San Jose Sharks legend Joe Thornton elected into Hockey Hall of Fame

(KRON) — San Jose Sharks legend Joe Thornton has been elected into the Hockey Hall of Fame, the NHL announced Tuesday. Thornton, 45, is a first-ballot Hall of Famer as he was elected in his first year of eligibility.

Thornton ranks 14th all-time in career points scored at 1,539, seventh all-time in assists and sixth in total games played, according to the NHL. He is one of 14 players in NHL history to surpass the 1,000-assist mark and the seventh to record 1,500 games played, dish out 1,000 assists and score 400 goals.

Thornton spent the majority of his 24-year NHL career in San Jose. He was drafted No. 1 overall by the Boston Bruins in the 1997 draft before being traded to the Sharks in November of 2005. Thornton would go on to play in San Jose until the end of the 2019-20 season.

During that span, “no NHL team accumulated more standings points than the Sharks (1,443) and only the Pittsburgh Penguins (660) won more regular season games than the Sharks (659),” the league wrote in a press release.

The Ontario, Canada native had his No. 19 jersey retired last November in the Sharks’ home at SAP Center in San Jose. Thornton is the second player in Sharks franchise history to have his jersey number retired; Patrick Marleau was the first.

Thornton is part of an eight-member Hall of Fame class of 2025.

Other inductees this year are former NHL players Alexander Mogilny, Zdeno Chara and Duncan Keith as well as women’s hockey stars Brianna Decker and Jennifer Botterill. To round out the eight, longtime Boston University coach Jack Parker and women’s coach Daniele Sauvageau were elected in the builders category. The latter is the first woman to be selected in the Hall of Fame as a builder.

Thornton, along with the rest of the Hall of Fame class of 2025, will officially be inducted during the final day of the Hockey Hall of Fame Induction Weekend on Nov. 10.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.