Former Bruins top pick Joe Thornton elected into the Hockey Hall of Fame
Joe Thornton will always be the one that got away for the Boston Bruins. On Tuesday, Thornton was elected into the Hockey Hall of Fame in his first year of eligibility.
Thornton was one of eight members of the Hall of Fame Class of 2025 announced Tuesday, along with longtime Bruins captain Zdeno Chara.
Thornton was drafted first overall by the Bruins in 1997 and immediately became the face of the franchise. "Jumbo Joe" was a star centerman from the jump and racked up 169 goals and 285 assists over his first eight seasons in the NHL, when he made three All-Star teams for Boston.
But the Bruins were expecting even more from Thornton, and when the two sides got into a contract dispute, Boston general manager Mike O'Connell traded him to the San Jose Sharks in November of 2005. The Bruins received Marco Sturm (who is now the team's head coach), Wayne Primeau, and Brad Stuart for the all-world talent of Thornton in one of the most lopsided deals in NHL history.
Thornton was an immediate hit in San Jose and finished the 2005-06 season as the NHL's leading scorer with 29 goals and 96 assists. Those big numbers earned him the Hart Trophy as the league's MVP.
The Bruins winning a Stanley Cup in 2011 helped alleviate some of the long lasting sting of the Thornton trade. But Boston fans will always wonder what could have been; if not with Thornton in a Bruins sweater, then what the franchise would have looked like with a more respectable trade return.
Thornton went on to play 15 seasons in San Jose before finishing his career with a season for the Toronto Maple Leafs and the Florida Panthers. He is one of just 16 NHL players to record at least 1,500 points, finishing his career with 430 goals and 1,109 assists over 1,714 games.
Thornton was a sixth-time NHL All-Star over his 24-year career. He currently ranks seventh all-time in assists and sixth all-time in games played in NHL history.
While he never won a Stanley Cup -- he made it to the Cup Final with the Sharks 2015-16 but lost to the Pittsburgh Penguins -- Thornton won Olympic gold with Canada in 2010 and gold at the World Cup of Hockey in both 2004 and 2016.