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2006/10/10 
Jonathan Cheechoo of The San Jose Sharks Celebrates Scoring a Goal!
| Sharks raising the bar |
| Doug Ward | NHL.com correspondent |
Oct 10, 2006, 10:11 AM EDT |
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It's been almost a year since Joe Thornton broke out of Boston, which precipitated Jonathan Cheechoo's breakthrough in San Jose. Combined, the two occurrences have created a bit of a fishbowl effect in Silicon Valley, where the season began last week with all eyes on the Sharks in anticipation of great things.
Cheechoo says the Sharks won't tank. In fact, the 26-year-old reigning NHL goal king welcomes the scrutiny, and the expectations, as the Sharks open the season expected to battle the Anaheim Ducks for supremacy in the Pacific Division.
"Everybody here is really excited about the season and the attention we've received," Cheechoo says. "We all believe we can do something special this year."
Cheechoo is accustomed to being watched. After leaving his hometown of Moose Factory, Ontario (pop. 2,300) at 14, throngs of locals would travel to his junior games in support. He hasn't forgotten how much that backing meant to him. Although Cheechoo left home early, he insists his Moose Factory upbringing made him. Cheechoo believes this family and community were the most important ingredients in his journey to becoming the first member of the Moose Cree First Nation to make it to the NHL.
"My dad taught me a lot of good lessons," Cheechoo says. "He taught me to treat people the way you want to be treated and always respect and be proud of where you came from."
Doug Ward will report on the Pacific Division every week throughout the 2006-2007 regular season.
| Cheechoo still calls Moose Factory home. He returns often to speak to Native North American youth, and anyone else who will listen. When he does, he talks about the opportunities that seemed impossible until Cheechoo proved otherwise.
"Hopefully," he says, "they'll start their own careers." His own career was inspired by a speech he heard current Islanders coach Ted Nolan deliver. "I'm proud of my heritage and any time I get a chance to give back, it's a privilege."
Although Cheechoo says it took a village to raise him, he admits that many of his best lessons came after he struck out on his own as a teenager. Making his way from a remote community in Northern Ontario to San Jose was never easy.
"You had to learn a lot of things real fast," he says. "It was definitely tough."
Even the simplest of things can be difficult when you've never done them before.
"I had to learn how to do laundry," Cheechoo says, "which is something I had never done before. It was trial by error, and I made some white clothes blue. But being on my own was something that forced me to be more responsible."
Being on his own taught Cheechoo to be accountable for his own life.
"You can't just sit back and say, ‘oh my parents will always be there to help me.' You've got to take responsibility for your own actions. That's something I learned from that experience."
That Moose Factory is an island community might help to explain Cheechoo's early realization that no man is an island. When Thornton landed in San Jose, Cheechoo took off. He credits Thornton's presence as a major factor in his breakout year.
"Joe and I seemed to click right off the start," Cheechoo says, "from the very first game on, it just worked."
Chemistry can't always be explained, but Cheechoo has no trouble defining Thornton's particular genius.
"He's a great passer," Cheechoo says. "He buys you so much time to get open. I think that's his hugest asset. He can hold the puck for so long."
Cheechoo's knack for finishing made the two a perfect merger.
"I love scoring goals," Cheechoo says, his passionate impromptu celebrations confirming that fact. "It's fun, and if I can pump the team up a little bit, too, that's great."
Cheechoo says the post-goal outbursts are not premeditated. It's just that he can't contain his excitement at scoring.
"I just get such a rush from scoring, I just start pumping my hands because it's so exciting."
When a goal-scorer scores, Cheechoo says, it has a way of taking the sting out of the hits he absorbs by going into high traffic areas of the ice.
"You don't really notice the hits as much," he says. "I just know I may not get the prettiest goals all the time, but I'm going to go in there and do what it takes to put the puck in the net. Whatever that may be. If it's taking a stick, or taking a big hit to get a shot off, that's what I'll do."
When Cheechoo goes to the net this year, the hockey world will be watching. That's fine with Cheechoo. His approach won't change.
"I know you can't take anything for granted," he says. "You've got to come out every night and prove something."
With a pair of assists helping his team get off to a 2-0 start, Cheechoo and the Sharks are on their way. |
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NHL.com - Division Notes
2006/10/7 
San Jose Sharks' Curtis Brown, second from right, is mobbed by teammates after scoring the game winning goal against the St. Louis Blues in overtime of a NHL hockey game in San Jose, Calif., Thursday, Oct. 5, 2006. San Jose won 5-4. (AP Photo/ The Oakland Tribune, Aric Crabb)
I Like The Aloha Tone of This Article...
Sharks welcome Isles to San Jose
(Sports Network) - The New York Islanders continue their season-opening four- game road trip when they visit the San Jose Sharks tonight at HP Pavilion.
The Islanders began the season on the road and were handed a 6-3 setback at Phoenix on Thursday. Steve Reinprecht had a goal and four assists to lead the Coyotes.
Viktor Kozlov had two goals and Rick DiPietro was shelled for six goals on 32 shots for the Islanders, who fell to 8-18-8 in their season openers.
In the offseason, DiPietro was signed to a 15-year contract that will pay him $4.5 million per season. His new deal is the longest in NHL history, as it surpassed the 10-year pact inked by Islanders center Alexei Yashin in 2001.
San Jose earned a win in the season opener on Thursday. Curtis Brown's return to the Sharks was a slamming success, as he scored the winning goal 2:12 into overtime in a 5-4 victory over the St. Louis Blues.
Joe Thornton, starting his first full season in San Jose, had three assists. Milan Michalek scored twice for the Sharks.
Brown, who spent the stretch run of the 2003-04 season with the Sharks before joining Chicago for last season, was signed as a free agent by San Jose in July. His return paid off in a big way, as he poked the puck away from a defender behind the net. Steve Bernier passed the puck from behind the net to Matt Carle in the left circle. Carle's shot was stopped by Manny Legace, but Brown was in front to poke in the rebound.
This is the first meeting between the Sharks and Islanders since March 11, 2004. San Jose is 5-1-1 in the last seven encounters with the Isles.
Source: Seattle Post-Intelligencer: Hockey
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NHL Connect | SharksBigIslandFanClub | Home Page
2006/6/22 
Thornton win Hart Trophy as NHL MVP
TSN.ca Staff
6/22/2006 10:34:14 PM
(With CP files) - Traded by the Boston Bruins earlier in the season, Joe Thornton responded by winning the Hart Trophy as the NHL's Most Valuable player with the San Jose Sharks.
Thornton won the award over Calgary goaltender Miikka Kiprusoff and New York Rangers forward Jaromir Jagr.
Thornton also captured the Art Ross Trophy as the NHL’s leading scorer with a career-high 125 points (29 goals, 96 assists). He tallied 20 goals and 72 assists in 58 games with San Jose following the November 30 trade from Boston.
"I went into a situation and got a chance to play with some really good players," said Thornton. "I never really changed my game. I'm just playing with some different players, that's all."...
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TSN : nhl - Canada's Sports Leader
2006/5/8 
Joe Thornton's second-period goal held up,
SHARKS WIN!!!
In a rematch of yesterday’s Western Conference Semifinal tilt, the San Jose Sharks played host to the Edmonton Oilers Monday night at HP Pavilion. Thanks to an outstanding effort by Vesa Toskala coupled with goals by Tom Preissing and Joe Thornton, the Sharks defeated the Oilers by the final score of 2-1....
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News - Sharks Hold Off Oilers for 2-1 Victory - San Jose Sharks
2006/5/7 
San Jose Sharks' Milan Michalek, right, celebrates after Patrick Marleau scored past Edmonton Oilers goalie Dwayne Roloson, left, in the first period of Game 1 of an NHL hockey Western Conference semifinal series, Sunday, May 7, 2006, in San Jose, Calif. (AP Photo/Paul Sakuma)
Paul Sakuma / AP
1 Down, 3 To GOOOOOOOO!!!
SWEEEEEEEEEEEP! Edmonton!!!
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Sharks grab Game 1 win thanks to Marleau - NHL - MSNBC.com
2006/4/18
The San Jose Sharks Hockey Club! 
Joe Thornton Wins Art Ross Trophy
April 18, 2006
After posting a National Hockey League best 125 points, San Jose Sharks center Joe Thornton captured the Art Ross Trophy, given to the League’s leading scorer, on Tuesday. Thornton beat out New York Ranger Jaromir Jagr, who notched 123 points on the season. This marks the first time a Sharks player has led the NHL in points.
"This is a team award," said Thornton. "You want to play well and good players make you better. Cheech and I are happy for each other."
It was not just his teammates who played a big role.
"I'm happy to win it for my family," said Thornton. "I'm surrounded by good people."
And Thornton knows that a lot of good hockey players have won the award previously.
"I'm proud and very humbled," said Thornton. "I never dreamed about it. A lot of big names have won it before."
Thornton led the League with 125 points (29 goals, 96 assists) in 81 games this season. Since being acquired by the Sharks on Nov. 30, he posted 92 points (2nd in franchise history) and 72 assists (a franchise record) in helping the Sharks to a 36-14-7 record in his 57 games with the team. By recording 125 points overall, he became the most-prolific scorer in the history of NHL by a player who played for two teams in one season and is just the 11th player in NHL history to record 90-plus assists in one season.
During the 2005-06 season, Thornton was the Seagate Technology “Sharks Player of the Year,” Seagate Technology “Sharks Player of the Month” for December and the NHL Offensive Player of the Week for the weeks of Dec. 5-11 and April 10-16. The six-foot-four, 223-pound native of London, Ontario competed for Team Canada’s men’s ice hockey team at the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin, Italy.
Thornton made an immediate impact with the Sharks, setting a franchise record by recording six consecutive multi-point games and helping the team to six consecutive victories in his first six contests. He concluded the season in similar fashion, posting six multi-point games in the teams final six of seven games. Thornton also tied a franchise record by recording assists in eight consecutive games from Dec. 2–20.
Thornton captured his first scoring title after coming to the Sharks on Nov. 30 from Boston in exchange for forwards Marco Sturm, Wayne Primeau and defenseman Brad Stuart. The award is the center’s first major NHL award in his eight year career.
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News - Joe Thornton Wins Art Ross Trophy - San Jose Sharks
Joe Thornton Conference Call Transcript
April 18, 2006
On Monday, the NHL conducted a conference call with Sharks center Joe Thornton. Below is a full transcript of the call:
Q. Do you think teams will put a shadow on you or Jonathan Cheechoo?
JOE THORNTON: I have no idea. Or Patrick Marleau. You know, I really don't know. I don't know how they're going to play us. We'll find out I guess on Friday or Saturday. I'm not sure how they're going to play us.
Q. You would normally expect -- you didn't see much of it in the regular season, but maybe you saw the other team's best defensemen, you didn't necessarily see a line against you.
JOE THORNTON: You'd see a little bit. You'd see teams trying to line up the defensive line against us, obviously their top two defensemen. We're used to playing against the best lines anyways.
Q. Could you talk about just what has created the chemistry between you and Jonathan in two-thirds of the season here? Seems like you've been playing together 10 years by now.
JOE THORNTON: Well, I think it pretty much comes down to I like to pass and he likes to score. I love setting him up. He has a knack of just scoring goals. He has a great shot. He's always in good scoring positions. Works very, very hard. He works on his game every day. You just love playing with a guy like that.
Q. Do you expect to see a lot of Brendan Witt here in the coming playoff series?
JOE THORNTON: Yeah, probably. I'm not sure who his D partner is. Yeah, I assume I'll see a little bit of him. It's going to be a fun series. They're a good team. It's going to be a very fast-skating probably seven-game series.
Q. Looking back on it, what do you think of the trade in retrospect? Has it gone even better than you expected?
JOE THORNTON: Thinking of the trade, yeah, I'm glad they sent me out here to play with Cheech and the Sharks. They just treat me real nice out here. I love northern California. Yeah, I just couldn't ask for a better place to go play.
Q. Are there any hard feelings left over from your time with the Bruins?
JOE THORNTON: Oh, zero. The only hard feeling I had was that night, and after that you get over it and move on. Absolutely none.
Q. You've had this wonderful run down there. A possible Hart Trophy is being tossed around in several circles. When it comes to the voters, the writers, do you think being out in the west, you're sort of at a disadvantage in the voting because most of the voters reside in the east?
JOE THORNTON: I really haven't thought about it, to be honest with you. I know our games start at 10:30 eastern time. Yeah, I think the writers, they know what they're talking about. They see the stats in the paper every day and the Internet. There's no reason to say they're biased.
Q. As a player, is the Hart Trophy the top one or is the Pearson Trophy the top one?
JOE THORNTON: I really never thought about it. But obviously they're two great awards. One obviously by the writers and one obviously by the players. They're both special.
Q. Could you describe what you perceive to be the difference in the quality of play or the intensity level in the west versus the east?
JOE THORNTON: Well, personally, I like being a Shark, we're just really, really aggressive. We play real aggressive. We play an up-tempo game. We're very, very fast. I think that might be a little different than in the east where they're bigger people out in the east. I'm not sure if they play the up-tempo game like we do out here. But it's still hockey. It's all the same.
Q. With the league's new rules, the game obviously has become more wide open, free flowing during the season. Your thoughts on that and how will those new rules affect play in the playoffs, in the past being more defensive minded?
JOE THORNTON: First of all, yeah, I think the referee's have done a great job. It's definitely helped out the hockey game to watch. I love watching games. I watch hockey games every night now. It's much better to be a part of the game, too. I really think the refs are really going to call the stuff in the playoffs. I think that's what they've told all the players, at least, they're really going to crack down. It's just going to be like the regular season. I think you’ve got to take their word on that.
Q. Do you feel now that you've had a year under your belt under the new rules, are there any further changes you'd like to see made or is the game in a good place right now?
JOE THORNTON: I think it's awesome. Like I said, the refs call everything. They said they're going to call the new rule changes. With no red lines, the shootouts, I think it's become an awesome game. I thought it was awesome before. I think it's even better now. I think if they keep it like this, it's a great game to watch, a great game to play.
Q. Talk about the Hart Trophy, yourself and Jaromir Jagr. In your opinion, what makes him such a dynamic player? Everybody is talking about the difference in Jaromir this year. Did you notice a difference in his game this season?
JOE THORNTON: I always thought he's been the best player in the league all year long. He's just so patient, just so strong, a deadly shot. I love watching him play. I've watched a lot of his games on Center Ice Package. Obviously, I played against him a lot in the east - obviously not this year, but in the past. I've always thought he was a great player. His track record shows he's one of the best players of all time. He's a great, great player.
Q. Having played part of the year in the east, part of the year in the west, have you ever seen a season where it seems like the Stanley Cup tournament is so wide open? It's almost like there's 16 teams that have a shot at winning it.
JOE THORNTON: That's the truth. Anybody that's in this year has a good shot at winning. I don't think there's one team you can pick and say, this team's going to win it all. Any team has a good shot at it. I think you're going to see a lot of first-round upsets like you usually do. I think there might be a surprise team out west here that might win the Cup.
Q. Could you talk about what the Sharks have done especially well as of late to get this eight-game winning streak and getting ready for the playoffs here?
JOE THORNTON: We've just been getting real good goaltending. I think that's the one thing we've been getting is awesome goaltending. We've been playing real good defensively, taking care of our end, which ultimately leads to good scoring opportunities. That's probably the biggest thing we've been doing in this eight-game winning streak, is just cleaning up our end a little bit.
Q. I know you've only played against the Predators once since the trade. What are your impressions in general of Nashville's team?
JOE THORNTON: Yeah, when we played against them, it was a pretty fun game to be part of it. They're a real quick team, a lot of fun to play against, a lot of skill obviously with Kariya, Sullivan. They went down with Vokoun, but I think Mason has been playing real well. They have got a real good team.
Q. With assists, you're kind of like Wayne Gretzky now closing in on a hundred assists. Is that by design? Are people letting you go up the ice, you find somebody who is in the open?
JOE THORNTON: You just got to give it to the right people. That's what I've been doing. It seems like everybody I pass to right now is scoring goals. I really can't take all the credit for that. Everybody has been playing so well, it's been helping me out tremendously.
Q. Would it be nice if you could shoot more or do you consciously not shoot?
JOE THORNTON: No, yeah, my father every day tells me to shoot more. Phil Esposito tells me to shoot more every day, too. I have, to. I realize that. As I get older, it will be more part of my game, shooting more.
Q. When you got traded, I was thinking he has an older cousin out there, Scott Thornton. He's about eight years older than you. I noticed he went off to Belleville when you were nine. What do you remember growing up with Scott and over the years what sort of advice, blazing that path before you, how much did that help?
JOE THORNTON: He always played hockey with my older brother Alex. I saw a little bit of him playing. Then when he went to Belleville, my parents brought me a Belleville Bulls jersey with his number on the back. I watched him a little bit in Junior. Then he got drafted to Toronto third overall. I was a huge Toronto fan. That was a huge thrill for me. I've watched his career all the way through when he went to Montréal, Edmonton, now out here. Yeah, just pretty much stay positive. He saw my tough years, my first and second year. Just said to stay positive, you're a good player, things will work out. It's always nice to play with him, being real close to him out here in San Jose.
Q. Talking about how wide open it is in the playoffs, seems like there's never been a year like this with the goaltending being so inexperienced. How does that affect you as a shooter? You don't see a lot of Stanley Cup-hardened goalies in the playoffs.
JOE THORNTON: I saw that the other day, out west there's not too many goalies other than Kiprusoff that have too much playoff experience. I'm not sure how much you think about it. Obviously you want to shoot as much as you can, drive the net as much as you can. We'll have to see how it all pans out. I'm not sure who's going to fare better, the goalies with the experience or the goalies without any that just come in and make history on their own.
Source: News - Joe Thornton Conference Call Transcript - San Jose Sharks
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Sharks’ dynamic duo win scoring titles - NHL - MSNBC.com
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