I think you can count Joe Thornton among the big-name NHL superstar players that will probably never ever win Lord Stanley’s Holy Grail.
Try to find a bunch of other hockey players/athletes that never won anything.
After making headlines across the league last week, talking about how former captain Joe Thornton lets the emotions get to him in the media, Sharks GM Doug Wilson insists that the 2 have patched things up.
I personally think that this team is on a one-way trip to Nowheresville.
With the NHL playoffs just around the corner, and this team not having any playoff luck in recent years, I am not convinced that this club can get it all together in time for this time next month when the post season would be underway.
Even Thornton’s teammate and one of the top players on the club, Joe Pavelski seemed a little taken back at reporters’ questions regarding the team’s future.
The team’s on-ice future has its doubts, and so does the happenings off of the ice. That definitely includes possible trades, and that includes Joe Thornton.
Wilson has said all along that the veteran centreman will not be leaving.
With the nonsense between Thornton and Wilson briefly taking over, Thornton’s teammates seem to have sided with him for now, says Pierre LeBrun of espn.com.
Now with San Jose’s pitiful playoff performances in recent years, and now this, something has to happen in the offseason; something should have already happened after they blew 4 straight games to the Los Angeles Kings last season, but we can’t dwell on that anymore (can we?).
What everything comes down to now is that the team is going have to cut one of them loose following this season.
Thornton has a no-trade clause in his contract, and Wilson said he won’t ask Thornton to waive it.
The remark about Thornton that started all of this nonsense in the first place happened at a Sharks season-ticket holder event where Wilson made the mistake of telling fans that Thornton was stripped of the ‘C’ because he had a tough time dealing with all the pressure.
Thornton responded by telling a San Jose newspaper that Wilson “was lying and should shut his mouth.”
Asked about whether the incident between him and Thornton was concerning, considering the timing of it all, Wilson brushed off the idea. This team still has some work to do, as of March 23, they stand to be the next team in the Western conference that could be eliminated from contention. San Jose is in 4thplace in the Pacific division trailing the LA Kings by 4 points. The only teams below San Jose today are Edmonton and Arizona, both of whom are eliminated.