1981 NHL Draft
Thomas Thornbury in the 1981 NHL Draft
Pittsburgh Penguins selected Thomas Thornbury 49th overall in the 1981 NHL Draft, with the 7th pick of round 3.
It was the second of the 9 picks Pittsburgh Penguins made in the draft. Of the 211 players selected in 1981, 114 have played in the NHL regular season. His 14 games put him 88th in the class.
- Overall pick
- 49
- Round and pick
- Round 3, pick 7
- Drafting team
- PITPittsburgh Penguins
- Date
- Age at the draft
- 18 years
The picks around it
Picks 46–52 in the 1981 draft
- 46Dieter HegenCMTLMontréal Canadiens
- 47Barry TabobondungLPHIPhiladelphia Flyers
- 48Uli HiemerD143 GP · 73 PCLRColorado Rockies
- 49Thomas ThornburyR14 GP · 9 PPITPittsburgh Penguins
- 50Peter SundströmL338 GP · 144 PNYRNew York Rangers
- 51Mark MorrisonC10 GP · 2 PNYRNew York Rangers
- 52Jean-Marc LanthierR105 GP · 32 PVANVancouver Canucks
Games and points are NHL regular season to date.
Place in the draft class
Where he came in the 1981 class
49th
of 211 players selected
25th
of 119 forwards selected
Counted in draft order across the whole draft. The position is the one listed at the draft.
First off the board
- 1Dale HawerchukC1188 GP · 1409 PWINWinnipeg Jets
- 2Doug SmithC535 GP · 253 PLAKLos Angeles Kings
- 3Bobby CarpenterC1178 GP · 728 PWSHWashington Capitals
- 4Ron FrancisC1731 GP · 1798 PHFDHartford Whalers
- 5Joe CirellaD828 GP · 275 PCLRColorado Rockies
- 6Jim BenningD605 GP · 243 PTORToronto Maple Leafs
- 7Mark HunterR628 GP · 383 PMTLMontréal Canadiens
- 8Grant FuhrG868 GP · 403 WEDMEdmonton Oilers
- 9James PatrickD1280 GP · 639 PNYRNew York Rangers
- 10Garth ButcherD897 GP · 206 PVANVancouver Canucks
+ 201 more
After the draft
The road to the NHL
Thomas Thornbury made his NHL debut on February 1, 1984, 2 years and 236 days after the draft.
14
Games
1
Goals
8
Assists
9
Points
NHL regular season to date.
The team's draft
Pittsburgh Penguins picks in the 1981 draft
- 28Steve GatzosR89 GP · 35 PPITPittsburgh Penguins
- 49Thomas ThornburyR14 GP · 9 PPITPittsburgh Penguins
- 70Norm SchmidtD125 GP · 56 PPITPittsburgh Penguins
- 109Paul EdwardsDPITPittsburgh Penguins
- 112Rod BuskasD556 GP · 82 PPITPittsburgh Penguins
- 133Geoffrey WilsonLPITPittsburgh Penguins
- 154Mitch LamoureuxC73 GP · 20 PPITPittsburgh Penguins
- 175Dean DefazioL22 GP · 2 PPITPittsburgh Penguins
- 196Dave HannanC841 GP · 305 PPITPittsburgh Penguins