Former Toronto Maple Leafs forward Joe Thornton is a first-ballot Hall of Famer.
The 45-year-old joins a list of 2025 Hockey Hall of Fame inductees, which include Jennifer Botterill, Zdeno Chara, Brianna Decker, Duncan Keith, and former Maple Leaf Alexander Mogilny. Two builders will be inducted: Jack Parker and Danielle Sauvageau.
"Holy doodle, I can’t believe that I am receiving this honor," Joe Thornton said via San Jose Sharks beat reporter Curtis Pashelka. "There are so many people I need to thank because I certainly couldn’t have done this alone."
According to Pashelka, Thornton didn't pick up the phone on the first ring. He's travelling back home to St. Thomas, Ontario, after spending a few days with Maple Leafs captain Auston Matthews in his home of Arizona.
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Although Thornton did not win anything during his time with the Maple Leafs, his tenure in Toronto will certainly be recalled by many.
Signing a one-year deal, $700,000 contract ahead of the NHL’s bubble season, Thornton was revered by his teammates before even arriving in the city. Due to Canada’s COVID-19 restrictions, he, Auston Matthews, William Nylander, and former Maple Leafs Rasmus Sandin and Mac Hollowell quarantined together for two weeks before joining the team for training camp.
"Just being around this youthful energy just gets me excited," Thornton said during Toronto’s training camp in January 2021. "I feel like I’m young again, and it’s a good feeling to be in."
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After finally getting anchored in Toronto, the veteran playmaker started the year skating beside Matthews and Mitch Marner on the team’s top line. As the season continued, though, his ice time shrank, beginning the year with 17:10 in his debut, to 13:18 in his final regular-season game.
Thornton scored five goals and 15 assists in his lone season with the Maple Leafs. He followed that up with one goal in seven games against the Montreal Canadiens in the first round, before Toronto was eliminated.
There’ll be moments during Thornton’s tenure to remember, like his jousting match with Winnipeg Jets forward Nikolaj Ehlers. Thornton was mic’d up during that moment by Amazon, which was filming the ‘All or Nothing’ docu-series the entire season.
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You cannot forget the moment when Matthews and Marner congratulated former Maple Leaf Patrick Marleau on reaching the most games played by an NHLer milestone. Thornton, partially clothed with a stick in hand, stood behind Matthews and Marner and wished his former San Jose Sharks teammate well.
Aside from the moments that made Thornton one of hockey’s true enigmas, he’s one of the sport’s most decorated players. One World Junior gold medal, two World Cup golds, one Olympic gold, an Art Ross Trophy, a Hart Trophy, and countless other honors.
The only trophy he didn’t capture: The Stanley Cup.
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Thornton formally retired in late October 2023. His career finished with 430 goals and 1,109 assists in 1,714 games, split between the Boston Bruins, Sharks, Maple Leafs, and Florida Panthers. The Sharks retired Thornton’s jersey in November, culminating the forward’s legacy in San Jose and beyond.
"I appreciate you guys so much. Thank you, thank you, thank you. What a tremendous honor. Incredible," Thornton told Lanny McDonald and Ron Francis, Chair of the selection committee, after receiving the phone call. "Oh my god, I don't know what to say. This is incredible."
(Top photo: Sergei Belski / Imagn Images)