Shawn Thornton

Shawn Thornton (born July 23, 1977) is a Canadian professional hockey forward for the Boston Bruins of the National Hockey League. He is known to be an enforcer.

Playing career

Thornton grew up playing minor hockey for his hometown Oshawa Minor Generals of the OMHA's Eastern AAA League. He was drafted in the 9th round (145th overall) by the Peterborough Petes in the 1995 OHL Priority Selection, one year after being originally passed over in the draft as a Midget-aged player.

He was drafted by the Toronto Maple Leafs in 1997, 190th overall. He won the Stanley Cup in 2007 with the Anaheim Ducks and again in 2011 with the Boston Bruins.

On July 1, 2007, he became an unrestricted free agent and signed a 3 year, $1.5 million dollar deal with the Boston Bruins.

With the Bruins he has become famous for taking on famous enforcers like Georges Laraque, Donald Brashear and Riley Cote. He also has his own video blog on the Bruins website.

During the 2011 Stanley Cup run, Thornton was a healthy scratch for several games as the Bruins chose to play rookie Tyler Seguin to gain more offense. However, many credit the insertion of Thornton into the line-up during Game 3 of the Finals as a turning point for the series. Thornton's physical play changed the tone of the series and the Bruins went on to win four of the last five games with him in the line-up.

Personal life

On October 2, 2010, he and the Boston Bruins played an exhibition game against the Belfast Giants...
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