Bruins Fans: Thornton trade and card values

ndleo

Hey Bruin fans - why did Boston trade Thornton? I didn't hear any rumors about it. It surprised me since I thought he was the "franchise".

I think this will hurt his card values since Boston is one the premier teams and the Sharks are a west coast team.

Brian48

Thornton has been underachieving for a LONG time. For years now, the organization has been waiting for him to reach his full potential, but he has consistently fallen short. They've lost 10 in a row and their team captain had shown no fire whatsoever to motivate the team. Losing that face-off in the last game and non-chalantly walking away like nothing bad happened was the straw that broke the camel's back. This is why the Bruins balked at the no trade clause when they resigned him at the beginning of season. There was always a possibility that this was the year in which they were going to pull the trigger.

raym8

When they signed Thornton to a 3 year deal this year, the no-trade clause was effective only for the 2nd and 3rd year of the deal. Guess management wanted to see if he was going to be worth the 20 million.

The biggest criticism we've been hearing is that he had no 'edge' to his game; that a player of his size and talent should be able to dominate, and it just wasn't happening. Maybe the trade will be the wake-up call he needs.

MooseDog

Heh-heh...no complaints here in San Jose! We're psyched!

raym8

Want to buy a Joe Thornton 96 Black Diamond PSA 9 rookie?......

If this trade give him the kick in the butt he needs, you've got yourself a franchise player for years to come.......

MooseDog

He'll fit right in...NONE of the Sharks have an "edge" to their game...this is California hockey!

ndleo

I'll always associate the Sharks with the 100-ct 1990-91 Upper Deck Pat Falloon rookie lots cluttering my basement. Yes it is a great feeling.

It seems that hockey rookies either hit it big or are worthless (like basketball).

Onlypsahockey

Being a long time Bruins fan and big fan of Joe Thornton my first reaction when I read the papers this morning was "NO!" But as the day went on and I thought deeper I think the B's had to make this move. Joe's had 8 years here in Boston. His numbers were always good but not great and great was expected. He often showed how dominant he could be by potting 2 or 3 per game...but not often enough. This year with the team falling 17+ points behind Ottawa in the division Joe again had decent numbers but often played very poorly...he hardly ever controled the play and often turned the puck over as soon as he got it. The Bruins are a proud team. To wear the C for the Bruins you must be a certain type af player and person along the lines of Bucyk, Cashman, O'Reilly, Bourque etc. To wear the C and not be capable of pulling more out of yourself and your teammates when spiraling out of control as the Bruins are is unacceptable here in Boston. Joe was a very good player and person. He was not the great franchise player or team leader he was needed to be. Another interesting note the Bruins won one playoff series in Joe's 8 years in Boston. Hopefully he'll do well in San Jose and hopefully Stuart, Sturm and Primeau can help the Bruins right the ship. I just can't figure out why Marleau isn't wearing the spoked B tonight.

JMO, Bob

Boopotts

The Bruins have a lot of problems, and I don't think Joe Thorton was at the root of any of them. They've been a 'defense optional' team ever since Bourque left, and Neely's early retirement took all the grit right out of them. I think Thorton would be great with a team like Calgary, or Edmonton-- teams that can grind in the corners and get dirty. But you can't expect him to play tough if he's surrounded by part timers like Samsonov.

phreakydancin

<< <i>The Bruins have a lot of problems, and I don't think Joe Thorton was at the root of any of them. >>

Couldn't agree more. I think the Bruins got absolutely fleeced in this deal.

MooseDog

Well the new Bruins got off to a nice start tonight...Sturm had a goal and an assist, Stuart had an assist and spent a lot of time playing with Leetch. I think BL will help Stuart out a lot and maybe Stu will reach is potential upside, which is potentially huge.

Onlypsahockey

Jumbo Joe picks up 2 assists in his San Jose debut setting up Jonathan Cheechoo for his 8th and 9th goals of the season. San Jose wins for the first time since Nov. 4. Thornton picks up 3rd star honors behind 1st star Marleau (1 goal & 2 assists) and 2nd star Cheechoo (2 goals) as the sharks route the Sabres 5-0.

Initial on ice play for Boston and San Jose seems to equate to a win/win trade here for both teams. We'll have to wait and see if the fire still burns about 10 games in.

Side note: I'm still trying to figure out how Patrick Marleau didn't end up in a Bruins uniform in this trade. I would of expected San Jose's best player in the deal for Joe.

JMO Bob

aro13

~"I think Thorton would be great with a team like Calgary, or Edmonton-- teams that can grind in the corners and get dirty. But you can't expect him to play tough if he's surrounded by part timers like Samsonov."~

In the last NHL season Thornton played with Knuble and Murray, two big grind it out forwards.

The problems in the B's organization are many. When the owner opens up the wallet OC manages to mispend badly (see Martin Lapointe in years prior). When they make a wise acquistion, like Sergei Gonchar, the coach tries to play him like Ray Bourque instead of playing to his strengths rendering him useless.

I did not like the trade at the time and I do not like it now. Thornton is a star. You would have thought OC could have done better elsewhere but he is so desperate to keep the only job he could get in hockey that he pulled the trigger.

raym8

I couldn't agree more with you, Albie. This whole deal reaks of a move made by a desperate general manager trying to keep his job. I think that Jumbo Joe never had the 'edge' everyone expected he needed to dominate, but he was still far and away the best player on the team, and you don't trade your best player unless you are getting some other teams' best player. I have a bad feeling that the lean years for the Bruins will continue for quite some time

Knuckles

When I first saw this on SportsNet I thought the Bruins were crazy but not so crazy as long as...
the underachieving Stuart who has a lot of potential picks up his game..
Sturm can produce more (I don't think he will.. the sharks expected more out of him)
Primeau stays healthy (he's a good penalty killer and physical presence)

I think the Bruins should have squeezed draft pick as well.



edited to add... and hey who knows who the Bruins will pick up now that they have created quite a bit of cap room for themselves.

RedHeart54

Despite JT's relative shortcomings is he still going to make the Canadian Olympic team? The fact that he doesn't "play with an edge" may actually make him a better candidate because playing as such just gets you two minutes anymore.

Boopotts

"In the last NHL season Thornton played with Knuble and Murray, two big grind it out forwards."

True enough-- however, this doesn't account for the fact that Thornton has played with mediocre defencemen for most of his career, which hinders most centers' ability to be aggressive. Sundin has also had this problem (playing with crappy blueliners), and I think that's a big reason why both of these guys (Sundin and Thornton) have been labeled 'soft'.

In any case, we'll wait and see what happens. I think Thornton is going to blow it up in San Jose and really emerge as a star. Although I hope for the sake of Bruin fans that I'm wrong

MooseDog

After two games we Sharks fans are ready to do a "WE LOVE JOE" chant tomorrow night when they return home! Though I hadn't quite thrown in the towel on the season (what after 10 straight losses and a decided lack of "lighting the lamp" the future looked bleak) but now there is certainly hope as the two post-trade games they played like the Sharks of 2003-04.