SAN JOSE — The inevitable is now official: Joe Thornton is the Sharks nominee for the Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy.
At this point, the story is almost deserving of its own feature film: a future Hall of Famer suffers two major-knee injuries in a 10-month span, fights his way back onto the ice at age 39 and plays a key role in a contender’s run to the playoffs. The only missing piece is a Hollywood finish with the Stanley Cup being hoisted at SAP Center in June.
In short, Thornton is a walking embodiment of the award, displaying exceptional “perseverance, sportsmanship, and dedication” to the game.
Since the story has been told, re-told and over-told, it’s time to take a fresh approach and give the stage to Thornton’s teammates, who’ve watched the narrative unfold from the Sharks dressing room.
Here’s the oral history of Thornton’s road to becoming the Sharks’ Masterton nominee:
Thornton’s arduous journey started back on April 2, 2017 when he suffered tears to his left anterior cruciate and medial collateral ligaments in a collision with then-Vancouver Canucks forward Michael Chaput. At the time, few outside of the Sharks organization knew the extent of the injury as Thornton told reporters that he’d suit up for the Sharks playoff series with the Edmonton Oilers just three days after he blew out his knee. After skipping the first two games, Thornton suited up for Game 3. He skated in the last four games of the series, recording two points while averaging 18:50 of ice time. Thornton underwent surgery to repair the ligaments in his knee two days after the Oilers eliminated the Sharks.
Justin Braun: I remember seeing him go down, but I didn’t think it was that serious. I’d seen him go down before and he always comes back. You just expect it to be a little nick and Jumbo will come back. Then, you get the news that he’s going to be out long term. It’s disheartening.
Joe Pavelski: I thought that it was maybe a little serious because of the way he was skating off. But history told us that he would be back quickly. Maybe he just tweaked something. Until we got the results, no one really knew.
Logan Couture: We both skated at practice on the same day (April 5, 2017). I had just lost some teeth (after taking a puck in the mouth). He had an ACL / MCL injury. I was shaking my head in shock. No one else in the league would do that.
Joe Thornton (April 5, 2017): The training staff pretty much said put on a band-aid and get out there and play… I’m pretty optimistic about things, so I never thought it was going to be too, too bad. The training staff didn’t think so either.
Pete DeBoer: I wasn’t expecting (much). I thought he might get a few shifts. He might get half-a-game or limited minutes. But he’s old school. If he’s dressing he’s going to play and he’s going to finish the game.
Couture: Why? I remember thinking why play? He said he wanted to, said he wasn’t going to make it any worse. He could deal with the pain. Still, I thought, why?
Thornton: I don’t know what I was thinking. I was trying to help out the guys. That’s all I was thinking about at the time. It was probably a little foolish, but in the moment, you just want to do whatever you can to help out.
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Braun: It was amazing to see how well he did. He’s got a bum knee and still managed to be productive.
DeBoer: He basically had no stability in that knee other than what the brace was giving him. I had never seen anything like it. He played and gave us a chance.
* * *
After he went through rehabilitation, Thornton skated with the Sharks on the first day of training camp leading into the 2017-18 season — less than five months after surgery. He struggled through the first 10 weeks of the season, suffering a back injury by compensating for his surgically-repaired knee. As Thornton skipped a series of practices in mid-November, DeBoer openly questioned whether he’d ever be 100 percent healthy again.
Braun: You knew he’d be ready for training camp. It kills him to just miss a day of practice. To miss five months, he must have been itching.
Couture: I don’t know if surprised is ever a word I’d use with him. He set that goal to be there for training camp, and with his determination and love for hockey, I don’t think anything is surprising.
#SJSharks Thornton getting some leisurely work in before 1st practice pic.twitter.com/Q0TrZLAJ6r
— Paul Gackle (@GackleReport) September 15, 2017
Pavelski: There were certain plays you’d see him miss. But there was never a thought of, let’s get this guy out of here. Sit him down for a bit. Restrict him. It was something we knew he could work through.
Braun: You knew it was going to come around for him. Be patient. He was coming off six tough months of rehab and trying to find his game again. It doesn’t matter who you are. It takes a little time.
Couture: You put yourself in his shoes. He’s 38. He’s accomplished so much. Is it worth going through what he’s putting himself through? It just shows how much he loves the game.
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DeBoer (Nov. 12, 2017): If I was to say he was 100 percent healthy, I wouldn’t be truthful, so he’s not…I don’t think he would take (a day off), that’s the thing, and he’s a lot bigger than me, so I’m probably not going to force him.
Thornton: I’m pretty strong mentally. I knew in the back of my head, get through this and you’ll be fine. The power of the mind, that’s all it is.
* * *
Thornton eventually got healthy and caught fire, recording 26 points in a 28-game span. Then, he suffered an identical injury to his right knee on Jan. 23, 2018.
Couture: It was devastating. After the game, he could barely walk. He had a tough time getting out of the arena that night. Just devastating.
Kevin Labanc: I just remember thinking, oh no, not again. You saw the work he put in every day to rehab, recover. It was painful.
Pavelski: You really feel for the guy. The first one was tough, and then to go back-to-back, opposite knees, two years in a row, it’s a big mountain to climb.
Braun: I remember that one vividly. (Mikkel) Boedker ran into him. It was an unfortunate thing to happen. That was a tough one to see and you didn’t know what his decision was going to be after that. Is he going to want to go through all the rehab again? He took two days off and was back at it again.
* * *
At age 38, Thornton underwent his second major-knee surgery in less than 10 months on Jan. 25, 2018. But as he went through the rehabilitation process, Thornton continued to play a spiritual role with the Sharks as they pushed into the second round of the playoffs without him. Thornton picked up Evander Kane at the Oakland airport after he joined the Sharks in a deadline trade on Feb. 26, 2018. He also skated with the Sharks at practice and in pregame warmups during the playoffs, preparing to rejoin the lineup if the team had reached the Western Conference Final.
Thornton: With rehab, you’ve got to look at it as day to day. You don’t want to look at it as month to month. It’s so consuming. I’d just focus in on what I could do today, have a good day and, hopefully, repeat it tomorrow. The progress is so minimal. It’s just inch by inch by inch. It was really frustrating because you want to be with the guys and you’re not part of the team because you’re not playing, you’re not traveling. You’re by yourself. It’s lonely.
Evander Kane: He called and told me he was going to pick me up at the airport. It was a nice gesture from him. He’s a guy that I’ve really gravitated toward. We’ve really established a great friendship in a short amount of time.
Couture: When he came out for pregame warmups in the playoffs, that was something. I remember that first game in Anaheim, looking over at (the Anaheim Ducks) bench, their coaching staff and everyone was freaking out because he was out there. They didn’t know what was going on. Obviously, in this room, we knew he wasn’t going to be playing. But he was around and it felt like he was part of the team again.
#SJSharks Thornton moving around pretty well here pic.twitter.com/VPMUmz77os
— Paul Gackle (@GackleReport) March 23, 2018
Braun: I remember talking to a few of the Vegas guys (in the second round), they said their coaches were worried that Jumbo was going to be coming back. They were looking down at our bench going, I hope we’re not going to have to go against him tonight. It has an effect with players when you’re thinking about him being on the ice.
Kane: He kept the other team on their toes.
Labanc: It was good having him there. He has so much experience. He knows what it takes to win in the playoffs. You take that advice.
Thornton: I was close. It was frustrating sitting on the sidelines. I believe I would have been in there if we went another round.
* * *
But the now 39-year-old received four extra months to recover by not rejoining the Sharks lineup in the playoffs. Still, he faced a lot of adversity when the new season kicked off in October. First, he left the team during an East Coast road trip just two games into the season to deal with an infection in his surgically-repaired right knee. Then, after missing nine games, he suffered an ankle injury and broke a toe. As Thornton struggled to play through the injuries, many questioned whether he’d ever play at an elite level again.
Couture: The infection was scary. Everyone was scared. When it gets into the blood stream like that, dangerous things can happen.
Pavelski: It was scary. Those infections can go so many ways, and it was a serious one, using a PICC line. You don’t know what’s going on inside. It isn’t a visible thing. There’s so many unknowns. It’s just another thing that gets piled on top of what he was dealing with.
Thornton (Feb. 8, 2019): It was a bastard.
DeBoer: I’m not going to lie. There were some moments as early as a few months ago when I wondered about what level he could get back to and what that would look like.
I’d kind of resigned myself that we weren’t going to see him at the level he was at after the first knee injury.
Kane: As a teammate, you had, not doubts, but questions. But I’m not sure he’s ever doubted himself. He just continued to work and get better and now he’s healthy.
DeBoer: If he was honest with you, I think he would tell you that there were some days that he wondered whether he was going to be able to get back.
Thornton: I was confident, but there were a lot of hurdles I had to get through. Each new injury is a little different. But it’s been worth all the rehab and time I spent on it. It’s worth it to play with the guys again.
* * *
After the Sharks received a 10-day break during All-Star Weekend and the players’ week, Thornton returned to the ice on Feb. 2 fully healthy for the first time in more than a year. Over the last two months, he’s given the Sharks serious matchup advantages in the depth of the lineup, recording 24 points in 21 games as the team’s third line center. He’s also fueling the development of Marcus Sorensen and Labanc, helping them put together career years by serving as a coach on the ice. Heading toward the playoffs, the Sharks are extra motivated this spring, hoping to give Thornton a Ray Bourque moment by winning his first Stanley Cup in his 21st season.
Thornton (Feb. 8, 2019): Finally. The first half, I was just battling this, battling that. Now, after the break, I feel healthy. Seven days without putting on skates, my feet needed it, to be honest with you.
Pavelski: He’s doing so well playing on that line. They’re playing with the puck, creating offense, giving us that momentum. Every time they’re out there, they’re in the offensive zone. You need that depth, especially in the playoffs. They can create some mismatches out there.
Kane: You look at his play in the last six weeks, he’s been dominant. He’s going to be a really important piece for us in the playoffs. He’s excited, too, because he missed the playoffs last year. We’re all excited for that.
Labanc: Our line chemistry has been really great since the break. We’ve been spot on almost every game. Me and Marcus, we just work for Jumbo, get him the puck.
He’s teaching me how to work. He comes to the rink and works hard every day and that’s what he’s instilled into my game.
DeBoer: You can’t overstate enough how important he is to the group, in the dressing room, but on the ice, too. If we have any success here it’ll because of the depth that he’s providing us because he’s worked so hard to get back healthy.
Couture (March 12, 2019): Ninety nine percent of players his age, who’ve been around that long, accomplished that much, probably would have shut it down maybe after the first injury, especially after the second one.
To see what he went through on a day-to-day basis, what he still goes through on a day-to-day basis, his love for the game, he deserves to win that (Masterton) award.
Minnesota Wild coach Bruce Boudreau (March 12, 2019): Coming back off those two knee injuries at his age is a true testament to how hard he works and how bad he wants to play. I’d give him a Masterton vote every year.
Pavelski: You’ve seen a couple of those stories where guys win Cups at the end of their careers and it’s pretty cool. There’s a lot of guys in this room that you want to see win one and he’s at the top of the list.
Braun: He’s been chasing it for 21 years now? Geez, he’s been playing too long. Obviously, you want to get your own name on there, but to maybe set a guy off into the sunset with a Cup on his shoulders, that would be fun.
