Former Sharks Defenseman Doug Murray Shares Incredible Story About Joe Thornton's Generosity
Former Sharks defenseman Doug Murray shared a heartwarming story about Joe Thornton that no one knew during his jersey retirement ceremony.
Thornton joined Patrick Marleau as the only Sharks players to have their numbers retired by the team this weekend ahead of the team's game against the Buffalo Sabres.
The ceremony featured countless members of the Sharks past and present, including a great number of Thornton's former teammates, many of whom have become close friends of his.
One of those individuals was former Sharks defenseman Douglas Murray, who joined Thornton on stage alongside his other closest buddies Patrick Marleau, Ryan Clowe, and Joe Pavelski.
During the ceremony, Murray shared a special story even most of Thornton's teammates never knew about.
At one point during his time with the team, Thornton apparently met a homeless mother of two in San Jose.
Having the big heart that he does, the former Sharks captain went out of his way to purchase an apartment for the family in the city, taking them off the streets.
Not only that, but he made sure that this remained a secret, forcing Murray and everyone else involved to silence so that he would not get any attention for it.
This is just one of many stories about the Sharks legend that were shared that night.
Not only did we get countless stories from Thornton's teammates, but we also saw others from around the league chime in including Sidney Crosby and several retied players.
Even Kevin Bieksa spoke about how special Thornton was as a player and is as a person on a Sportsnet segment.
Of course, the ceremony would not have been complete without a word from Patrick Marleau, who was clearly emotional about the whole thing.
In his message to Joe, he said that seeing number 19 next to his number 12 in the rafters simply, "makes me happy."
Thornton remains a part of the Sharks albeit in an unofficial role, and currently mentors Macklin Celebrini, who now lives with him in San Jose.
Before too long, he should be getting the call to the Hockey Hall of Fame with 430 career goals and 1539 points, good for 14th all-time. That will be another special day for Sharks fans but until then, they will get to enjoy seeing number 19 in the rafters at SAP center.
| G | A | PTS | ||
| Mitch Marner | 2 | - | 2 | |
| Logan Cooley | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| William Nylander | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Jack McBain | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Dylan Guenther | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Michael Kesselring | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Fraser Minten | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Mikhail Sergachev | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Chris Tanev | - | 1 | 1 | |
| John Tavares | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Simon Benoit | - | - | - | |
| Nick Bjugstad | - | - | - | |
| Michael Carcone | - | - | - | |
| Ian Cole | - | - | - | |
| Lawson Crouse | - | - | - | |
| Connor Dewar | - | - | - | |
| Oliver Ekman-Larsson | - | - | - | |
| Barrett Hayton | - | - | - | |
| Pontus Holmberg | - | - | - | |
| Clayton Keller | - | - | - | |
| Complete stats | ||||
| STANDINGS 2024-2025 | ||||||
TOP 10 | GP | W | L | OL | PTS | |
Jets | 21 | 17 | 4 | - | 34 | |
Wild | 20 | 13 | 3 | 4 | 30 | |
Devils | 23 | 14 | 7 | 2 | 30 | |
Hurricanes | 20 | 14 | 5 | 1 | 29 | |
Golden Knights | 21 | 13 | 6 | 2 | 28 | |
Maple Leafs | 21 | 13 | 6 | 2 | 28 | |
Capitals | 20 | 13 | 6 | 1 | 27 | |
Flames | 21 | 12 | 6 | 3 | 27 | |
Stars | 19 | 13 | 6 | - | 26 | |
Rangers | 19 | 12 | 6 | 1 | 25 | |
| Conference | Cumulative | ||||||