Shawn Thornton Aims to Be More Than a Bodyguard

“He’s like a shark when he’s on the ice, because nobody’s going to mess around when he’s in the lineup,” said third-year center Nick Bjugstad. “Guys love him, and he would do anything for any one of us.”

No one will confuse Thornton’s hockey skills with Sidney Crosby’s, but his value can’t be measured in statistics, unless they’re TKO’s instead of SOGs.