From THN's Archive: Riding Shotgun

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 Riding Shotgun - Feb. 21, 2006  – Mike Brophy

Jonathan Cheechoo knew his career was headed in a special direction the very first night he skated alongside Joe Thornton.

“Our first game was in Buffalo and I gave the puck to him wide,” Cheechoo says. “I didn’t realize how fast he is. He beat a guy wide, like the guy was standing still, and that kind of caught me by surprise. The other D-man laid his leg down and Joe tossed a backhand saucer pass over the guy’s leg that landed perfectly flat on my stick. All I had to do was find a hole and put it in.”

Cheechoo is finding out what others before him already knew: when you skate with Joe Thornton, your stock is bound to rise. In his 171 games with the San Jose Sharks prior to the blockbuster trade that landed Thornton from Boston, Cheechoo scored 44 goals. He had no goals in the eight games before the deal and just one 12 games.

In 29 games with Thornton, Cheechoo has scored 25 goals, including three hat tricks. He’s on pace to score 60 goals this season.

Both the Sharks and Bruins got off to disappointing starts this year, prompting the big deal. Thornton, who finished third in league scoring in 2002-03 with a career-best 36 goals and 101 points in 77 games, was acquired by the Sharks for defenseman Brad Stuart and forwards Wayne Primeau and Marco Sturm. It looked like a lopsided deal in favor of the Sharks at first, but the Bruins, led by goalie Tim Thomas, have come on lately.

Still, there’s no denying San Jose got the best player in the swap.

“It was pretty shocking,” Cheechoo says. “We kind of knew in the back of our mind something might happen, because we hadn’t been playing well, but to get a player of Joe’s caliber really showed a lot of guts.

“The first thing that went through my mind was, ‘Wow, I’m going to be getting a lot of scoring chances.’ He draws a lot of double-team coverage, which means somebody is always going to be open.”

Cheechoo scored eight goals as a rookie playing on a line with Mark Smith at center. He upped that to 28 in his sophomore campaign skating with Mike Ricci, and opened this season playing with Patrick Marleau. But Cheechoo clearly has found a comfortable home skating with Thornton.

Glen Murray of the Bruins has been on the receiving end of more Thornton set-ups than any other player, scoring 70 goals on passes from No. 19. Sergei Samsonov is second with 42 goals assisted by Thornton, with Mike Knuble third at 29 and Bill Guerin fourth at 19. Cheechoo already is fifth on the list, having converted 18 of Thornton’s sublime passes.

“HE TOLD ME TO BE READY TO SHOOT BECAUSE HE IS LOOKING TO PASS.”JONATHAN CHEECHOO

To hear Murray speak about Thornton, you get the distinct feeling he longs to play with him again. And why wouldn’t he?

“Joe is a left-handed shot and Cheechoo shoots right, as do I,” Murray says. “That makes it easier for the shooter right off the bat. Joe is so good with the puck. When he’s on his game, nobody can take the puck away from him, not even the best players out there.”

Thornton’s build helps, too.

“He’s so big and strong and he’s so smart when he has the puck,” Murray says.

“When you’re in the offensive zone he can find you and put the puck right on your tape. I have seen highlights where Cheechoo has scored and thought to myself, ‘That’s Joe.’ All you have to do is get open.

“He puts the puck in a spot where you don’t have to hold onto it or move it to a position where you can shoot it. Very rarely does Joe put the puck in the wrong spot.”

Adds Knuble, who now plays in Philadelphia: “When Joe comes to town and the coach picks the new lines, you just hope that when you step on the ice you’re wearing the same color jersey as Joe.”

Thornton and Cheechoo discussed a plan of attack before they played together for the first time.

“He told me to be ready to shoot because he is looking to pass,” Cheechoo says. “He said if he has the shot, he’s going to take it, but more often than not he’ll be looking to pass the puck. Sometimes you don’t expect him to get the puck through, but he makes some really amazing passes. A lot of them are through two or three sticks, the kind of passes only two or three guys in the league can make. You don’t expect those passes to get through, but when they do, it’s a nice surprise.”

Don’t look now, Jonathan, but there are plenty more of surprises coming your way. 

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