Well this is certainly interesting from Joe Thornton.
After being traded away from the Boston Bruins six seasons ago, the Sharks captain told Kevin Kurz he was pulling for his former team and hoped they won the Stanley Cup once the Sharks were eliminated from the playoffs.
"I was actually cheering for them in the final. Just after losing against Chicago and then Chicago hoisting the Cup [in 2010], it would have been tough seeing Vancouver hoist it, so I was cheering for them," he said, after an optional skate at TD Garden. "I still have a lot of friends here so I was happy for them.
"They hadn't had a Cup here in so long, so it was overdue," he said. "It was nice to see the Bruins win after the Celtics and Red Sox had in the past."
Thornton, who will play in his 1,001st career NHL game tonight against the defending champs, still loves coming back to Boston.
"I enjoy it. I still have quite a few friends here. I always love coming back. It's a great sports town and I always have a lot of fun."
So this begs the question: if the star player of your favorite team told the media he was pulling for his former team in the playoffs, would you have a problem with it? Does a player have the right to cheer for whichever team he chooses or is that a conflict of interest, especially after his own team was eliminated just a few days earlier? It's something to think about.