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Joe Thornton

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{{Infobox Ice Hockey Player 

He is the best player to ever play as caption.

| image = Joe_Thornton2.jpg | image_size = 200px | position = Centre | shoots = Left | height_ft = 6 | height_in = 4 | weight_lb = 235 | team = San Jose Sharks | league = NHL | nationality = Canada | birth_date = (1979-07-02) July 2, 1979 (age 45) | birth_place = London, ON, CAN | career_start = 1997 | draft = 1st overall | draft_year = 1997 | draft_team = Boston Bruins | former_teams = Boston Bruins | nickname = Jumbo Joe
Big Joe
The Big Man }} Joseph Eric Thornton (born July 2 1979, in London, Ontario, Canada) is a professional ice hockey centre with the San Jose Sharks of the National Hockey League. He was drafted by and played seven seasons for the Boston Bruins before being traded to San Jose. His on-ice vision, strength on the puck, deft passing ability, and power forward style of play have led to him becoming one of the league's premier top line centres. For the 2005–2006 season Thornton was awarded the Hart Memorial Trophy for being the NHL's Most Valuable Player.

Playing career

Boston Bruins (1997 – 2005)

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 scored 101 points.

During the 2004–05 NHL lockout, Thornton played for Hockey Club Davos on a line with fellow young Canadian star Rick Nash and Niklas Hagman, winning the Swiss ice hockey championship..

San Jose Sharks (2005 - present)

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$20.0 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. 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 players who was truly showing an exemplary effort. On January 10, 2006, Thornton returned to Boston as a member of the Sharks, but was ejected for checking Bruins' defenceman Hal Gill from behind at 5:13 of the first period. Thornton received a five minute major and a game misconduct. The misconduct was later rescinded by the NHL.

Joe Thornton at the 2006 NHL Awards ceremony.

Upon arriving in San Jose, Thornton improved the Sharks' fortunes. Thornton made an immediate impact, hitting the cross-bar and almost scoring on his first shift as a Shark. With 14 points in his first 6 games, he 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. Thornton himself would lead the NHL with 96 assists and win the Art Ross Trophy as leading NHL scorer, the first player to do so the same season he was traded.

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.

2006–2007 season

Thornton began the 2006–07 campaign at a far slower pace production-wise than his Hart Trophy-winning year the previous season. He didn't even score his first goal of the season until the Sharks' 12th game. However, it was later revealed he was battling toe injuries for the entire first half of the season, until he was finally able to recover sometime in January.

After recovering from the injuries, Thornton resumed scoring at the same frenetic pace that earned him accolades in 2005–06. Although 19th in league scoring at the time of the NHL's Christmas break, Thornton scored so many points that he ended up battling Penguins superstar Sidney Crosby for the scoring title late in the year, eventually finishing 2nd in scoring to Crosby with 114, 6 fewer than the Pittsburgh sophomore. Always a tremendous passer, Thornton became just the third player in NHL history (with the other two being Hall of Famers Wayne Gretzky and Mario Lemieux) to record consecutive 90-assist seasons.

It appeared as though Thornton was finally having the breakout postseason expected of him all these years after he recorded six assists (although no goals) in the first-round series against Nashville. He proceeded to score a goal and add three assists in the Sharks' first three games of the second round against Detroit. However, Thornton was effectively neutralized by superstar Red Wings defenceman Nicklas Lidström, among others, in the final three games of the series, as the Sharks were once again bounced from the playoffs in the second round.

In the offseason, Thornton signed a three-year contract extension worth US$21.6 million that will run to June 2011.

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 the Sharks. 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" for the first time as a Shark in a game against Phoenix on March 30, 2006, and wore the "A" whenever McCauley was out of the lineup for the remainder of the season. Thornton has worn the "A" continuously since the beginning of the 2006–07 season. 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' radio and TV announcers emphatically proclaimed him the team'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, unfortunately Thornton and the team failed to medal after they lost to Russia in the Quarter finals.

Events outside of hockey

Thornton was accused of hitting two police officers on May 17, 2003, after coming to the aid of his brother, John Thornton, at the bar Burty Bob's Two in St. Thomas, Ontario. He faced two charges of assaulting police and one of obstructing justice. Crown lawyer Kevin Gowdey announced at a court hearing he would not be pursuing the case against the Bruins Captain (at the time) in return for Thornton apologizing to the parties involved and beginning a "significant period of community service." cnn.com

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 NLA 40 10 44 54 80 14 4 20 24 29
2005–06 Boston Bruins NHL 23 9 24 33 6 -- -- -- -- --
2005–06 San Jose Sharks NHL 58 20 72 92 55 11 2 7 9 12
2005–06 Season Totals NHL 81 29 96 125 61 11 2 7 9 12
2006–07 San Jose Sharks NHL 82 22 92 114 44 11 1 10 11 10
2007–08 San Jose Sharks NHL 82 29 67 96 59
NHL Totals 753 240 516 756 756 57 9 29 38 63
OHL Totals 125 71 127 198 176 15 12 9 21 35

International play

Joe Thornton
Medal record
Representing Canada Canada
Men's Ice Hockey


World Championships
Silver medal – second place 2005 Ice Hockey
World Cup
Gold medal – first place 2004 World Cup of Hockey Ice Hockey
World Junior Championships
Gold medal – first place 1997 Ice Hockey

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 6
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

Preceded by 1st Overall Pick in NHL Entry Draft
1997 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Boston Bruins captains
2002-05 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Winner of the Art Ross Memorial Trophy
2006 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Winner of the Hart Trophy
2006 		Succeeded by

Template:NHL FirstOverallDraftPicks Template:BruinsFirstPick

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