Thornton Gives Bite to Sharks

The Sharks weren’t going to win every game with Joe Thornton in their lineup, but they gave it a good run.

After contributing to six straight San Jose victories, Thornton experienced his first defeat in teal Sunday, a 5-4 loss to the Mighty Ducks at the Arrowhead Pond. “Hopefully, we won’t have too many more of these,” he said. “We play these guys again [today], so we have to just rebound and get the next two points.”

Unless they correct their defensive problems, the Sharks will play a lot of high-scoring games. But Thornton, who has been centering for his cousin Scott and right wing Jonathan Cheechoo, gives them the playmaking skill and balance to prevail when the tempo and scoring pick up.

Thornton assisted on San Jose’s fourth goal Sunday, increasing his league-leading assist total to 35 and giving him 15 points in seven games since the Sharks acquired him from the Bruins for Brad Stuart, Marco Sturm and Wayne Primeau on Nov. 30. The 6-foot-4, 223-pound center has fit in with the speedy Sharks and has taken the scoring burden off Patrick Marleau, who has three goals and 16 points in seven games since Thornton arrived. One of Marleau’s wingers, Grant Stevenson, has four goals and seven points in that span.

“Teams are putting their top checking lines against Joe, so it definitely helps our line,” Stevenson said. “Teams focus more on him. But our second line, with Patty, he’s always a threat every time he’s on the ice. I’m lucky enough to be able to play with him now and get open.”

Shark Coach Ron Wilson also appreciates the ripple effect Thornton has had.

“He makes a lot of plays, he makes people around him better,” Wilson said. “But as much as what he’s been doing, it’s what Patty Marleau has been doing since Joe came on board. Patty’s the one who’s been playing great. He’s skating. There’s a little bit of a duel going on, and I have no problem with that.”

Thornton has had no problem adjusting to his new surroundings.

“I felt settled my second game in,” he said. “I feel comfortable.... I like winning games and hopefully [today] we can get on another streak.”

Now, if he can only do something about the Sharks’ defense.

He’s Baaaaack

When Bruce McNall owned the Kings, celebrities kissed up to him for a chance to be associated with Wayne Gretzky and the NHL’s most glamorous team.

With a prison term behind him and under order to repay $5 million to the banks he defrauded, McNall is now pursuing celebrities from the movie and sports worlds and entertaining them at Staples Center.

McNall is working for King owner Philip Anschutz and AEG President Tim Leiweke as a sort of celebrity wrangler without a title or pay. He can often be found in a suite or hallway at Staples Center, gregarious as always, professing repentance and glad to be around the team he rooted for long before he owned it -- and later sold it in his desperate attempt to stay out of jail.

“Tim and Mr. Anschutz have been real nice. They don’t have to be. Anything I can do to help, I’m there,” he said. “Tim has talked about bringing some movie people out, some potential sponsors, anybody that I can help the team to bring out. I’ve brought out Barry Bonds and [producer] Gary Winick.

“I’m still an L.A. King fan, as I was in the ‘70s. That hasn’t changed.”

McNall was sentenced to 70 months in prison in 1997 after pleading guilty to two counts of bank fraud, one count of wire fraud and one count of conspiring to defraud banks and other financial institutions of $236 million. He was released in March 2001 after serving 48 months.

He has written a book and become involved in movie production with A-Mark Entertainment, a production company bankrolled by entrepreneur Steven Markoff. “I’m just sort of trying to lay low and regroup everything,” McNall said.

He’s also trying to chip away at his debt. The portion he has repaid is “fractional,” and half of all he earns goes toward that purpose. “It’s something. I’ve done it since the prison days when I was making nine cents an hour,” he said. “All of that went to them as well. I do what I can do....

“What I did was wrong and there’s no getting around that, and I don’t try to hide from that. I do a lot of public speaking ... telling them what can happen when you’re in a situation like I was, and what to look out for. It’s a cautionary tale: Look where you can come from and what can happen to you.”

Slap Shots

The stress-related ailments Larry Robinson cited for resigning as coach of the Devils on Monday aren’t new. During the 1995-96 season, his first season coaching the Kings and the first time he missed the playoffs after a Hall of Fame playing career, he said stress caused the skin on his hands to peel off.

Some of his stress in New Jersey might have been alleviated by the return of winger Patrik Elias, who joined the team’s practice for the first time Monday since recovering from hepatitis. The retirement of defenseman Vladimir Malakhov also allowed the Devils to reconfigure their roster, with some trades likely to come.

The anticipated increase in revenue for the NHL this season -- and the rise of the salary cap next season to $40 million to $45 million -- is partly the result of changes in the way hockey-related revenue is allocated under the new collective bargaining agreement. That revenue has increased in some markets and decreased in others but is slightly up overall.

The main sources of the increase are gate receipts, a stronger Canadian dollar and revenue from clubs’ local TV deals. The NHL claimed record attendance in October and November, but attendance could fall as teams drop out of playoff contention.

The Coyotes won’t be allowed to relax while their coach, Gretzky, is gone. Gretzky last Saturday took an indefinite leave to be with his mother, who died Monday in Brantford, Canada.

“Some individuals aren’t playing well. It’s been like that,” acting Coach Rick Tocchet said. “We can’t wait for [Ladislav] Nagy and [Mike] Johnson to carry us. We’ve got great goaltending. We’ve got some guys who’ve got to, before the season is a washout, pick their game up.”

Tocchet also said his interim job won’t be much different from his associate coach role because fellow associate coach Barry Smith will continue to oversee the defensemen.

“There’s not one guy that runs the show,” Tocchet said. “Wayne’s always been a delegator, and he’s delegated a lot.”