It's been a long, tough road to the NHL for Bruins enforcer Shawn Thornton.
He was close and he knew it.
Yet still, Shawn Thornton wondered if he’d ever make it to the NHL. That’s the way your mind works when you have been buried in the minors for five years.
"It was weird," Thornton said. "At the start it wasn’t so bad because when I turned pro in 1997, pretty much all players spent some time playing in the minors. Not many guys jumped directly to the NHL. I actually really didn’t mind playing in the AHL. I just kept working on my game, trying to get better, hoping that I would get rewarded for all my hard work with a few games in the NHL. I knew I was close to being in the NHL, but I never really felt it was within my grasp. I wasn’t sure I’d get there."
Thornton never gave up hope of making it to "The Show" and today is regarded as one of the best enforcers in the NHL.
Unlike many who do his job, arguably the toughest job in hockey, he has transformed himself from a one-dimensional fighter to a player the Boston Bruins entrust with an average of more than 10 minutes of ice-time per game.
In other words, he’s a player and not just a fighter.
Pretty much every team has a player or two that do what Thornton does, but not all of them have to step up to the plate to fight the heavyweights of the league. Players such as Patrick Kaleta of the Buffalo Sabres and Sean Avery of the New York Rangers, for instance, are definitely agitators, but they never fight the big guys.
Thornton, who is nearly 6-foot-2 and weighs 220 pounds, has had six fights this season – all against legitimate tough guys. He has fought Pittsburgh’s Eric Godard, Florida’s Darcy Hordichuk, Atlanta’s Eric Boulton, Philadelphia’s Jody Shelley, Toronto’s Jay Rosehill and, one of the biggest enforcers in the NHL, the Rangers’ 6-foot-7, 258-pound Derek Boogaard.
Thornton was a good junior hockey player with the Peterborough Petes, but there was really no indication he’d have success as a pro. When the Toronto Maple Leafs chose him in the seventh round, 190th overall, in the 1997 NHL entry draft, they clearly had him earmarked for the minors. Thornton spent four seasons playing in the AHL with the St. John’s Maple Leafs before being traded to the Chicago Blackhawks.
He played the entire 2001-02 season with Norfolk of the AHL before finally making the Blackhawks out of training camp the following season.
For the next couple of years Thornton bounced between Chicago and Norfolk and then he signed with the Anaheim Ducks as a free agent in 2006. It was with the Ducks that his dream – every hockey player’s dream – came true.
He won the Stanley Cup.
"It was the greatest day of my life," Thornton said. "A lot of great players have played in the NHL for many years without winning the Cup. I have my name on the Stanley Cup forever!"
The good news was he was a champion. The bad news was the Ducks weren’t going to re-sign him. The Boston Bruins, however, saw value in a guy who was tough, could actually play the game, and was coming off a championship season. With the Bruins Thornton has developed into a dependable player.
"I am very fortunate that the coach, Claude Julien, believes in me and trusts me," Thornton said. "He never ever brings up fighting. I know what my role is and I don’t need him telling me what I have to do."
Thornton has rewarded his coach this season with five goals – one off his single-season high of six from two years ago,
Thornton enjoys what he does for a living. He is well-paid, earning $825,000 this season and $800,000 next year, and he plays a game he loves.
The downside, of course, is that he risks serious injury every time he throws the gloves down to fight a monster like Boogaard.
Is it the toughest job in hockey?
"Yeah, I think it is," he said. "The thing is, there are guys who do what I do, but they don’t fight the heavyweights. I have learned how to handle what I do better now that I am older than when I was a kid. Back then I used to think about fighting all the time. I was obsessed with it and I couldn’t play a lick. Now I try to not think about fighting. I visualize myself playing the game and that helps. But in the back of your mind you always know who is on the schedule and who you have to fight next. It’s always there."
Thornton said his wife of five years, Erin, understands how his mood may swing depending on the Bruins next opponent.
"She gets it," Thornton said. "I may be in a bad mood on game day and she knows it has nothing to do with her. It’s just that a few hours from now I’m going to be getting punched in the face."
Thronton’s fight against Rosehill Saturday night was the 101st of his career counting pre-season, regular season and playoff games according to hockeyfights.com. The way he sees it, Thornton is convinced he has plenty of fighting – and scoring – ahead of him.
"If I take care of myself I think I have a good four or five years left in me," Thornton said. "I’m really big on conditioning so that will help extend my career."
