SAN JOSE – A teary-eyed Joe Thornton was surrounded by his family on Saturday afternoon as he reached San Jose Sharks immortality with his No. 19 deservedly raised to the rafters at SAP Center.
That family included not only his wife, Tabea, his children Alya and River, and his parents, Wayne and Mary, but also his ex-teammates, dozens of whom were in attendance, team owner Hasso Plattner, his former coaches, the people from his hometown of St. Thomas, Ontario, and especially the fans watching from inside the arena or elsewhere.
Thornton thanked them all during an emotional, uplifting, and often humorous 30-minute speech before an enthusiastic, sold-out crowd of 17,435 people at the downtown arena. In that rink, he often created unforgettable memories and helped the Sharks become perennial contenders for close to 15 years during a Hockey Hall of Fame-caliber career.
“From day one, when I skated through the Shark head, I truly felt all your energy, passion, and support,” Thornton said of the fans. “It was my mission to return all that love every time I stepped on the ice, and maybe that’s why I’d never wear a shirt during my interviews.”
Wearing a fedora and dressed in a splendid charcoal three-piece suit, Thornton, near the start of the jersey retirement ceremony, came out of the Sharks dressing room, dapped up all of the current Sharks players, and walked out from beneath the Sharks head one final time.
Thornton would welcome longtime friends and teammates Ryane Clowe, Douglas Murray, Joe Pavelski, and Patrick Marleau to the stage, each delivering a heartfelt video message to the player they came to know and love.
Clowe spoke about how he and Thornton would sometimes butt heads but would always come out of it as better friends. Murray, who started his Sharks career at the same time as Thornton, on Dec. 2, 2005, spoke about how he got a call from Thornton asking him to help him move. Murray only found out later that Joe and Tabea were helping a homeless woman and her kids move into a two-bedroom apartment in San Jose.
“She needed a place to stay, but you can’t tell anybody about this,” a tearing up Murray recalled Joe saying. “It was such a long time ago, so now I’m going to break the trust and tell everybody about this. But there he was, helping move in a homeless woman and her two kids, and nobody ever knew.”
Pavelski relayed stories about how Thornton helped keep him calm after he violently hit his head on the ice during the third period in Game 7 of the Sharks’ first-round playoff series against the Vegas Golden Knights in 2019, then telling his Sharks teammates to score three goals on the ensuing five-minute power play.
Thornton was the Sharks captain from 2010 to 2014 before he had the ‘C’ stripped from his jersey. Pavelski was named the Sharks’ captain in 2015 and recalled how he saw Thornton, shortly after the decision was made.
“As good of a friend he is, you don’t know how it’s going to go. There’s a little uncertainty,” Pavelski said. “He looks at me and says, ‘I got all the belief in the world in you. Let’s go do this together.’”
Fittingly, Thornton’s number in the rafters on Saturday wasn’t too far away from Marleau’s No. 12. The two players most synonymous with the Sharks franchise experienced jubilation and heartbreak together, allowing them to form a bond that will not be broken.
“Thank you for making hockey fun, even in some of the hardest moments,” Marleau said. “Most of all, Jumbo, thank you for your friendship and being a brother over the course of my career.”
Current Sharks captain Logan Couture, former general manager Doug Wilson, and former Sharks players Evgeni Nabokov, Brent Burns, and Tomas Hertl also offered heartfelt stories about Thornton in a lengthy video tribute.
Amid the teary-eyed tributes were several moments of laughter
Thornton touched on Hertl’s four-goal game as a rookie in 2013 and the ensuing R-rated story about what he would do if he ever did the same. Thornton also recalled when he and Burns posed naked with each other for the cover of ESPN The Magazine.
“The only guy I would ever pose naked with,” Thornton said of Burns. “I had never played with a wild animal before, but that’s as close as I’ll ever get.”
Thornton officially announced his retirement from the NHL on Oct. 30, 2023, and less than three months later, the Sharks announced that his No. 19 would never be worn again.
The reasons were obvious.
All-time in Sharks history, Thornton ranks first in assists (804), points per game (0.96), power-play points (402), and plus-minus (+161). He is second all-time in points (1,055) and even strength points (645), third in games played (1,104), and fourth in goals (251).
Thornton, drafted No. 1 overall by the Boston Bruins in 1997, played in 1,714 games over an NHL career that lasted until the end of the 2021-2022 season.
Thornton is sixth all-time in games played (1,714), seventh in assists (1,109), and 14th in points (1,539). Thornton also played in 187 postseason games, the 29th most in NHL history.
Thornton’s best years, though, came as a Shark, starting with the 2005-2006 season when he captured the Hart Memorial Trophy as the NHL player adjudged to be the most valuable to his team and the Art Ross Trophy as the league’s scoring leader.
Thornton, who last played with the Sharks in 2020, mentioned several other current and former Sharks teammates he played with and the nicknames he gave them.
Thornton mentioned family members and friends who have passed away, including his grandparents and Gord Downie, the longtime frontman for The Tragically Hip, who died in 2017 at the age of 53 from brain cancer.
Thornton thanked his parents, who saw him “play in every NHL arena except for Winnipeg, and whenever they were here in San Jose, which was all the time, they’d always drive to the rink with me before games.
“And fans, you guys should know my dad was right there with you. The last thing he always said to me before I walked into the rink was, yep, ‘Shoot the puck, Joe.’
“But then my mom would be quick to add, I love you, Joe. Needless to say, I listened more to my mom than I did than I did my dad.”
Lastly, though, Thornton thanked his wife, and his kids, telling his children, “I can’t even remember what life was before you guys came in our lives. You two give me more than the game of hockey ever could.”
Thornton credited Tabea with being his rock, “I ended up playing a long time, and that would have been impossible without you. I don’t have enough words to tell you how much you mean to me.”
Lastly, Thornton sent a message to everyone in attendance.
“So thank you, Sharks fans. Like I said when I retired, I’ll see you at the rink. Peace and love.” Thornton said. “Go Sharks.”
