Boston Bruins: Still Feeling Effects From Joe Thornton Trade

For many Bruins fans, the trade is a distant memory. For younger fans of the Black and Gold, they might not even recall him playing here, and then for the older, more mature Bruins faithful, Joe Thornton and the thought of what could have been still resonates. At 36 years of age, he is still going strong, as he and his beard are once again knocking on the door of the Stanley Cup Final.

Taken first overall in the 1997 draft, Thornton arrived in Boston with the hopes of getting the Bruins back on the right track. In the 1996-97 season, they lost almost twice as many games as they had won, but they also did not qualify for the playoffs, something they had done for nearly three decades. Head…