Joe Thornton will be officially inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame on Monday, and the San Jose Sharks legend does so with a perfect reputation.
Thornton and the rest of the 2025 Hall of Fame Induction class are among the best of all time. Zdeno Chara, Duncan Keith, Brianna Decker, Jennifer Botterill, and finally Alexander Mogilny will join Thornton in Toronto for eternity.
The Sharks finally hired Thornton as a coach over the Summer. While the larger-than-life person that is Thornton, the entire San Jose Sharks roster has had a run-in with Thornton.
Macklin Celebrini has lived with the Thornton family since joining the Sharks in 2024. The Sharks’ superstar gets advice from Thornton, but also gives him a sense of normalcy.
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“He’s so generous. His family has been so great to me. He’s just an amazing person. The legacy and the impact that he’s made here will last forever,” Celebrini said.
“Just family dinners. Every few nights, when we’re home from the road, and they’re all settled, they have a family dinner. It’s awesome hearing about what they’ve been up to, kind of having a little bit of normalcy.”
Veteran Ryan Reaves has had his fair share of on-ice moments with Thornton. Now up close, Reaves can genuinely appreciate the Hall of Famer.
“It’s been fun going to war against him. We played a couple of really fun playoff series against him,” Reaves said. “Wherever he plays in the lineup, up and down, he brings a lot to the team. He brings a lot of energy.”
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Reaves’ son is playing in San Jose, and while Thornton’s son isn’t on the same team as Reaves’, the Sharks duo often are just chatting about life away from the rink when their kids practice.
“Every time I see him, I sit down and shoot the shit. His kids always skate right before my kids here on Mondays and Fridays, so I see him in the locker room,” Reaves said. “We sit down and talk a bunch. Just a really nice guy. I’m glad that I got to know him outside of hockey.”
Sam Dickinson may not be the San Jose Sharks prospect most connected to Thornton, but that doesn’t mean he hasn’t felt the effects of Jumbo Joe.
“He’s always around. How nice a guy he is. It doesn’t really matter who you are; he’ll stop and talk to anybody. I don’t think I’ve ever seen him without a smile on his face. He’s always having a good time,” Dickinson said. “Always looking for a fist bump or something like that. “When you see him, it just brightens your day a little bit because he’s having a good one.”
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Congratulations to Joe Thornton for his incredible achievement and enshrinement in the Hockey Hall of Fame.
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