Celebrini shines in dominant Sharks win. Joe Thornton's Hall of Fame induction and career legacy take center stage in this week's recap.
Happy Monday San Jose Sharks fans.
It's that time of the week again, where we look back at the week that was on the The Hockey News' Sharks site.
Enjoy.
The San Jose Sharks had another dominating win last night against the Seattle Kraken, last night.
In a game, where Macklin Celebrini was the headliner, the goals scoring was shared by five other Sharks players.
Right from the jump, they looked like the better all around team. Celebrini got them the lead early with a goal 1:08 into the first. They held the lead for 15 minutes before Ryan Winterton of the Kraken tied it with less than five minutes left in the period.
WHILE THE SAN JOSE Sharks were bottom feeders in the standings last year, the foundations of a winning team were starting to become apparent. Macklin Celebrini, the first-overall pick in the 2024 NHL draft, lived up to the hype and probably surpassed most outside expectations in his rookie NHL campaign. Celebrini led the Sharks in scoring with 63 points in 70 games, then headed off to the World Championship for Canada, where he posted a robust six points in eight outings.
While Team Canada was upset in the quarterfinal by co-host Denmark, Celebrini got an experience any teenage player would kill for: he got to be linemates with Sidney Crosby. “At first, I was a little starstruck,” Celebrini said. “I didn’t want to talk to him too much. But getting more comfortable and being around him more, you realize how genuine a guy he is and how nice he is.”
For Thornton, he got to be inducted as a member of the Sharks, but is being honoured in Toronto, just a two hour drive from his hometown of St. Thomas.
Over his career, he played in 1,714 games and scored 430 goals, 1,109 assists for 1,539 points. He started his career with the Boston Bruins and spent eight seasons there. After that, he was traded to the Sharks, where he spent 15 seasons and became arugbly the greatest Shark of all time.
After his time with San Jose came to an end, he signed with his boyhood Maple Leafs and played a season there. His last season in the NHL came during the 2021-22 season, where he suited up for the Florida Panthers.
Reason No. 8,571 why it’s so freakin’ sweet to be an NHL player: they get into the Hockey Hall of Fame for free. We know that because Joe Thornton dropped that nugget on us the day before the Stanley Cup final. You probably have to show some kind of card, but we’re thinking these days Thornton would be able to just show up and walk in. So that means ‘Jumbo’ saves a cool 48 bucks each time he visits with his wife and two kids. The savings will rocket up to $60 next year when his son, River, turns four and otherwise would be subject to the $12 youth entry fee. Thornton can take the hit, considering he will have made $96,675,000 in career earnings when his contract with the San Jose Sharks expires after this season. “I would pay,” Thornton said about his Hall visits, “but they give it to us for free.”
In honour of Jumbo Joe going into the Hall, here are a few stories about Thornton:
So there’s some delicious irony in this particular cover, which features a gangster Joe Thornton as one of the NHL’s ‘Untouchables.’ That was, of course, until the Boston Bruins wound up trading ‘Jumbo’ to the San Jose Sharks just two years later. But you know who wasn’t surprised? Thornton himself, in this very issue. When he was asked about the term ‘untouchable,’ the big center was prescient: “The word doesn’t mean anything,” he said. “It doesn’t mean anything anymore.”
DETROIT THIS SHOULD BE A GOOD DAY FOR JOE THORNTON. Really good. It’s an off day in Detroit and he’s not out to impress anybody and perhaps that’s why his hair looks like it belongs to a sixthgrader who rolled out of bed five minutes before the morning bell. He’s coming off an impressive, statement-making three-assist performance in a game that has put his San Jose Sharks on the brink of an appearance in the Western Conference final for the second consecutive year. More importantly, it’s the morning after the Washington Capitals have once again fallen on their post-season swords and Alex Ovechkin has officially assumed the title of NHL Superstar Who Can’t Get It Done in the PlayoffsTM.
San Jose Sharks legends are headed back to San Jose.
Joe Thornton is getting his number in the rafters of the SAP Center against the Buffalo Sabres on Nov. 23. Just like when Patrick Marleau had his jersey number retired, the Sharks held a Legends game the night prior at TechCU Arena.
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