Thornton-Demers Interview: Jumbo Still Wants To Help Sharks Win Stanley Cup

Don’t miss Joe Thornton’s chat with Jason Demers!

As Thornton’s Nov. 23 jersey retirement night rapidly approaches, the San Jose Sharks had his former teammate Demers sit down with the former Hart Trophy winner.

Thornton talked about his entire career during an hour-long interview, and there were a few highlights that stood above the rest. Demers also sat down with Tabea, Thornton’s wife, and Ayla and River, Thornton’s kids.

During his first year in the NHL, the 18-year-old Thornton struggled quite a bit, scoring just seven points in 55 games and playing just 8:05 a night. There were sky-high expectations placed on him as the first-overall pick of the 1997 Draft.

“I don’t think I was ready mentally or physically for the NHL at 18,” Thornton reflected.

Despite his initial struggles, Thornton felt that his rookie season taught him how to be a professional, as he waited for his body to catch up.

The Sharks are experiencing a similar situation today, as Will Smith’s transition to the NHL has had its ups and downs.

When Thornton was asked about his relationship with then-Boston Bruins head coach Pat Burns, he mentioned something that should make Sharks fans a little more hopeful about Smith’s future: “There were big expectations. You get through that first year, you’re about halfway through your second year and then you figure it out. It took me probably about a year and a half to figure it out.”

“Then it was all compliments [from Burns],” he laughed, about the tough love that he got from the legendarily gruff bench boss.

The next season, Thornton was up to 41 points and 15:21 a night. By his third season, Thornton was a star, putting up 60 points and playing 21:18 a night.

If a player of Thornton’s caliber, a surefire Hall of Famer, took a year and a half to adjust to the NHL, Smith’s struggles are just par for course.

Speaking of Thornton’s time in Boston, in another interview that Demers did with him and his wife, Tabea, she told a story about the day that Jumbo got traded to the San Jose Sharks on Nov. 30, 2005.

“That day I said, now I feel good I’m all settled, I’m good,” she recalled, about her adjustment from moving to Boston. Joe and Swiss native Tabea had met in Switzerland during the 2004-05 lockout.

Later that night, Thornton received the call that he had been traded to San Jose. When Tabea learned of the news, she wasn’t quite sure what was happening or where he was going.

“I said ‘What does that mean?’ and then he said ‘Well, I’m leaving tomorrow, I’m going to play in San Jose.’ I said ‘Where is San Jose?’ I knew it was somewhere between San Francisco and LA, but I wasn’t quite sure. ‘What, they don’t ask you? They just send you?’”

It’s a fun behind the scenes of the biggest trade in San Jose Sharks history.

Finally, even though Thornton never won the Stanley Cup as a player, he doesn’t let it bother him, though he admitted it was his ultimate goal.

“We had our chances, [but] I sleep like a baby,” Thornton said, when asked if missing out on a Cup haunts him. “Do I wish I would have won one? Absolutely, but I didn’t, and my hockey career’s over.”

He does still hope that he can help bring a Stanley Cup to San Jose Sharks in the future. At the moment, he doesn’t have an official position with the organization, but he’s boarding Macklin Celebrini and is around Sharks Ice all the time.

“It’s just something that hopefully one day I get to share with the Sharks and that’s what I’d love to do.”