This Week In Bruins History: Shipping Out Jumbo Joe

and then two years later we got Ference and Kobesaw for Stuart and Primeau
was pissed at the time for trading joe away but i say it worked out in the long run

though it worked out in the end, that does remain one of the worst trades in hockey history. it breaks the golden rule, if you trade the best player in the deal, you lose.

you posted this today on purpose. If Thornton was traded just after signing a three year deal that means… WE’RE STILL GETTING BOBBY RYAN!!!!&!^!!

I had drifted from the B’s at the time Thornton was traded, so I really have no emotional attachment to it, except that when I heard about it I did think it was odd because he was their big superstar. And I think that’s how the trade is going to be remembered going forward. The timing of it, just after the lockout, when the Sox and Pats were dominating local headlines and most people had left hockey, is going to make it an odd footnote in an era when the Bruins were at their most nondescript and generic.

Mark Stuart was not a part of this trade. We got Brad Stuart.

(we drafted mark 21st overall in the infamous 03 draft)

I believe I’ve spoken on this issue once before.

http://www.stanleycupofchowder.com/2011/6/27/2246130/the-10-worst-bruins-trades-since-1972

Sturm is playing one of his many former teams tonight. Per The Royal Half:

This trade made me stop watching hockey for a while. I didn’t begin watching religiously again until early in the 07-08 season.

Not even because I’d knew they’d lose, but the fallout from it… really? You didn’t shop him around? This would be the equivalent of the Penguins trading Malkin to the Wild for Heatley and an equipment manager without contacting anyone else.

"We made a decision. We thought after watching [Joe Thornton] play and dealing with him on ice/off ice, seeing the kind of character he has… We made a decision. We didn’t think he’d bring us to the championship. I got an e-mail from Jeff Gorton, my assistant General Manager the other day. He said "Mike, I remember the day you came in and said ‘we gotta trade Joe. We gotta build this team around Bergeron’. And I did.

Knowing Bergeron and knowing some of the things he did on and off the ice, the way he practiced with his teammates, the way he interacted, his seriousness… He was the type of player that we thought was gonna bring us there. Joe has character, but we didn’t feel he had enough character to bring us to the championship and we felt Bergeron did."

Hearing all of this out loud blew my mind. Great interview.