Joe Thornton was the first overall pick in the 1997 NHL Draft and has now capped off his career with an induction into the Hockey Hall of Fame. He would go on to play 24 seasons in the NHL with the Boston Bruins, San Jose Sharks, Toronto Maple Leafs, and Florida Panthers.
While he began with the Bruins, he spent most of his career with the San Jose Sharks, and during that time, he was a nightmare for the Los Angeles Kings. Thornton would end up playing 92 games against the Kings in his career, and they were only one game behind what was the Arizona Coyotes for the team Thornton played the most.
In those 92 games Thornton played against the Kings, he had 19 goals and 63 assists for 82 points with a +/- of +15. He would also have the second-most penalty minutes against the Kings in his career, among his opponents, with 80.
He is currently 14th in NHL history in points with 1,539 and won the Hart Trophy and the Art Ross Trophy during the 2005-06 season. This was also the season that Thornton would be traded from the Boston Bruins to the San Jose Sharks and in return the Bruins would get three forwards, including Marco Sturm who was the former head coach for the LA Kings' AHL team the Ontario Reign before being named head coach of the Boston Bruins this offseason.
Joe Thornton would also have success against the LA Kings in the playoff
It wasn't only the regular season that Thornton was a nightmare for the Los Angeles Kings as the Kings would play the San Jose Sharks in the 2011 NHL Playoffs. The Sharks would win that series in six games, and Thornton would have an overtime goal in the clinching Game 6. This would be Thornton's only overtime goal in the playoffs in his career.
It was an impressive career for Joe Thornton but for LA Kings' fans they didn't get to enjoy it as much with him having the success he did against the Kings.