St. Thomas Stars retro jerseys pay tribute to NHL hall of famer Joe Thornton

The St. Thomas Stars have former NHL’er Jason Williams as head coach this season (Brent Lale/CTV News London)

The St. Thomas Stars have made widespread organizational changes this offseason with a new head coach, and retro jerseys which pay tribute to their most famous alumni.

Former NHL’er Jason Williams has taken the reigns of the club this season and this week they unveiled throwback jersey’s which were the style worn by the club in the mid-1990s when Joe Thornton played for his hometown team.

The idea to recognize Thornton came after he was announced as a Hockey Hall of Fame inductee.

“He’s done so much for the game of hockey and had such an amazing career and it started here in St. Thomas,” said Williams.

“He played here as a 15 year old and tore up this league. He knows his roots and he comes back and visits in the summertime. For us as an organization, I think it’s great to pay tribute to someone like that.”

Williams has taken over after parting ways with Strathroy this offseason. He was named GOJHL Coach of the Year in 2023-2024.

“It’s a little bit of a fresh start which happens a lot in hockey,” he said.

“Talking to Joe Daniels [Stars owner and General Manager] throughout the summer here and found that this would be a good spot for me. My brother [Darren] is coming along as well and then Joe Doyle being here. He’s really well known in the community and with local minor hockey. Hopefully we can put a good product on the ice and something that the people can be very proud of.”

As for their on-ice product, the staff hopes to bring St. Thomas back to prominence.

“I think we’ve got a good young group here and we’ve had some pre-season games and some guys really showed well. We’re kind of getting practices in heading into our first regular season game in Chatham. What a way to start playing in the defending champions.”

The Stars season opener will be Sunday in Chatham.