HockeyThornton finally growing fangs, plus 30 thoughts

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Sharks centre Joe Thornton, right, can be nice to the media, but if he doesn't deliver in the playoffs he's still going to get carved up. (Rich Lam/Getty Images)

He was the guy who showed up shirtless in interviews, smiled constantly, gave the media everything we needed and wanted to be liked.

Now, he's giving shorter answers, turning down some requests and showing real bite towards questions he doesn't like.

I'm loving the new "Evil Joe" Thornton. And here's betting the Sharks do, too.

Not every person is born with a killer instinct. Take a look at your friends, your co-workers, even yourself. In every group, every office, there is at least one person who likes to be liked. But, to be successful, the fangs need to come out, especially when it really matters.

Joe Thornton's fangs are out.

I remember once talking to Kelly Hrudey about someone who was "too loyal" to his friends. (He got burned by a couple.) Hrudey's response was, "Boy, that's a terrible thing to say about someone - he's too loyal." I loved that line. I was reminded of it the other day when thinking about Thornton.

Because the worst thing I could say about him is that, at times, he's been too nice a guy.

When Mike O'Connell was Boston's GM, he tried to have Thornton undergo "The Yzerman Turn" - where a friendly young player who means well but isn't yet complete is pushed into becoming the captain of a champion. Thornton wasn't yet ready and the Bruins lost patience. (I've always believed O'Connell took the bullet for a lot of people who made that decision).

How old was Steve Yzerman when Scott Bowman threatened to trade him to Ottawa - the moment of truth in his career? He was 30.

How old was Thornton when the Sharks handed him the captaincy, asking him to lead the group? He was 31. Through his play, Thornton is showing he has a chance to make that his own moment of truth.

A few things happened. First, he saw how Rob Blake wore the "C." Second, among the most vocal Sharks in the current leadership group are hard-working competitors like Ryane Clowe and Doug Murray. Watching them, Thornton realized that if he wanted to talk, he'd better deliver. Third, and probably most important, he stopped trying to please everyone. After all, he can be nice to the media, but if he doesn't deliver in the playoffs he's still going to get carved.

Oh, he's still very good to his teammates, the organization and fans. But he's battling opponents all over the ice and snorting at questions he doesn't like. Watch the end of this Darren Pang interview with him. "What's been the biggest change?...Nothing." And, after the emotional Game 7 victory over Detroit, he told a bunch of reporters scrumming him, "I really honestly believe half of you guys don't know anything about the sport...So I don't care what you guys [think]."

What does this mean? It means he's probably going to snap at one of my questions, too. But it's also a reminder that not everyone is born with the necessary mean streak. Some of us need to learn it's ok to be a hard-ass once in a while.

"Evil Joe" isn't so bad, except for San Jose's opponents.

30 THOUGHTS

1) The timing sure makes it look like Calgary waited to ask Alberta-born Jim Nill if he'd be interested in the GM job. Nill's contract in Detroit, however, has a no-compete which does not allow other teams to talk to him. Anyway, the Flames sure played better under Jay Feaster, which makes him the right choice.

2) Best thing to happen to the Green Men: Glenn Healy.

3) Received many tweets about the late line in Monday night's blog indicating the "betting" is that Winnipeg's next NHL team - should the deal close and receive league approval -- will be called the Manitoba Moose. A number of you feel it should be the Winnipeg Jets. Don't think that's going to happen. True North wants to start fresh, and that's completely understandable. Pretty sure it will be a "Manitoba" team, not just a "Winnipeg" one and a lot of effort has gone into branding the Moose. Will admit, though, I'm less certain about the nickname than the location name.

4) Another thing I'm learning from my twitter feed: there is not an NHL city that hates its team ownership more than Atlanta. Think both Gary Bettman and David Stern agree with those fans, too. It would be nice if a little bit of that $170 US million franchise/relocation fee (assuming a sale to Winnipeg, of course) went to making sure those who lose their jobs receive a decent package/benefits.

5) Received a call from an NHL coach after last week's suggestion that Mike Richards consider switching to an "A" so he doesn't need to deal with the Philly media. It was complete disagreement. "Mike Richards knows more about winning than most players," he said. "He could be my captain anytime."

6) Very interesting adjustment by the Sedins as they struggled to get going in the playoffs. Both Henrik and Daniel said they (and their third forward) were too close together, allowing opponents to collapse on them with all five players. By passing back and involving their defencemen, more room opened for them.

7) Daniel blocked a shot late in Game 1 against San Jose and was mercilessly ripped by his teammates. He actually fell and slid into it skate-first. They asked him when he learned to play baseball.

8) A Western Conference coach had a very interesting breakdown of how he'd attack the Sharks. All of their puck-moving defencemen (Dan Boyle, Jason Demers, Ian White) are on the right side. "The only guy on the left who can really make a pass is Marc-Eduard Vlasic," he said. He'd have his players throw it into the right corner, clobber one of those three, and make them pass it to the left-siders. Detroit really punished them with a similar idea.

9) Think that's why a couple Canucks basically said that as good as Thornton and Logan Couture are, the Sharks' critical player is Boyle.

10) Demers, by the way, admitted Monday he was banged-up in missing Sunday's opener. Upper- or lower-body, he was asked. "All over," he said.

11) Another coach said he thought this was the first series where Vancouver would really miss Manny Malhotra. San Jose is deep down the middle with Thornton, Couture and Joe Pavelski. "Logan Couture has completely changed that team," he added.

12) Asked a goalie coach about Antti Niemi: "Totally calm regardless of the ebb and flow of the game...You always want a goalie to cover from the bottom up during scrambles. Nobody does this better than him." He sure showed that in the 20-second melee around his crease in Game 1.

13) Wondered how his scrambly style compared to Tim Thomas, but another goalie coach downplayed that. "Not as erratic. [Niemi] plays deeper...doesn't guess as much."

14) Asked Jeff Tambellini about the terrific play he made to chase down Martin Erat's breakaway in Game 6 against Nashville. "I think I'm getting too much credit for this," he said. No chance, it was a huge moment in a 2-1 game. "I was thinking that if I didn't catch him, I wasn't getting another shift...I knew after two steps I had him and didn't want to trip him."

15) Felt badly that Tambellini was scratched for Game 1 against San Jose, though. A guy who does that should be rewarded, but the Canucks wanted the banging of Victor Oreskovich to wear down San Jose's blue-line.

16) Guy Boucher and his psychology degree are probably howling at all of this 1-3-1 talk, but I can think of one legitimate reason he varied from that system for Boston. The Bruins blew out the Lightning 8-1 on Dec. 2, and felt very confident they could attack it. Good coaching.

17) Had heard the reason Curtis Glencross did not sign with Calgary before the deadline was the lack of a no-movement clause. He was worried about getting a multi-year deal, then getting traded. Not surprised his new contract's got one, and that's a cap-friendly deal for the Flames.

18) If Brent Sutter hadn't survived in Calgary, would Lou Lamoriello have contacted him about going back to New Jersey? Not certain Sutter would want to go back, but guessing there would be a feeler.

19) The Red Wings like to be patient with their prospects, but it's going to be very hard for them not to rush Brendan Smith. He's 22 and ready after one year in Grand Rapids.

20) The Nashville Predators are rarely wrong when it comes to players. But, did they watch Rich Peverley in the post-season and think, "Boy, we could use this guy instead of, say, Patrick Hornqvist or Sergei Kostitsyn?"

21) Laughed a little at how the Predators sent Matt Halischuk and Blake Geoffrion back down to Milwaukee for Game 7 of the playoff series against Houston, and the Admirals lost 4-2. (They got two points apiece in the defeat.) Apparently, this doesn't work. Anaheim did the same with Corey Perry, Ryan Getzlaf and Dustin Penner in 2006 - but the Portland Pirates lost Game 7 to Hershey even though they scored three goals between them.

22) By the way, permission granted for NHL teams to talk to Portland coach Kevin Dineen.

23) For those teams wondering about goaltending: I think it's going to take a huge offer to get Cory Schneider out of Vancouver. He's got one more season before restricted free agency at $900,000 US. They're not giving him away.

24) As we put together the Tim Thomas/Martin St. Louis/Vermont piece for last Saturday's Inside Hockey, one of my questions was, jokingly, "How did the Catamounts not win it all with those great players?" I asked it to Mike Gilligan, their coach, and producer Jason Murdoch, on my direction, asked it to St. Louis. I cannot stress enough how dumb that idea was. Sometimes, you forget how competitive these people are and how much they want to win. Fifteen years later, it still bothers them.

25) Vermont reached the Frozen Four in 1996 and lost to Colorado College in double OT on a controversial goal. St. Louis listened to the above question, paused, and said, "Because of a hand pass." (That was how the puck got to the winning goal-scorer.) Then, he glared at poor Jason. Gilligan said to blame the coach. Ouch. I'm still cringing.

26) Loved Thomas's line about never being east of Michigan, hearing about Vermont and wondering, "What state is that in?" He originally wanted to go to Massachusetts-Lowell or Michigan Tech, but both had senior goaltenders who would prevent him from playing as a freshman. At the latter, it was Jamie Ram. At Lowell, it was Dwayne Roloson.

27) Gilligan retired at the men's coach, only to come back and help out former NHLer and Canadian National Team assistant Tim Bothwell, who runs the women's program there. They were recruiting Basil McRae's daughter, Abbey, who's a pretty good player.

28) Speaking of Inside Hockey, not sure Roberto Luongo was 100 per cent thrilled with the idea of letting it be known he relied on brothers Leo and Fabio (among others) to get him focused for Games 6 and 7 against Chicago. But he recognized how helpful it would be to both of them to do it. Leo will be a goalie coach in the NHL some day (he's at Acadie-Bathurst now) and Fabio co-owns La Bella Italiana restaurant in Montreal.

29) Didn't deal with Derek Boogaard a ton during his NHL career, but do remember the longest conversation I ever held with him. We were talking about his sister, Krysten. I didn't realize she was a basketball player and he was so proud of her freshman season at Kansas, where Krysten made the Big 12 All-Rookie team. It stuck with me, how much her success meant to him. Wish that family the best, and the fans in Minnesota are special people coming out to the public memorial.

30) I'll take whatever criticism I get for not jumping to conclusions on the cause of Boogaard's death. Yes, he had concussion problems. Yes, he was battling some substance issues. But, we don't know if either was the reason. What's wrong with waiting to find out for sure?

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