TORONTO — It is a 53-year-old club, with 54 members. It only admits one new person per year. Its members are overwhelmingly of Canadian heritage, but there are a few Americans in there, with some Russians, Czechs and one Swede too.
Its most senior active member is a 37-year-old man who, paradoxically, looks a little older than that thanks to a graying, Moses-style beard but who still puts up better numbers than almost everyone younger. Joe Thornton is the elder statesman of hockey's most exclusive society—the No. 1 Pick Club—and while the San Jose Sharks center says there is no secret handshake among its members, there is an unspoken bond.
"You know who are the No. 1 picks," Thornton said recently, playing for Team Canada in the World Cup of Hockey in Toronto. "Last night, in the back of the bus, I looked around, and Johnny Tavares [No. 1 in 2009] was back there, Sid [Sidney Crosby, 2005], Steven Stamkos [2008], myself. We know who each other are; let's put it that way."
The NHL will celebrate its 100th season in 2016-17, but its entry draft dates back only to 1963. On June 5 of that ...
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Article written by Adrian Dater
Inside the No. 1 Pick Club: Hockey’s Most Exclusive Fraternity
October 12th, 2016 by Adrian Dater Leave a reply »
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