SAN JOSE, Calif. — Joe Thornton is coming back for another season at age 40, signing a one-year, $2 million contract with the San Jose Sharks on Friday after briefly contemplating retirement at the end of last season.
Thornton decided in the offseason that he wasn’t ready to hang it up after 21 seasons in the NHL, saying he’d play only in San Jose. The Sharks were eager to bring Thornton back, but it took until a week before training camp for the contract to be completed.
“Words cannot equate the impact that Joe has had on this franchise since his arrival in San Jose in 2005,” general manager Doug Wilson said. “Joe is a generational player who seemingly blazes past an existing Hall of Famer with each game he plays. His leadership and dedication to the organization and his teammates is inspiring. He has the rare ability to make the players around him better and we’re excited to see him healthy and back wearing the Sharks crest.”
Thornton arrived in San Jose in a franchise-altering trade from Boston on Nov. 30, 2005, turning the Sharks into a perennial Cup contender that can never quite win it all.
He quickly became the face of the franchise, winning the Hart Trophy as MVP in his first season, leading the team to back-to-back conference finals appearances in 2010-11 and a run to the Stanley Cup Final three years ago before a loss to Pittsburgh.
The Sharks hoped to give Thornton a championship last season when teammates and coaches openly talked about wanting to “Win for Joe.” But San Jose lost in six games in the conference final to eventual champion St. Louis.
Thornton has 413 goals and 1,065 assists in 1,566 career games with Boston and San Jose.
He ranks 14th in points and needs just 22 to reach 1,500 for his career. He’s eighth in assists and needs 15 to pass Adam Oates. Thornton will move into the top 10 in games played with 49 this year.
NEW YORK — The NHL for the first time selected four female officials to work on the ice at prospect tournaments held this weekend.
Katie Guay and Kelly Cooke were selected as referees, while Kirsten Welsh and Kendall Hanley will work as linesmen, the league announced on Friday.
The four were selected out of a group of 96 officials, including 11 women, who participated in the league’s annual officials exposure combine last month in Buffalo, N.Y.
It’s the first time women have officiated at the pre-training camp prospects tournament level. It’s the next step in the league’s bid to have women officiate at the NHL level.
RALEIGH, N.C. — The Carolina Hurricanes have signed defenseman Jake Gardiner to a four-year contract.
Under terms of the deal announced on Friday by Carolina general manager Don Waddell, Gardiner will make an average of $4.05 million each season.
The 29-year-old Gardiner had three goals and 27 assists while playing 62 regular-season games with Toronto last season, then added two assists in seven playoff games. He has 45 goals and 200 assists during his eight-year NHL career.
Waddell said Gardiner is “a solid veteran blueliner with a proven history of contributing offensively.”
This marks the second straight offseason the Hurricanes gave a four-year deal to a free-agent defenseman. Calvin de Haan signed one a year ago, but was traded to Chicago in June.