... Or can they?

Certainly in San Jose, Sharks fans will insist that "Jumbo Joe" is an irreplaceable piece of their Stanley Cup hopes. But in Boston, the cries of anguish that accompanied last season's trade of Thornton to San Jose have been salved by the scoring exploits of a player who has gone largely unnoticed -- Marc Savard.

After 67 games this season, both Thornton and Savard are tied for sixth in NHL scoring with 84 points each.

Savard has scored 21 goals and 63 assists and Thornton 16 goals and 68 assists.

Here's something you might not know about Savard. Over the past two seasons, he has 181 points, the sixth-highest total in the League trailing players named Thornton, Crosby, Jagr, Heatley and Ovechkin. Still, notoriety has been lacking for Savard, whose NHL career began in 1997 with the Rangers and has seen Savard play in Calgary, Atlanta and now Boston. So, does Savard feel he has been flying under the radar?

"I guess," he said. "For a couple years things have been pretty good, but they're great players, and they have been there for a lot of years and Crosby is having a tremendous two years in a row here. |


Savard was one of two big-time free-agents to sign with the Bruins last summer. Zdeno Chara was added to solidify the Boston defense and Savard has obviously helped energize the offense.

"It's been great," Savard said of his time in Boston. "We have a lot of great, young players here and I've been playing most of the season with Glen Murray and P.J. Axelsson is a nice fit. It's been fun. I've been lucky to have scorers on the wings everywhere I've gone, Calgary and Atlanta and here with Ax and Murray."

Savard played 98 games with the Rangers over two seasons, scoring nine goals and 36 assists in 70 games in 1998-99. A trade to Calgary after the 1998-99 season seemed to open a door. Despite posting 53 and 65 points in 1999-2000 and 2000-01, respectively, Savard clashed with Flames coach Greg Gilbert. He dropped to 33 points in 2001-02, and was traded to the Thrashers 10 games into the 2002-03 season.

Getting much more ice time with the Thrashers was a tonic for Savard, who scored 16 goals and 31 assists in 57 games over the remainder of the 2002-03 season. That was followed by 19 goals and 33 assists in 2003-04 and a career season with 28 goals and 69 assists in 2005-06. Savard said the opportunity to play more in Atlanta allowed his career to blossom.

"I think it is ice time," Savard said. "My minutes in Calgary were not as much each night, and (now) I'm up to 20-plus. When you get ice time, you're going to get more chances and things will come together more. And I think that's the big thing, getting a chance to play a lot more on an every day basis.

"I think I needed to get my game to a higher level," Savard said of his time in Calgary. "I wasn't getting the opportunity to do that and things didn't work out that way in Calgary, so, you know, I got a chance in Atlanta, thanks to Bob Hartley, giving me a great opportunity to play a lot of minutes and moved on here to Boston."

Now, Savard is on the cusp of a career season, one that could see him reach the century mark.

"Well, it would be nice, but we would like to get in the playoffs and keeping the offense strong would be great and playing strong as a team."

It's been a rocky season overall for Boston, but the Bruins remain in the thick of things for a playoff berth in the Eastern Conference. How does it look for the Bruins? Savard is confident.

"I think it looks good," he said. "We have a game in hand on everybody ahead of us. We have some defense to play, and I think it looks good."

What's turned it around?

"Great defensive playing, great goaltending from our goalies, and I think it's a good team effort of late."

Material from personal interviews, wire services, newspaper, and league and team sources was used in this report.