Joe Thornton Scores 1000th Point

Added on Apr 09, 2011 by J Merrill in

NHL

Joe Thornton only played 12 minutes this past Wednesday against Anaheim, he was unable to practice with his team on Thursday, and on Friday night it was a game time decision as to whether or not he would be good to play in the game. Thornton, the San Jose Sharks, and his doctors all decided he would be ok to play on Friday night, and it turned into a career evening for the Veteran. Joe Thornton became the 74^th player in NHL history to score 1000 points. San Jose came up short against Phoenix 4-3, but its an evening Thornton is thankful for.

When asked about the way he played, and what he thinks of his skills on the ice that would allow him to reach this landmark, he is quick to divert the attention onto his team. He said “You have to be blessed with a good supporting cast, and luckily I’ve been blessed with a lot of good friends and family and good linemates and good players to play along. There’s so many different variables that go into getting that many points and I have so many people to thank.” No one would ever expect a different answer from Thornton, and thats one of the reasons he is such an endearing player to the fans of the game.

Think of all the great players that have skated on the ice since 1997-98 teams, and then remember that Thornton has more points of any player since the start of the 1997-98 season and currently ranks ninth in points among active players. His first NHL point, also a goal, came against Philadelphia and goaltender Garth Snow on Dec. 3, 1997.

Sharks coach Todd McLellan said of course they wanted the win against Phoenix, but you can’t take anything away from such an enormous accomplishment. “A thousand points is a thousand points, You’ll take it any way you can get it. It’s something he should be extremely proud of and our organization should be proud to have a player of that caliber playing as long as he has here in San Jose. We are all very proud of him.”

It was obvious during the game he wasn’t a 100 percent on the ice, as he didn’t even take a face off, but the veteran is already looking forward to the rematch Saturday, and he is very hopeful about the post season for the Sharks. He said “We feel good about our club and we feel confident. We’ve got three more periods (Saturday) before the big party starts. We go home and play these guys right back again and I think we’ll be sharper tomorrow.”