There might be no more fascinating—in a “can’t look away from a train wreck” kind of way—team than the San Jose Sharks right now. After years of building a hockey team the right way, of dominating possession and making the playoffs consistently, the lack of advancing to the Cup Final has taken its toll. This summer, Sharks General Manager Doug Wilson stripped Joe Thornton’s captaincy and tried, inexplicably, to “get tougher.” He tried to do so by signing bad hockey players like John Scott. And he called the change in attitude a “rebuild.”
It never seemed like the Sharks’s players were entirely on-board with the rebuild. Perhaps they liked Joe Thornton’s leadership. Perhaps they understood how good of a team they were last year and that major changes would only damage their chances this year. Perhaps they understood that overreacting to the small sample size of the playoffs is a mistake. Perhaps the players understood that even despite getting an .884 save percentage from their goaltender and seeing their best defenseman miss two games in the series, they still gave the eventual Cup winners everything they could handle. Perhaps they understand that Doug Wilson is a desperate man, fighting to save his job, and that desperate people rarely make rational decisions.
And now, Doug Wilson was a little too verbose at a season ticket holder event, and Joe Thornton responded by telling Wilson to “shut his mouth” and even accused him of lying.
It didn’t take long for theories to spring up. “Doug Wilson is trying to run Joe Thornton out of town” was one. “Doug Wilson is trying to get the Sharks to unite in their hatred for him” was another. Who really knows what politics are being played in San Jose. Thornton “remains a popular figure in the room,” according to Sharks beat writer David Pollak in the “shut his mouth” piece linked above.
Here’s what we know beyond all shadow of a doubt: Joe Thornton is one of the best hockey players on the planet, and any struggles the Sharks have faced on the ice since he arrived in San Jose are not his fault. The stats demonstrate that he’s doing everything he can; since 2011, almost every single player he’s been on the ice with has been better with Thornton than without.
This controversy comes as the Sharks have won four of their last five games to pull within three points of a playoff spot in the Western Conference, so…perfect timing! Get your popcorn ready: the rest of the season in San Jose ought to be entertaining.
