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| Joe THORNTON (THOHRN-tuhn, JOH) |
San Jose Sharks |
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Center. Shoots left. 6'4'', 235 lbs. Born, London, Ont., July 2, 1979.
Boston's 1st choice, 1st overall, in 1997 Entry Draft.
2007-08 Statistics as of Jan. 24/08: 49 GP – 15 G – 45 A – 60 Pts. – 30 PIM
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Since 2002-03, Thornton leads all NHL skaters in total points.
In 2006-07, Thornton became just the third player in NHL history to have back-to-back 90-assist seasons, joining Wayne Gretzky (12 in a row, 1980-81 through 1991-92) and Mario Lemieux (1987-88 and 1988-89).
Thornton played on a line with Brendan Shanahan and Jarome Iginla in his first All-Star Game (2002 in Los Angeles). He sat next to Mario Lemieux in the North America All-Star locker room. "It was great just to be able to make small talk with him. He's a great player. I learned a lot just sitting beside him," Thornton said after the game.
Thornton after his first All-Star Game in 2002: "What a great time I had here. Everybody was just laughing all the time, having fun. It was a great experience. I'm sure next week sometime this whole experience will kick in for me, but it's surreal right now. Every time we got back to the bench, we were just howling at each other. It was so fun. I always thought it was going to be good but it was just fantastic. The guys were so complimentary. I got some sticks. I got Mario's stick and Shanahan's stick. I was like a kid in a candy store."
More on his first All-Star Game: "Early in the contest, coach (Pat) Quinn tapped me and Iginla on the shoulders, meaning our shift was to begin. Lemieux was on the ice, however, so me and Jarome smiled, shook our heads, and stayed put. The first shift, we didn't want to take Mario off. So we were like, 'No, we'll let him change. We're not taking his ice time.' So we just waited a little bit longer. He was patting us to go and we were like, 'Not a chance.'"
Thornton's first hockey memory is playing in the backyard in St. Thomas, Ontario with his father and brothers and his first hockey team was with the St. Thomas Minor Hockey Association.
Thornton's favorite teams growing up were the Edmonton Oilers and Toronto Maple Leafs.
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