Scott Thornton

[Terry Yake]

Just realized he was drafted 3rd overall by the leafs in 89. Anyone know why he was taken so high?

No eye popping numbers during his time in the OHL or anything like that. He did manage to carve out a long career but obviously nothing close to what you'd expect from a 3rd overall pick

Click to read more...

 

[MadLuke]

I imagine 6 foot 3/103 minute of Penalty had a lot to do with it, he was not even the highest 17 year's old on is own team in scoring.

 

[vadim sharifijanov]

I imagine 6 foot 3/103 minute of Penalty had a lot to do with it, he was not even the highest 17 year's old on is own team in scoring.

to be fair, he did lead 17 year olds on his team in per game scoring, albeit by a very small amount.

to answer the op, the joke has always been that the leafs only scouted one OHL team that year. and of the three belleville bulls players the leafs took in the first round, thornton was the best by far, so i guess that’s why he went #3.

 

[streitz]

Harold Ballard.


The leafs only paid to scout 1 team that year and used all their 1st round picks on that team(3 of them).

 

[Tarantula]

Harold Ballard.


The leafs only paid to scout 1 team that year and used all their 1st round picks on that team(3 of them).

Sources? I know Harold was cheap and ran the team like a lemonade stand at times but this sounds like a myth to me. I know the draft results, just wondering if the scout situation has been really confirmed or anecdotal.

 

[streitz]

Sources? I know Harold was cheap and ran the team like a lemonade stand at times but this sounds like a myth to me. I know the draft results, just wondering if the scout situation has been really confirmed or anecdotal.

Maybe it is made up tbh but it sounds like something that would of happened during Ballard.

 

[Tarantula]

Maybe it is made up tbh but it sounds like something that would of happened during Ballard.

That's true! Was a strange draft class for the Leafs, Gord Stellick takes a ribbing for it often on the radio, and also the R Courtnall deal.

 

[CartographerNo611]

He was big in an era where big was the name of the game.

 

[Michael Farkas]

I mean, practically speaking, you can't really just scout one team...they had to be playing somebody...

Real life example: I just flew to Plymouth, MI yesterday to scout the USNTDP...but I still "accidentally" saw the Muskegon Lumberjacks play...

 

[Habsfan18]

Hopefully it’s not too hard to read. Here’s Thornton’s draft profile in THN’s ‘89 draft preview. He was ranked 4th.

 

[ForsbergForever]

View attachment 167521
Hopefully it’s not too hard to read. Here’s Thornton’s draft profile in THN’s ‘89 draft preview. He was ranked 4th.

Imagine reading this scouting report today and it being about a top-5 ranked center... "He's not an offensive threat at all. He's a reasonably good playmaker but don't expect him to score many goals as a pro."

And then regarding Bill Guerin, ranked just after Thornton, "They're both big, strong, aggressive kids. And neither of them is going to score too many goals." Not exactly what you'd call pre-draft hype ..

 

[vadim sharifijanov]

jason herter tho