Has there ever been a big player that has been labeled as unfairly as Joe Thornton? When you are 6’4” and 235-lbs there should be only a handful of players that can knock you off the puck. Thornton has developed a reputation, fair or not, of being a diver in a league where stitches and facial hair measure one’s testicular fortitude as much as anything else.

Thornton may also be a victim of his own excellence too.  Jumbo Joe won the Art Ross and Hart Trophies in 2006 for the collective NHL title of “baddest man in the league”. He’s the only man in the history of the league to win those two titles after being traded midway through the season. His perennial rank among the NHL scoring leaders puts Thornton in rarified air, so why is he so often overlooked.

Three 100-point seasons don’t seem to carry as much weight for Thornton as his history of turning “soft” when he arrived on the west coast. In Boston, Big Joe wouldn’t think twice about dropping the gloves. After all, he was bigger than most guys on the ice, and could actually handle himself pretty well. The truth is that Thornton is more valuable to his team as a playmaker than a brawler, and while he can still throw down on occasion, the Sharks need him on the ice.

Thornton has always been solid in the faceoff circle, and though he doesn’t hit like he used to, will still throw his big frame around. The former first-overall pick in 1997 has always been a pass-first type of center, racking up helpers especially on the power play. Still with some spring in his step at age 33, don’t count Thornton out of the NHL’s elite centers.