Bruins coach: Joe Thornton trade ‘not my fault'
BOSTON — It's one of the most maligned trades in Boston sports history.
In November of 2005, the Bruins traded superstar forward Joe Thornton to the San Jose Sharks for Marco Sturm, Wayne Primeau, and Brad Stuart. Thornton went on to win the MVP award, becoming the first Hart Trophy winner to play for two teams in the same season, while the Bruins players struggled to match his success.
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Sturm was the best of the bunch, scoring 106 goals across five seasons with Boston, while Primeau and Stuart were both gone after a year and a half with the Bruins.
'The Joe Thornton trade, I mean, it was not my fault, right?' Sturm joked at his introductory press conference as Bruins head coach on Tuesday morning.
As a part of that trade, Sturm is acutely aware of how tough it can be to play in Boston, but he believes that environment made things sweeter in the long run.
'I got here and it was difficult. I'm not going to lie,' Sturm said. 'It was difficult because everyone loved Joe and it was a big trade, but I understood really quickly why it happened... so I saw in that year or two, it was a little painful. It was not easy. As soon as you read the paper or social media or even you go on the street, people will let you know. But also, it pushes you. I saw it the positive way.
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'Then the years after that, especially when Claude (Julien) took over, you could see the process. You could see every year how we got better. All of a sudden I saw a big, big change here in the city of Boston, because they're behind you. That feeling alone, it feels like yesterday to me. That's exactly what I want to bring back.'
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