It would be a nice, tidy story if we could say that the Joe Thornton trade three years ago provided the Bruins with the players or draft picks used to rebuild the roster into its' current, first-place incarnation. Then we could say one thing led to the other — sort of like the Herschel Walker trade.

But it didn't work out that way. There is no direct link.

There is, in fact, only an indirect one.

The trade was so bad it got Jeremy Jacobs off his ass.

The top-end product you've seen on the ice this year is a result of the Bruins digging out from that embarrassment of a deal, not because of it. The trade represented an organization hitting rock bottom, and they've merely crawled from the ashes since.

The Thornton deal is considered one of the worst trades in NHL history, but at least it had the consequence of forcing Jacobs to take a look at his hockey operation, not to mention a mirror.

And most importantly, it also pried open his wallet.

To refresh:

Just months after signing a big contract extension following the lockout, Thornton was dealt to San Jose in November of 2005 for Marco Sturm, Wayne Primeau and Brad Stuart. Then-general manager Mike O'Connell executed the deal, but it obviously had the full blessing of Jacobs and then-president Harry Sinden. Actually, who are we kidding? It wasn't often O'Connell told those guys what to do; it was almost always the other way around. The Thornton deal was probably no different.

Anyway, we all know how it turned out. Thornton would go on to win the MVP award that season as the league's top scorer and has since proven to be one of the best players in the league, a perennial All-Star who has scored a whopping 358 points in 271 games for the Sharks. The Bruins went on to finish in last place that season and miss the playoffs in each of the next two years with the players acquired in the trade doing little to improve the team's fortunes.

The spring of 2006 was the nadir. Attendance was abysmal, season ticket renewals a joke and general interest in the team at an all-time low.

So Jacobs finally, mercifully, started making some changes.

O'Connell was gone before the season was out. Sinden was pushed aside soon after, shown the door with a consulting title. Sinden had been Jacobs' money-maker for decades, delivering a competitive, though not championship-worthy, product to the fans while sending huge profits up to Buffalo. No wonder Jacobs never paid attention to his hockey team. Why should he? Harry had it covered. But the Thornton trade was the wake-up call, and the alarm screamed what fans had known for years: Sinden had long since lost his fastball and O'Connell wasn't that good.

So Harry and Mike were ditched and a sorely needed new face — GM Peter Chiarelli — was brought in.

Then, before Chiarelli had even formally taken up residence on Causeway Street, came the biggest change of all. Jacobs, deciding he needed to make a statement, signed center Marc Savard and, more importantly, franchise defenseman Zdeno Chara on the first day of free agency.

Talk about a switch.

It hasn't been a straight line of success since, of course. Chiarelli hired the wrong coach his first year, Dave Lewis, and Chara and Savard were disappointments as the B's again missed the playoffs in 2006-2007.

But as we stand here today, with the Bruins six points ahead of San Jose atop the NHL standings with Thornton and the Sharks in town Tuesday night, you can see the foundation that was laid in that summer of 2006. There is no more important player on the roster than Chara. Savard is the team's leading scorer (a Thornton-like 62 points in 54 games). Chiarelli seems to be improving by the year. Players are treated better by the management, the roster is young and deep, and there's a bit of a buzz back in the building.

So when Thornton takes the ice Tuesday, he'll see a franchise in a much different place than when he left it. It's too bad, because had the changes to the operation come five years earlier, he'd probably still be here.

As for the direct results from the deal, it wasn't a total wash for the Bruins. If Sturm, a 27-goal scorer in each of his last two full seasons, were healthy he'd be a key part of the mix up front. Instead he's out for the year with a knee injury. And the other two chips, defenseman Stuart and fourth-line forward Primeau, were eventually traded to Calgary for two players making solid contributions to the B's current run: center Chuck Kobasew and defenseman Andrew Ference. 

I guess the only other bit of good news for Bruins fans is that Thornton and the Sharks still haven't gotten close to a Stanley Cup. Despite finishing at or near the top of the Western Conference in every season of the Thornton era, the Sharks have bowed out in the second round three seasons running.

But they're still really good.

And shockingly, so are the Bruins.

No thanks to Joe.