Sharks' Joe Thornton rightfully now has the 'C' on his shoulder. Question is, can he handle the job?
Not that there was ever any doubt who was driving the bus, but now that Joe Thornton has the 'C' on his shoulder, the San Jose Sharks are officially his team. And with the letter comes even higher expectations.
The question is, can Joe handle the job?
This, after all, is a make-or-break year in San Jose. Considered a favourite to win the Stanley Cup the past few years, the Sharks always fall short at the most critical time of the year -- in the playoffs -- and Thornton has been a lightning rod for all that has gone wrong.
In a nutshell, the jumbo centre who puts up points in his sleep during the regular season, has not been able to elevate his game in the playoffs. Sharks fans must want to pull out their hair when they see a kid like a Jonathan Toews with Chicago average .89 points per game in the regular season and then bump that average up to 1.3 in the post-season as he leads his team to the Stanley Cup. Look at a guy like Chris Pronger who has taken his team -- three different teams, that is -- to the final in three of the past five seasons. He knows how to ratchet his game up when it matters.
As has been written and spoken by many people over the years, you'd never stumble across a nicer person than Big Joe. A charming young man indeed. It's an old story.
But thus far he has been unable to find his game in the playoffs. Last season, with expectations higher than ever, the Sharks defeated the Colorado Avalanche and Detroit Red Wings in the first two rounds. No real surprise there. Then the Sharks were skunked by the Blackhawks in the Western Conference final.
Thornton, who finished eighth in NHL scoring with 20 goals and 89 points in 79 games, had just one assist against the Red Wings and was minus-5. In other words, he disappeared.
Now he is the team's official leader and the pressure is more intense than ever for the Sharks to succeed. It's not the first time he has worn the 'C' in the NHL. Thornton was also captain of the Boston Bruins for a couple of years, so he knows what comes with the territory.
He is now the voice for the organization; the one player the media will defer to in times of trouble. If those times ultimately roll around and he is the reason why the team is in a sticky situation, it could make for uncomfortable times.
Then we'll see if this nice guy is up to the task.
CAP QUIZ: Is the salary cap working when bona fide NHL players are forced to play in the minors because of the mistakes their general managers have made? Sheldon Souray is an NHL defenceman; no question about it. But because he makes a lot of money and he and his team have philosophical differences, he has been sent to the American Hockey League. Wade Redden, regardless of the stupid contract he was given by the New York Rangers, is an NHL defenceman, but he is also in the minors.
So you must ask, is the cap working?
I say, no. When the teams divide up the pie, too much goes to too few. And too many mistakes are being made. The cap was supposed to make the fools that handed out too much money appear to be foolproof.
It has not. That doesn't mean things can't be fixed over time, but as long as you have two sides secretly trying to do what's best for themselves -- the game be damned -- it isn't likely to happen soon.
Still, this is the first go-around for the salary cap, which was introduced (players will say it was shoved down their throats) following the lockout year of 2004-05. I am quite certain the good folks, who had good intentions, that scripted the collective bargaining agreement, didn't imagine NHL-worthy players would be forced to play in the minors because of GM screw-ups. Nor, I suspect, did they envision 10- and 15-year contracts designed to circumvent the CBA.
Hopefully, these issues will be addressed the next time the players and the NHL sit down to figure out how they can screw one another ... for the good of the game.
In the meantime, how about sending a few GMs to the minors?
HAHA ... LOL: NHL commissioner Gary Bettman showed his funny side Thursday night as he was being interviewed during the second period of the Penguins-Flyers game. While speaking about Mario Lemieux, he said, "While Mario and I were walking onto the ice before the game, I asked him why the fans were booing him?" Ba-dum-bum, Tsh!
