My favorite player: Joe Thornton (2024)

The sympathy started pouring in from all corners of the hockey world the day after the NHL trade deadline on Feb. 25, as Joe Thornton expressed his disappointment that he wasn’t headed to a contender. The honesty in his words and the emotion in his voice resonated for a couple reasons: 1) Because Thornton’s legendary career is missing only a championship; and 2) Because it’s rare that the future Hall of Famer is so candid and demonstrative when there’s a camera pointed in his direction in a dressing room.

“I wanted another shot at the Cup,” Thornton said that day in the visitors’ dressing room at Philadelphia’s Wells Fargo Center. “Obviously, I’m getting a little bit older. It’s not my last hurrah, I still think I’ve got more years left. But as you get older you realize you only have so many shots at this thing. It would have been nice to at least have a chance.”

If there’s one thing I’ve learned in my nine seasons covering the Sharks, it’s that Thornton’s media scrums are usually, to put it politely, uneventful. Thornton knows it. Thornton’s teammates know it. The reporters know it. The often silly song-and-dance routine is just one of those necessary parts of the job for everyone involved, particularly when Thornton does something noteworthy in a game.

But they still happen because every once in awhile Thornton does express how he’s really feeling inside. While 99 percent of his interactions with the media are drab and filled with hockey clichés, there are those rare times when he really has something to say. Considering his stature as the Sharks’ all-time greatest player and how much respect he commands around the league and with his teammates, those moments can resonate far longer than maybe he originally intended.

If you haven’t noticed yet, many of us here at The Athletic have been asked to write about our favorite player. I took the approach of selecting the player that has been the most enjoyable for me to cover since I’ve been in San Jose, and there were a few candidates. Dan Boyle was as competitive as anyone I’ve ever covered and he almost always was an insightful interview. Joe Pavelski was a total pro, taking his role as unofficial team spokesman seriously and leaving everything he had on the ice on a nightly basis. Logan Couture has the same kind of fire and always makes himself available to offer his unfiltered opinion on the state of things, even if he’s still stewing after a tough defeat.

But let’s face it, this was an easy decision in the end. Not everyone is fortunate to cover a true legend for nearly a decade, and I do appreciate that I’ve been interacting with Thornton on a day-to-day basis for nearly that long. With that in mind, there are a few Thornton moments that stand out since I got here in 2011. Hopefully, you enjoy this as much as I did putting it together.

Thornton’s infamous take on a four-goal game

Oct. 10, 2013

I was, of course, in the dressing room in Vancouver after the morning skate when Thornton loudly proclaimed that if he were ever to score four goals in a game, “I’d have my co*ck out, stroking it.” I still have the audio, as I was speaking at the time with Patrick Marleau, who started cracking up at Thornton, who was standing by himself removing his gear just a few feet away.

Yes, I laughed, too, and no, I didn’t think anyone would ever write it. I can recall sitting in the media room with the Mercury News’ David Pollak when we both realized that Thornton’s comments were now going viral on Twitter and how the hell were we supposed to handle this? (I was told by my editor at CSN Bay Area to just ignore it.)

I’ve said this a few times, but what’s gotten lost in that moment is that Thornton only made those colorful comments because Tomas Hertl was getting criticized in some hockey circles for his between-the-legs goal and subsequent boisterous celebration in a Sharks blowout win over the Rangers a few days earlier. Hertl, a rookie who was still learning English at that point, was surrounded by a large contingent of media in Vancouver and Thornton overheard a question about the fancy goal that he didn’t like. So he lightened the mood, but what he was really doing was showing Hertl and everyone else that he had the young forward’s back.

I also remember the immediate aftermath of the game later that night, a 4-1 Sharks win. When we went in the dressing room afterward, Thornton was the first to speak — while Billy Squier’s “The Stroke” was playing loudly on the sound system. I’m pretty sure I was the only one that noticed it and couldn’t help but start chuckling. Thornton saw that and gave me a little head nod for picking up on the symbolism. That was the Sharks’ victory song for at least a few more weeks.

Locker clean-out day

April 15, 2015

After the disastrous 2014-15 season mercifully came to an end, there was plenty of speculation about who might not survive the coming offseason. Just one month earlier, after general manager Doug Wilson criticized him at a season-ticket-holder event, Thornton responded by saying that Wilson should “stop lying and shut his mouth,” even suggesting that Wilson had “taken a sabbatical” for the year. Could the two possibly co-exist after that?

But it became clear on getaway day that there was some disagreement between Thornton and coach Todd McLellan, too. After McLellan told reporters that he needed to take time with his family to discuss the next step in his career, Thornton said: “Todd said he has to talk to his family. Maybe he should talk to this family as well in (the dressing room).”

The implication, although somewhat indirect, was still evident: It was Thornton and McLellan who couldn’t co-exist anymore. Shortly after that, the Sharks and McLellan — who didn’t see eye-to-eye with Wilson, either, throughout the course of the season — announced that they were mutually parting ways.

From a personal standpoint, I can also vividly recall a day early in training camp the following September. I had written in the offseason that I believed it was time for the Sharks and Thornton to part ways after everything that went down in 2014-15. I can’t be sure, but I figured because of that piece Thornton was particularly cold with me, at one point even snapping a bit over what I thought was a pretty generic question. The next day (through nerves I attempted to hide), I pulled Joe aside, we had a quick 60-second chat and moved on.

Of course, Thornton proved me and many others wrong throughout the course of the 2015-16 season, scoring 82 points in 82 games and helping lead the Sharks to their only appearance in the Stanley Cup final. Hey, I’m not always right.

Sharks’ morning skate in Calgary

Feb. 7, 2019

It was just another typical morning skate. The Sharks were sitting on the visitors’ bench at the Saddledome waiting for the freshly cut ice to dry when Thornton spotted a woman in the front row of the upper level of the stands wearing a Barclay Goodrow sweater from his junior days with the North Bay Battalion.

Why she was there, I still have no idea, as morning skates are typically closed to the public. But Thornton invited her down to the bench to meet Goodrow in person.

What was particularly funny for those of us sitting in the stands waiting for the skate to begin is that the security guard didn’t know what do to once she got to the bench. Who did this woman think she was, walking out toward the ice just before practice?

Someone, though, told the guard that it was Joe Thornton who asked her to come out there, so everything was fine. The guard quickly understood and she met the boys and even took a few photos.

“She was a huge Goodrow fan,” Thornton explained after the skate. “From North Bay (Ontario) and drove down to see Goodie. She was up top and I was just like, come on down and meet the guy, you know? Goodie was so nice to meet her and sign her stuff, and (Brent Burns) played with the Battalion, so he signed the jersey, too. All the guys are so good. Something hopefully she’ll never forget.”

Thornton’s hat trick against Boston

Feb. 18, 2019

Until the playoffs, this was the most exciting game of the Sharks’ 2018-19 season. It was almost certainly Thornton’s best game. The Sharks erased a 3-0 hole in the first period to take a 5-4 lead in the third period, courtesy of three goals from Jumbo. Naturally, everyone was hoping he’d get that fourth. Instead, the Bruins tied the game thanks to a missed call in the third period and eventually won in overtime, 6-5.

When asked after the game if he was disappointed he couldn’t get a fourth goal, Thornton said: “I’m sure a lot of fans were, yeah (laughs). Good thing. I was working for it, though.”

That game also spawned this popular Thornton GIF, when he raised his arms in celebration after he was shown on the jumbotron following his third goal and first hat trick in nine years. It was surely one of the loudest moments all season at SAP Center, too.

Shame we didn’t get a Sharks-Bruins matchup in the final last year, isn’t it?

Thornton reacts to not getting traded

Feb. 25, 2020

Might as well circle back to where we started — to the day Thornton expressed that he would’ve liked to have been traded.

Shortly after the trade deadline passed the day before, I was tipped off that Thornton was disappointed about not going anywhere. I wasn’t all that surprised. When I spoke to him one-on-one in New York just a few days earlier and he admitted he was tempted about getting traded to a contender, I figured that meant he was probably going to end up getting dealt.

The next morning in Philadelphia was the first chance that the media got to speak with Thornton after the deadline and I really didn’t know what to expect. Prior to the scrum starting, he asked this Philly-area native if I was going to get to see my family while we were in town and then apologized for not wanting to speak with me right after the deadline passed (I had put in a request with the team’s media relations staff, but Thornton declined, which I pretty much expected).

That kind of back-and-forth is typical of Thornton. He’s just a good guy like that.

(Photo by Brandon Magnus / NHLI via Getty Images)

Kevin Kurz is a staff writer for The Athletic NHL based in Philadelphia. He previously covered the New York Islanders and the San Jose Sharks for 10+ years and worked in the Philadelphia Flyers organization. Follow Kevin on Twitter @KKurzNHL