I know it's been a while since we've shredded Bucky. Part of it was because the Sabres struggled in their opening round loss to the Bruins, and even though Bucky and his ilk are still very wrong when it comes to hockey analysis, it was tough to defend the Sabres (even though every game was a one-goal affair except for Buffalo's domination in Game Five and the empty net goal in Game Two to make that difference two). Anyways, after a couple weeks of craziness (Trade Connolly! Trade Stafford! Trade Roy! Trade Pominville! It doesn't matter what we get in return!), it's time to try and get reason to reign again (and what I mean is it's time to try, again, to get reason to reign; reason's never reigned in Buffalo when it comes to the Sabres).
This journalistic masterpiece is, ostensibly, not about the Sabres. Or so you think. Read on, you'll see.
michael.w took care of it first, with my comments in italics because I don't highlight my hair.
The deal didn't make sense at the time because it broke Rule No. 1 in "Tricks of the Trade: GM's Guide for Swapping NHL Players." (this sounds like the lamest and least helpful book ever) It states the following: Never, ever, however long you shall live, unload a franchise player unless A) one is coming back in return or B) you're trying to get fired.
Mike O'Connell broke the rule when he traded Joe Thornton on Nov. 30, 2005, which helps explain why the Bruins sent O'Connell packing after the season. Thornton finished the season with the Sharks as the NHL's leading scorer and most valuable player. The Bruins had the fifth-worst record in the league and missed the playoffs.
At least there is acknowledgment that the Bruins GM was fired. Now before you even ask if the trade really benefited both teams, as the headline suggests, I should inject a fact here. The Bruins missed the playoffs not just in the 2005-2006 season, but also the season that followed. In some parts, missing the playoffs two seasons in a row is a mortal sin, and the team's GM sucks.
[Ed's Note: Actually, we should envy the Bruins. They fire their GM after missing the playoffs only once. Also, maybe Mike O'Connell was trying to get fired. You ever think of that, smart guy?]
Thornton was everything the Sharks needed and more over the past five regular seasons, averaging 102 points if you include 23 games he played for the Bruins before making his way to San Jose. He led the league in assists three times and finished with no worse than 86 points in any season during that span.
He also led the league in being tagged with the cliche "can't win in the playoffs."
Boston received Marco Sturm, Brad Stuart and Wayne Primeau in return. The last two were wheeled the following season to Calgary for Andrew Ference and Chuck Kobasew. Sturm has just two playoff goals to show for five years in Boston. Kobasew is gone.
It was a GM not involved in the Thornton deal that made those moves, by the way.
[Ed's Note: Also, all three players were on the roster at the beginning of the 2006-07 season. This is important to note, because during the 2006 offseason, Boston signed Zdeno Chara. So, basically, the three guys that balanced out Thornton were still on the roster when Chara signed.]
So, the Sharks won the deal?
Yes. San Jose has made the playoffs in each of the seasons that Joe Thornton has been on the team. The Bruins have not made the playoffs in each of the seasons since the trade.
Thornton was among the NHL's great players between October and April, one of the great failures in April and May. He had six playoff goals in five postseasons with the Bruins, including 0-0-0, minus-6 over his final seven playoff games for Boston.
Thanks for joining the "Thornton Can't Win in the Playoffs Parade"
Jumbo Joe (Please stop with the nicknames! I am begging. Or at least get it right. He is often referred to as "Big Joe") was pocketing $6.6 million when the swap was completed. He's making $7.2 million now after giving San Jose a hometown discount. He gave them six goals over 41 playoff games in four seasons for a Sharks team that was terrific in the regular season, terrible in the postseason, a reflection of him.
Of course, just a reflection of Thornton. He is the Sharks only player.
[Ed's Note: Much like Tim Connolly, Joe Thornton should use his leadership powers for good and not evil. There were not any other San Jose Sharks capable of offering any kind of compass during the playoffs. They could only turn to Thornton, who so willingly led them off a cliff every time.
Also, shenanigans. Here are Joe Thornton's stat lines from the playoffs for the Sharks...
2005-06: 2-7-9 in 11 games
2006-07: 1-10-11 in 11 games
2007-08: 2-8-10 in 13 games
2008-09: 1-4-5 in 6 games
2009-10 (so far): 3-8-11 in 11 games
So, yes, you are correct by saying that, until this year, he only scored six playoff goals for the Sharks. Which, at first blush, looks like it sucks. But in those 41 playoff games, Thornton happened to have 35 points. Which does not suck. It's not his regular season point per game average, but .85 is nothing to sneeze at. Plus, Thornton is not a goal scorer. His regular season PPG is 1.01, but GPG is .31. His playoff GPG for the Sharks is .17 (or .15 not including this year). So his goal scoring did drop off, significantly (about half). But his PPG is still comparable, bearing in mind these sample sizes aren't huge.
Finally, to pick a random point for comparison, Chris Drury's playoff point per game average over that same span? .76. Joe Thornton is a huge choking bastard, Chris Drury is mega-clutch.]
Boston used the cap space created in the Thornton trade to sign defenseman Zdeno Chara, an eventual Norris Trophy winner.
And missed the playoffs the season after they signed him.
[Ed's Note: Prove this. Sturm, Stuart, and Primeau had an aggregate cap hit (according to nhlscap.com) in 2005-06 of $5.325 million. Thornton's cap hit was $6.67 million (rounded up). So Boston saved about $1.35 million in the deal. Chara's cap hit is $7.5 million. Where the hell did the rest of the cap space come from?
Also, in light of the statistics and cap numbers I've created the "fun with math" tag.]
The Bruins cleared more room to sign Marc Savard, who has averaged more than a point per game since he arrived. The Bruins had the NHL's best record last season.
And this has exactly what to do with the Thornton deal?
OK, so the Bruins won the deal?
No. As stated above, for two straight seasons without "Big Joe," Boston did not make the playoffs. While the Sharks, with him, always did.
Thornton's absence led to the Bruins' misery in 2005-06, but also to fifth overall pick Phil Kessel. He had a team-high 36 goals last season, plus 11 points in 11 playoff games before a second-round knockout.
Soooooooo...... the plan was to trade Thornton, which would necessarily mean the Bruins would suck and therefore they could draft Kessel? Well, at least Kessel is still an instrumental member of the elite Bruins teams.
He was seeking more than $5 million per season last summer, which would have thrown off payroll. GM Peter Chiarelli shipped Kessel to Toronto for two first-round picks in a bold move that was roundly criticized because he unloaded a goal scorer without getting one in return.
Oh.
But now the Bruins own the second pick overall and are certain to land a talented forward in Taylor Hall or Tyler Seguin.
So rely on Toronto sucking. OK, actually not a bad plan. Draft a young player, who may or may not be good. In any event, we now have gotten to a point in Bruin history about 17 steps removed from the Thornton trade. We are basically into one of those ridiculous law school exam questions about causation. Man gets hit by car. Walks away with a sprained ankle. Ankle is further sprained when the man plays softball. He goes to the hospital for treatment and dies because an infected syringe caused a fatal staph infection. Is the driver of the car responsible for the man's death?
[Ed's Note: The Bruins netted Kessel not as a direct result of the Thornton trade. The Bruins sucked in part because Thornton was gone, but Boston didn't receive the fifth pick they used on Kessel from San Jose. Phil Kessel actually has almost nothing to do with Joe Thornton. It'd be like saying Edmonton gets to draft #1 overall right now as a direct result of Buffalo resigning Thomas Vanek. So, to Edmonton Thomas Vanek = Hall or Seguin. Doesn't quite work (although that actually makes MORE sense than Thornton becoming Kessel becoming Hall or Seguin).]
Thornton remained largely invisible in big games, vanishing in the first round against Colorado with no goals and a minus-3 rating. He vacated the perimeter in the second round, showed some vigor and had three goals and eight points in five games while dominating Detroit.
What? San Jose won both series. Who cares?
San Jose has reached the conference finals. Boston can reach the conference finals with a win tonight. Which team ended up better in the Thornton deal remains open to debate, but both had the gumption to build upon a significant move in an effort to win the Stanley Cup.
Actually, it is not open to debate. Thornton yet again is a key cog in the San Jose Sharks top rated team. The Bruins have retained one of the role players who came back in the trade and a new GM made about half a dozen unrelated moves to build the Bruins that we see today.
[Ed's Note: The beauty of not firing off cannons too early... both Boston and San Jose have had their playoff struggles of late. But San Jose has never yielded a 3-0 series lead. Thornton replacement (because of ALL that cap space Boston got) Zdeno Chara has.]
Here's the deal with the Sabres: Tim Connolly, Derek Roy, Thomas Vanek, Jochen Hecht, Jason Pominville, Paul Gaustad, Henrik Tallinder, Toni Lydman, Adam Mair and Ryan Miller remained after Thornton was traded.
Right. None of whom, with the possible exception of Miller, come even close to being on the level of Joe Thornton. Joe Thornton is an elite NHL talent. So is Miller. All of the other players listed are no where close to Joe Thornton.
Daniel Briere, Chris Drury, Maxim Afinogenov, Brian Campbell, Ales Kotalik and J.P. Dumont departed. The return: Tyler Ennis, taken with a pick they obtained for Campbell.
How does that make sense?
It should be noted that Briere, Drury, and Dumont were all obtained by the Sabres via trades that the Sabres clearly won, with the exception of Drury. Briere was obtained for Chris Gratton. Dumont was acquired ALONG WITH Doug Gilmour for Michal Grosek. Drury was obtained for Rhett Warrener. That one was a wash.
[Ed's Note: This is so nonsensical I can't even handle it. Free agency decisions happen. The premise of this column is that bold moves need to be taken. Which suggests that we should have traded Briere or Drury in 2007. Don't get me started on Max/Dumont again. I've been down that road before. Kotalik does not bear any inclusion here whatsoever. The premise of this last Sabres kiss off is faulty. Boston traded Thornton, and have three players on their team now as a result. Boston has won two playoff series (one against Buffalo) in the five seasons including the Thornton trade, and since. Buffalo has won four series in the time, in as many playoff appearances. So, perhaps we shouldn't be worshipping the genius of Mike O'Connell and Peter Chiarelli. Because, in some ways, Mike O'Connell + Peter Chiarelli = 1/2 Darcy Regier.]
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