Easygoing Thornton is right at home in San Jose - Boston Globe
SAN JOSE, Calif. - All Joe Thornton wanted for Christmas was a surfboard.
"We have some good waves down there in Santa Cruz," said the San Jose Sharks All-Star center. "I'm going to try to get into that. It's my new thing."
For a moment, his Canadian accent takes on a laidback California lilt. Standing in the Sharks' locker room, you flash back to "Fast Times at Ridgemont High." You wait for Thornton to tell you how totally awesome life is in San Jose, how gnarly everything was in Boston. Yeah, dude.
"Personality-wise, Joe can fit right into the surf style," said teammate and veteran surfer Rob Blake, who ordered Thornton a 10-foot epoxy board. "Looks-wise, too, if he lets his hair grow a little bit longer."
Despite his St. Thomas, Ontario, upbringing, there always has been a carefree, surfer dude quality to Thornton. The ever-present smile. The happy-go-lucky disposition.
After Boston selected Thornton No. 1 overall in the 1997 NHL draft, he was first asked how his "carefree attitude" helped his game. Thornton answered that he didn't "worry about a thing" when playing. After all, what worries could a 6-foot-4-inch, 200-pound kid have at that moment? He was a superstar-in-the-making. The Boston hockey world was at his feet. The Hub planned for the Stanley Cup, imagining a Thornton-led parade down Causeway Street.