The 6-foot-4 center was in his eighth season with the Bruins, who selected him with the No. 1 pick in the 1997 NHL Draft after he played two seasons with Sault Ste. Marie in the Ontario Hockey League and was named Canadian Hockey League Rookie of the Year in 1995-96.

Known as "Jumbo Joe," Thornton was acquired by the San Jose Sharks on Nov. 30, 2005, in a trade from the Boston Bruins.

Known as "Jumbo Joe," Thornton was acquired by the San Jose Sharks on Nov. 30, 2005, in a trade from the Boston Bruins.

The 6-foot-4 center was in his eighth season with the Bruins, who selected him with the No. 1 pick in the 1997 NHL Draft after he played two seasons with Sault Ste. Marie in the Ontario Hockey League and was named Canadian Hockey League Rookie of the Year in 1995-96.

Thornton was the Bruins captain from 2002-05 and in 1999-2000 led them in goals (23), assists (37), points (60) and penalty minutes (82). In 2002-03 Thornton joined Bobby Orr and Ken Hodge as the only Bruins to have 100 points (101 points; 36 goals, 65 assists) and 100 penalty minutes (109) in the same season.

He was an instant hit with the Sharks. Thornton won the Art Ross Trophy as the NHL's top scorer in 2005-06, when he had 125 points (29 goals, 96 assists), becoming the first player to win the award after being traded during the season. Thornton also won the Hart Trophy as MVP; his 96 assists surpassed the 94 points by 2003-04 Art Ross Trophy winner Martin St. Louis. Thornton was the 11th player in NHL history to have 90 assists in a season and the first to do so while playing for two teams.

In 2006-07, Thornton had 92 assists and became the third player in NHL history to have back-to-back 90-assist seasons. The following season, he had 67 assists to become the third player to lead the NHL for three successive seasons.With a goal against the Phoenix Coyotes on April 8, 2011, Thornton became the 78th NHL player to reach 1,000 points. He had his 11th consecutive 20-goal season in 2010-11.

Thornton became the 100th player to play in 1,200 NHL games on March 27, 2014 against the Winnipeg Jets. On Oct. 18, 2014 against the New Jersey Devils, Thornton became the 46th player in League history to have 1,200 points.

In 2015-16, Thornton became the seventh player in NHL history 36 or older to have a 60-assist season; he finished tied for fourth in the NHL in scoring with 82 points and helped the Sharks reach the Stanley Cup Final for the first time. His assist on a goal by longtime teammate Joe Pavelski on Nov. 2, 2017, made Thornton the 20th player in NHL history with 1,400 points, and he scored his 400th NHL goal on Nov. 13, 2018.

With 35 assists in the 2018-19 season, Thornton moved past Mario Lemieux, Marcel Dionne, Gordie Howe and Steve Yzerman into eighth place on the NHL all-time list with 1,065.

Thornton helped Canada win the gold medal at the 2010 Vancouver Olympics and was named MVP of the 2005 IIHF World Championship, where he helped Canada win a silver medal.

In 2019-20, Thornton had 24 assists and passed Adam Oates for seventh in NHL history with 1,089.

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