St. Thomas, Ont. and San Jose, Calif. celebrate hockey legend on night his jersey is retired

St. Thomas, Ont. native Joe Thornton (left) alongside former Shark Patrick Marleau. (Source: San Jose Sharks/X)

The Jumbo elephant monument in St. Thomas, Ont. will be lit in teal Saturday night as the city honours hockey legend Joe Thornton.

Both his home city, and the city of San Jose, Calif. have declared ‘Nov. 23 as “Joe Thornton Day” as the Sharks retire his number, 19, prior to their game against the Buffalo Sabres.

“Joe Thornton Day in San Jose. It sounds pretty good, eh?” Thornton told a crowd at a press conference on Friday.

“We’re changing it to Joe Thornton Weekend, by the way,” he laughed.

The St. Thomas, Ont. native is beloved and has been embraced by the community since 2005 when he was traded to California from Boston.

Thornton ranks first in team history in many categories like assists (804) and points per game (0.96). He’s second all-time in points (1,055).

“I never thought I'd get my own day, but here we are,” said Thornton.

“You know how important the Sharks are for the city when one of their former players gets honored like this. This city bleeds teal.”

Back in his hometown, city council passed a motion at this week’s meeting to declare it “Joe Thornton Day” as well.

“We have prepared a proclamation … and we will be taping that proclamation and also sending it off to our friends in San Jose so that they know that St. Thomas will also be doing this the same thing and recognizing one of our favorite sons,” said Joe Preston, St. Thomas mayor.

The Sharks held an alumni game Friday night with Thornton acting as honorary captain for both teams. He and his son, River, led the players onto the ice in front of a sold-out crowd. River and Joe’s father, Wayne Thornton, were coaches.

Before ending his media conference, Thornton smiled, and said “let's all have a great Joe Thornton Day. Let's go Sharks!”