Joe Thornton was one of the most well-liked teammates during his playing career, which spanned over four decades in the NHL. Not only did he make his teammates feel included in the group, but he was also a well-known prankster—something his Sharks teammate Jason Demers experienced firsthand in his own hotel room.
Joe Thornton needs no further introduction. With 1,714 regular season games in the NHL, Thornton ranks sixth all-time in games played. Considered by many to be tone of he best players to never win a Stanley Cup, Thornton is a future Hall of Famer. Despite never hoisting the Cup, he remains one of the most beloved teammates in the history of the league.
Praised leader
Thornton has been praised not only for his leadership qualities but also for being a genuinely good friend to everyone he played with. But he was also known as one of the funniest teammates one could have—just ask Jason Demers.
Joe Thornton funny prank
Jason Demers, who played 700 games in the NHL, was Thornton’s teammate in San Jose. He vividly remembers one hilarious incident that happened during a road trip.
“I’m sitting in the hotel room after practice. I get a knock on my door, and it’s Joe Thornton,” Demers said on the Cam and Strick podcast.
“He goes, ‘Let’s order some lunch from room service. I’ll have this, this, and this. And let’s rent a movie.’ So he rents The Hurt Locker, and then he proceeds to crawl under my covers and take a nap,” Demers recalled.
“Then the food arrives. He wakes up, eats the food, takes a big sh*t in my bathroom, and then leaves,” Demers said with a laugh.
Weird but hilarious—that’s Jumbo Joe, all right!
READ MORE: Joe Thornton once ate a doughnut during a physics test
