Thornton, a previous captain with Boston, replaces Rob Blake who retired after last season. Dan Boyle will be a permanent alternate captain and Patrick Marleau and Ryane Clowe will split home and road duty with the other Alternate Captain's letter.Since his arrival in San Jose, Thornton has put his stamp on the Sharks organization with his amazing career totals.At just 31 years old Thornton ranks 58th on the NHL's all-time assist list (646), 87th on the all-time points list (931) and amongst players that started the season 31-years-old or younger, he has the most points (931).He has accumulated the most points since the 2002-03 season (684), has the second most points in the NHL since his debut in 1997 (931) and has the third most points in the NHL since appearing in his first game with San Jose on Dec. 2, 2005.Thornton’s streak of seven consecutive 20-goal and 50-assist seasons are the longest for any player since Steve Yzerman and Doug Gilmour posted eight consecutive from 86-87 to 93-94.His 10 consecutive seasons of 20+ goals is the second longest active streak in the League next to Jarome Iginla's 11.