stanley Cup Champion. In 2014, Joe was the scapegoat. In 2007. Wilson thought we needed an offensive minded defenseman, based on our playoff performance from the previous year, so he signed Brian Campbell. We lost key face-offs during the Stanley Cups for 2009, so Manny Malholtra was the quick fix. In 2010, Nabby was the scapegoat, Niemi was hired in hopes of stealing some playoff games for us. I could go on, but you get the idea. Some of the additions and the blaming might have been accurate, but rotating people and blaming isn’t the same as having a coherent philosophy. What kind of team will bring you the cup? In Montreal, they think it is speed. In Detroit the emphasis is the “D” and getting the puck out of your zone and the neutral areas with the fewest possible passes. In L.A. it started with building a team around Quick. In St. Louis it’s a team that forsakes speed for the brawney players that will wear you down during the playoffs. Now during the playoffs nobody knows when your goalie might go cold, weird lucky rebounds go against you or you’re hit with dreadful injuries, but there is a plan. And with a plan or philosophy, the day to day problems can be addressed before they blow up into a crisis. And when you are in a crisis situation you can’t think how to logically solve the problem. With crisis, management only has two ineffective approaches, the quick fix or the scapegoat. The Sharks are in a crisis, and for right now, Joe is the scapegoat.
Wilson never seems to point the finger at himself, oh yeah he just waived a player he signed to a 4 year, 1.85 million per year contract two years ago, but its Jumbos fault.