San Jose Sharks gear up for another run with aging core
LOS ANGELES – The length of Joe Thornton’s beard is the only major difference between the player in his late 20s and mid-30s.
At least that’s what the 36-year-old Thornton said.
“I just have to comb my beard a little bit more (now),” said Thornton while running his fingers through his big, wooly and grayish/brown facial hair. “But nothing (else) really.”
Thornton was kidding to some degree. He said eats better than he used to. He sleeps a bit more, but as far as on-ice production he’s the same as ever as his San Jose Sharks prepare for their Thursday night Game 1 first-round playoff matchup against the Los Angeles Kings.
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Once again the Sharks are led by players in their 30s. But this hasn’t created an outward sense of urgency – partially because they’ve all mostly shown few signs of slowing down.
“I’ve been reading that how since I took the job that this team is past its window and everything else. I don’t buy it,” Sharks coach Peter DeBoer said. “I think that age is just a number. I think it depends on the person and the guys we got that are a little older on our team have the same characteristics that (44-year-old All-Star) Jaromir Jagr has, and that’s they love the game, they keep themselves in fantastic shape, and I don’t buy that they don’t have a lot of miles left in them.”
This season, Thornton finished with 82 points in 82 games and could very well be a Hart Trophy finalist. Fellow 36-year-old Patrick Marleau saw a dip in his production to 48 points in 82 games, but some of that had to do with adjusting to playing center after spending most of his career at wing. Marleau still scored 25 goals and helped shore up San Jose’s middle, giving the Sharks the ability to roll three strong lines.
Joe Pavelski, 31, blasted 38 goals and 31-year-old Brent Burns notched 75 points. Joel Ward, who turned 35 last December had the second-best season of his career with 43 points.
Kings coach Darryl Sutter said Thornton and Stars forward Jamie Benn were the Western Conference’s best non-Kings forwards he saw this year.
Sutter coached Marleau as a rookie in San Jose and also marveled at his longevity.
“Still a great skater,” Sutter said. “He hasn’t had any major injuries to hold him out. Age is one thing, but to play the number of games he’s played is probably more, sticks out more to me.”
According to the Sharks, age has less to do with window of opportunity, since in today’s salary cap NHL turnover is constant.
“Personally, I’ve never thought like that. I (always) thought it’s win now. Do what you can to win now … you never know – teams change,” forward Logan Couture said. “There’s so much turnover in this league. You want to win every year. Obviously it’s tough, but I think we have a team in year that’s capable of doing that.”
Though the Sharks have scoffed at the ‘age’ narrative the last few years, there is a sense that this could be one of the last runs with Thornton and Marleau leading the way. An NHL player age 37-or-higher hasn’t scored over 70 points in a full season since Daniel Alfredsson notched 71 in 2009-10 – though Martin St. Louis notched 60 points in the 48-game lockout shortened season in 2013.
Also, there have been reports that Marleau – who has one year remaining on his contract – would like to move elsewhere.
That’s why this particular group has preached staying in the moment. In this case, that involves taking Game 1 in Los Angeles.
“I feel good, I feel strong and I love this group. I hope to have lots more runs with this group,” Thornton said. “We hope it’s a special group that can get something done this postseason but we have to look at tonight and what we can do tonight and try to steal the first game here at their building.”
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Josh Cooper is an editor for Puck Daddy on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at puckdaddyblog@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter! Follow @joshuacooper
