San Jose Sharks legend Joe Thornton officially began his Hockey Hall of Fame induction celebration on Saturday as he and other honored members of this year’s class received their Hall of Fame rings and blazers during a ceremony in Toronto.
Thornton, who played 15 seasons with the Sharks from 2005 to 2020, was elected to the Hall in the Player’s Category in June in his first year of eligibility. Also elected in the Players’ Category were Duncan Keith, Zdeno Chára, Alexander Mogilny, Jennifer Botterill, and Brianna Decker. In the Builders’ Category, Jack Parker and Danièle Sauvageau received the necessary votes.
Thornton was introduced by Ron Francis, who chairs the Hockey Hall of Fame selection committee, and given his ring and blazer by Hall of Fame chairman Mike Gartner.
Thornton, 46, is sixth on the NHL’s all-time list with 1,174 games played and is 14th with 1,539 career points. Known as one of the NHL’s premier passers during his prime, Thornton is also seventh all-time with 1,109 assists and now joins several of his childhood idols in hockey immortality.
“I played against Wayne (Gretzky), I played against (Francis). These are guys I grew up (watching), and it was just incredible,” said Thornton, who made his NHL debut in 1997 after he was drafted first overall by the Bruins earlier that year. “I don’t remember too much (about playing against them). I don’t remember too much, but I remember enough that there were a lot of legends that I grew up playing against, and I just loved growing up and watching them play.”
Thornton, who joined the Sharks’ front office this summer as a player development coach and hockey operations advisor, said his favorite memories as a player included reaching the Stanley Cup Final with the Sharks in 2016 and winning the Gold Medal at the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver.
“But playing so many games and meeting so many guys, that’s what was so special to me,” Thornton said.
Thornton, on Saturday, was reminded of his reaction to the news that he had been elected to the Hall. Reached by phone by Francis and Lanny McDonald after the vote in June, Thornton said, “Holy doodle, holy doodle, boys.”
Thornton had just finished visiting Toronto Maple Leafs center Auston Matthews in Arizona and was going through airport security when he saw that he was getting a call from someone in Toronto. It was Francis and McDonald.
“And I’m like, ‘I’ll just check it.’ Picked it up, and they’re the boys,” Thornton said. “My bag goes through security because there’s always liquids and stuff in it. So I’m like, screw that, I’m talking to the boys, I was crying, and security is like, ‘what’s wrong with this guy.”
Thornton returned to his hometown of St. Thomas, Ontario, on Saturday night and was honored by one of his youth hockey teams, the St. Thomas Stars, at the arena that bears his name. He and this year’s inductees will then be recognized at the Toronto Maple Leafs’ game against the Carolina Hurricanes at Scotiabank Arena on Sunday, where they will give a speech and officially be inducted into the Hall on Monday.
Former Sharks players Patrick Marleau and Logan Couture, among others, are expected to be in attendance. Thornton is the ninth former Shark to be inducted into the Hall, but the first to have spent the majority of his career with the team. Other ex-Sharks in the Hall are goalies Ed Belfour and Mike Vernon, defensemen Rob Blake and Doug Wilson, and forwards Igor Larionov, Sergei Makarov, Jeremy Roenick, and Teemu Selanne.
Dan Rusanowsky, the Sharks’ longtime radio play-by-play voice, also has a plaque in the Hall of Fame, as he was given the Foster Hewitt Memorial Award in 2023. The award, voted on by the NHL Broadcasters’ Association, is in recognition of members of the radio and television industry who have made outstanding contributions to their profession and to the game of hockey.
