San Jose jumping the shark

Bungled Thornton situation has once-proud team waterlogged

By: Gary Lawless Posted: 10:16 PM CDT Tuesday, Mar. 17, 2015

Spend five minutes in the San Jose Sharks dressing room and it’s perfectly clear Joe Thornton is still the alpha male among his teammates, which makes the fuss over his leadership both laughable and lamentable.

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Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 17/03/2015 (3842 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

This is Thornton’s team despite any talk to the contrary. Calling him out in public and sparking a feud with weeks left in the season and with a playoff berth in the offing is ill-timed and foolish.

Thornton has all the power here, both in contract and in the dressing room. Fighting him is a no-win situation, as GM Doug Wilson is quickly realizing.

Trevor Hagan / The Canadian Press
San Jose Sharks' Joe Thornton (19), Joe Pavelski (8) speak on the bench as head coach Todd McLellan looks on during third period against the Winnipeg Jets in Winnipeg Tuesday. — Trevor Hagan / The Canadian Press San Jose Sharks' Joe Thornton (19), Joe Pavelski (8) speak on the bench as head coach Todd McLellan looks on during third period against the Winnipeg Jets in Winnipeg Tuesday.

Wilson watched his team climb back into the playoff hunt and then last week inexplicably opened his mouth about Thornton’s leadership and some behind-closed-doors interactions between management and the player. Wilson’s timing was horrific and his team has now lost two straight since he started to blab about in-house matters at a season-ticket holders’ function last Thursday.

“Joe carries the weight of the team on his shoulders and he’s got such a big heart that when stress comes on him he lashes out at people,” the GM said to a roomful of season-ticket holders last Thursday. “It kind of impacts them. The pressure and stress, I felt, was getting to Joe.”

Let’s retrace Wilson’s dealings with the 35-year-old Thornton, dating back to the winter of 2014.

First, Wilson signed Thornton to a three-year $20.25-M contract extension with a full no-trade clause.

Then, following a first-round playoff collapse, he floated out feelers on trading Thornton despite the no-move clause. Then, he stripped him of his captaincy. Last week, he talked openly about it all, which became a little too much for Thornton.

“Shut up,” “stop lying,” and “I’m not the one on sabbatical,” all came out of Thornton’s mouth.

If this distraction costs the Sharks a playoff berth, someone needs to be held accountable — and that’s Wilson. Leadership is supposed to start at the top and Wilson hasn’t led by example or with his words.

The Sharks looked horrible Tuesday night, losing 5-2 to the Winnipeg Jets and playoff thoughts are growing more and more distant.

The Sharks look lost. Ownership has had to wade in and tell the GM and player to cool it. Head coach Todd McLellan looked grim on Tuesday morning and is perhaps resigned to the fact he’s going to pay with his job for a mess made by others. Namely his boss, Doug Wilson.

The handling of this matter is rather surprising as Wilson is from the old school and fully understands the workings of a team.

He knows players see through a phony effort and he should know better than to reveal team secrets at a corporate function. Really, what good can come from revealing the substance of private, closed-door discussions with the booster club?

Thornton rightfully seethed when Wilson aired his opinions his player’s leadership skills and the machinations behind stripping him of his captaincy.

Read those quotes again. That’s a future Hall of Fame player talking about his GM.

None of it is conducive to winning and now the Sharks almost surely will miss the playoffs.

“It’s not an ideal situation but it’s behind us now,” said McLellan, prior to Tuesday’s game with the Jets. “It can be a galvanizing moment for our team. Jumbo plays for the team and the guys play for him. He’s still a big leader for us and I think the guys voiced that.”

Thornton has 1,253 points in 1,273 career NHL games and is heading to the Hall of Fame. He took less money to stay in San Jose rather than go to the open market.

Wilson wanted him to retire as a member of the Sharks. So he gave Thornton an extension and a no-trade clause. Six months later, he changed his mind.

But he ceded control to Thornton with the no-move clause. The entire affair was predictable and has been mishandled. The Sharks are the worse for it. This hasn’t been Wilson’s finest hour. Not even close.

Late in Tuesday night’s game Winnipeg fans taunted Wilson chanting, “Who’s your captain?”

Last season, the Sharks were the fourth seed in the Western Conference and were just six points back of the President’s Trophy pace set by the Boston Bruins. Now, they’re a punchline.

McLellan finds himself stuck between his GM and his key veteran. He should be praying he gets fired. He’ll get another job immediately and he won’t be stuck in the middle of a messy divorce.

The Sharks need a remodel, all right. But it should start in the front office. Make that the corner office.

gary.lawless@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @garylawless