
May 22, 2011SHARKS PAGESHARKS VIDEO
GAME 4 BOX SCORETim Panaccio
CSNCalifornia.com
VANCOUVER, British Columbia -- Mike Richards played the entire season for the Flyers this year with a bad wrist that required surgery once the playoffs ended.
Thats the thing about hockey players. They play hurt.
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And especially, during the playoffs. Its part of their culture.
Sharks captain Joe Thornton missed the final nine minutes of Game 4 of the Western Conference finals with a bad shoulder after a clean shoulder-to-shoulder hit from Vancouvers Raffi Torres.
But this an elimination game the Sharks are facing. Anything short of an amputation, and Joe Thornton is playing.
Expect Jumbo to play tomorrow, yup, was the way Sharks coach Todd McLellan put this morning after the Sharks practiced in San Jose, then boarded their charter plane for Vancouver where theyll try to stave off elimination in Game 5 on Tuesday.
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Thornton did not skate today.
We have an optional today, McLellan explained. Throughout the playoffs, a lot of the high-minute guys choose not to skate simply because of fatigue and trying to replenish the gas tank. Jumbo is in that situation today as well.
He added that Thornton received treatment and rest.
When Joe Thornton comes to you and tells you he's playing, he's playing, McLellan said. That can happen in exhibition season, that can happen at St. Thomas at a charity game in the middle of the summer, so...
McLellan wouldnt say at what percentage Thornton can play.
I think it's important that he does play the game, he said. I think you'll see a very good Joe Thornton.
Tim Panaccio is the NHL Insider for CSNPhilly.com E-mail him at tpanotch@comcast.net