VANCOUVER — An offhand and off-color remark by Sharks captain Joe Thornton has turned into an online firestorm.

Only one media outlet in the locker room actually used what Thornton had to say, but once the Vancouver Province put the full statement on its hockey blog, it was widely distributed through Twitter and appeared on other sites such as Deadspin.

The Sharks took issue with the decision to post what Thornton said.

“I don’t think it would be a surprise to anyone in the industry that ‘locker room talk’ exists,” Sharks director of media relations Scott Emmert said in a prepared statement. “Professional reporters understand that concept and respect it.”

Emmert called use of the quote “a pathetic attempt to generate some page hits and controversy by reporting an off-the-cuff and off-the-record comment made by someone who wasn’t even being interviewed at the time.”

The incident began when Thornton took exception to media questions being directed to Patrick Marleau about criticism of the flashy nature of rookie Tomas Hertl’s fourth goal Tuesday night against the New York Rangers.

While the cameras and microphones were still directed at Marleau, Thornton suggested his response would have gone a lot farther than Hertl’s.

A similar incident occurred 24 hours earlier in San Jose when Thornton was the one being asked about criticism of Hertl’s goal and linemate Brent Burns jumped in.

“Four goals! He’s a 19-year-old kid,” Burns said, adding a cheerful expletive or two. “I’d be naked.”

Thornton’s comment went in that same direction, only much further and more graphic.

For more on the Sharks, see David Pollak’s Working the Corners blog at blogs.mercurynews.com/sharks. Follow him on Twitter at twitter.com/PollakOnSharks.