Often mentioned as the perhaps greatest player never to win a Stanley Cup, Joe Thornton is an absolute legend of the game.
Thornton was selected first overall by the Boston Bruins in the 1997 NHL Entry Draft.
When he retired, he was the last active player in any major North American professional sports league to have played in the 1990s.
He was also the last active NHL player to have played in an NHL game against the one and only Wayne Gretzky.
Thornton is one of only seven players in league history with 1,100 assists, but he wasn’t just known as one of the best passers ever.
He was a great teammate and a hilarious person to have in the locker room. And this story is the ultimate proof of that.
The former NBC Sports hockey play-by-play commentator Michael ’Doc’ Emrick once told NBC Sports California about a time after the Stars had won Game 5 of the Stanley Cup Final against the Pittsburgh Penguins in 2016.
After the game, Thornton ran into Michael Franke, the owner of the ECHL’s Fort Wayne Komets.
”Joe has such a great sense of humor,” Emrick said. ”So, the Sharks win Game 5 in Pittsburgh and this gentleman, Michael Franke, and his son go back to the hotel, and lo and behold, they press the button in the elevator, the elevator door opens and they get into the elevator. Before the door closes, Joe Thornton, [defenseman] Brent Burns and [goaltender] Martin Jones get in the elevator with them.”
It was a big moment for the father and son, sharing an elevator with some of the biggest stars in the NHL. And he just had to say something.
”They congratulate each of the three of them on the wonderful game they just played, and then Michael, with his sense of humor, says, ‘You know, if your contract with the Sharks runs out, and you decide you want to keep playing in maybe more humble circumstances, I think we can go $500 a week if you want to come play in Fort Wayne,’” Emrick laughed.
But Joe Thornton, just hours after winning a game in the Stanley Cup Finals, had the most hilarious response ready.
”Then as the elevator opened and they got off the elevator, Joe looked over his shoulder and said, ‘That [$500] — is that cash?’”
