Scott Thornton (ice hockey)

Scott C. Thornton ( born January 9, 1971 in London, Ontario ) is a retired Canadian professional ice hockey player who during his career between 1990 and 2008 for the Toronto Maple Leafs, Edmonton Oilers, Montreal Canadiens, Dallas Stars, San Jose Sharks and Los Angeles Kings of the National Hockey League played at the position of the left winger.

Career

Scott Thornton began his career at the London Diamonds, a youth team in the Canadian province of Ontario, before moving to the Canadian junior league Ontario Hockey League in 1987, the Belleville Bulls. There he gave good performances as a defensive forward and was selected in the NHL Entry Draft in 1989 in the first round at position three of the Toronto Maple Leafs. He was still playing the 1989/90 season, and three games of the season 1990/91 in the OHL before moving to the National Hockey League to Toronto.

There he played 33 games for the Maple Leafs in his first year, but was then transferred to the Edmonton Oilers just before the 1991/92 season. In the following two years he was rarely used in the NHL and played mainly in the American Hockey League with the Cape Breton Oilers, the farm team of Edmonton. There he could continue to develop and played an important role in winning the Calder Cup in 1993 as a hard -playing and defensively oriented forward.

1993/94 Thornton finally made the breakthrough in the NHL and was a regular in Edmonton, where he was mainly mobilized in the checking line. However, the team did not have much athletic success and in September Thornton was transferred to the Montréal Canadiens.

Three and a half years he played for Montreal and was able to advance with the team in 1998 in the second round of the playoffs. In January 2000, transferred him the Canadiens to the Dallas Stars. The Stars had won the Stanley Cup in the previous year and included as the defending champion of the favorites. And indeed they could again reach the Stanley Cup final, subject to there but the New Jersey Devils.

Despite good performance by Scott Thornton, his contract was not renewed for the end of the season and he signed a contract with the San Jose Sharks, where he had his most successful period. In the 2000 /01 season he managed 36 points a personal best, which he improved it in at 42 points. Thornton was the 2002/03 season marked by injuries, so was one of the key players in the Sharks on reaching the final of the Western Conference 2003/04.

After the start of the NHL season 2004/ 05 ever further hesitated because of the lockout and the cancellation of the season was to be expected, Thornton signed a contract with Södertälje SK in the Swedish Elitserien.

The 2005/06 season he again played with the San Jose Sharks, his contract was not renewed in the summer of 2006, and so he moved to the Los Angeles Kings, where he ended his career at the age of 37 years after two years.

Awards and achievements

Career Stats

Internationally

Represented Canada at:

  • World Youth Championship 1991
  • 1999 World Cup

( Key to Career statistics: Sp or GP = Games Played, T or G = goals scored, V or A = achieved assists; Pts or Pts = scored points scorer, SM or PIM = received penalty minutes, / - = Plus / Minus balance sheet; PP = scored majority gates; SH = scored shorthanded goals, GW = achieved victory gates; Play-downs/Relegation 1 )

Family

Scott Thornton's cousin, Joe Thornton, also ice hockey player in the NHL. Joe was the first pick in the NHL Entry Draft in 1997 and received the 2006 Hart Memorial Trophy as most valuable player and the Art Ross Trophy as the best scorer in the NHL. Together they played from December 2005 until the summer of 2006 with the San Jose Sharks.

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