Joe Thornton trade permanently altered two franchises

SAN JOSE, Calif. -- It has been more than http://www.authenticyankeesshop.com/authentic-42-mariano-rivera-jer... 10 years since Joe Thornton was out at dinner in Boston with his parents and future wife when his phone rang.

It was then-Boston Bruins general manager Mike O'Connell informing the captain he had been traded to the San Jose Sharks.

Say what?

"I had no idea it was coming," Thornton said this weekend. "It's so long ago, but all I remember is that the team was struggling at the time. And then boom, that was it. I never read papers anyway, but I never heard anybody say I was on the trading block. It came right out of left field."

The next day, he was on a plane to Buffalo Robert Parish Womens Jersey to join his new Sharks teammates.

And if you think it was a whirlwind time for Thornton, his girlfriend, Tabea, whom he would later marry, was even more shaken.

"She actually moved to Boston [from Switzerland] for about two weeks and I got traded," Thornton recalled with a chuckle. "She had no idea that people could get traded. I think it shook her world more than mine. She had no idea what was going on, all of a sudden I was gone. It was very strange for her."

Don't kid yourself, it didn't take long Wayne Gretzky Womens Jersey for life in San Jose to be just fine for Thornton and his wife, who now have two children, ages 5 and 2.

"It's worked out great," said Thornton. "I've really enjoyed my time here, just like I did in Boston. Really, I'm very, very lucky to have played for two great franchises."
The seeds were planted for a Thornton trade likely as early as the 2004 playoffs when the No. 2-seeded Bruins were upset by the rival Montreal Canadiens, the No. 7 seed. Thornton was silent offensively while playing with broken ribs. Media and fans -- and I would venture to say ownership, too -- put much of the blame on the young Bruins captain for that loss.

The Bruins came out of the 2004-05 season-long lockout with a weak roster, having lost a number of key free agents; and when the team struggled early in the 2005-06 season, O'Connell began to think big.

"It was an interesting time," O'Connell http://www.authenticbruinsshop.com/authentic-reilly-smith-jersey.html said last week, agreeing to a rare interview on the subject of that trade. "You learn from your bosses. I look back at Harry Sinden and the time I spent with him and how clear a thinker he is, and how bright he is, and he used to tell you that your job was to improve the hockey team -- and regardless of how that unfolds in the present, near future and future, if you think you have to make a move to better your hockey club, regardless of whether it ends up being right or wrong, if you don't do it, you're not doing your job."