The Sharks have been a very succe sful team over the last decade. Its hard to complain about making the playoffs all but one season (2002-03) since1997-98. After all, its a far cry from where the franchise started, when itwon just 11 games in Year 2 of its existence.But the lack of a Stanley Cup, or even a finals appearance, coupled with last years disastrous meltdown blowing a 3-0 series lead to their rivals the Kings forcedchanges. Those changes may or may not have accelerated the shutting of the Sharks window, as San Jose currently sits three points out of a playoff spot in the West.MORE: | If an Chad Thomas Jersey embarra sing playoff exit got people pointing fingers, you could bet this situation would. And fresh out of ideas, general manager Doug Wilson returned to his scapegoat of the summer, Joe Thornton.Thornton had been the captain following Rob Blakes departure in 2010, has been one of the best players in the league over that span, but someone had to take the fall for the collapse against the Kings. So of their captain and a sistant captain titles, respectively, only for both to end up a sistant captains again .Seeing as that has not actually improved the Sharks' fortunes, Wilson may havefelt the need to justify it. , Wilson on Thornton:"He cares about the game so much. The reason we took the 'C' Seth DeValve Jersey off him ... Joe carries the weight of the team on his shoulders, and he's got such a big heart that when stre s comes on him, he lashes out at people," Wilson said, "and it kind of impacts them."The pre sure and stre s, I felt, was getting to Joe," the general manager said. "And I sat him down and said we need other players to step up and share this. He got it. He didn't like it, but he got it and he understood it."Wilson made the remarks at an Ice Insights se sion with season ticket holders.Naturally, Thornton wasnt a fan of the comments and responded pretty bluntly Friday:Simmering i sues boiling over in SJ. Thornton on latest from GM Wilson on taking away the 'C': "Doug needs to shut his mouth." David Pollak (@PollakOnSharks) Its hard to fault Thornton here. Considering captains are reputedly supposed to be leaders, willing to get into peoples faces if need be, this critique seems well strange. Should he not have cared as much? Should he not have tried to motivate others?Italso is odd because, again, the results dont indicate much was wrong. Thornton was Sheldrick Redwine Jersey solid last year, racking up 76 points in 82 games. His shot attempt numbers remained excellent the Sharks had 58.3 percent of the shot attempts while he was on the ice. They also took the team that would win Jim Brown Jersey the Cup to the brink of elimination, even if it didnt end the way they wanted.If it was negatively affecting anyone, it wasnt apparent last season. Or in any of the other seasons, since the Sharks made the playoffs as a top three seed in the West in all of them. Meanwhile, things obviously havent gone as planned this year. Whether or not Thorntons removal as captain is a cause, it probably didnt help.More than likely, this is just the reality of a team whosewindow is nearly shut (if were being generous). Wilsons job could be on the line. Thornton will be 36 over the summer and may not be long for San Jose regardle s of what happens. Trying to attribute some failing to him probably works better than saying: Yeah, we overreacted and it didnt work. My bad.But its also a reminder that every positive trait can be spun negatively. A tough leader who gives it his all? Well, his big heart put too much pre sure on other people.If they dont win it all this season, maybe the Penguins can blame Sidney Crosby for being so good Jarvis Landry Jersey , he lets his bottom six forwards coast too much. If only they knew the challenge of what awaits them if Sid hits a slump in the postseason!In any case, it seems like the only way for the Sharks to make this go away positively is to win the Stanley Cup this year. That seems unlikely at the moment, but hey, crazier things have happened.Wilson just seems to have a funny way of motivating his team to do it. Perhaps he just cares too much.