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Well, it’s official: Shawn Thornton’s days as a Boston Bruin are over.
A staple of Boston’s fourth line since the start of the 2007-08 season, it was B’s general manager Peter Chiarelli that delivered the bad news to the 36-year-old enforcer that the Bruins would not be re-signing him this summer. And unlike Andrew Ference’s departure from a year ago -- which was basically an automatic confirmation once the Bruins lost in the Stanley Cup Final -- the decision to move on from No. 22 certainly seemed to come with more internal debate.
Chiarelli confirmed such was the case at the team’s end of the year media session, stating that he’d ‘need a few weeks’ to digest everything about the Bruins that were and the Bruins that will be.
Ultimately, that led to the undeniable truth that Thornton really doesn’t have a place on this team moving forward. And that’s not a knock on Thornton by any means, either, but rather an organizational awareness of the ever changing landscape of the National Hockey League.
The painful end of the Merlot Line’s brute came in Boston’s Game 7 loss to the Montreal Canadiens in the second round of the 2014 playoffs this year, with Thornton victimized by the Habs’ speed and ultimately forced to ride the pine for all but three minutes and 28 seconds of the game. In essence, the Bruins played their Game 7 loss with 11 skaters, and that’s simply one too few.
But this decision obviously wasn’t an easy one for the Black-and-Gold. Thornton’s been a mainstay on Boston’s fourth line since 2007. He’s played in 480 games as a Bruin. That’s more than names like Derek Sanderson, Pie McKenzie, and Jean Ratelle. It’s even crazier when you realize that Thornton’s been here as long as head coach Claude Julien has!
Again, though, this decision was the right one given the B’s desire to address their ‘14 playoff downfalls and integrate more of their youth into the lineup on a regular basis.
Some early candidates to take Thornton’s spot on the roster next year include Justin Florek, Matt Lindblad, or even Ryan Spooner (though most would like to see him on the third line at the very least). And if there’s a need for some added muscle, minor league journeyman Bobby Robins remains under a pro contract down in Providence.
It’s tough to envision a scenario where the two-time Cup winning Thornton doesn’t find NHL work in 2014-15 (thinking Vancouver could definitely be a fit given new general manager Jim Benning’s love for Thornton and a desire for more ‘character’), but the veteran enforcer will still call Boston home.
“If not [in Boston] I am still going to be in the community. I’m still going to be here,… Thornton said back in May when asked about his involvement in the Hub. “[Boston] is where we live now. This is home. That stuff will not change. I’ll be here, trying to get back when I can. I love it here.…
And honestly, I don’t think that there’s too many bad things you can say about a guy like Thornton.
For seven years, Thornton played a role that the Bruins needed.
Sure, the league’s cut back on fighting and enforcers in general, but Thornton was the guy that made teams think twice about railroading a guy like a David Krejci. (Krejci was concussed by Adam Mair during the 2006-07 season. Adam Mair, you guys.) In the simplest of terms, Thornton was out there to hold other teams accountable if it all hit the fan, and for me, it’s impossible to knock those guys. It’s a dirty job, but somebody’s gotta do it, right? Now, though it’s something that’s become a bit of a challenged point after Thornton’s turbulent 2013-14 campaign headlined by the Brooks Orpik incident in Dec. and juvenile water bottle fiasco with P.K. Subban, Thornton was never really a guy that you had trouble defending a la Matt Cooke.
So, I’ll be honest here and just say it-- The character assassination by some seems rather bizarre.
In particular, it seems as if members of the Bruins media are under fire for calling Thornton a good guy to have in your locker room. Or, in other words, being called out for playing favorites with a player that was a good quote. I don’t think this is a necessarily inaccurate assessment of their feelings towards No. 22 -- because I can honestly say that there were few players I enjoyed conversing with more than Thornton (dude was a riot, didn’t shy away from ribbing anybody) -- but I think it’s kind of stupid to be bothered by it. For me, I suppose it’s akin to having a guy you worked with or had interactions with at your job and then being bummed out when that guy is fired, quits, or gets transferred. It’s a natural human reaction, I’d say, and when you spend seven years around somebody after practices, games, and countless charity events around the city, you’re probably going to have more positives than negatives to say when that player leaves. And if the negatives were worth writing about, he probably wouldn’t have been here for seven years to begin with.
Was Thornton the best hockey player on the ice? Unless it was a three-man shootaround featuring Georges Laraque and John Scott, probably not, but there’s just no way you can honestly say that he wasn’t worth the price that the B’s paid for seven seasons. Let's be real for a moment though and face the fact that Thornton's not exactly Ray Bourque or Bobby Orr here. But he'll undoubtedly have a place in the hearts of Boston fans even when his playing days are long over.
Now, was the Merlot Line overrated at times by the media and fans alike? Of course. Did Thornton receive too much credit for some things, such as the comeback against the Canucks in 2011 or even this past season's Game 2 comeback against Montreal? Probably, but such is life in the new media age. But as a whole, Thornton’s tenure in the Hub is one that should be remembered for the attitude it came with, not the metrics.
However, as for his replacement in an era emphasizing more than goals and penalty minutes? Measure away. After all, that's what the Bruins are looking for, it appears.
Ty Anderson has been covering the Boston Bruins for HockeyBuzz.com since 2010, is a member of the Pro Hockey Writers Association's Boston Chapter, and can be contacted on Twitter, or emailed at Ty.AndersonHB[at]gmail.com