So yesterday morning, as I was reading the usual sporting news, I came across an article that read, “Thornton Line among the best.” Joe Thornton is the captain of the San Jose Sharks and his line-mates of Brent Burns and Thomas Hertl are currently the second best line in the league through nine games in regards to points. The best line in the NHL is the line of Sidney Crosby, Chris Kunitz and Pascal Dupuis. The Pittsburgh Penguins continue to raise the bar in the NHL.
Remember Week 1 of the NFL season when the Eagles came flying out of the gate against the Redskins? We all remember how awful the Steelers looked In week one against the Titans, but have bounced back quite well the last few weeks. Game one of the World Series, everyone is saying the Red Sox have the momentum. I appreciate as much as anyone watching players excel in sports, but that being said, I think the media in today’s society is so quick to give accolades to players or teams when it’s not deserved (See Claude Giroux article).
As I kept reading the article, this is where things got interesting. The article basically said that Thornton’s line is right up there with Crosby and whoever benefits from playing next to him. You have got to be kidding me.
Crosby has missed large portions of the last two seasons because of concussions. He was sidelined in 2011 for the final 41 regular-season games and the playoffs, and he sat out most of the 2012 regular season. So I find it ridiculous as to how can anyone discredit the play of Kunitz and Dupuis over the last two years.
In 2011, Kunitz scored 26 goals with 35 assists. In 2012, Kunitz led the pens with 22 goals and was second on the team with 52 points in a 48 game season. Dupuis scored 25 goals with 34 assists in 2011 and in 2012, Dupuis scored 18 goals with 20 assists.
The San Jose Sharks line of Thornton, Burns and Hertl are playing extremely well through nine games of the NHL season, but as you know, the season is very, very long and brutal. In three of those games, the Sharks have scored 21 goals, including a 9-2 route of the lowly New York Rangers.
There are no awards through nine games of the NHL season, no scoring titles are handed out and no all star selections are made, especially for a 19-year-old rookie in Hertl, a forward who used to play defense in Burns, and a captain who has never quite lived up to expectations in Thornton.
