“If Joe Thornton Says He Will Play, He WILL Play”-San Jose Coach McLellan

Added on May 24, 2011 by J Merrill in

NHL

When Joe Thornton labored off the ice with what looked like a shoulder injury, and not to be seen again in the last 10 minutes of the game, many San Jose Sharks fans gasped! There is no denying the different presence San Jose has when he is in the line up, and it was apparent at the end of game 4 that put them in a must win game in Vancouver. Coach Todd McLellan has some good news for you.

Although Thornton wasn’t on the ice for the optional morning skate, McLellan says everyone can relax because Thornton will be lacing up the skates tonight. McLellan left little to interpretation by stating, “When Joe Thornton comes to you and tells you he’s playing, he’s playing. That can happen in exhibition season, that can happen at St. Thomas (his home town) at a charity game in the middle of the summer, so expect Jumbo to play (Tuesday).”

An injury that would take Thornton off the ice for any amount of game time is probably no joke, and at the least he won’t be 100%. However, his presence in the locker room and on the ice alone can have an overwhelming impact on games even if he isn’t healthy. Not to mention, most players will tell you at this point in the season everyone is playing with injuries, and the word healthy is seldom used outside of interviews with the media.

This is Thornton’s first year as the Sharks Captain, and a portion of the Sharks’ fan base thought it was a poor choice. There was no question he had the experience in his long career, but there were all sorts of “arguments” against it. McLellan said he never had an instance when he thought that Thornton was the wrong guy. He said “I can’t think of any times during this year, this season, where I didn’t feel good about him being our ultimate leader. There was a lot of questions out there as to whether Joe would be the right captain or not. When I say ‘out there,’ I mean exterior, not inside our walls, locker room or organization. We felt very good about it. We felt for us to have success, he needed to be our captain, was prepared to be our captain. I think he learned a lot from (previous Sharks captain) Rob Blake. He’s carried that torch or that tradition on.”

Most critics now agree with what McLellan knew before the season started, and he attributes that to the desire Thornton still has to learn and adapt to a system. McLellan said its his willingness to not only learn the system, but to believe in it as well. He said “Jumbo is an extremely coachable player. He’s receptive to becoming a better player, improving in all different areas. He’s asking for ways. He’s prepared to apply them. He’s very open to all of that. That isn’t always said by superstar players. A lot of them can be very stubborn, not buy in, not be prepared. He’s accepting playing any way he has to play to be successful, not necessarily as an individual, but team-wise. He’s been pretty good that way.”

Thornton might not be 100 percent when he takes the ice tonight in Vancouver, but all of the players who talked to the media said pretty much the same thing. Defenseman Dan Boyle said it best, “He’s a presence in the locker room. I’m not even sure myself what the situation is going to be. Just having him around is something we need. We’ll see what happens (Tuesday), but he’s going to be there. I know that.”

Vancouver leads the series 3-1 and they have the opportunity to clinch a spot for the Stanley Cup.