thornton
maybe someday big joe will make me regret he is gone. today is still not that day. on a night his team needed him to take over a game and a series. his line reads:
no shots
no hits
38 percent in the dot
4 minutes in the box for high sticking
and most damning -2 in a 2-0 loss.
happy surfing joe!
no shots
no hits
38 percent in the dot
4 minutes in the box for high sticking
and most damning -2 in a 2-0 loss.
happy surfing joe!
Labels: Playoffs
posted by neb at Tuesday, May 08, 2007
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7 Comments:
Thornton had 11 points in 11 playoff games. It's hard to criticize him this time around. You'd have liked to see him contribute a little more in the final two games but it's not like he put up zero points in seven games like he did with Boston in '04.
I'd be apt to blame Guerin more. He had just 2 assists in 9 games and a -3 plus/minus. And how the hell do you miss the last two games with a "facial laceration"?
I go into more detail over at The Spoked B.
Nah, I don't think it's hard to criticize Thornton at all. Once again, he needs to show up and play, and he doesn't.
I don't see how it's Guerin's fault Joe showed up and didn't bother to actually play in the most important game of the season for his team.
examples of "losers" who i wouldnt criticize after their elimination.
mike nylander - goal and an assist in his elimination game.
scott gomez - two goals in his elimation game.
i think these are players that would be considered a tier below joe. i also think these are players that you want in your line up over joe going into an important game.
11 meaningless points doob.... i agree with russ - i think it is fine to be critical.
Of course, none of this can be attributed to playing against the Red Wings who allowed the 3rd fewest goals in the league this year and are anchored by arguably one of the best...if not THE best...goaltenders to ever play the game.
The Sharks had a total of nine goals in six games against the Wings. Thornton had five points. That means he contributed to 55.5% of the team's scoring against the Wings. By comparison, Sidney Crosby led the league in scoring this year with 120 points. The Penguins scored 277 goals, meaning that he was involved in 43.3% of their scoring.
In addition to all that, in the five playoff games against the Predators, Thornton scored six points while his team tallied 16 goals...a 37.5% contribution. That means that, even despite being shut out the last two games, he contributed even MORE against the Red Wings than he did against the Predators.
Sorry guys, I was never happy with his playoff performances here in Boston either, but I can't knock him this offseason in San Jose. He was shut out in the final two games, but aside from a single goal by Marcel Goc in game five, so was the rest of the team.
Perhaps if a few more players on the Sharks NOT donning a #19 jersey were able to put some points on the board in the Wings series, the Sharks would still be alive and the conversation would be how Joe Thornton had shaken the monkey from his back and was leading the Sharks in scoring this postseason (with his 11 points, he nearly doubled the output of his closest teammates who had only 6).
I know Thornton will always be an easy target, but in this case the focus needs to lie on crediting the Red Wings and not on his continued crucifixion.
the redwings are the better team and i give them credit. but i cant help but think the sharks fans and managment were hoping for more from joe in the two biggest games of the season. i didnt see the games, maybe some sharks fans did and can correct me that joe was a force and his teammates were an embarisment.
the evidence i see is:
10 out of 11 thornton playoff points were at even strength. i will credit thornton with getting some offense from someplace other than the pp. yet when you look at the rest of his line he was only a plus +2 on these 11 points. to me this means he may have helped his team win 2 games (tops! +1 twice), other wise he was either not making a difference or hurting his team. is this what you expect out of the "best player in the league"? when the opponent is matching your scoring...are you really helping?
not to mention that he probably got the lions share of pp time and did next to nothing with it (one point).
"when the opponent is matching your scoring...are you really helping?"
I think that's an unrealistic expectation for anyone. Nicklas Lidstrom and Pavel Datsyuk both have 11 playoff points in 12 games and are only a +3. Does that mean that they're almost as equally "unhelpful" as Thornton? In Wayne Gretzky's final nine seasons, he had a positive +/- in only TWO of them. Does that mean he wasn't helpful to his teams either?
Thornton had 11 playoff points. The closest people on the team had six points apiece and there were four of them. Aside from Nabakov, Thornton was easily the most valuable person on this team.
lidstrom has 7 power play points which as you know doesnt affect you plus minus. this puts lidstrom on +3 with 4 even strength points... he is not scored against and gets his team up by one every 2-3 games,if only thornton could do this.
datsyuk 4 ppps occasionally scored against.. but is helping more than hurting.
o do not get me wrong. thornton is the best player on that team if you go by stats and probably other measures as well. im happy for the sharks that they have such an excellent player!
he may very well lead them to great things someday. its just wasnt last week. when they most recently needed him most.
to be truthful my problems with him have never been with joe's point production. its his effort and determination. when he skates and hits he IS the best player in the league and these should be the easy part for him. his faceoff percentage should be better. he should hit more. he should skate at full speed rather than float. but great for joe that he can double the rest of his teams production without these things... he really is a talent.
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