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Sharks acquire Joe
Thornton
SJ ships Sturm, Stuart and Primeau to
Boston
11/30/05 - By Paul
Krill
The Sharks have acquired center Joe Thornton in exchange for
forwards Marco Sturm, Wayne Primeau and defenseman Brad Stuart. Thornton leads
the Bruins in scoring this season with 9 goals and 24 assists.
The 6-foot-4, 225-pound forward was the first overall pick in the 1997 NHL
Entry Draft and signed a three-year contract with the Bruins last August. He
will earn $6.6 million this season.
"He is a leader who scores points and makes other players around him better,"
San Jose GM Doug Wilson said in a statement. "To get a player of this caliber,
you have to give up something to get something. You would make this trade last
month, this month or next year. It follows our philosophy of making our team
better for this year and next year."
Thornton is expected to join his cousin Scott Thornton and the rest of the
Sharks in Buffalo tomorrow for practice, before San Jose squares off with the
Sabres on Friday night. The three time All-Star has 169 goals, 285 assists and
617 penalty minutes in 532 career games, all with the Bruins.
''It's definitely a shock,'' said Thornton. ''I signed a three-year deal with
Boston hoping to stay three years. I really thought this was a good contending
team, but obviously when you don't win games things are gonna happen.''
The newest Shark has carried the burden for a struggling Boston club this
season. The Bruins are last in the North East Division.
''I came here to win and we haven't been winning,'' said Thornton, who insisted
he wasn't angry over being traded. ''Who's fault's that? I don't know, but I'm
out of here, so it must have been mine.''
Both teams have been floundering of late, so the deal could jump start both
teams. The Sharks fell to the Dallas Stars 4-1 on Wednesday night, playing a
flat game the entire evening. That result wasn't surprising given that the
three Sharks involved in the deal skated in the pre-game warm up, but were all
scratched as the deal was about to be completed.
Bruins GM Mike O'Connell didn't mince words in his intentions to generate some
life into his club with the deal.
''We felt we needed to shake up the team and sometimes you have to make some
difficult decisions to better the team,'' said O'Connell. ''We feel we received
three players who can help us immediately.''
Sturm, Stuart and Primeau are all expected to suit up for Boston on Thursday
night when the Bruins host the Ottawa Senators.
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