Joe Thornton stories and opinion pieces are popping up all over the Internet. Suddenly the rest of the hockey world is starting to take notice of what myself and San Jose Sharks fans have know all along: The Sharks would not be where they are today without Jumbo Joe.
On December 15th, the Sharks were 15-14-1 and mired in a 1-6-1 tailspin that seemed destined to derail what had been a decent start to the 2015-16 season.
Thornton too was struggling, with only two points (one goal, one assist) in his previous 11 games. The washed-up whispers grew to roars and the feeling was that Thornton was hurting, not helping, his team.
Thornton and the Sharks seemed fated to miss the playoffs for a second consecutive season.
Then it happened.
The Sharks snapped their losing streak with a 3-1 win in Montreal. Thornton also ended his streak of futility with a single assist. That assist was an afterthought at the time, but that assist will probably become the single biggest assist of the season for both the Sharks and Joe.
Since that night in Montreal, Thornton and the Sharks have done a complete 180.
In the 35 games since, the Sharks are 21-9-5 and a 36-year-old Jumbo Joe has 11 goals and 36 assists with points in 32 of those 35 games. He has points streaks of five or more games four times and hasn't been held without a point in back-to-back games since December 9 and 12.
The Sharks are nearly a lock for the playoffs and Thornton is almost assuredly a lock to reach at least 70 points for the 12th time in his career.
Saying that Joe Thornton is playing some of the best hockey of his career is not doing him justice. At nearly 40 years of age you can't diminish what he's been able to do. Obviously he's had better years statistically. Obviously he's lost a step or two, and obviously a lot of you will disagree with me, but I would hand him the Sharks MVP award right now.
There's no coincidence the Sharks turned their season around when Thornton's game turned around. The biggest difference between the last 36 games and the first 29 games is that Thornton is making the players around him better and not just a little better, but markedly better.
So, thanks hockey world for taking notice. It's about time people realized there are THREE teams in California. I'm just glad I've had a front row seat for this.
I shudder to think what would had to the Sharks postseason chances if Joe was to get injured. I'm keeping my fingers crossed and I would suggest you do the same because where would the Sharks be without Joe Thornton?