Can Joe Thornton Return To Form and Become The Albert Pujols Of The NHL?

(Photo by Scott A. Schneider/Getty Images)

If anyone were to compare a NHL player to baseball's No. 1 star, Joe Thornton wouldn't be amongst the group that fans would choose when trying to find Albert Pujols' equal.

Fans around the league would probably come up with the standard names of Alexander Ovechkin, Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, Pavel Datsyuk, Henrik Zetterbergand perhaps Jarome Iginla.

But you will be hard pressed to find a fan outside of San Jose to compare Thornton to the great Pujols.

However, it shouldn't be to far-fetched of an idea. Thornton is just three years removed from winning the Art Ross Trophy (for most points) and Hart Trophy (MVP) and yet his standing amongst the great players in the league seems to have fallen and fallen hard.

Whenever a team comes to play San Jose, its fans still consider Thornton as a force to be reckoned with but no longer in the upper-upper echelon of great players.

So what exactly happened? Why isn't Thornton included in the upper echelon of talent in in the NHL? Why isn't he comparable to the great Albert Pujols?

Perhaps the continuous playoff disappointments have lowered his status. Not only have the Sharks become known as the biggest chokers come playoff time but the face of the franchise has been just as piss-poor with his individual playoff numbers.

In 41 playoff games as a Shark, Thornton has registered just 35 points, much lower ratio of points per game than during the regular season.

During his career year of 2005-06, "Jumbo Joe" put up 125 points in 81 games between Boston and San Jose. In 2006-07, he backed it up with a 114 point performance and became just the third player to record back-to-back 90 assist seasons.

However, the last two seasons have seen Thornton's production drop drastically. In 2007-08 he recorded just 96 points and only 86 this past season. The 86 total is the one that jumps out because just two seasons prior he registered more assists alone than total points last season.

Thornton has only recently turned 30 and should still have a good two-three years left of his prime but he is currently nowhere near the top elite players in the game.

But Thornton has the capabilities to have a bounce-back season and prove all the doubters wrong. Currently the Cardinals' first-baseman is on track to lead the league in home runs, RBI and perhaps even average for the first baseball triple crown in over 30 years.

Now in fairness, Thornton has a lot more competition than Pujols but in reality has equal talent to win a triple crown in hockey.

Thornton's goal should be to lead the league in goals, assists, and therefore points. There is no denying the pure talent and ability to achieve this goal. Will it happen? No, of course not but Thornton needs to realize he has talent to achieve it if he wanted to prove that he is still one of if not the best player in the NHL.

At 6' 4" 235 pounds, Thornton has the physical size and strength to dominate any game he chooses but his passive style of slowing down the play and making crisp passes has been figured out by opposing defenders.

However, there are two things that Thornton can do in order to return to a triple digit point finish.

1) Shoot the puck.

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