The most baffling thing about St. Thomas is the lack of recognition for its most famous athlete. Wandering around the city's two arenas this weekend during a tournament, I see little acknowledgement that the captain of the San Jose Sharks and Canadian Olympic gold medalist ever skated here as a lad.
There's a banner inside the Timken Centre's main rink saluting Joe Thornton when he wore No. 16 for a season with the local Jr. B Stars as a 16-year-old before decamping for the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds. But that's no more prominent than the banners for Brian Willsie of Belmont, a bona fide NHLer, but a journeyman, and goaltender Dan Cloutier, the former Vancouver Canuck whose only tie to St. Thomas was the fact he once played for the Jr. B team.
The wall of donors for the modern Timken Centre pays tribute to the cash given by local companies, some sadly no longer in business in the job-ravaged city, local professionals and generous citizens. But no mention of Thornton, whose NHL nickname Jumbo Joe refers to his hometown's connection to the circus elephant.
The right thing to do would have been to name this new, two-pad arena in honour of Thornton. Down the road in Brantford, a ramshackle minor hockey and swimming palace is named in honour of Wayne Gretzky. St. Thomas should have done one better.
Failing that - and I suspect the snag was getting cash for naming rights - the locals should have at least named the main rink where the Jr. B Stars now play in honour of Thornton. But no. It's now named not for a generous corporation, but for St. Thomas Minor Hockey. STMA no doubt is a major financial contributor to the arena and obviously its major user. If memory serves, it was first named for a local trucking company, which unfortunately has gone out of business.
I for one wish St. Thomas had called this rink the Joe Thornton Centre and linked his wonderful NHL and Canadian Olympic accomplishments to a feeling of community pride - not to mention sports tourism marketing.
Goodness knows St. Thomas needs to recapture its pride at a time when tributes to a lost railway era and elephants might not be enough.
The city has lost too many jobs during the post 9/11 recession, including the massive Sterling Truck assembly plant and, next year, the nearby Ford Assembly Plant.
Maybe Joe Thornton is the icon who can help boost St. Thomas's sagging fortunes, kind of like Kid Rock and Detroit.
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