SAN JOSE – Longtime San Jose Sharks center Logan Couture had a message for anyone new to the team who was put on the same forward line as Joe Thornton.
“Just keep your stick on the ice and go to the net, and Jumbo will find you,” Couture said. “I was one of those guys who was very fortunate to score a bunch of goals and be on the receiving end of just some unbelievable passes from that guy.”
Mention Thornton’s name to anyone who has spent time around him, and a smile will usually come across their face, with almost everyone having an anecdote to share.
But the reason why Thornton, who spent 15 seasons with the Sharks from 2005 to 2020, will be officially inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in Toronto on Monday is not because of his larger-than-life personality. It’s because he was one of the game’s all-time great playmakers who also left an unforgettable mark on the Sharks franchise.
Three years after he played his final game in a 24-year NHL career, Thornton, nicknamed “Jumbo,” remains sixth all-time in games played (1,714) and 14th in points (1,539). But most impressive was his ability to pass the puck, as he remains seventh all-time with 1,109 assists, including 1,055 with the Sharks.
Months after he was acquired by San Jose from the Boston Bruins on Nov. 30, 2005, in a franchise-altering trade, Thornton was voted the winner of the Hart Memorial Trophy as the player adjudged to be most valuable to his team. He helped the Sharks make the playoffs 13 times in 15 years, reach the Western Conference finals four times, and the Stanley Cup Final once, in 2016.
Although a Stanley Cup remained elusive in his playing career, Thornton’s teams made the playoffs 19 times, and his 134 postseason points rank 49th all-time. He also helped Canada win Olympic Gold in 2010.
Little wonder, then, that Thornton, a native of St. Thomas, Ontario, was elected to the Hall in June in his first year of eligibility. He joined Jennifer Botterill, Zdeno Chara, Brianna Decker, Duncan Keith, Alexander Mogilny in the Players category, and Jack Parker and Daniele Sauvageau in the Builders category, in the Class of 2025.
“I think the hockey world knew (he was a Hall of Famer) when he still had the equipment on, early into his career, that he was going to be that type of guy,” former Sharks coach Todd McLellan said. “His arrival here did wonders for the team, the community, and kind of set us in a direction of some really good years.”
“I think it was a no-brainer for anyone who followed hockey that he was going to be a first ballot Hall of Famer,” said Couture, who has known Thornton for more than 20 years.
Eight former Sharks players have been elected to the Hall of Fame, and the team’s longtime radio play-by-play voice, Dan Rusanowsky, is also recognized in the Hall after he received the Foster Hewitt Memorial Award in 2023.
But the ex-Sharks players, including the team’s first captain, Doug Wilson, only spent a small part of their long, prodigious careers in San Jose. Thornton, 46, is the first player to be inducted who spent most of his professional career with the Sharks, during which the organization had the NHL’s best regular-season record (659-376-125).
Last November, Thornton became the second player, after Patrick Marleau, to have his number, 19, retired by the Sharks.
“He totally transformed the franchise at a time when the franchise needed it,” Rusanowsky said. “This guy is an alpha guy who loved the game more than anything, who loved his teammates and dragged people into the fight and got them to be their best.
“He was not easy on his teammates all the time, but I think he brought a sense of expectation, rather than a hope to be good, an expectation to be great.”
Thornton finished his career with 430 goals, 85th most in NHL history. But he was always a pass-first player, wanting to set up his teammates for a goal rather than score one himself.
Several factors went into Thornton’s elite ability to pass the puck. His 6-foot-4, 220-pound frame made him difficult to defend and for other players to get the puck off his stick. He also possessed tremendous hockey sense and, like his childhood idol, Wayne Gretzky, had incredible vision, an ability to see a play on the ice unfold before it happened.
“I remember Jumbo would get mad at guys if they didn’t see a play happen, and I would tell him, ‘Jumbo, not everyone sees the game like you do. You’re the best in the world. You’ve got to understand that no one sees it like you do,’ ” Couture said. “He always seemed to see the game one or two steps ahead of everyone.”
Helping others succeed is also part of Thornton’s personality.
Longtime NHL defenseman Douglas Murray, who started his Sharks career at the same time as Thornton, on Dec. 2, 2005, mentioned in a tribute video at Thornton’s number retirement ceremony about how he got a call from Thornton asking him to help him move. Murray only found out later that Thornton and his wife, 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,” an emotional Murray recalled Thornton 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.”
“That is just who he is,” said former Sharks defenseman Kyle McLaren, who was with the Bruins in 1997 when they drafted Thornton No. 1 overall, and was at the ceremony. “He’ll give you the jersey off his back.”
There are also more lighthearted stories about Thornton, mainly about him being his jovial self. It was his way of bringing his teammates closer together, something he did throughout his now Hall of Fame career.
“As special a player as he was, entering the Hall of Fame, which is amazing, he’s a better person,” said Sharks defenseman Mario Ferraro, who was a rookie in Thornton’s final season in San Jose in 2019-2020. “Which is hard to do considering how good a hockey player he was. He should be proud of that.”
“He got as much joy out of (making his teammates better) as scoring a goal himself,” Rusanowsky said. “That, to me, was special about him.”