When the San Jose Sharks made the trade to acquire Jumbo Joe Thornton back on November 30, 2005 from the Boston Bruins, no one in their wildest dreams would have thought that he and Patrick Marleau would become the best of friends.
Yes, it happens. Plenty of players build friendships that last a lifetime. But with Marleau being "the guy" in San Jose and then the organization going out and acquiring someone else who also could have been "the guy" on the team, you might expect some sort of internal issue. Even after Marleau lost the captaincy to Thornton, they remained best friends.
Now, 20 years later, they are both retired. Their kids are growing up. They still remain close and their families even vacation together. Recently, they were spotted in Switzerland, a trip that caught the attention of multiple news outlets.
For me, it is less about them vacationing together and more about the fact that through all the hardships and adversity, they stayed friends. Their families are friends too, and that is just an awesome thing to see.
To top it off, it would have been incredible to see them both welcomed into the Hall of Fame together. With Thornton going in as part of the 2025 class, we can only hope that when Marleau is inducted, Joe is the one who gets the honour of welcoming him.
