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Joe Thornton

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Joseph Eric Thornton (born July 2 1979, in London, Ontario, Canada) is a Canadian professional ice hockey centre in the National Hockey League (NHL) who has played for the Boston Bruins and currently plays for the San Jose Sharks. He is known for being one of the league's best young centers and power forwards of limitless potential. Nicknamed "Jumbo Joe" and "Big Joe" for his large-body frame, Thornton is well-recognized for his passing prowess, incredible on-ice vision, and ability to make silky-smooth plays. He is the NHL's reigning Hart Trophy winner, given to the league's most valuable regular-season player.

Contents

Early life

As a child, Joe Thornton lived in a suburb of St. Thomas, Ontario known as Lynhurst. A sign that stands there today proclaims the neighbourhood to be his native community. He attended Southwold Public School just outside of St. Thomas, and later attended Central Elgin Collegiate Institute in St. Thomas.

Playing career

Drafted 1st overall in the 1997 NHL Entry Draft by the Boston Bruins, Thornton played six seasons for the Bruins, his best season coming in 2002-03 when he had 101 points.

After a fight in a nightclub in St. Thomas, Ontario, he was charged with assault of a peace officer and ordered to serve community service.

During the 2004-05 NHL lockout, Thornton played for Hockey Club Davos with fellow young Canadian star Rick Nash and won the Swiss ice hockey championship.

2005-2006 season

After Thornton voiced his unhappiness with his contract in Boston in 2005, many teams reportedly sent offers to the Bruins. However, Thornton re-signed with the team on August 11, 2005, for a three year deal worth US$19.8 million. On November 30, 2005, Thornton was traded to the San Jose Sharks in a blockbuster four player deal, which sent forwards Marco Sturm and Wayne Primeau and defenceman Brad Stuart to Boston. The move was unpopular at times with Bruins fans. Thornton was the team's leading scorer at the time by a substantial margin and many felt that Bruins GM Mike O'Connell had dealt away one of the few player who was truly showing an exemplary effort. Thornton joined his first cousin Scott Thornton on the Sharks. On January 10, 2006, Thornton returned to Boston as a member of the Sharks, but was ejected for checking Bruins' defenseman Hal Gill from behind at 5:13 of the first period. Thornton received a five minute major and a game misconduct. However, many felt that this call was made in error. The misconduct was later rescinded by the NHL.

Upon arriving in San Jose, Thornton dramatically improved the Sharks' fortunes. Thornton made an immediate impact with 14 points in his first 6 games and found instant chemistry with winger Jonathan Cheechoo, often setting up Cheechoo for one-time shots in the slot. With Thornton as his centreman, Cheechoo became a 50-goal scorer and won the Rocket Richard Trophy, much to the surprise of many analysts. Thornton himself would lead the NHL with 96 assists (the highest assist total since 1992-93 when Adam Oates had 97) and win the Art Ross Trophy as leading NHL scorer, the first player to do so the same season he was traded. Thornton also became the first player since the 1930's to score more assists in a season (96) than the player to win the scoring title the previous year (Martin St. Louis with 94 in 2003-04). Thornton finished the 2005-06 season with back to back 4 point games. The 2005-06 playoffs saw Thornton in a familiar scenario as past postseason campaigns he has been a part of. He was never able to produce points as he was in the regular season and there was a startling lack of chemistry between Thornton and Cheechoo. Joe recorded 4 assists in a five-game quarterfinals series against Nashville and had 2 goals and 3 assists in the semifinals series against Edmonton, a series that the Sharks lost in 6 games.

Leadership issues

Thornton was under heavy scrutiny for his leadership while in Boston. He was criticized for being unable to raise his level of play during the playoffs, as he never scored more than nine points in two series or finished with a plus/minus rating higher than +1. Many people feel that Robbie Ftorek gave Thornton the "C" too early. Nonetheless, Thornton did tremendously in his new role in San Jose, as he put up career numbers in his first season with Team Teal. His success translated into Thornton becoming the MVP of the league.

During the absence of usual alternate captain Alyn McCauley from the San Jose lineup, Joe Thornton donned the "A" in a game against Phoenix on March 30, 2006. He served in this role off-and-on since then. many critics expected Thornton to fare better in San Jose where leadership duties would be falling primarily to captain Patrick Marleau. This proved to be the case, as Thornton won the Art Ross Trophy handily, while Marleau still finished with 86 points. Thornton scored at a slightly cooler rate in the playoffs, posting two goals and seven assists in eleven games, but unlike in Boston his performance was not worthy of criticism; the Sharks' TV announcers emphatically proclaimed him the teams's best player on the ice even in the games the Sharks lost to the Edmonton Oilers in the second round of the playoffs.

Thornton was selected to play for Team Canada at the 2006 Winter Olympics and was expected to be key member of the Canadian National Team. However, he only scored one goal in six games and finished -1.

Awards

Career statistics

    Regular Season   Playoffs
Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM
1995-96 Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds OHL 66 30 46 76 53 4 1 1 2 11
1996-97 Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds OHL 59 41 81 122 123 11 11 8 19 24
1997-98 Boston Bruins NHL 55 3 4 7 19 6 0 0 0 9
1998-99 Boston Bruins NHL 81 16 25 41 69 11 3 6 9 4
1999-00 Boston Bruins NHL 81 23 37 60 82 - - - - -
2000-01 Boston Bruins NHL 72 37 34 71 107 - - - - -
2001-02 Boston Bruins NHL 66 22 46 68 127 6 2 4 6 10
2002-03 Boston Bruins NHL 77 36 65 101 109 5 1 2 3 4
2003-04 Boston Bruins NHL 77 23 50 73 98 7 0 0 0 14
2004-05 HC Davos SWI 40 10 44 54 80 14 4 20 24 29
2005-06 Boston & San Jose NHL 81 29 96 125 61 11 2 7 9 12

OHL Totals 125 71 127 198 176 15 12 9 21 35
NHL Totals 590 189 357 546 672 46 8 19 27 53

International play

Played for Canada in: International statistics
Year Team Event   GP G A Pts PIM
1997 Canada WJC 7 2 2 4 0
2001 Canada WC 6 1 1 2 3
2004 Canada WCH 6 1 5 6 0
2005 Canada WC 9 6 10 16 4
2006 Canada Oly 6 1 2 3 0
Senior Int'l Totals 27 9 18 27 7

See also

External links

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