Filed under: Boston Bruins
Tonight Joe Thornton makes his return to the TD Banknorth garden to face his former team. Some members of the media have decided to stir the pot by claiming the return of the former franchise player might involve some tension. More importantly, it is an opportunity for Bruins fans to show their true colors. Ross McKeon reports that this game is “a chance for Bruins fans to show their appreciation for Thornton and send a loud message to Boston management or to reject Jumbo Joe’s return and take out frustrations over a 32-year Cup drought on him.” While the trade did cause some frustration with Bruins fans due to the immediate success of Thornton and the Sharks. Although the Sharks do find themselves in the basement of their respective division(along with the Bruins), they have shown significant improvement and find themselves with a record over .500(18-16-5) while the Bruins have yet to reach that .500 mark at 16-19-6. I would be naïve to think that the Bruins haven’t improved with the trade, however it is still frustrating to watch a team struggle on their way to what most people concede will be a play-off-less season. In his column, McKeon also stated that “It’s a chance in particular for Sturm and Stuart — two first-round draft picks by San Jose and considered integral pieces for a franchise that fell two wins short of the Stanley Cup Finals in 2003-04 — to show their former bosses they made a mistake, at least for one night. “
Most importantly, from this perspective, it’s a chance for the fans to show their appreciation for Joe. A guy who practically grew up a Bruin in his seven years here and always gave his all on the ice. He became the face of the Bruins as their franchise player and willingly and maturely accepted his role as the star both on and off the ice. Unfortunately in justifying the trade, much of the Boston media scrutinized Thornton and his play. In reacting to the trade as well as Thornton’s return to Boston, Sharks defenseman and former Bruin Kyle McLaren stated that “I read the papers and the columnists after he left, and they were hard on him.” Whether it was justified or not is another story. What is important tonight is that Bruins fans still welcome Joe back to the city that raised him. I mean really, its not like he went to the Yankees via free agency or anything. McLaren attested that “The fans have always been good. They were good to me and they were good to him, so if you don’t read into as much of the media stuff, he’ll be fine.” Hopefully, tonight Mr. McLaren will be right. So rather than take our frustrations out on a guy who gave it all, lets give him the ovation that he deserves. Although I suppose it doesn’t really matter because it would be tough to here the ‘boos’ from the 38 people attending the game anyways. Oh well.
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