Great Thornton Sighting

There’s a point in everyone that says…screams “Enough is enough!” For San Jose Sharks centerman Joe Thornton, that point came at the expense of the mighty Detroit Red Wings.

In a series that stunned the hockey world, no matter which way you turned, the much maligned hockey franchise from Northern California beat the Motown Machine from self proclaimed Hockeytown. Nobody, not even dubbed die-hard fans of the teal and black thought that they could emerge victorious, despite being the higher seed and looking rather stout in the first round, where they disposed of the Colorado Avalanche in six games.

In that series, the same old issues were plaguing a team that perennially has underperformed during hockey’s second season. The inability of their top line (Patrick Marleau, Thornton and Dany Heatley) who all have unspectacular playoff resumes was once again on display, despite the first round success.

Joe Pavelski, the young second-line center on the Sharks, was the standout as well as linemates Ryane Clowe and Devin Setoguchi. Even the third line was coming up big, with players such as Logan Couture scoring big goals and the likes of Scott Nichol and Manny Malhotra providing some punch.

But there was Thornton, unable to deliver as has been his postseason custom, notching just three assists in the series against Colorado, Marleau and Heatley not fairing much better.

So with the top line predictably struggling, they were about to face a team that is the complete antithesis of that. With the likes of Henrik Zetterberg, Johan Franzen and Pavel Datsyuk all playing up to their customary high standards in the previous round victory over the Phoenix Coyotes, expectations were rather low as they were about to take on this ‘Big, Red Machine’.

As far as top seeds go, the Sharks were being completely disrespected by media and fans alike as the series got underway. Early on, even with the Sharks taking a 1-0 series lead, the questions of Thornton’s disappearing act were still valid and heavy on the minds of many pundits.

Game 2, the tide began to turn.

With the score tied at three Thornton who was goalless at this point, stepped into the spotlight for all the right reasons. The Sharks surged up the ice, on a 3-on-1 thanks to a Niklas Lidstrom stroke of misfortune, having his stick break on a pass. This allowed the Sharks top line to break in, with only Brian Rafalski left to defend. Heatley, who carried the puck up the ice, took the shot, of which Wings’ goaltender Jimmy Howard stopped. The puck took several fortuitous bounces and landed on the stick of the man who hasn’t lived up to his moniker of Jumbo Joe.

Playoff ghosts be damned, he put home the rebound and gave the Sharks the lead, one that they wouldn’t relinquish, thus putting a stranglehold on the series as this win put them up 2-0 in the series.

Game 3 was looking like a typical Sharks no-show, as Detroit had a two goal lead with almost half of the third period in the books. These 2009-10 Sharks aren’t your daddy’s Sharks and this version of Jumbo Joe is not the same as well.

His goal gave them a chance to stay in the game, something in which Couture assured them they would have a chance to win after he tied it several minutes after.

As overtime got underway, the pendulum had swung in favor of the road team, much in part of the play of their revitalized go-to guy. In that extra session he displayed his most potent prowess that has won him a scoring title and an MVP in this league.

His perfect feed to his maligned brother in arms Marleau, on a two-on-one, sent the Wings fans home stunned and with the knowledge that they are all about to witness a startling turn of events, as San Jose now went from having a stranglehold to a kung-fu G.I. Joe grip 3-0 series lead.

The Wings, as expected though, showed a tremendous amount of pride in their first of four potential elimination games, as “The Mule” kicked the Sharks(is that possible?) around to the tune of four goals and six points. The 7-1 rout was a stunning change from the previous three games, that all finished by the identical score of 4-3.

As the Sharks returned home there was an understanding that these Wings wouldn’t go away quietly and a loss in Game 5 would make this series very interesting…too interesting for everyone with a vested interest in the San Jose organization’s well being.

As the Wings drew first blood at the ‘Shark Tank’, fans in attendance and watching at home must have winced and said “These might be our daddy’s Sharks after all.”

Thornton made sure that wasn’t going to happen.

His second period power play tally tied the affair going into the third period. There, in the third he found Marleau again, just like a couple of games ago at the Joe Louis Arena. This time though, they weren’t greeted with stunned silence, more so jubilation and pandemonium from the long suffering Sharks fans that have seen more bad times than good during this time of year.

The Shark had to hang on, as the Wings showed the heart of a champion, refusing to go down without a fight.

But this time the bigger heart came from the usual Tin Men of the playoffs. As the final buzzer went off, the Sharks officially were able to shed some of the demons that have been haunting them since the lockout.

Yearly title contenders that never got close to contending, in the end. For the first time since 2004 the San Jose Sharks are now headed to the conference finals. They are still unsure of who they will face, as the Chicago Blackhawks and the Vancouver Canucks are still fighting tooth and nail in their second round matchup.

But no matter who the opponent, the Sharks can now start to believe that this year they have as good a chance as any to win hockey’s ultimate prize. That belief is justified by the coming out party of a one-time playoff disappointment.

And before I get too far ahead of myself and anoint him as the Conn Smythe front-runner, it was only one series he carried the flag as opposed to so many others he hid behind it. His eight points in the five game victory over the Wings suggest that finally, after all of these years, those broad shoulders of his can finally be relied on to carry the burden of a potential championship run. There is still plenty of work to be done, as they have only reached the halfway point of their ultimate goal.

What if Joe Thornton didn’t wake up? Too bad for rest of the league he just might have.