Joe Thornton

Joseph Eric Thornton (born July 2, 1979), also known as Jumbo Joe, is a Canadian professional ice hockey centre and captain of the San Jose Sharks of the National Hockey League (NHL). He was drafted by and played seven seasons for the Boston Bruins before being traded to San Jose in 2005–06. He received the Art Ross Trophy and the Hart Memorial Trophy in his first season with the Sharks. Thornton's 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.

Minor hockey
Thornton grew up playing minor hockey in his hometown of St. Thomas, Ontario for the St. Thomas Travelers. He played "AA" hockey for the Travelers until his peewee year. His peewee team won an OMHA championship in 1992–93.

In minor bantam, Thornton moved up to the AAA Elgin-Middlesex Chiefs of the Minor Hockey Alliance of Ontario for the 1993–94 season before signing with his hometown Jr.B. team, the St. Thomas Stars of the OHA.

Junior career (1995–1997)
Thornton played major junior hockey in the Ontario Hockey League (OHL) with the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds for two seasons, beginning in 1995–96. He posted a 76-point season as a rookie, earning him the Emms Family Award as the OHL's top first-year player, as well as CHL Rookie of the Year honours. The following season, in 1996–97, Thornton improved to 41 goals and 122 points, second overall in league scoring behind Marc Savard of the Oshawa Generals, and was named to the OHL Second All-Star Team.

Boston Bruins (1997–2005)


After his second OHL season, Thornton was drafted first overall in the 1997 NHL Entry Draft by the Boston Bruins. He made the immediate jump to the NHL from junior, debuting with the Bruins in 1997–98. However, with high expectations, Thornton was made a healthy scratch early in the season and did not score his first NHL goal until December 3, 1997, in a 3–0 win against the Philadelphia Flyers. He completed his rookie campaign managing 7 points in 55 games. The following season, Thornton was able to make a significant impact and improved to 41 points in 81 games, including a 9-point effort in 11 playoff games that post-season. He continued to build as a key player in the Bruins' lineup, culminating in his appointment as team captain in 2002–03, succeeding previous captain Jason Allison who had left for the Los Angeles Kings after the 2000–01 season. Thornton responded with a 101-point season, third in league-scoring, behind Peter Forsberg and Markus Näslund, and his highest output as a Bruin.

After dipping back down to 73 points in 77 games the next season in 2003–04, Thornton went abroad to play for HC Davos due to the 2004–05 NHL lockout, where he played on a line with fellow young Canadian star Rick Nash and Niklas Hagman, winning the Swiss ice hockey championship. With the NHL set to resume in 2005–06, Thornton was a restricted free agent and reportedly unhappy with the state of the franchise, as well as the criticism of his play in the Bruins' early playoff exit in 2004. Thornton was under heavy scrutiny for his leadership style and 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. Regardless, Thornton re-signed with the team on August 11, 2005, to a three-year deal worth US$20 million.

In the midst of another career year, the Bruins were, however, struggling in the standings and 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.

San Jose Sharks
Upon arriving in San Jose, Thornton improved the Sharks' fortunes and found instant chemistry with winger Jonathan Cheechoo. During the absence of usual alternate captain Alyn McCauley from the San Jose lineup, Thornton donned the "A" for the first time as a Shark in a game against the Phoenix Coyotes on March 30, 2006, and wore the "A" whenever McCauley was out of the lineup for the remainder of the season. Tallying 92 points in 58 games with the Sharks since the trade, Thornton helped Cheechoo to a Rocket Richard Trophy-winning season with 56 goals, while he would himself lead the NHL with 96 assists and 125 points total to earn the Art Ross Trophy as the league's top scorer, the first player to do so the same season he was traded. In the playoffs, however, Thornton was once again criticized for his play as his production decreased to 2 goals and 9 points in 11 games as the Sharks were ousted in the second round. In the off-season, Thornton was honoured for his regular season play and was awarded the Hart Memorial Trophy as league MVP to go with his Art Ross Trophy.

Thornton began the 2006–07 campaign being awarded permanent alternate captaincy, but initially produced at a far slower pace than his Hart Trophy-winning year the previous season. He did not score his first goal of the season until the Sharks' 12th game. However, it was later revealed he was battling a toe injury for the entire first half of the season, until he was finally able to recover in January. After recovering, Thornton enjoyed a productive second half, battling Penguins superstar Sidney Crosby for a second consecutive scoring title late in the year, eventually finishing second in scoring to Crosby with 114, 6 fewer than the Pittsburgh sophomore. Thornton became only the third player in NHL history to record back to back 90 assist seasons, joining Wayne Gretzky and Mario Lemieux.

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 off-season, Thornton signed a three-year contract extension worth US$21.6 million that will keep him with the Sharks until June 2011.

In the 2007-08 NHL season, Thornton finished with 29 goals and 67 assists to finish fifth in NHL scoring.

In 2008–09, Thornton was named captain of the Western Conference for the 2009 NHL All-Star Game in Montreal. That post season he recorded 1 goal and 4 assists in six games for 5 points in a first round loss to the rival Anaheim Ducks.

In July 2009, Thornton became a naturalized United States citizen at a ceremony in Campbell, California, a small city near San Jose.

In September 2009, before the start of the 2009-10 NHL season, the Sharks acquired Dany Heatley in a blockbuster 3-player trade that sent former line mate Jonathan Cheechoo, left winger Milan Michalek and a 2nd round pick to the Ottawa Senators. Thornton, Heatley, and Marleau had instant chemistry and earned the nickname, the "Team Canada Line," in reference to three being expected to and playing together on a line in the Olympics that year, winning the gold medal for Team Canada. The Sharks finished with a Franchise Record in points. In December 2009, Thornton, along with teammates Dan Boyle, Dany Heatley and Patrick Marleau were named to be on Team Canada in the 2010 Winter Olympic Games, where they won the gold medal. After the Olympic break the line slowed down, but still Marleau ended up with the most goals in his career with 44, ending as the 4th top scorer while Heatley ended up with 39 goals (8th in goal scoring), and Thornton finished up 2nd with assists (with 69 assists) and 8th in points (with 89 points). The Sharks once again came in to the 2010 playoffs with expectations as high as last season coming up against the 8 seeded Colorado. They however again were shutout in game 1, in the first round (like last season) and were down 1-0. Looking to avoid going down 2-0 the Sharks immediately answer back with a game 2 victory 6-5 thriller in overtime with Thornton getting 2 assists. Yet, that was only 1 of the 2 games where Joe got a point, but the Sharks eventually went on to defeat Colorado 4-2 with the help of Setoguchi and Pavelski. The Sharks were coming to face the defending Western Conference Champions, the Detroit Red Wings, where the Sharks were actually the underdog to the 5th seeded Detroit as the Sharks were defeated 3 times by Detroit in the season and only got one win on Detroit in a 2-2 game that went on to the shootout. Joe Thornton came in to this series with a complete breakout as he got an assist in games 1 and 4, a goal and assist in games 2, 3, and 5, as the Sharks eventually were to beat the favored Detroit 4-1 and advance to the Western Conference finals for the second time in franchise history, as the sharks were only 4 games away from the Stanley Cup. Chicago, however, neutralised Thornton, as well as Setoguchi, Pavelski, Heatley, and Marleau with their great defense as the Sharks were swept by the Blackhawks. The Sharks still ended up with arguably the greatest season in Franchise history.

On October 7, 2010, Thornton was named captain of the San Jose Sharks. The eighth full-time captain in the franchise's history.

On October 16, 2010, Thornton signed a $21 million, three-year extension with the San Jose Sharks.

On November 4, 2010, Thornton hit St. Louis Blues forward David Perron. He said he didn't notice the hit was coming. He was suspended 2 games.

Personal life
Joe has a daughter, Ayla Thornton, born on July 14, 2010.

Off-ice incident
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."

Awards
Major junior
 * Named to the OHL All-Rookie Team in 1996.
 * Won the Emms Family Award as OHL rookie of the year in 1996.
 * Named the CHL Rookie of the Year in 1996.
 * Named to the OHL Second All-Star Team in 1997.

NHL
 * Played in the NHL All-Star Game in 2002, 2003, 2004, 2007, 2008 and 2009 (captain).
 * Won the Art Ross Trophy in 2006.
 * Won the Hart Memorial Trophy in 2006.
 * Named to the NHL First All-Star Team in 2006.
 * Named to the NHL Second All-Star Team in 2003 and 2008.

SUI
 * Won the Spengler Cup with HC Davos in 2004.
 * Won the Swiss ice hockey championship with HC Davos in 2005.

International
 * Won a World Junior Championships gold medal with Team Canada in 1997.
 * Won the World Cup of Hockey with Team Canada in 2004.
 * Won the 2010 Winter Olympics gold medal with Canada.

Records

 * Only player in NHL history to win the Art Ross Trophy and Hart Memorial Trophy while switching clubs in his winning campaign - 2005–06
 * Highest point total recorded by a player while playing with two different teams in one season (125) - 2005–06

International play
Played for Canada in:
 * 1997 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships (gold medal)
 * 2001 Men's World Ice Hockey Championships
 * 2004 World Cup of Hockey (gold medal)
 * 2005 World Championships (silver medal)
 * 2006 Winter Olympics
 * 2010 Winter Olympics (gold medal)