With the first overall pick, the Boston Bruins select ...
On June 21st, 1997, the NHL Entry Draft was held at the Civic Arena in Pittsburgh Penguins.
The Boston Bruins finished the 1996-97 season with a record of 26-47-9 and 61 points. It was good for last place in the NHL and just one point ahead of the San Jose Sharks for the first-overall selection in the 1997 draft.
With the pick, the Bruins selected centre Joe Thornton from the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds of the Ontario Hockey League.
To round out the top-five, the San Jose Sharks selected Patrick Marleau at second, the Los Angeles Kings selected Olli Jokinen at third, and the New York Islanders picked fourth and fifth and selected goaltender Roberto Luongo and defenseman Eric Brewer. All five went on to have long and successful NHL careers.
The Bruins also selected forward Sergei Samsonov from the Detroit Vipers of the IHL with the eighth overall pick.
Thornton played the first eight years of his career with the Bruins, playing 532 games and recording 169 goals and 285 assists for a total of 452 points. He was traded to the Sharks on November 30th, 2005 for forwards Marco Sturm, Wayne Primeau and defenseman Brad Stuart.
'Jumbo Joe' spent the next 15 seasons with the Sharks, collecting 251 goals and 804 assists for 1,055 points in 1,104 games in San Jose. He also spent one season with the Toronto Maple Leafs and the most previous with the Florida Panthers.
It is uncertain whether the 42-year-old will be hanging up the skates for his career or not, but he will go down as one of the NHL's all-time greats to never win a Stanley Cup. He is also the last remaining active player from his draft class.
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