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SAN JOSE — Joe Thornton hasn’t made up his mind as to whether he wants to return for a 22nd NHL season and make another run at his first Stanley Cup, and general manager Doug Wilson said the Sharks will give the future Hall of Fame player all the time he needs to make a decision.
Two days after the Sharks were eliminated from the playoffs by the St. Louis Blues in the Western Conference Final, Thornton said he still had to talk with his family and sit down with majority owner Hasso Plattner, Wilson and coach Pete DeBoer before he decided his next move. Thornton said he didn’t have a timetable for a decision.
“I feel like I can still play, that’s for sure,” Thornton said. “But I haven’t made any decision at all yet.”
Thornton, 39, said if he does decide to play another year, it would be in San Jose.
“I’m a Shark. I’m a Shark,” Thornton said. “There’s one team, and it’s here.”
Thornton has accomplished nearly everything a player can do through 21 NHL seasons except win a Cup. Just this season, Thornton eclipsed Mario Lemieux, Gordie Howe, Stan Mikita and Steve Yzerman to move into eighth place on the NHL’s all-time assists list. He finished the regular season with 1,065 helpers.
Joe Thornton says he’s not sure yet whether he’ll return next season pic.twitter.com/t49N6iFqpH
— Curtis Pashelka (@CurtisPashelka) May 23, 2019
Thornton said he pulled a groin muscle on his first shift of the series against the Blues, but otherwise felt healthy throughout the Sharks 20-game playoff run. He entered the conference final against St. Louis averaging 15 minutes and 59 seconds of ice time per game, sixth-most among all Sharks forwards.
“It was just entertaining, man,” Thornton said. “The Vegas series, wow, and Colorado, wow. You’re the final three teams left and it’s disappointing not to be playing next week. I think the people of this area are proud of the guys in here and I think they should be. With the amount of guys that were injured, that’s no excuse, but they poured their hearts out and played their hearts out this year.”
Thornton is finally entering another offseason where he doesn’t have to rehabilitate a knee injury.
Thornton suffered torn anterior cruciate and medial collateral ligaments in his left knee in April 2017, just a week before the playoffs began, before he remarkably returned to play in the third game of the Sharks’ first round series against the Edmonton Oilers. He suffered the same injury, only to his right knee, in Jan. 2018, but was unable to make a comeback for that playoff run, which ended with a six-game loss to the Vegas Golden Knights in the second round.
Thornton had to spend countless in rehabilitation in both of the last two summers, which led to slower-than-hoped for start the following season.
Both times, though, he as able to bounce back to be more productive in the second half of the season. Thornton played in 73 games this season and finished with 51 points.
“He’s still got game,” DeBoer said. “For me, I’d love to have him back.”
“It’s been a while that I haven’t had to worry about swelling in either knee and things like that, so it’s going to be nice to get some rest here first off, and then see what the plans are,” Thornton said. “It’s nice.
“Because it weighs on you man, it does. It’s a grind that rehab process. Some guys are going to have to go through it this summer and it’s a grind. It’s mentally tough to do that every single day and not sure what the outcome is going to be. For me personally, don’t have that issue. We’ll see.”
Some Sharks players and even DeBoer after their loss in Game 6 mentioned how they wanted to win a Cup for Thornton.
“I didn’t buy into that. I think that was more for you guys,” Thornton said. “I think this whole area needs a Cup. They’re definitely on the right track, and just disappointing for this area not to be playing like I said next week, but this was a really, really fun team to watch, entertaining team to watch, and an inspirational team to watch.”
He’s played 1,566 games in his career and has 1,478 points — 1,024 since he came to San Jose on Nov. 30, 2005 in what became the biggest trade in franchise history.
“He’s a Shark,” Wilson said, “I have such tremendous respect for him, not just as a hockey player but as a man. He can have all the time he needs to make whatever decision’s right for him. But we love him.
“I think I’ve been in this business a long time, I’ve never met anyone like him and we cherish the days we have him. Whatever decision he makes, we’re there for him.”