In the five months since Joe Thornton insisted to QMI Agency last October that he intended to retire as a San Jose Shark:

a) he told his general manager, Doug Wilson, to stop fibbing and zip his yap, that stinging message coming last week.

b) his team finds itself in danger of missing the Stanley Cup dance for the first time in 11 seasons, entering Wednesday’s games six points out of the final wild-card spot in the Western Conference and five points from third place in the Pacific Division.

c) he has watched the once seemingly impervious home-ice advantage at the rabid Shark Tank evaporate to the point in which San Jose is just a mediocre one game above .500 (17-16-5).

Given all that, maybe it was fitting the Sharks opted to hold practice Wednesday at the Mattamy Athletic Centre, the venue formerly known as Maple Leaf Gardens. After all, it was under this same hallowed roof that Harold Ballard was the architect of a cache of shinny soap operas too numerous to recount.

And in this, the most turbulent of seasons in recent memory for the Sharks, there has been no shortage of such subplots, such drama, such tabloid gold.

Yet, through this wild roller-coaster ride that has featured more dips than highs, Jumbo Joe hasn’t changed his tune.

He does not plan on going anywhere.

“I see myself as a Shark. My contract is up in two years and I still feel like playing, I want to be a Shark,” Thornton told QMI Agency Wednesday. “I love San Jose. I honestly see myself definitely finishing this contract and if I have the legs to hopefully play longer, stay in San Jose.”

Thornton is in the first season of a three-year extension worth US$20.25 million, one he just signed during the 2013-14 campaign. And despite his hot-and-cold relationship with his GM, the veteran centre claims he still has yet to be approached about waiving his no-trade clause.

“Doug’s never asked me to,” Thornton said. “I think people though over the summer he asked me but he didn’t.”

Wilson told reporters at the GM’s meetings in Boca Raton, Fla. Tuesday that he and Thornton had made amends, attempting to create the appearance that all was well and good in the San Jose Sharks family.

But you have to wonder.

It was only last Friday that Thornton told David Pollack of the San Jose Mercury News that Wilson “just needs to stop lying, shut his mouth.”

At the time, Thornton was reacting to Wilson’s comments which came during a question-and-answer session with approximately 350 Sharks season-ticket holders the previous night.

According to the Mercury News, Wilson responded to a fan’s query about Thornton’s leadership by saying: “He cares about the game so much. The reason we took the ‘C’ off him ... Joe carries the weight of the team on his shoulders. And he’s got such a big heart that when stress comes on him, he lashes out at people and it kind of impacts them.

“The pressure and stress, I felt, was getting to Joe,” Wilson continued. “And I sat him down and said we need other players to step up and share this. He got it. He didn’t like it, but he got it and he understood it.”

Less than a week later, both Thornton and Wilson insist they have made up.

“It was just something that kind of came out,” Thornton said Wednesday regarding his stinging comments about Wilson. “Sometimes, I think, that’s what makes hockey such a great sport — there are so many emotions that come together. It’s an emotional sport and it’s good to have all those emotions, I think.”

Asked directly about his relationship with Wilson, Thornton offered the generic answer of “Ya ya, I’m all good with everybody. Today’s a new day, let’s keep it going.”

No matter which way they spin it, last week’s brief glimpse of Thornton’s emotions suggests he is understandably still sensitive about management stripping the “C” from his chest last off-season.

In an email to Hockey Night In Canada’s Elliotte Friedman last Saturday, Sharks owner Hasso Plattner confirmed he talked to both Thornton and Wilson. Asked what he said, he replied, “What happens (with) the Sharks stays with the Sharks. All good.”

The bottom line here: If the Sharks don’t reach the playoffs, odds are good there will be a housecleaning. And since Thornton’s contract status leaves him holding all the cards, he might be the survivor in a purge that could cost Wilson and/or coach Todd McLellan their jobs.

SHARKS HAVE JOE’S BACK

There is so much “white noise” swirling around San Jose Sharks coach Todd McLellan these days, even a good set of earplugs might not help tune it all out.

Forget all the rumours linking him to the Leafs coaching job next season. There are much more pressing issues surrounding his team.

Topping the list is the brief war of words between veteran Joe Thornton and GM Doug Wilson that took place last week. Since that time, the Sharks have lost two consecutive games by a cumulative score of 11-4.

“I don’t think the outside incident affects what’s going on in here,” McLellan said Wednesday. “In fact, it should galvanize the group. They should all play for Joe and Joe should play for them.

“The past two games we’ve given up five goals a night. You can’t win like that. It doesn’t matter what happens away from the rink. We still have to focus on what is going on on the ice.”

Entering the second outing of a seven-game trip with their playoff hopes fading away, Thornton’s teammates still have his back.

“Every player in this room supports Jumbo,” forward Logan Couture said.

mike.zeisberger@sunmedia.ca

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