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 lo

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