The San Jose Sharks need to do this thing for Joe Thornton

As the San Jose Sharks look to quash their reputation as postseason chokers, the legacy of Joe Thornton lies at the heart of the team’s push for glory.

Last year, the NHL commemorated its 100th anniversary by counting down the supposed 100 greatest players in the history of hockey. Although the project has become something of an afterthought, few would doubt its capacity to please certain fans while simultaneously upsetting others.

Central to this overarching narrative are longstanding debates regarding the limits — or lack thereof — of attempts to memorialize a select few amount of individuals. Such processes inevitably incite further avenues of inquiry.

Not only are fans left to grapple with the prospect of who is excluded, but they are also left to interrogate the reasons as to why some of their favorite players are rendered forgotten from reductionist abstractions.

Deep-seated issues notwithstanding, one of the most contentious subjects of debate was the NHL’s decision to include six players that had not yet retired — Jaromir Jagr, Sidney Crosby, Alex Ovechkin, Jonathan Toews, Patrick Kane and Duncan Keith — in its list of the all-time greats.

Like many hockey lovers, I wasn’t surprised. That said, I was pretty disappointed, as the NHL had consciously forgotten to give due credit to Joe Thornton — one of the single greatest playmakers in the history of contemporary sport.

Adrian Dater summed up the most widely circulated criticisms of Jumbo Joe best:

"Yeah, yeah, Joe Thornton has never won a Stanley Cup. He didn’t always show up in the playoffs earlier in his career. He was probably a bit of a floater defensively for a while."

I’ll be the first to admit that each respective comment is both fair and justified in its own regard. The first, in particular, is simply irrefutable. But to allow the aforementioned shortcomings to cloud one’s vision is to commit a fallacy.

For starters, Thornton’s career totals are beyond impressive. As per NHL.com, 1,030 of his 1,427 points are assists — a statistic that attests to a broader capacity to move the puck in a manner that is sixth sense-esque.

He’s surpassed the 100 point mark on three separate occasions — the most noteworthy of which was in 2005-06, when he tallied a whopping 125 points and accepted both the Hart Trophy and Art Ross Trophy. He’s also one of a select few players to record 60-plus assists at 36 or older.

Defensively, Thornton has evolved into one of the game’s better two-way forwards. He adds size and aggression through his ability to undertake difficult matchups when away from the puck — especially impressive at 38, as the league gets increasingly younger.

He has also enjoyed considerable success on the international stage. Thornton’s most memorable moment came in the form of the 2005 IIHF World Championship, where his 16 points in nine games led Canada to a silver medal — a performance in which he captured tournament MVP.

When all is said and done, though, the thought of what should have been, could have been and may not be continues to cast a shadow upon Thornton’s illustrious career, as the lack of a Stanley Cup ring renders Jumbo Joe good as opposed to great in the eyes of many a critic.

That is, unless his team musters up a performance that forever quells the adversaries.

For the 13th time in the past 14 seasons, the San Jose Sharks are going to the Stanley Cup playoffs. It’s an impressive feat for a team that’s only been in the NHL since 1991.

And although there’s certainly a lot to be proud of, a sense of uneasiness often envelops discussions surrounding the organization — an appearance in the 2015-16 Stanley Cup final is the closest that the team has come to capturing hockey’s most esteemed trophy.

As such, the Sharks have garnered something of an unfavorable reputation amid NHL circles. Few would question the notion that they are an intimidating force to be reckoned with in the regular season, but a record of choking in the playoffs unfortunately paints another picture altogether.

That the Sharks occupy less and less of the talk circuit of the hockey world might actually be a source of inspiration as the team heads into the 2017-18 postseason. They’ve quietly assembled an ensemble that is finding ways to consistently win games.

Martin Jones’ numbers are decent enough, Brent Burns continues to serve as one of the league’s better offensive defensemen, Logan Couture remains immensely underrated and Joe Pavelski managed to sneak into the 300-goal club. Kevin Kurz even made the argument that Marc-Edouard Vlasic is the team’s MVP.

All in all, a tide of momentum is rising — albeit, a relatively calm one.

As the team looks to quash its reputation as a postseason choker, so too does Thornton. He suffered an injury to his right MCL on Jan. 23, and it’s unlikely that he’ll return before the playoffs. That, coupled with the absence of team legend Patrick Marleau over the course of the past season has prompted the Sharks to embrace a “new identity” of sorts, as other faces are invited to fill the gaps left by franchise centerpieces.

It might not be pretty, but the redemptive possibilities of the upcoming playoffs are beyond promising for the Sharks.

To echo Amalie Benjamin, Thornton’s spirit never truly leaves the team — even when his counterparts are left to directly confront his looming shadow.

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So into the playoffs the Sharks shall swim. They may be without the bearded face of their franchise, but they’ll surely look to win it all. For Jumbo Joe, above anyone else.