BOSTON — Joe Thornton is now 40 years old with plenty of gray peppered in his long regular-season beard, and reports indicated that the San Jose Sharks center contemplated retirement for the first time this summer before signing another one-year deal. So the end certainly may be near for Jumbo Joe after over 1,500 NHL games and nearly 1,500 points in his Hall of Fame-level career, and it more than likely might be after this season with just four assists and a minus-6 rating for San Jose a dozen games into this year.
But don’t expect Thornton to get sentimental if Tuesday night’s Bruins/Sharks tilt at TD Garden indeed marks his final few shifts in the city of Boston where it all begin for Jumbo Joe 22 years ago when he was drafted No. 1 overall by the B's.
“No. No. I didn’t think about that,” said Thornton, when asked by NBC Sports Boston if it crossed his mind that tonight might be his final game against the Bruins at TD Garden. “It never has [been in my mind].”
Thornton has been tight-lipped about his NHL future beyond this season after signing his one-year deal with the Sharks this summer, so it remains to be seen what lies ahead for Jumbo Joe from an official standpoint.
It certainly doesn’t mean that Boston is just another stop on the 31-city NHL tour for Thornton either, however, as it will never change that Jumbo Joe grew up in Boston, and became a top NHL player before he was shuttled to San Jose in 2005 for an infamous return trade package of Marco Sturm, Brad Stuart and Wayne Primeau.
Thornton was entertaining local friends and taking phone calls from people he befriended during his time in Boston after Tuesday’s morning skate.
Boston Bruins
“I’ve been coming back a lot of years now, so I’ve still got some friends here. Great memories. I came here at 18 [years old] so I grew up in this city,” said Thornton. “The people were great to me. It really has changed over the last 15 years. It’s one of the best cities in the U.S., that’s for sure. I always enjoy coming here and playing the Bruins.”
Given Thornton’s struggles and the sluggish 4-7-1 start for the Sharks to this season, Bruins fans might want to pay special attention to Thornton during Tuesday night’s one and only visit of the season by San Jose. It might just be the final call for Jumbo Joe in Boston after he came on the scene 22 years ago as the once-future face of the Black and Gold.
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