With the holidays right around the corner, the San Jose Sharks received an early present when they acquired center Joe Thornton from the Boston Bruins for forwards Marco Sturm, Wayne Primeau and defensemen Brad Stuart. 

So far, the present has proved itself worthy of wearing a teal jersey.  Thornton has a point in each of his seven games as part of the Sharks, including three goals and 12 assists.  His level of play is so excellent that he is in the running for the NHL scoring title.  With 48 points on the season, Thornton is only three points behind New York Ranger’s Jaromir Jagr.  Thornton, who has played four less games then Jagr, is making a great run for the title.

Teaming up with his cousin Scott Thornton, and the ever-so persistent and feisty Jonathan Cheechoo, this line has proved successful for head coach Ron Wilson. 

Cheechoo is third on the team with 23 points, including 13 goals and 10 assists.  He shares the lead in goals scored with captain Patrick Marleau.

Marleau, the second pick of the 1997 draft behind Thornton, caught on fire immediately after Thornton’s arrival.  Marleau has 39 points going into Tuesday’s game against the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim, including 13 goals and 26 assists.

Both Marleau and Thornton were recognized as NHL Offensive Player of the Week in back-to-back weeks. 

With Thornton in the lineup, the powerplay is functioning better.  The patience of Thornton combined with the great puck handling of Marleau on the blueline is a great threat to the penalty kill of the other teams.

But the spark doesn’t stop there.  It seems that after the trade, the team was reenergized.  Grant Stevenson is now comfortable playing with the Sharks.  So comfortable, that he posted two goals against Anaheim last Saturday night. 

Forwards Alyn McCauley and Mark Smith have been playing better then they were earlier in the year. 

The Sharks also are putting the body on players. Having Doug Murray on defense gives Sharks fan another defensemen to watch out for when an opposing player gets near the boards.  Another skeptical in the checking department comes from Swedish-born Nils Ekman.  Its’ been a while since San Jose had an open-ice checker.  With Ekman and Murray on board, the opposing team might just have to keep their head up.

Canada is soon to post the roster for the 2006 Olympic team.  Marleau and Thornton are most likely to make the cut, as two of Canada’s youngest talents.  If Cheechoo keeps up with the way he’s going, he might actually make the team.

But the Olympics won’t happen until mid-February.  The Sharks need to get through the holidays and work on their possible new year’s resolution.  Keep playing the way they are playing; even better.