Joe Thornton Houses Another Sharks Rookie

Like Macklin Celebrini before him, San Jose Sharks winger Ivar Stenberg is living with Joe Thornton and his family for his rookie season.

The 19-year-old had been staying in a hotel while his living situation got sorted out. On Friday, Stenberg told reporters that not only is he living with the Sharks legend, but Celebrini also gave him his old car.

“I haven’t driven too much, to be honest, but yeah, American drivers drive crazy,” Stenberg joked. “He’s a legend. I didn’t watch him too much growing up, but he’s a really cool guy and amazing person. Couldn’t be better.”

Thornton and fellow San Jose Sharks legend Patrick Marleau have meant a lot to the organization in housing its young players. Marleau had Will Smith live with him for two years. Now Smith and Celebrini live together. There is also a nod to Tyler Toffoli, who housed Michael Misa during his rookie season.

“Yeah, he’ll learn English quick,” Sharks head coach Ryan Warsofsky joked about Stenberg living with Jumbo.

“Similar to what Mack and Will did with Patty. Guys that have gone through it and understand what they’re going through can really help them on and off the ice. Sometimes more off the ice to let them decompress and breathe. Understand the adrenaline and the emotion that went into that game last night. Go home, reset [with] his family.”

“There’s a lot going on there. Jumbo’s been through that. He can help him. He can put his arm around him [and] can guide him through it. There’ll be times where he can maybe push him a little bit and say, “Hey, you got to get back in there.” It’s such a value for these players that we’ve had with Jumbo and Patty to understand. Even some of the other alumni that are around here that have helped our players along the way have gone through it. There’s a huge amount of value in that.”

Getting Stenberg around Jumbo Joe will only benefit him as he grows into his San Jose Sharks career.