SAN JOSE, Calif. —
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“San Jose is his city and the Sharks are his team,” former teammate Joe Pavelski said in his first public appearance at the Shark Tank since retiring last season in Dallas.
Thornton played 1,714 regular-season games over his career, recording 1,109 assists and 430 goals. He was a four-time All-Star, an Olympic gold medalist for Canada in 2010 and won the Hart Trophy as MVP and Art Ross Trophy as scoring leader in 2005-06 after getting traded early that season from Boston to San Jose.
Thornton ranks seventh alltime in assists, 14th in points with 1,539 and sixth in games played.
About the only thing Thornton didn’t accomplish was winning a Stanley Cup, losing in his only trip to the final round in 2016 with the Sharks against the Pittsburgh Penguins.
But with his pristine playmaking schools and iconic beard, Thornton became the face of the Sharks franchise after being acquired from Boston on Nov. 30, 2005.
San Jose had only intermittent success before his arrival but made the playoffs all but two seasons during Thornton’s time with the Sharks with the best regular-season record in the NHL in that span.
He helped the team win the Presidents’ Trophy as the team with the best record in 2008-09, make back-to-back conference finals appearances in 2010 and ’11, the Stanley Cup final in 2016 and another trip to the Western Conference final in 2019.
“Thank you, Sharks fans,” Thornton said to end his speech, “and like I said when I retired, ‘I’ll see you at the rink. Peace and love. Go Sharks.'”
