Player evaluation: Thornton
SCOTT THORNTON
This season: 47 games, 5 goals, 3 assists, plus-1 rating
Positives: When healthy, Thornton was a responsible two-way player, capable of providing gritty play. At times, could be one of the few players with the desire to mix it up a little bit. A respected locker-room leader, Thornton never expressed frustration at his situation, which included injuries and limited ice time.
Negatives: Injuries took their toll on Thornton, along with the general complications of being a 37-year-old player. Never the fastest player, Thornton had slowed down considerably and, at his best, had become a fourth-line winger by the end.
Looking ahead: Those looking for Thornton in September will have to search bike trails. Thornton, who is a cycling enthusiast, has said he is almost certain he will retire after 17 NHL seasons.
Contract situation: Unrestricted free agent.
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About the bloggers
Rich Hammond has covered the Kings, on a full-time or part-time basis, since the 2000-01 season. He was the beat writer for the entire John Torchetti era and has witnessed Bob Miller singing country music in a Nashville honky-tonk bar. A native of Los Angeles, Rich has worked at the Daily News since 1999 and also serves as the paper's deputy sports editor. E-mail Rich at rich.hammond@dailynews.com.
Jill Painter joined the Daily News in 2000 and during the last eight years she's covered the Dodgers, Cal State Northridge, UCLA, Kings, golf and everything in between. Even though she's from Colorado, she still freezes in the Staples Center press box but always manages to thaw her fingers in time to make deadline. E-mail Jill at jill.painter@dailynews.com.
Nice guy, good teammate, but a terrible player for the Kings organization.
Maybe he was a beast with the Sharks, but I can't think of any contributions he made on the ice this season.
I'm very happy to see him gone.
depending on his career aspirations, he's the kind of guy who was merely getting adjusted to wearing a suit when he was a healthy scratch. Now, a suit may suit him just fine as an assistant coach in juniors, or the minor leagues as he works his way up to a job as an NHL coach down the road. Wouldn't be the worst thing he could do with his life.
agreed. i agree he wasn't quite right for the kings, but it was nice to have a guy who was a presence in the locker room and a hard-nosed guy on the ice. i think he picked the right time to leave; he'll do well as a coach in the future.
This is a rare case in which I disagree with Rich's assessment. While he Thornton was willing to play the body, he was too slow to make an impact with his checks. For a 6'4" grinder, he played a pretty quiet game.
You can blame this season on injuries, but I didn't see much more from him last year.
He sounds like a great teammate and he always gave an honest effort, but I don't think he added much at either end of the rink.
As was said above. Good guy, just wrong fit. I never saw why you make a guy an assistant captain if you're going to sit him in the stands as a healthy scratch for 1/2 of the games.
sign him on as a coach. Lord Knows the Kings have 3x more coaches than any other team in the league. Maybe too many fingers in the pie.