Sportsnet: Elliotte Friedman and Jeff Marek on 32 Thoughts: The Podcast – What Is Anyone Going to Do? episode was talking about Joe Thornton’s retirement and trade talk when Thornton was with the Boston Bruins.
** NHLRumors.com transcription
Marek: “So here’s the other alternative universe of Joe Thornton. How is the NHL world different if, I remember one of the nights that I was working Hockey Central with Mike Keenan. We went out for a drink afterward and one of the things he told me when he was managing the Florida Panthers was, they tried to get Joe Thornton from Boston, and the deal that Mike had in place was Thorton for Roberto Luongo one-for-one. But for him …”
Friedman: “When would that have been?”
Marek: “2005-06 when Keenan was managing the Florida Panthers, but the Panthers owner didn’t want to take money back.
How different is it if Roberta Longo was the netminder for the Boston Bruins and Joe Thornton was playing with the Florida Panthers?”
Friedman: “Burkey always said that he got wind of the deal with the Sharks not long before it happened, and he called the Bruins. Mike O’Connor, and said you can have almost anyone from this list. Just tell us.”
Marek: “I think, I think you had I think he had, there’s like five or six players that you couldn’t touch but anybody else you could from that from that roster.
Friedman: “Something like that.”
Marek: “Yeah.”
Friedman: “Burkey’s story is going to change over time. So the truth is somewhere in the middle, but he definitely did do that. But the Bruins told them it was too far along. It’s done.
Marek: “Wild.”
From 2012: https://t.co/3VL9vVnrXP
— Tim (@tmoore4075) October 30, 2023