Feb 24, 2012; Buffalo, NY, USA; Boston Bruins right wing Shawn Thornton (22) takes downs Buffalo Sabres left wing Thomas Vanek (26) during the second period at the First Niagara Center. Mandatory Credit: Kevin Hoffman-US PRESSWIRE

Shawn Thornton was drafted in the seventh round(190th overall) in the 1997 NHL Entry Draft by the Toronto Maple Leafs.  His selection was a surprise long shot. As a kid growing up in Oshawa, Ontario he started hockey years after the other kids did. “I got cut from junior B,” once offered Thornton. “They said I wasn’t tough enough actually.” He worked his way up from juniors and pushed himself with an intensity matched by few. One of his teammates from his OHL days, Dave Duerden, best summed up ‘the baddest Bruin’.

“He was everything you could hope for as a teammate. He was willing to pay the price for everybody. Everything he’s gotten in his career he’s earned and it’s been uphill for him.  He wasn’t going to give up an inch for any one of his teammates, and that’s the way it was right from the first day I met him.”

Thornton spent four years in the Toronto’s AHL affiliate, the St. John’s Maple Leafs. He averaged over three hundred penalty minutes each season. Shawn performed as a penalty killer, a defensemen, a fourth liner, and was occasionally known to throw down the gloves.

Shawn Thornton moved onto the Blackhaws organization. He spent five years going back and forth from the Chicago Blackhawks, and their AHL Norfolk  Admirals affiliate. Thornton got his first opportunity in the NHL on October 10, 2002 against Columbus. He tallied his first point three days later. He scored his first NHL goal on the twenty-sixth of that month in a goal against the Carolina Hurricanes. He was also the first Admiral to accumulate over one thousand penalty minutes.  He became a filler player. Blackhawks get hurt, and up he’d go. Primary players come back, and back to the AHL.

Thornton was frustrated. At one point, he seriously contemplated going back to Canada and becoming a police officer. (I think petty criminals all over the Ontario province are very thankful he decided to stay in hockey.) He ended up in the Anaheim Ducks franchise in the 2006-07 season. There he repeated his performance as a replacement player. He scored nine points, racked up eighty eight minutes of penalties and helped bring the Ducks into the playoffs.  During the Duck’s Stanley Cup run, he played in fifteen games and helped the Ducks become Stanley Cup Champions. (Thornton is the only active Bruin with more than one Stanley Cup Championship to his name.)

On July 1st, 2007, Thornton signed as a free agent with the Boston Bruins. Things began to change for Thornton. For the first time, he was getting full season play.  No more bouncing up and down in the league. He had made it, and finished a very Cinderella-like story. (Well, except for that part of the glass slipper having a blade on the bottom of it, him eating the carriage, and probably knocking a few teeth out of Prince Charming.) His scoring improved, his plus/minus was going into the positives, and he was making a name for himself.

Yes, Thornton is an enforcer. He’s a physical player that makes things happen for his team. A co-worker called him a goon. I tore into him. I asked the co-worker if Thornton does anything else for the team.  He didn’t have an answer. I got ‘snarky’. I asked him if a player is known for being good at something, is he pigeonholed into it for the rest of his career. On the Bruins, we have players that have bounced back and forth from the wings to the center and occasionally gone to the D.

Thornton played his first game as a Bruin on October 5, 2007 against the Dallas Stars. He scored his first Bruin goal against the Carolina Hurricanes on February 12, 2008. Even missing twenty games with a broken foot, Thornton was having a productive season. Seven points(one of them a game winning goal) and a presence that was making other teams take notice. The next few seasons only improved for Thornton.  The Merlot line was born. Double digit point totals and a reputation for being a player that would drop the gloves to support his team. Thornton recorded the first ever Winter Classic fight on New Years, 2010 against the Flyers’ Daniel Carcillo inside Fenway Park.

Then came that magical year. Thornton was up to the challenge. Seventy nine games played. Ten g0als(two of the game winners) and ten assists. One hundred and forty one hits, and over one hundred and twenty penalty minutes. Thornton’s entry into the Stanley Cup Final Game 3 was considered the first “game changer” for the series. He racked up an assist in the Finals and made a lot of Canucks honest. The rest were smart enough to keep their heads down. On June 15th, 2011. The Bruins had their first Stanley Cup Championship in thirty nine years (and it had only been four for Thorny.)

This last season, Thornton still had good numbers for a fourth liner.  Thirteen points, ninety one hits, and one hundred and fifty four penalty minutes. One of those points was probably Thornton’s best remembered goal against the Jets. The penalty shot goal. The first goal I ever shouted in outright surprise and excitement. Thanks for that memory #22.

Well, lockout forbid, we start this up in about two months. Thornton has added jiu-jitsu to his repertoire. Hell hath no fury, like Thornton’s scorn.
 

June 15, 2011; Vancouver, BC, CANADA; Boston Bruins head coach Claude Julien hoists the Stanley Cup after game seven of the 2011 Stanley Cup Finals against the Vancouver Canucks at Rogers Arena. Boston defeated Vancouver 4-0. Mandatory Credit: Jason O. Watson-US PRESSWIRE

The frenzy of the free-agency and the trade markets ususally get teams to whip out their checkbooks. Some of these deals will affect the shape of a franchise for the foreseeable future (Minnesota Wild).  A lot of the teams in the league are pushing their salary caps to the brink to try and score the best hockey talent possible. The Bruins have chosen not to follow that path. They have made a considerable effort to keep all their key players as part of the team.

“We made the commitment to try and keep the core of this team together following our Cup win. We embarked on signing some key players, before free agency (Chris Kelly, DanielPaille,  Shawn Thornton). We feel we’ve gone a long way keeping this critical mass together for this team.” offered  Boston Bruins General Manager Peter Chiarelli. “One of these components in this critical mass…. is our coach Claude Julien.”

Since Julien took over the position of head coach in 2007, the Bruins have never missed the playoffs. Julien has a record of 36-27(.571) in the postseason. In his five seasons in Boston, Coach Julien has accumulated a record of 228-132-50(.678 point average). Claude Julien was chosen as the  2009 NHL coach of the year. In the Bruins storied history, he has a total of 410 games coached(3rd overall). His 228 wins place him fourth for total wins within the franchise.

This is the third NHL team Julien has coached for. He spent three years with the  Montreal Canadiens, and one season with the New Jersey Devils. (Once again, we the people of Bruins Nation need to thank other people in the NHL for our good fortune. This time, we can thank the short temper of Devils GM Lou Lamoriello.) Julien was quite happy with the extension. He expressed his thoughts at the press conference. “When I first came here, my goal was to try and win a Stanley Cup here in Boston.  We’ve accomplished that. Now my goal is to win another Cup for this Boston franchise. I remain hungry. I think I remain committed and dedicated to understanding that the expectations here in Boston are always very high and I love that kind of standard.”

Our team is healthy, our team is young. The Bleacher Report stated that the Bruins are ‘the most dangerous team in the NHL.’  We have the 2011 Stanley Cup Championship core lines still together. Horton and McQuaid are cleared to play. Tuukka Rask has the complete confidence of the front office to be the starting goal tender. There certainly will be no hangover coming out the blocks this season. I don’t know about the rest of you, but I’m practically vibrating to see the season start.

November 26, 2011; Boston, MA, USA; Boston Bruins right wing Nathan Horton (18) skates in the offensive zone during the first period against the Winnipeg Jets at TD Garden. Mandatory Credit: Bob DeChiara-US PRESSWIRE

Nathan Horton  has been given the green light for contact. # 18 will be a full participant when training camp starts up in August.  Bruins’ president Cam Neely made the announcement on Monday. Bruins’ GM Peter Chiarelli added it into the the news conference regarding the extension of Coach Claude Julien’s contract. (But, that is another story). “By all accounts from our medical staff (Horton), will be ready to play when it comes time to play.”

I always saw Nathan Horton as the ‘Rocky’ of the Boston Bruins.  His two seasons with the B’s have found him battling concussion symptoms. In his first year with the Bruins (’10-’11) he put up twenty-six goals and twenty-seven assists. Then the playoffs came. In the first three games, he racked up eight goals and nine assists with a plus/minus of plus eleven.  He had scored the game and series winning goals against the Montreal Canadiens and the Tampa Bay Lightning. Then came the hit from the Canucks’ Aaron Rome the caused Horton to fall to the ice head first.  That hit sent Horton to the hospital, and got Rome suspended for the remainder of the playoffs.  Horton would be out for the playoffs.

Nathan Horton still had an impact to make that season. The first six games had all been won by the home team.  Horton had taken the step of bringing a bottle of water with him to Vancouver. That bottle of water was from melted ice from the surface of the TD Garden. Before Game seven, #18 sprayed it on the ice telling reporters that now Vancouver ice was home ice as well.  Whatever you personally think of game rituals and superstitions, it did wonders for the B’s. Game seven was a four-zero rout that declared the Bruins were the Stanley Cup Champions.

In the 2011-2012 season, Horton played only forty-six games. He had earned seventeen goals and fifteen assists.  He was even heading back to his game winning ways with the goal against the New Jersey Devils. On January 22, 2012, #18 was hit by Tom Sestito in the game against the Philadelphia Flyers. The concussion was severe enough for him to miss the remainder of the season, and the playoffs. Horton’s absence was consider one of the major factors for the Bruins’ early departure from the playoffs in 2012. Horton’s return will be a tremendous boost to the Bruins. His scoring and playing ability for sure , but for the intangibles of spirit and symbolism he brings a very relieved Bruins Nation.