Postmedia continues its annual profiles of the new Hockey Hall of Fame class as induction night approaches Nov. 10, with centre Joe Thornton.
HALL CALL EXPLAINED
Six players and two builders were nominated this year, each receiving a 75% vote or higher from the 18 members of the selection committee in a secret ballot. A maximum of six players (four male and two female) can be chosen and two builders unless someone is named from the referee/linesman category.
WHY JOE IS IN
Thornton owns Olympic gold with Canada in 2010, with two World Cup titles 12 years apart, icing on the cake for the St. Thomas, Ont., native who set a slew of impressive NHL marks. He remains 14th in NHL points with 1,539, seventh in assists at 1,109, both accomplished in 1,714 games, ranking him sixth. He’s the last winner of the Hart Trophy while a member of different teams, a mid-season swap from Boston to San Jose in 2005-06, leading the league in scoring that year.
IN HIS OWN WORDS
‘Jumbo Joe’ was at a rare loss for words Saturday when people started throwing around his longevity stats – last active NHLer from the 1990s, last to compete with or against Wayne Gretzky (going back to Gordie Howe in 1945-46) and last to score at Maple Leaf Gardens.
“To play against guys you grew up watching was just incredible,” Thornton said on media day at the Great Hall where his bearded portrait will soon be displayed.
When his Hall call first came in June, Thornton was also choked up, complicated by being in the middle of an airport security pat down in Arizona.
“My phone goes off, I can see it’s Toronto, my luggage is in secondary (bag check), but I say ‘screw it, I’m talking to (Hall chairman Lanny McDonald). I started crying and the airport people are wondering what’s wrong with this guy?”
Now Thornton is himself a touchstone, having let young Sharks stay with his family and in his brief time in Toronto, taking Auston Matthews and Mitch Marner under his wing, before retiring in San Jose where he’s kept an eye on Macklin Celebrini and Will Smith.
“I had great mentors such as Johnny Bucyk,” Thornton said of the Original Six Bruin, who eased his path as the first overall pick in 1997.
Thornton didn’t win a Stanley Cup, though he and fellow 2025 inductee Duncan Keith were on those great Canadian Olympic teams before best-on-best was shelved.
“Joe was older than me, but made young guys comfortable at the athletes’ village,” Chicago Blackhawks’ defenceman Keith recalled. “He was such a personable guy. You have an appreciation of his size, skill and being so strong on the pucks. Finding teammates, making them better players all around.”
Keith got to know Thornton when several older NHLers chose to hold summer skates.
“We were in a small little rink and just mesmerized by these guys that were maybe three or four years older than me. And then 10 years later, having the chance to play with and against him … I knew how good of a player he was, but it wasn’t until I got to play with him at the Olympics you realize just what a great teammate he is, how he made me feel as a younger player.
“I was kind of intimidated being around guys I idolized like Scott Neidermeyer and Chris Pronger, but Joe was definitely above and beyond making players feel welcome. I think that made me play better.”
During the COVID lockdown, and in a city where the Leafs always face high expectations, Thornton’s parental influence was welcome.
“He was laid back – but he really wanted to win,” winger William Nylander said. “He was still super-competitive and it was perfect to have a guy like that.”
In later years, Thornton received as much press for his wit and whiskers as his raft of records.
He and San Jose teammate Brent Burns had stopped shaving in the Sharks’ long 2016 playoff run right through the World Cup later that year. Thornton called it his “lifestyle beard” while ESPN The Magazine posed the duo naked in its Body Issue photo spread, their facial hair strategically placed as they faced off on a ball hockey rink. A couple of foes, notably current Calgary Flame Nazem Kadri, yanked out some of Thornton’s whiskers during a fight.
In 2006, Thornton became the first and only player to be traded in-season and still win the Hart, 33 points in 23 games for Boston, 92 in 58 for the Sharks (swapped for Marco Sturm, Brad Stuart and Wayne Primeau).
“For an hour (after the trade), I was like, ‘damn it’,” Thornton said. “After that, it was ‘I’m going to play hockey on the West Coast, this is good, no?”
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