Amidst the panic of a not-so-terrific year on the scoresheet for Joe Thornton, it’s important to note we took him for granted last year. Jumbo was a point-a-game player in the 2015-16 season, a feat so remarkable for a 36 year old that we just about didn’t make note of it at all. Perhaps that’s why this year stings the way it does.
“Won’t Thornton keep producing this way forever,” you might have asked yourself at the beginning of this campaign. Well... no, because he hadn’t been a point-a-game player for years prior to his unbelievable 2016 season.