MONTREAL, QC - MARCH 21: Joe Thornton #19 of the San Jose Sharks waits for a face-off during the NHL game against the Montreal Canadiens at the Bell Centre on March 21, 2015 in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The Canadiens defeated the Sharks 2-0. (Photo by Richard Wolowicz/Getty Images)

SAN JOSE, Calif. – During his 17-year NHL career, San Jose Sharks forward Joe Thornton has heard equal amounts of accolades and criticism

He was the next Eric Lindros. He was a first-overall draft bust. He was a rising superstar. He wasn’t the right type of player for the Boston market. He was the league’s most valuable player. He was the NHL’s best center. He was a playoff choke artist. He felt too much “pressure and stress” to be captain.

“All that really matters is what your peers say and what your teammates say. At the end of the day that’s all that matters,” Thornton said. “Guys that watch maybe three or four of my games throughout 82 games or in the playoffs, don’t have a really good grasp of how I play the game. All I really care about is my peers and my teammates how they think I prepare and play the game.”

For a player who has won a Hart Trophy, Art Ross Trophy, Olympic gold medal and put up 1,259 points in his career, Thornton has a large amount of critics and naysayers.

Like Thornton, Arizona Coyotes captain Shane Doan has never won a Stanley Cup. But the 39-year-old Doan has this image of a loyal leader/warrior who has stayed with the Coyotes franchise through the lean times.

Colorado Avalanche forward Jarome Iginla has never won a Stanley Cup, and has turned into a mercenary to some degree, bouncing from location to location to find his best chance to finally win. But the 38-year-old winger is another guy who hasn’t been chastised for lack of playoff success to the same degree.

Why does Thornton have such a reputation and those two players don’t?

Was it how it didn’t work out in Boston? Is it because the uber-talented Sharks have never made it to a Stanley Cup Final with Thornton as their centerpiece? Did the fact that he’s never averaged over a point-per-game in the playoffs mean he wasn’t successful in the postseason?

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“I can understand why you’d say maybe some of the media hasn’t … he doesn’t get his due of how truly elite he is,” Doan said. “He’s elite and he’s special. And he’s comfortable with not demanding it. He does his job and makes everyone around him better if no one else can recognize that he’s doing it. The guys who play against him and play with him know how incredible he is. “

To understand the brilliance in Thornton’s game is to delve deep into it and see that he’s a durable, powerful center that excels in traditional and advanced areas of today’s game.

Since the 2004-05 lockout he’s never played fewer than 78 games, and has never seen a drop-off due to exhaustion, mostly because he’s been able to figure out ways to add different parts of his game to keep his production up. Since 1999-2000, Thornton has twice dipped below 70 points (just barley) in a full season.

He may not be as fast as he once was, but he’s become adept to using his 6-foot-4, 225-pound frame to protect the puck on the walls and hold onto it for lengths of time to make a passing play on his forehand or backhand.

“One of the best things with Joe is he passes the puck on his backhand almost as well as he does on his forehand,” Doan said. “That’s what makes him special. Because when he’s on his backhand, you can protect the puck that much better, it’s impressive.”

Last season, Thornton’s shot attempts differential was plus-353, fourth in the NHL according to the league’s enhanced stats site.

His shot attempts relative percentage was a plus-9.6, meaning the Sharks held onto the puck more when he was on the ice than when he wasn’t.

In 2013-14 he was at plus-373 overall and a plus-6.6 percent. In 2011-12 he was plus-276 and plus-5.8 percent.

“He’s a guy who has dominated and can dominate and those are the types of things you think about when you play with him,” Pavelski said. “You have to bring your game. He demands it. He wants the puck. He wants to make the plays that score goals and win games. That’s the feeling I get when I play with him as his teammate for a while now.”

Thornton also ranks 36th all-time in the league in scoring. For argument’s sake, give him 116 more games – the amount he lost because of two lockouts – and 100 points, he’d rank 25th all-time in points, ahead of Hockey Hall of Famers Brendan Shanahan and Mats Sundin.

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