Joe Thornton absolutely crushed Matt Cooke into the boards from five feet away with a bodycheck that looked horrifying and frightening in real-time. It actually took my breath away.
Thornton left the ice bloodied, and then returned with less than a minute to play in the third to earn an assist on Jonathan Cheechoo's game tying goal.
In a twist of ironic hockey fate, Thornton took down Daniel Sedin in overtime, allowing Mattias Ohlund to score the Northwest Division clinching goal on the powerplay while Joe sat in the box.
The win and division title clinches the third seed in the Western Conference and a first round matchup with the Dallas Stars.
Congratulations to the Vancouver Canucks for their gritty performance today versus the big bad Sharks and for their most impressive divisional crown in the first year of the Roberto Luongo era.
Join the Discussion:
»