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Top ten players expected to rebound. Miller on list


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@J0e Th0rnton Ya know bro, I'll never forget the first time I ever saw Joe in the OHL. It was early 1995 and he was about an inch shorter than he is now, about 6'3 and probably about 205 instead of his present day 235....but WOW, was he impressive. I remember his wing span was just huge, cutting off passing lanes, winning face offs at will, and he was rookie. I thought to myself, that kid is gonna be something special. He didn't score the first time I saw him, but he was impressive, hitting 2 goal posts and set up a teammate for a tap in. I write little notes on the program to jog my memory for future games and it's nice to look back and see my initial thoughts on a kid decades later. I wrote "this Thornton kid is amazing, could be a first overall pick"....and sure enough, I turned out to be right. Even as a rookie, he was like a man among boys.

I wonder how Joe fares in the Hall of Fame game. RIght now, he's got a couple major trophy's on his mantle, the Hart and the Art Ross, those are some impressive things to own. He's still averaging a point a game for his career. I do think he will need to win a Cup to cement his HOF entry, but as far as the test of time goes, he has passed that test. Another point you seem to make a lot, and it's so true, Joe makes those around him better, a legit testament to his true stardom. I don't think any of us would know who Cheechoo is if it were not for Joe. Like a lot of true greats, he makes average players and turns them into all stars.

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@J0e Th0rnton Ya know bro, I'll never forget the first time I ever saw Joe in the OHL. It was early 1995 and he was about an inch shorter than he is now, about 6'3 and probably about 205 instead of his present day 235....but WOW, was he impressive. I remember his wing span was just huge, cutting off passing lanes, winning face offs at will, and he was rookie. I thought to myself, that kid is gonna be something special. He didn't score the first time I saw him, but he was impressive, hitting 2 goal posts and set up a teammate for a tap in. I write little notes on the program to jog my memory for future games and it's nice to look back and see my initial thoughts on a kid decades later. I wrote "this Thornton kid is amazing, could be a first overall pick"....and sure enough, I turned out to be right. Even as a rookie, he was like a man among boys.

I wonder how Joe fares in the Hall of Fame game. RIght now, he's got a couple major trophy's on his mantle, the Hart and the Art Ross, those are some impressive things to own. He's still averaging a point a game for his career. I do think he will need to win a Cup to cement his HOF entry, but as far as the test of time goes, he has passed that test. Another point you seem to make a lot, and it's so true, Joe makes those around him better, a legit testament to his true stardom. I don't think any of us would know who Cheechoo is if it were not for Joe. Like a lot of true greats, he makes average players and turns them into all stars.

I don't think so myself, although i obviously am dying for it to happen.

There are quite a few guys in the Hall of fame with weaker resume's than his who have never won a cup.

Joe has a claim to several things. Back to back 90 assist seasons are a thing only Lemieux and Gretzky have done. In fact, only 5 players have ever scored 90 assists. Joe also has 3 Assist titles in a row, a rare feat. Runner up for 2 more assist titles, and 3rd another year(as well as 7th, 8th and 10th)

He has already solidified a place among the greatest playmakers of all time.

When looking at overall points, he has been 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 5th and 8th. He has multiple years where he was a Hart nominee. 4th, 1st, 3rd, 6th.....

That's a lot of time being one of the best players in the league in terms of the Hockey Hall of fame.

Pavel Bure was recently inducted. His goalscoring is impressive. But not as impressive as Thornton's playmaking all time in anything but flash. Bure has no cup to his name. Nor was he ever considered the best player in the league(was 3rd for the hart once).

Cam Neely, a huge favorite of mine growing up is in. And that shocks me given his body of work

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@J0e Th0rnton Yeah, time will tell I guess. You make a convincing arguement though. The fact he has been in the league for so long, and is *still* averaging a point per game is impressive to me.

I loved Cam, I think he caught a break because it was obvious he would have done so much more if it were not for Ulf. His 50 goals in 44 games was just an amazing feat. Who knows what he could have accomplished had he been healthy.

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So here is the list from NHL.com

Disappointing seasons can happen to anyone. Sometimes they're due to injuries; sometimes they're just bad luck; at other times they're a combination of circumstances.

Here are 10 players who, for a variety of reasons, didn't have their best seasons in 2012-13 but are good candidates to bounce back in 2013-14:

1. Pekka Rinne

2. Milan Lucic

3. Marc-Andre Fleury

4. Marian Gaborik

5. Ryan Miller

6. Jeff Skinner

7. Ryan Clowe

8. Valterri Filppula

9. Bobby Ryan

10. Martin Havlat

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I don't think so myself, although i obviously am dying for it to happen.

There are quite a few guys in the Hall of fame with weaker resume's than his who have never won a cup.

Joe has a claim to several things. Back to back 90 assist seasons are a thing only Lemieux and Gretzky have done. In fact, only 5 players have ever scored 90 assists. Joe also has 3 Assist titles in a row, a rare feat. Runner up for 2 more assist titles, and 3rd another year(as well as 7th, 8th and 10th)

He has already solidified a place among the greatest playmakers of all time.

When looking at overall points, he has been 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 5th and 8th. He has multiple years where he was a Hart nominee. 4th, 1st, 3rd, 6th.....

That's a lot of time being one of the best players in the league in terms of the Hockey Hall of fame.

Pavel Bure was recently inducted. His goalscoring is impressive. But not as impressive as Thornton's playmaking all time in anything but flash. Bure has no cup to his name. Nor was he ever considered the best player in the league(was 3rd for the hart once).

Cam Neely, a huge favorite of mine growing up is in. And that shocks me given his body of work

Thornton has a few things against him

No cup. Although it is a team game and every year there can be only one no cup is no cup.

For as big as he is he comes across as a pass first shoot later can be pushed around kind of player.

Was supposed to be the final piece of the puzzle to get the Sharks over the top. Never happened (yet).

IMHO I believe Joe is as cerebral as any player in the game. HE doesn't use his size to his maximum advantage, true and he could and should shoot more but wow what a first pass.

Neely is not the best com, INHO, Lindros is.

Nice mantle piece for individual awards

Never won a cup (Again YET in Joe's case)

Whined his way out of town where he was drafted

I see the Lindros parallel clearly, and anyone who would even think that the big E deserves the hall ahead of Thornton has never watched anything other than Flyer games. Of course as a Wings fan I watch a ton o West coast games and have a huge respect for Thornton. He is a HOFer if ever one was born.

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Thornton has a few things against him

No cup. Although it is a team game and every year there can be only one no cup is no cup.

Where is Pavel Bure's cup? Marcel Dionne? Cam Neely?

Was supposed to be the final piece of the puzzle to get the Sharks over the top. Never happened (yet).

Wha??

When he was acquired, the Sharks were the team that just sucked. They could not adjust to the new NHL. The previously got by using clutch and grab trapping and the new NHL was destroying them.

The were the last or 2nd last team in the league, and on a 10 game losing streak. He dragged them from bottom barrel to a 99 point season.

IMHO I believe Joe is as cerebral as any player in the game. HE doesn't use his size to his maximum advantage, true and he could and should shoot more but wow what a first pass.

Neely is not the best com, INHO, Lindros is.

He definitely could stand to shoot more like he did in his early days. He once used his size a lot more, but was suspended a few times for being a bit too chippy. A few years back, he threw what i think was a clean hit(It actually was not even a hit. He just skated in front of him and planted his feet to stop him) on a blues player, knocking him out and was suspended 2 games.

Nice mantle piece for individual awards

Never won a cup (Again YET in Joe's case)

Whined his way out of town where he was drafted

This confuses me a bit. Thornton most certainly did not whine his way out of town. He was shocked when he was traded. He had just signed an extention for 3 years and was the only Bruin doing anything t win. 33 points in 23 games and nobody else was scoring. As I recall, when they were losing(Mostly due to management signing a bunch of big slow 3rd rate players), Jacobs instead of having a talk with the team went in front of camera's and bashed the team.

But he never whined his way out of town. He had just bought a house and talked nonstop about how much he loved the team.

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