Former Shark reveals shocking story about Joe Thornton during jersey retirement ceremony

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Graham Montgomery
November 25, 2024 (11:00)

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Long-time Sharks defenseman Doug Murray revealed a shocking story about 'Jumbo' Joe Thornton this weekend during the legend's jersey retirement ceremony.

Thornton became the second Sharks player in franchise history to have his number raised to the rafters Saturday night as the organization honored the former center.

The hockey legend spent the majority of his career with the Sharks, putting on the teal jersey for 1104 of his 1714 career games. Now, no other shark will ever wear the number 19.

During the ceremony, former Sharks defenseman and Thornton's teammate from 2005 to 2013 Doug Murray shared a special story about Jumbo.

While Murray was at the event in person, his message was pre-recorded in a special video that was played on the jumbotron in the arena.

Apparently, during his time with the Sharks, Thornton met a homeless woman with two kids in San Jose. He went above and beyond to help serve the community by buying her an apartment in the city so she and her two kids would not be on the streets anymore.

Furthermore, Thornton and the Sharks went out of their way to make sure no one knew about this.

Clearly, he did not want any attention or notoriety for the gesture, he simply did it out of the goodness of his heart. That is what true legends are made of.

Murray knew about this because he was asked to help move the family into their new home, but he had to swear to secrecy. As he said in the video, it has been so long since then, that he felt comfortable sharing the story now.

Thornton was clearly moved by the story even though he obviously already knew about it.

It is almost impossible to think how big of an impact Joe had on the lives of those three strangers. They remain anonymous, but hopefully, that gesture and material support from the former Shark changed their lives for the better and permanently.