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Joe Thornton named San Jose Sharks captain

Joe Thornton

San Jose Sharks center Joe Thornton (19) celebrates after scoring past the Detroit Red Wings during the second period of Game 5 of the NHL hockey Western Conference semifinals, Saturday, May 8, 2010, in San Jose, Calif. (AP Photo/Paul Sakuma)

AP

They waited until the official start of the new season to do it, but the San Jose Sharks have named a team captain. Unsurprisingly, it’s a guy a lot of folks counted on being the front-runner for the position in Joe Thornton. As for the rest of the captain’s crew, David Pollak of Working The Corners fills us in on who they are and the thought process behind naming Thornton captain.

Beyond that, Todd McLellan announced that Dan Boyle will have a “permanent ‘A’ and Patrick Marleau and Ryane Clowe would rotate as the second assistant -- Marleau at home games, Clowe on the road.

McLellan indicated the choice came down to two very strong candidates, and, yes, it was clear Boyle was the other. And, yes, there was a conscious decision to pair Thornton’s more easy-going style with Boyle, who can be more intense.

Joe Thornton was a captain once before in his career as a young, up and coming star in Boston. Things there didn’t exactly turn out well. Also not reflecting well on Thornton is his seeming knack to end up not winning in the playoffs, something folks have an easy time reminding us about. Getting Boyle to be the permanent alternate captain is a solid move for the team and a lot of people were thinking he’d end up with the “C” but it wasn’t in the cards for Boyle.

The guy we’re surprised to see not get a letter is none other than Joe Pavelski. Pavelski stepped up during last year’s playoffs in a big way for the Sharks, helping lead the team past both Colorado and Detroit on the way to the Western Conference finals. It seemed like a natural move to at least get Pavelski an “A” but clearly we don’t know much of anything here apparently.