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Thornton’s injury rare sight to see

Image (1) Thornton-thumb-200x300-8005.jpg for post 532

What San Jose Sharks fans are used to seeing: Joe Thornton putting up great regular season numbers, playing in every single game on his way to disappearing in the playoffs en route to an early and disappointing exit for the Sharks.

What they aren’t used to seeing? Joe Thornton hurt and down on the ice, with his status for the next game uncertain. Neither are his teammates, according to David Pollack of the San Jose Mercury News. Thornton was hit by Alexander Edler of the Vancouver Canucks and went down awkwardly into the boards and left with what is reported to be a lower body injury.

“From talking around, I don’t think it was a dirty hit, but it was just a reaction,” Clowe said of his decision to get in Edler’s face after seeing Thornton prone on the ice. “And I don’t think I did anything too serious, just give him a little shake.

“It was just one of those bang-bang plays. Since I’ve played with him, Joe’s never missed a game and I’ve never seen him go down very much. When he stayed down, I was just kind of reacting,” Clowe added. “One of the best players in the league, you don’t want to take any chances. You want to let the other team know (they can’t do anything) cheap against him.”

We’ll learn more before tonight’s Sharks game. While the jokes will always continue about Thornton’s inability to raise his game during the playoffs, there’s no doubt the Sharks need a player of his caliber. He has 66 assists this season, significantly more that of Dan Boyle who is second on the team with 39. He also has the largest disparity between assists and goals in the NHL this season; for a team fighting for the top seed in the West and the Pacific division title, losing Thornton is not exactly something the Sharks would need.

Even if he’ll disappear in the playoffs anyways, they’d still like to have him on the way to the postseason.