Sharks’ dynamic duo wins NHL scoring titles

updated 5:20 a.m. ET April 19, 2006

Joe Thornton and Jonathan Cheechoo have been teammates for just 58 games with the San Jose Sharks, and their potent partnership already has earned them two NHL trophies.

The Sharks’ dynamic duo clinched hockey’s top two scoring titles Tuesday night when Jaromir Jagr picked up just one assist in the New York Rangers’ season-ending 5-1 loss to the Ottawa Senators.

Thornton won the Art Ross Trophy as the NHL’s high scorer with 125 points, two more than Jagr. Cheechoo won the Maurice Richard Trophy as the league’s top goal-scorer with a franchise-record 56 — also two more than Jagr, a five-time scoring champ who led both races for much of the season.

The San Jose stars roared from behind to win their first league scoring honors, even after going scoreless in the Sharks’ season finale Monday. They’re the first teammates to share the league’s top two statistical awards since Colorado’s Peter Forsberg won the scoring title and Milan Hejduk got the goals trophy in 2003.

“From Day 1, I just played real well with Cheech,” said Thornton, who was appropriately at the beach with his girlfriend when his brother, Alan, and Sharks GM Doug Wilson called to congratulate him. “You don’t plan for something like this. These two awards are definitely team-oriented, and we’re just happy for each other.”

Thornton and Cheechoo have clicked almost from the moment the big center joined the club in a one-sided four-player trade with Boston on Nov. 30. Immediately paired on a line, usually with 57-point scorer Nils Ekman, Thornton and Cheechoo quickly established a chemistry that’s been mostly indefensible for opponents.

Over and over again, Thornton’s superb passing — he also led the league with 96 assists — set up Cheechoo’s remarkable shot. They got results in the standings as well: The Sharks went 36-15-7 after Thornton’s arrival, surging into the playoffs as one of the league’s most dangerous matchups. They’ll open the postseason in Nashville this weekend.

The other Western Conference matchups will be Detroit vs. Edmonton, Dallas vs. Colorado and Calgary vs. Anaheim. In the East, it will be Ottawa vs. Tampa Bay, Carolina vs. Montreal, New Jersey vs. the New York Rangers, and Buffalo vs. Philadelphia.

Thornton, the former No. 1 overall draft pick who’s been in the NHL since he was a teenager, bested his previous career high by 24 points. After being a lightning rod for criticism and fan dissatisfaction with the losing Bruins, he scored 92 points in his 58 games with the Sharks.

“I follow hockey a lot,” Thornton said. “I know a lot about the history of hockey, and the Art Ross Trophy, there’s a lot of big names on there. It’s an honor to put my name on it.”