SAN JOSE — When Joe Thornton said he’d be ready to play on opening night way back in July, more than a few hockey pundits rolled their eyes.
The same guy who said there was “no doubt” that he’d suit up for Game 1 of the Sharks’ Stanley Cup playoff series against the Edmonton Oilers just three days after he tore the anterior and medial collateral ligaments in his left knee was now claiming he’d be healthy enough to return to action less than six months after going under the knife.
In a post-truth world, it sounded like the 38-year-old center was pushing his own set of alternative facts.