Music Behind the Moment: How the Sharks DJ Scored 'Jumbo' Joe Thornton's Jersey Retirement Ceremony

The 1990s. Life is tough as an NHL expansion franchise. Throughout their early years, the San Jose Sharks were fixtures at the bottom of the league standings, but the team’s identity began to slowly form around their homegrown talents. Center Patrick Marleau served as the franchise’s first homegrown star, and Goaltender Evgeni Nabokov quickly established himself as one of the NHL’s premier talents between the pipes.  

But the team still needed to find its heart and soul. That’s when Joe Thornton arrived. 

By 2005, “Jumbo” Joe Thornton had already worked to become one of the league’s best centers, but the Boston Bruin’s ownership didn’t mesh with Joe’s offbeat, laid-back personality. A trade to San Jose invigorated him, and instantly, Jumbo’s infectious energy and offensive creativity clicked with the fanbase. Over the next fifteen seasons, Thornton logged nearly 1,200 games in teal and cemented himself as an all-time bay area icon. After his retirement in 2023 the Sharks opted to honor their beloved center with a jersey retirement ceremony, forever hanging his number in front of the fanbase he gave an identity to.  

To properly commemorate the occasion, the Sharks looked to in-game DJ Chris Gangai, whose job was to make sure the moment was a proper celebration of a career, a player, and an era. 

“[Thornton is] so big of an icon, that they gave November 23rd as Joe Thornton Day here in San Jose.” Gangai remarks, recounting Jumbo’s impact on the city. He knew that the event would have to live up not only to the impact of the player on the ice, but also to the character behind it. “He’s got a big spirit, so I needed to make sure I elevated the sound to match his character.” 

APM’s search engine gave him the tools to find the right tracks for the moment, with a library of high-quality songs fit for a colossal event. Gangai continues “Having APM as my tool is what made me successful...using keyword searches, [words like] ‘triumphant’ or ‘gladiator’ were super helpful...when you start seeing the player and their family start tearing up, it gives me goosebumps just thinking about it. You feel like you struck the right chord.”