Thornton, 2025 Hall of Fame honorees talk influences at ring ceremony

TORONTO -- Joe Thornton had just put on his Hockey Hall of Fame blazer for the first time and received his Hall of Fame ring on Saturday.

He then met a media scrum, talking about his career, the upcoming Olympic Winter Games Milano Cortina 2026 and his newest protégé, Macklin Celebrini of the San Jose Sharks.

But before Thornton left the ring ceremony at the shrine's Great Hall in downtown Toronto, he would pose for a photo with the Hall of Fame plaque of Johnny Bucyk, who took Thornton under his wing when he began his NHL career with the Boston Bruins.

“Chief actually just texted me 20 minutes ago,” Thornton said of Bucyk, the Bruins legend who was working for the team when Boston selected Thornton with the No. 1 pick in the 1997 NHL Draft. “Yeah, Chief was my guy. I spent a lot of time with Johnny Bucyk and we went to dinner. Me and the Chief really got along, and we still keep in touch, and he’s still my guy.”

Thornton’s story of getting help and guidance on his road to the Hall of Fame resembled those of the other members of the Class of 2025 in attendance, who all got their blazers and rings Saturday.

Joining Thornton were six fellow honorees who will be inducted Monday: Zdeno Chara, Duncan Keith, Brianna Decker and Jennifer Botterill, who were elected in the Players category; and Jack Parker and Daniele Sauvageau, who were voted in as Builders. Alexander Mogilny also was elected as a Player but could not attend the festivities.

The seven 2025 electees on hand all talked about paying that help forward, not only to others in their lives, but to the game that gave them so much.

Take Botterill, a three-time Olympic gold medalist with Canada. Botterill thanked her parents and brother, current Seattle Kraken general manager Jason Botterill, for helping jump-start her hockey career, which now has her serving as a studio analyst for “Hockey Night in Canada.”

While Botterill was talking with the media about the influences in her life, a woman reporter just getting started in the business told Botterill she was her inspiration.

“I think for me growing up, I can’t say joining the NHL broadcast was a dream of mine because I didn’t see it, because I didn’t know when I was young it would be a possibility,” Botterill said. “And to think that’s something that now I do take a lot of pride in. I don’t want to be there to have a seat at the table and just be part of the show. I want to do a really good job so it creates more choice and opportunity for very deserving people in the future.”

Sauvageau, Botterill’s one-time Olympic coach who became the first woman to be elected to the Hall as a Builder, also spoke of those who impacted her and having an impact on future generations, touching not only on her coaching career but also her nearly 33 years in the Royal Canadian Mounted Police and Montreal Police Service. She is currently the GM of the Montreal Victoire of the Professional Women’s Hockey League.

“The combination of the two worlds gave me the greatest [chance] to learn about what I call the human being-like world,” Sauvageau said. “You see things you want to change, but the reality is the same -- you’re serving the public, you’re serving the game.”

In addition to talking about their influences and those they influenced, the seven members of the class in attendance recalled getting the call in June from the Hall of Fame informing them of their election.

Parker, 80, the former longtime coach as Boston University, joked that when he told a friend the ceremony would be in November, the friend asked, “November? Do they know how old you are?”

Keith, a three-time Stanley Cup champion with the Chicago Blackhawks, was asked why he thought he wasn’t selected until the No. 54 pick in the 2002 NHL Draft. “Bad scouts,” he joked.

Though all the honored guests were clearly overwhelmed to be there, perhaps Thornton enjoyed the day the most. In addition to talking about his career, he was also asked about being a mentor to Auston Matthews when Thornton played for the Toronto Maple Leafs and now being one to Celebrini, selected No. 1 in the 2024 NHL Draft by the Sharks, for whom Thornton played 1,104 of his 1,714 NHL games.

Celebrini, who is tied for the NHL lead with 24 points (10 goals, 14 assists) is living with Thornton and his family, including their dog.

“It’s good, it’s all good,” Thornton said. “We have a Bernedoodle. We just enjoy our time together.”

And Thornton clearly enjoys spreading his love of the game to those still finding their place in it.

Even though the Hall of Fame fan forum is here Sunday afternoon and the induction ceremony is Monday, Thornton took a side trip Saturday night, heading 125 miles to his hometown of St. Thomas, Ontario, for the Joe Thornton Tribute Game at the Joe Thornton Community Centre featuring the St. Thomas Stars of the Greater Ontario Hockey League.

The team, coached by former NHL player Jason Williams, was to wear throwback jerseys resembling those worn in the mid-1990s when Thornton played in St. Thomas.

Just another example of Thornton, like his Hall of Fame classmates, making an impact long after their careers have ended.

“He’s done so much for the game of hockey and had such an amazing career,” Williams told CTV News London, “and it started here in St. Thomas.”