Considering that he still sports it, it seems likely that his wife, Tabea, has gotten used to it.
But the beard, much like its owner, has had some interesting moments.
On January 4, 2018, Nazem Kadri, who was playing for the Toronto Maple Leafs at the time, pulled off a piece of it during a fight with Thornton. The Maple Leafs forward jokingly remarked: “I thought I was a hockey player, not a barber.”
“That was chaotic,” chuckled former Sharks coach Pete De Boer. “In my 25 years of coaching, I’ve seen a lot of things. I’ve never seen a chunk of beard on the ice before.”
The fluffy clump quickly found its way into a Ziplock bag labeled “For the boys.”
This incident might have sparked an idea.
Marleau mentioned that one year the Sharks began saving bits of hair in bags every time they won a playoff game while pursuing the Cup. It was their way to mark progress toward their goal. And as Marleau noted, this had Thornton’s influence written all over it.
<p Just like that year at the Sharks Christmas party when players were swapping individual gifts. “I can’t remember who the defenseman was,” Marleau said, “but I do recall Joe gifting him a pylon.”
This memory made Marleau laugh out loud. Many of his former coaches and teammates share similar sentiments when reminiscing about Thornton’s vibrant Hall of Fame career.
“I remember coaching Joe and Patrick Marleau for Canada at the U-18 tournament back in 1995-96,” De Boer recalled. “We had an off day and took the team canoeing at a local lake. The next day we received news that Joe’s canoe had been completely wrecked. Who knows what happened?”
“With Joe around, there’s never a dull moment. For instance, I’ve never met anyone who enjoyed being naked more than he does.”
You heard right?
“Here’s one example,” De Boer continued. “During the Stanley Cup Final in 2016, he and Brent Burns strolled through Pittsburgh shirtless like they didn’t have any worries at all. And just look at all those interviews he did without wearing a shirt.”
Lately William Nylander often goes shirtless during media meet-ups too. The Maple Leafs forward admitted last week it’s something he picked up from Thornton’s earlier trend.
“That’s because when you’re sexy like us, you flaunt it,” Thornton said when he learned he inspired Nylander to go without his shirt.
“He showed me,” Nylander laughed when hearing about Thornton’s comment. “He paved the way so I’m just following suit.”
“He’s one of a kind. So many great memories from playing with him and getting to know him. It’s fantastic that he’s going into the Hall. So many wonderful memories.”
Todd Mc Lellan, coach for Detroit Red Wings and former coach for Thornton in San Jose from 2008-15 agreed with those thoughts but stayed pretty tight-lipped regarding some of Jumbo’s more outrageous escapades.
“There were several incidents,” Mc Lellan noted. “But if I told you about them, I’d be in trouble tomorrow! And let me clarify this: while players can remove their shirts whenever they want; coaches have to keep theirs on!”
“Seriously though, what I can say is Joe’s love for hockey was enormous. His impact on games was huge too-his personality loomed large around hockey as well as his influence on San Jose hockey culture.”
The impact was so significant that San Jose declared November 23rd, 2024 as “Joe Thornton Day,” coinciding with the retirement of his No. 19 jersey by the Sharks organization. During an announcement press conference for this occasion, San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan shared how some of Thornton’s old teammates described him using just one word each: three popular choices were “Legend,” “Icon,” and naturally enough-“Beard.”
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