NEWS

20 Years Since Joe Thornton Was Drafted 1st Overall In The 1997 NHL Entry Draft
By: Chris McLachlin, OHA Media
Photo: San Jose Sharks/Getty Images
(Originally published in the 2016-17 OHA Annual Report)

It’s been 20 years since the Boston Bruins took Joe Thornton first overall in the 1997 NHL Entry Draft and during that time, “Jumbo Joe” has established himself as one of the best to play the game. In 1,446 NHL games Thornton has amassed 1,391 points from 384 goals and 1,007 assists. Known for his passing and playmaking abilities, his 1,007 assists puts him 13th all-time in the NHL in that category.

Joe Thornton was born July 2, 1979 in London, Ontario, the third of three boys, to Mary and Wayne Thornton. Joe, who grew up to be 6-4 was the smallest of the three, as his older brothers Alex and John. At a young age, the Thornton family moved down the road to St. Thomas, Ontario and settled into the community of Lynhurst. Before Thornton put St. Thomas on the map, it was perhaps best known for being the place where P.T. Barnum’s Jumbo the Circus Elephant died when a locomotive hit him in 1885. 

Thornton excelled at an early age, playing minor hockey for the St. Thomas Travelers. In 1992-93 Thornton’s Peewee team won the Ontario Minor Hockey Association “AA” Championship and the next year he joined the new “AAA” Elgin-Middlesex Chiefs to play Bantam. That season he scored 168 points in 67 games for the Chiefs and also got his first taste of junior hockey, suiting up in 6 OHA Junior B games with his hometown St. Thomas Stars; scoring 2 goals and 6 assists as a 14 year old. The next season, as a 15 year old, Thornton returned to the Stars lineup full time and enjoyed a monster season, scoring 40 goals and adding 64 assists for 104 points in 50 games. 

After the 1994-95 season with the Stars, Thornton’s combination of size, skating and playmaking ability saw him selected 2nd overall in the 1995 Ontario Hockey League Priority Selection by the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds. Thornton’s offensive prowess continued in the OHL with the Greyhounds, scoring 76 points as a rookie and 122 points in his second year. He was selected to play for Canada that winter at the 1997 World Junior Championships and helped Canada win the gold medal with 4 points in 7 games.  That summer, in 1997, he was selected first overall in the NHL Entry Draft by the Boston Bruins.

He joined the Bruins in the Fall of 1997 and made the team out of camp, despite suffering a fractured arm in the pre-season. Although he struggled at times, playing most games on the Bruins fourth line as a rookie in that 1997-98 season, managing only 7 points in 55 games, his NHL career was just getting started. The following season he scored 41 points in 81 games for the Bruins and in 2002-03 he rached the 100 point plateau for the first time in his career with 101 points in 77 games.

Thornton spent the 2004-05 season with HC Davos in the Swiss National League A as the NHL season was cancelled by the lockout. With the NHL and NHLPA labour stoppage settled, Thornton returned to the Bruins the following season but was dealt to the San Jose Sharks in a deal that shook the hockey world. Thornton had good numbers to start the season in Boston with 33 points in 23 games, but after landing in San Jose he caught fire for the Sharks. In 58 games in San Jose he added 92 points, bringing his season total to 125 points in 81 games en route to winning the Hart Trophy and becoming the first player to do so after being traded during the NHL season.

As a member of the San Jose Sharks, Thornton has continued to be one of the most productive centres in the game. Not counting the shortened 2012-13 NHL season, Joe Thornton has averaged almost 81 games, 19 goals, 62 assists and 81 points per season since 2006-07.

Thornton has been the face of the Sharks franchise for 12 years, a face that has been adorned by an epic beard for the past few seasons. These days Thornton is often recognized more for having one of the best beards in the NHL, along with teammate Brent Burns, but it’s hard to look past his numbers and ability to find the open man and make impossible plays; Thornton’s numbers speak for themselves.

Although a Stanley Cup Championship has eluded Thornton thus far in his career, coming closest in the 2015-16 season when the Sharks lost to the Pittsburgh Penguins in the Stanley Cup Final, he has accomplished a lot since he was drafted into the OHL from the St. Thomas Stars (see sidebar for some of Joe Thornton’s impressive achievements in hockey). 

Joe Thornton has put up huge numbers throughout a long and successful NHL career and so it is only fitting for the big-man from St. Thomas to be affectionately known as Jumbo Joe.

Joe Thornton Career Highlights
1995 Drafted 2nd overall in OHL Priority Selection
1996 CHL Rookie of the Year
1997 World Junior Championship gold medalist with Team Canada
2002, 2003, 2004, 2007, 2008, 2009 NHL All Star
2003, 2008, 2016 NHL Second All-Star Team
2004 World Cup of Hockey Champion with Team Canada
2004 Spengler Cup Champion with HC Davos
2006 Art Ross Trophy
2006 Hart Memorial Trophy
2006 NHL First All-Star Team
2010 Winter Olympics gold medalist with Team Canada
2016 World Cup of Hockey Champion with Team Canada